Yesterday during a grocery store excursion I was very excited to see young coconuts in produce! I haven’t seen them in ages and when I spotted three of them all in a row, I very happily played Eeny Meeny Miny Moe Get in the Cart and Let’s Go.

My-Mother-Says-You-Are-The-Very-Best-One.

With my sweet little young coconut in hand, I got to thinking that coconut water is really good after a hard work out. What a great reason to get out there and bust my ass first thing this morning, wouldn’t you agree?

Last night I decided I would run 7 miles this morning but then this morning decided to kick it up a notch and run a FAST 7.

I enjoyed my coconut oil laced turd on a plate MamaBar and got my sneakers on.

Knowing I planned to pick up the pace, I decided to give the old episodes of Jillian a rest and listen to some music instead. I contemplated leaving the iPod behind all together, like I do for short fast runs, but decided today for 7 miles I wanted some music for the long haul.

I hit the mile 1 at 7:40 and felt comfortable at that pace knowing I had 6 more miles to go.

At mile 2 (I wear an old fashioned digital watch but happen to know some of the mile marker land marks because I do this route so often) at 15:26 – making my pace for Mile 2 about 7:46. My goal was to keep my average pace under 8 minutes – so far so good.

I cruised along and at mile 5 my watch said 39:11, which I knew was still under 8 min/miles. Thanks to my favorite pace calculator I can see now that made my average pace about 7:50 per mile at that point.

I was really starting to feel tired at 5 miles. I took my gloves off and turned up the music a little bit, knowing that a little bit of volume can bump your adrenaline and reduce your perception of pain.

At mile 6 I think my watch said 46:something. My goal for this run was to come in under 56 minutes, and I knew I would now.

As I rounded the corner into our neighborhood I cranked the music and picked up the pace hard for the last 3/10 of a mile, to hit the driveway at 54:41 – 7 miles at an average pace of 7:48.

PHEW! Now where the hell is that rubber mallet?

This young coconut contained approximately 20 oz of coconut water, which according to my new favorite toy clocked in at about 115 calories. I drank every last ounce.

After Zak took my picture he took a sip of the coconut water and then proceeded to make a sound similar to that of cat trying to expel a wet, matted ball of a fur from its throat.

What? I think it tastes good!

And that totally reminded me of something! In Thrive (you knew this was coming, right?) Brendan says that during or after a workout, the your tastes are different than when you are inactive. Something that tastes a little bitter or slightly sour is more palatable after a work out because our taste buds are temporarily altered during or after physical exertion, and “a slight tartness is perceived as refreshing”.

Brendan is so smart.

So, remember this for Christmas when it’s time to eat a big bite of grandma’s fruit cake. Tell her you’ll have some after you get back from your run.