Expos

As soon as I finish this blog, I'm hitting the road:  tomorrow is the Mercedes Marathon... woohoo!  And as a bonus, since the Mardi Gras Marathon in New Orleans is also tomorrow, I got to hit up their expo as well.  I figure the RNR marathon is likely to be somewhat larger and this way I won't have to carry anything back from Bham.

My computer is being stupid.  This is what you get for a map.
In case you can't tell, A is New Orleans & B is Birmingham.

How do I approach expos?  It's all about the samples & the gels.  As a poor grad student, I can't afford to be constantly buying new running clothes.  I would love to, but I would also love a new car, a new bike, a new... well...  You get the idea.  So I stick to the gels.  Why?  I know I need them for training & races, and they are always (in my experience) cheaper at the expos than at any stores.  I usually buy a big box of 24 (that you can mix & match, discounted for $20) which gets me through for a while.

So that was my plan: Get in, get gels, get out.  And let's just say, I was successful.  Perhaps a bit too successful. I walked away with a 24 pack of Gu and a 24 pack of Carb Boom.  I'd never seen Carb Boom before but they were handing out samples & I liked it.  That's more than I can say about most other energy sources.  I'll let you know more once I get to try them out on a run.

The other goal of expos:  samples.  If I'm still hungry when I leave, I consider that a fail.  What did I get to try?

• Muscle Milk (coffee & vanilla)
• Gu Chomps (the new Peach Tea flavor)
• Snickers Protein something or other (Didn't pay attention to the name.  I refuse to actually buy an endurance product made by a candy company, but I tried 2 flavors.  They were ok.)
• Carb Boom energy gels
• Fortune cookies from PF Changs (with running "fortunes")

Well, that's all for now.  Good luck to everyone running the Mardi Gras Marathon this weekend!  I'll definitely be thinking about all of you!

(Ooops.  Sorry to anyone who had to read this in large print.  Should be fixed now.)

Cheapskates Unite!

I might have mentioned once or twice that I'm poor.  As a grad student in a program that leaves little possibility of employment during school, I've got to eke out a living from financial aid alone.  Many of my classmates get a lot of help from their families, and though my family would love to help me out that's not an option.  So, here's a tricks I've picked up for races to help pay for my long distance running & marathon habit:

Started with the top row
(plus a Roctane) and finished
with 3 bonus PowerBar gels.

Grab extras.  Grab extra Gu, water, and whatever else they're handing out.  My loot from Pensacola?  I ate 4 gels during the race (and an orange slice!  Mmmm!) and only one of the gels was mine from home - a Vanilla Orange Roctane.  I always start with 4 gels *just in case.*  It's better to have extras that you don't need than not have any and miss a gel station.  So of the 4 I ate, 3 were ones I picked up on the course.  Since I grabbed 2 at all three stations handing them out, that means I finished with 2 more than I started with.  Bonus!  Oh yeah.  And one of the Hammer gels I brought from home was loot from the Towpath Marathon.

Note:  If you, like me, are carrying 193 gels in your hands - offer them to people who look like they need them.  I've only ever had 1 person take me up on the offer but you never know.  I've missed a gel station before and I wasn't about to turn around and go back.  If you didn't have gels of your own you might end up really regretting that decision later.  Enter: the gel fairy.  Wouldn't you love a magic gel to appear when you're in need?  It's good karma and it's polite.

What else did I pick up in Pensacola?  A free massage (heaven!), 4 bottles of water (drank them ALL), trail mix, and 1348 orange slices.  I parked myself next to the boxes of orange slices at the finish to make up for losing out on a sandwich.  They were handing out 6-inch Subway sandwiches but they only had meat options. (I'm not eating tuna salad or deli meat that's been sitting in the sun for a couple hours even when it's free.  No, thank you, but I like my stomach!)