Need a little boost?

Since I started running on a regular basis, I began looking at things a little differently.  Shoes, clothes, the streets I drive on daily basis and of course the food I eat.  Running was a great start to a healthier life, but I knew that I would need to be just as disciplined about the foods that I eat.

Including more vegetables and salads in my lunches and dinners was the easy part.  It was the snacks that I would reach for throughout the day that seemed to be my downfall.  I needed something better tasting and more nutritious than the store bought granola bars that filled the cupboards of the break room in my office.  It wasn’t until my wife told me for the 100^th time, maybe even the 1000^th time, how great this website “Pinterest” is.  ‘You can find anything” she would tell me.  To me, that was a challenge.  I explained to her my dilemma of the of my mid day hunger games and told her that if this “pin something or other” website was so good, then this should be the place to find the solution for dilemma.  As she usually does, my wonderful wife of 9+ years comes through once again.  Alas, a delectable, no bake energy bite that is simple to make and hard to stop eating.  Packed with flavor and natural ingredients, how could this go wrong?  It can’t!  Try it for yourself.

·         1 cup (dry) oatmeal 1/2 cup chocolate chips 1/2 cup peanut butter 1/2 cup ground flaxseed 1/3 cup honey 1 tsp. Vanilla

·         Mix ingredients in a large bowl.  Add more honey if needed to make ingredients stick together better

·         Chill for at least 2 hours in refrigerator

·         Pull from fridge and roll a spoonful of the mix in your hands to shape

This is also a recipe that is fun to experiment with too.  Swap out the chocolate chips for raisins or dried cranberries.  Instead of rolling the bites into golf ball shapes, pack the ingredients into a square dish after mixing, chill, then cut into bite sized squares.

I can’t say that eating a couple of these peanut butter bites will give you the energy equal to a cup of coffee or that by eating one of these, you will be able to set new world records.  I can tell you however, these bites are tasty and for me, they are the perfect solution to that rumble in my tum tum.

Enjoy!

Joiners!

My neighbor, Dolly, was leaving for work as I got home from work today.  I told her about the Seattle 1/2 and the Resolution Run 1/2 and she said "Count me in for both!!!" 

Another running monster has been created!  Mwaaaahaaaahaaaa!!!  <maniacle laughter>  :-)

I think Jessica said she's running the Seattle Half.  She has run it maybe 5 or 6 times now and says it is her nemesis.  All she wants is to run it and feel GOOD afterwards, just once.  (She said she's usually miserable because of cold, rain, etc, etc, etc...)  Doesn't make me feel any better about running it, but it gives me my next event to train for!   

Running Tomorrow

Running clothes - check
Head lamp - check
Reflective jacket - check
Gloves & ear warmers - check
Weather forecast - check
3 mile course - check
Pepper spray - double check!

It's 9pm and I'm in bed, ready for sleep.  My alarm is set for 5:50am.  I have no excuses now!!!  :-)

In a Fog

Still on a high from my successful finish in Denver, it’s back to the training plan in preparation for Poulsbo.  The race is less than 2 weeks away!

With a brighter headlamp and the normal reflective vest & can of pepper spray, I headed out for an early morning run.  Still with the startling image of the stranger covered up on the park bench, I left the IPod home this time.  Even though the skies were pitch black dark, they were surprisingly clear.  The stars and the moon were shining bright.

Changing up my route a bit, I went through the east end of my neighborhood to a different trailhead that connects to the lake trail.  Surrounded by the local industrial park and a large drainage ditch, my run started off with a half mile sprint.  Finally “out of the dark” and on the lake trail, it was smooth three-quarter mile run to the north end of the lake, skies still clear.  The return however……..

In a matter of just a couple of minutes, the fog rolled through socking my once clear path in the thick of it.  The fog being dense enough to make my visibility less than 5 feet and even worse, it reflected the light from my lamp back at me making my visibility that much more intense.  My heart rate was up not just from hitting mile 3, but also from not knowing who or what may be lurking just a few feet away from me.  Images of the stranger in the bench kept flashing through my mind.  

Sprinting the two miles through the fog, I was back in the clear skies and in the comfort of my neighborhood, completing a quick 6 mile run before 6am.  Not intending to do speed work this morning, it was still not a bad way to start of a Tuesday!  If there were loonies lurking in the fog, its best I didn’t know.