Fear the Unknown

"Stick to what you know." Seems like obvious advice...until we forget to follow it. And all of us occasionally forget to follow it!

When it comes to sport, particularly repetitive endurance sport, we want to make sure that whatever we put on or in our bodies is tried and true. You cannot wear a new outfit for a long workout, or try out a new pair of shoes. Your short workouts are for trying new things. You don't want to be stuck with shorts that chafe or a shirt with a weird seam somewhere when you have ten more miles to walk. And you certainly don't want to try a brand-new breakfast or mid-workout fueling plan when you have your most important race of the year on the line.

Sadly, there are times when even I get a bit careless and make a mistake. I screwed up badly on Sunday, you guys: I tried a new brand of sports drink. [pause for "GASP! NO! YOU FOOL"s]

I realized on Saturday that I had not purchased my trusty blue Powerade Zero for Sunday's long walk (10 miles), so I stopped at a Kwik Star and picked up a zero-calorie KwikAde fruit punch. Pretty quickly into my walk, I realized this was a massive error in judgment. Miles 1-5 were spent battling heartburn. Miles 6-10 the unpleasantness traveled to my small intestines and made me feel just awful. Oogy, as I say. Fortunately "an unpleasant feeling" was the total extent of it, but the damage was done, and my 10-mile walk was 5 minutes slower than the previous week.

It might seem like switching to a different brand or flavor of sports drink shouldn't be a big deal, but weigh the risks versus the potential benefits. At best, you will be fine, you may have saved 50 cents, and have an alternate option available if you forget your favorite again. At worst, your workout will be ruined. These are mistakes you want to make in your shorter workouts, if you must make them at all. Revel in the familiar; fear the unknown.

And avoid KwikAde!