A Post About Food

I'm probably going to regret sharing this. But, we are friends, right?  You won't judge, right?

Here is the deal with long runs: they aren't great for weight loss. At least not for me. Runs require fuel and recovery requires even more fuel. And I really am into fueling my body ;)

This is what I started my day with:

I won't go into all of the benefits of eating before starting a long run (another post another day), but I will tell you that I've run without food and with and I am significantly faster with fuel. I started today with a Luna Bar (not my favorite flavor, but Kroger refuses to restock Nutz Over Chocolate) and dry Cheerios. Yes, I realize cereal is meant to be paired with milk, but milk and running do not mix well for me. I try to wait close to an hour between eating and running, but I also try to squeeze as much sleep in as possible, so usually start running a little earlier than I'd like. 

Fueling while you run is also important. It's something I find a little hard to do, but thank goodness for these babies:

I'm a sucker for anything gummy!  Really.  Fruit gummies, gummy bears, and even gummy vitamins (whoever invented gummy vitamins is a genius). Some people prefer gels while they run, but I find them too gooey and I feel like they coat my mouth and just make me super thirsty. For today's 12 miles I only ate two blok gummies and then saved a third for my cool down. Learning to chew and run is something I am really working on. I also need to do a better job at hydrating while I run. I try to plan runs along trails with water fountains but I often run right past them for fear of stopping and being unable to start again. I know I need to work on this. Hydrating during a long run is very important. 

Now the fun part. Fueling after a run. Once you are in the double digit runs, refueling can be very fun. I know I should be better about what I put in my body after a long run, but mostly I just want food and lots of it. Today we had to run errands down in the suburbs right after my run, so afterwards while we waiting for a wreck to clear we stopped into Cracker Barrel. 

Now normally, this isn't my type of restaurant/food. But, when in Rome...  I actually didn't go too crazy today and ordered baked chicken and veggies. But I might have snuck several bites of mac n cheese off my husband's plate. Oh, and did I mention they serve cornbread and biscuits with your meal!?!?

After lunch, it was home for some football. Not our best football weekend, but I made the family popcorn to snack on while we suffered. 

I actually like to make my popcorn on the stove the old fashioned way, which makes it a lot less "bad" for you than the microwave stuff (probably because I buy the extra, extra buttery microwave stuff). I did spray a little I Can't Believe It's Not Butter on it for a little treat. 

Now, this one was against my wishes:

I really prefer homemade pizza. We make if often and almost every time I get pizza out or delivered I feel like it doesn't live up to our homemade stuff. But the alternative was cooking, and that was not happening today. So, I let my husband spring for dinner. 

So you see, someone really needs to buy me this shirt;