I posted this on Instagram yesterday and I think it pretty accurately describes how I felt Friday.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful start to their weekend. This is the first Saturday in quite a while that the husband and I have nothing to do, aside from running of course.

We are planning on having a fun date night. I am thinking dinner and movie but we will see how things pan out.

The weather isn’t looking too positive for our long runs either. In fact, Friday late afternoon I met Wes after he got off work and we went and joined our local YMCA in preparation that we have to take it indoors. Keeping my fingers crossed though that the weather breaks a bit!

I ended up waiting a little longer than expected for Wes at the hospital so I had to get some coffee. I was running out of energy fast. It’s amazing how much energy a run gives me for the rest of the day!

We knew we were going to be joining a gym soon, but since we moved in the middle of Summer we decided to hold off as long as we could. Since they are waiving the sign up free in August and Wes gets a great discount from his employer, we figured now was as good a time as any!

After we got home it was time to start dinner preparations. Friday’s are always long run preparation in our house, so we always make sure to make a dinner that will help fuel us for the next morning.

I’ve been experimenting a lot during training which how certain foods sit with my stomach. I have mentioned a few times on here how sensitive of a stomach I can have, so it is important that I have some easy go-to foods to help fuel me on the tougher runs.

My current go-to dinner the night before is pasta with olive oil, a few seasonings and fresh tomatoes.

It’s light and easy on my stomach. My husband has been experimenting with rice as a pre-run carb source. I think it is important on your longer runs to try and imitate race day as much as possible. That way when it comes I know exactly what my body needs the night before, the morning of, and during the run.

I will do one full race day imitation on one of my longest runs as training progresses, but for now I am experimenting with different night before dinners to see what works the best for me.

The next preparation I do for a long run is mapping out my course. I have always been a fan of Map My Run. Since I am not sure what the weather is going to do tomorrow, I have a course mapped out but am prepared in case I end up on the treadmill.

Treadmill long runs aren’t ideal, but I don’t hate them either. One thing I do find though is that when the possibility is there that I may have to be on a treadmill on Saturdays I have to mentally prepare myself for it. I now am prepared for both possibilities: I’ve got my outdoor route planned out and I’m mentally ready should I need to spend 1.5 hours plus on a treadmill.

How do you prepare for a long run?

Any fun Saturday plans?