Does the food available after a race come into play when you are choosing a race or are you happy with a boring snack like a granola bar or pretzels after a race? For me, it depends on exactly how far I've run. For shorter races, I don't need anything at all, but sometimes something salty is good on a hot day. Even for a half marathon, I often don't feel any urge to eat at the finish line. But sometimes the offerings are so good, I eat even if I don't "want to". Wondering what races have make me want to run them again just for the food? Here are my favorites. Mainly Marathon races - the "aid station" is a smorgasbord of all the good things: pretzels, m&ms, gummy bears, hard boiled eggs, pb&j, pickles... And then there's … [Read more...]
Fueling my way through the Marine Corps Marathon
For today's Friday Five, the topic is running/fitness fuel. I tend to train up to about 10 miles without fuel. In fact, often, I haven't eaten since about 7pm the night before a pre-noon run. But once I start going longer than 10 miles, my strategy changes. Since I'm about to run my first longer than 10 mile run (15 miles, eek!), this topic has been on my mind anyways. I have to confess that I don't have any idea what I'll take with me on the 15 miles, but I do know my marathon plan. How I Fuel a Marathon Pre-Race Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich - This is my go to for any long race. It's cheap, extremely portable, and tastes good. Even better, I find that it's easy to digest, sits well in my stomach, and keeps me fueled for lots of … [Read more...]
Making a Healthy Choice on Busy Days
How is it only Thursday? It feels like this week has been a month long. Of course, I've managed to cram a crazy amount of things into the last few days. Seriously, since last week, I've gone on an all day field trip, taken Shoo to soccer practice, attended the RNR DC expo, gone on a tour of the Capitol building, run a half marathon, taken Shoo to two days of a soccer tournament, and attended an event at the White House. Add in normal things like my job, laundry, chores, etc. and I've been feeling a little pressed for time. Just a little. Unfortunately, when life gets crazy, two things fall by the wayside for me: sleep and healthy eating. I tend to go to bed around midnight normally with a 6:00am wakeup. This is just *barely* enough … [Read more...]
Favorite running fuel for long runs
Running fuel is one of the most discussed topics in the various running groups I belong to on Facebook. Everyone has their favorite manufactured running fuel and many have their favorite "normal food" choices. I've used various gels and waffles and sports beans, but my stomach tends to disagree with the amount of sugar in those. So, I've had to experiment with some other choices. Thankfully, I've run a lot of Mainly Marathons races, so I've had the opportunity to eat everything from pickles to pancakes to cups of soup. Confession: if I could figure out how to carry salty vegetables and noodles on my long runs, I totally would. Since that's a little unlikely, here are my favorite normal food running fuel choices: Pretzels and raisins … [Read more...]
DuClaw Quick Start My Heart Balsamic Vinaigrette
Welcome to the February edition of "Cooking with Beer"! Once again, I am featuring a beer that DuClaw Brewing sent me. Since February is National Heart Month, it's appropriate that the beer I'm featuring is called Quick Start My Heart. DuClaw Quick Start My Heart is a strawberry milk stout with 6.8% ABV and a medium body. It has flavors and aromas of chocolate and strawberry with a hint of coffee. You all know I love my dark beers and this is a tasty beer that answers the question of "beer or dessert" with a resounding yes! As you might imagine, this is another beer that could easily work well with in the recipe I created for beer cupcakes. I think it would be great combined with a strawberry glaze on top. I had a lot of fun with … [Read more...]
The District Club: local goods delivered monthly
I am a huge fan of buying local. I shop at the farmer's market when I can get there, we used to buy a share of a steer from a (as local as you can get to Washington, DC) farm, and I'd much rather eat at a local restaurant or brewpub than a chain. So, when The District Club reached out to me about reviewing their service, I was totally on board. What's The District Club? The District Club is a subscription-based service that will allow members in D.C., Maryland and Virginia to sample a variety of treats from local, small businesses. I love this idea in theory. I never know what new things have come out locally, unless it's beer related. (What? My husband isn't called Beer Geek for nothing.) And I'm often looking for ideas for gifts … [Read more...]
Five Wisconsin brands I always buy
Confession: I haven't lived in Wisconsin since I was 2 years old. But I still consider myself a Wisconsin girl. Why? Because growing up as a military brat, it was the place that always felt like home. The family farms were there. All of my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc were all there - many in the same small town. Somehow, I've always stayed a Wisconsin girl at heart. I mean, I can even say "Go Pack" with the right accent. LOL And part of someplace being home is the food that you associate with it. While there are plenty of things I would never look for around here (herring comes to mind LOL), there are certain brands that are made in Wisconsin that I still love. Johnsonville brats - These are still some of the best … [Read more...]
DuClaw Naked Fish Sweet Potato “Mole”
Welcome to another installment in my "Cooking with Beer" series. I've really been enjoying this and have another awesome recipe for you. This time DuClaw Brewing sent me their Naked Fish to cook with. Naked Fish is a Chocolate Raspberry Stout that clocks in at a nice low 4.6% ABV. The chocolate raspberry flavor is accomplished by the addition of a chocolate raspberry coffee. When I first heard of it, I immediately thought it would work well in my Sweet Baby Jesus cupcake recipe with a raspberry topping instead of frosting, but I wanted to try something new. (But if you want to try it in the other recipe and report back, I'd love to hear!) When I think savory chocolate, the first thing that popped to mind was Mexican mole, … [Read more...]
Slow Cooker Vegetarian Chili
It's Monday and my kids are home with me for the 12th day in a row. Granted, this was a planned teacher work day and we haven't used up all of our snow days, so they did not reschedule it. But, wow, I'm ready for a normal life. Thankfully, the weather here has been super warm, so we should be snow free by the middle of this week. This weekend Jones had Honors Orchestra. They lost two of their practice days so they ended up practicing for 9 hours over two days. It was a lovely concert and they played really well, but that pretty much took everything out of my introverted musician. Shoo also had a futsal game and a birthday party, so I feel like I spent most of my weekend driving people places. Thankfully my dad and I got in a 10K run. … [Read more...]
Cleaning up my diet + a Kohls Giveaway
We all know that I love to run. And lately (well, until Snowzilla arrived), I've gotten back into my old gym habit of elliptical and weights. But judging by the way my jeans are fitting and the number on the scale, the saying "you can't out exercise a bad diet" is definitely a fitting one around here. It's not necessarily that I'm eating unhealthy foods, it's more that I'm eating too much in general and far from a balanced diet. Marathon training definitely played a role, but what has really brought the issue to a head is being busier in the evenings. Two to three nights a week I am out at dinner time for practices, rehearsals and social activities. I'm eating at odd times and I'm grabbing whatever is convenient, which usually … [Read more...]
The Impact of Food on Running: Feedback from Running Bloggers
I'm sure you've heard the phrase "if you want to be an athlete, eat like an athlete". Professional athletes eat foods that are going to help them perform. They eat foods to fuel the body. This is not to say they don't ever eat less healthy foods - just this weekend Deena Kastor mentioned more than once her love for a glass of wine and pizza. She also mentioned the importance of eating high quality foods and fueling in a way to support your running. With Marine Corps Marathon coming up in a few days, I'd planned to eat super healthy this week. Unfortunately, I'm having one of those weeks where I'm meeting myself coming and going. Know what happens when I'm feeling stressed like that? Cheese popcorn for dinner. Not exactly the best … [Read more...]
TOTR: Will run for beer
Yes, there is a reason my blog has that in its tagline: it's one of my favorite post race treats. And that's today's topic for Tuesdays on the Run with my buddies Patty and April: What is your favorite post race treat? … [Read more...]
