Put me in Coach

As most of you know, since I announced it to the world last week, I won some free running coaching via the wonderful blog world.

Last night I filled out the first of two very detailed questionnaires that Coach Kelly (CK) sent me through email. I thought long and hard about the things that I would want to share with CK before we began and I was pleasantly surprised to find that the questions listed matched my thoughts...to a tee.

For example:

I thought: I really want to learn how to fuel during a run, I should ask her that. And, I have no idea what to eat after a run, I should ask her that too.

CK asked (paraphrased of course):
Are in interested in learning what to eat before, during and after your runs? 

Heck YES!

The other similarities go on. Such as adding strength training and doing proper stretches. She covered it all. That was just the first section. I still have to finish the second section, which is a more detailed history of my exercise routines. I have to actually do a little research for that.

On a similar note, all this running has left me hungry! Seriously...I could eat every 1/2 hour. I think this is part of why I was wondering if I should be eating better (or something) before, during, after my runs/workouts. I don't think I'm re-fueling properly and it's leaving me hungry for the rest of the day (into the next).

I have just discovered nuun.

It's non-carbonated, non-sugary, non-carb loaded hydration. I'm thrilled with this concept. This is a tablet that you add to your water, to make it super-hydrating. These are my words, check out the company site for more scientific description.
I've only experimented with Gatorade or the like in race preparation. I could never justify the calories. In the low or no calorie versions, I could never justify all the artificial sweeteners. Also, I found them too sweet for my stomach, which was never pretty.
 I usually ended up watering it down. Which I've recently learned means you don't get the benefits of hydrating.
Now that I've done the sales pitch, I admit I've only had this a couple times. Not enough to do a full review. But I will comment when I have more to say. For now, I'm just happy to try something new that seems give me what I want without the nasty side effects.

What fun running/fitness product have you tried lately? What did you think? Would you recommend it to friends, or slyly sneak it into your enemy's water bottle?