My second team run was this morning! We did 6 miles in downtown Ann Arbor, which took just about an hour. Apparently it had been awhile since my last 6-miler, because those last couple of miles were really hard! There were also a couple of hills, which I'm not really used to. But it was a fun run and I felt accomplished afterward. Coach Ethan helped me adjust my stride a little bit to put less strain on my knees and calves, so we'll see if that helps over the next week. He also said it's completely fine to skip one mid-week run if my muscles feel like they really need a rest day.

After the run was the nutrition clinic. I didn't really learn anything new, but it was good to have confirmed that nutrition for runners isn't different from regular old nutrition, other than special focus on making sure you're getting enough fuel before, during, and after runs. Coach Ethan said that if you're running for more than about an hour, you need to refuel by snacking during the run. There are these "energy gels" like Gu that supposedly are great for replenishing sugar and electrolytes during runs, but they freak me out due to not resembling anything found in nature (anything edible, at least). Nor am I wild about Powerade or other similar "sport drinks" -- they're so sugary and don't taste very good. As far as I know, people were running marathons for many decades before these weird sport foods were invented, so I'm going to experiment with other things to snack on during longer runs -- nuts, pretzels, trail mix, anything salty would be good.