Published: October 13, 2009 02:00 pm      

Magic Blue Beans

By: Chris Jones

October – quite possible my favorite month of the year. Coincidentally, October is also the month of the year with the most marathons in the country. The Falls Road Runners will be taking advantage of the many great October races by traveling to Indianapolis this month. We will have runners competing in the full marathon, half marathon, marathon relay and 5k. I will give you all a full race report in the December issue.

As the temperatures drop in October from the Dog Days of summer and the duration of your runs increase, you may find yourself needing a little something extra to get you through those extra miles. Let me make a suggestion.

For years now I have taken gels on runs longer than 15 miles. These have worked well, but last fall, while training for the Rocket City Marathon, I decided to experiment with Sport Beans by Jelly Belly. Perhaps I had built up a tolerance to the gels and the fact that I had changed to something new really did the trick. These things truly are like magic blue beans! Taken with some Gatorade each hour of a long run, they provide me with the boost needed to get through those final miles without hitting the infamous wall.

So whatever you use, you might try mixing it up this fall to gain that added advantage for those longer runs. You might even try my Magic Blue Beans.

The Falls Road Runners… a place for every pace…including yours!