Yes I eat Granola what of it?

No I am not a granola eating hippie vegan, not that there is anything wrong with that. But I do eat extremely healthy and the majority of those meals are vegetarian. Also the food we choose to eat has to meet several requirements, and at the top; it has to have FLAVOR. Hence why we chose healthy and fresh foods as they have way more taste then any fast, processed or junk foods around.

While training there is nothing better then knowing that the harder and more you train be it running, hiking, climbing…at the end of the day you get to replace an extreme amount of calories that you burn. Recently my favorite breakfast, and sometimes afternoon après-training snack, consists of a cup of granola, half a cup of milk and a cup of whatever berries we have in the fridge -usually strawberries and blueberries and/or a banana.

For breakfast it gives me the energy and caloric intake to start my day and helps me get through work, training on lunch and then again the final training session after work. It is simple quick and easy but comes chalk full of healthy nutrients. The pic above is not mine and I will add one shortly.

We plan on making some homemade granola but have not had the time to do so. My mother got me hooked on PC Blue Menu Granola so much that I ate the bag she gave me within a few days and had to buy some more. Making your own allows you to tailor to your specific tastes and can be a great deal cheaper.

This is a great choice for an option when out for breakfast and not wanting all the extra calories form the ‘classic’ breakfast. And although for men ordering this at the greasy spoon you may be looked at a little funny, but just think how much better you will feel in an hour after you eat compared to those who had the greasy belly special.

This week remains much of the same; Run, Eat, Sleep, Repeat. And with only 9 days to race day things are good but will hopefully improve. What I want to improve on is the rest. Monday night consisted of a fast pace 11km but I was tired so I struggled slightly but was happy to hit the 10k mark at 49mins. Being a little over a week away this was a little high for my projected goal of ~45min 10k. But I was also not setting out for a time much faster then that so for a training day it is not the end of the world.

The other factor was a poorly timed snack and also what the snack consisted of. Before any run the last meal or snack should be consumed not later then two hours prior to run time. Usually some sort of carbohydrate snack (Granola, bagel, toast with light topping just not PB…) is the best as it will burn quicker but giving your body the energy it needs for the planned run.

You generally run into problems when consuming anything to close to run time, too much or the wrong types of food. Protein for example takes a great time to break down ex. yogurt or PB which are really hard on the stomach. I made the mistake and was hoping that I would be fine but the little yogurt I had a couple hours before the run was too late making it feel like I was going to blow chunks, or worse, anytime I picked up my pace. Ah the joys of running.

Speaking of that I will be running my last long (20K) run before the race. It will be a nice afternoon for a run after work and even better will be the thought that it is the last long one for a while. And the thought of my BBQ steak will make it go that much faster. I guess the possiblity of a post run beer might help as well.