Hi I'm 340 calories.....

would you still eat me?  I'm fat free though.....

(photo courtesy of MSNBC)

I was reading some news headlines today and came across a few articles about the new regulations in NYC regarding nutrition information.  Chain restaurants have to post calories alongside items on their menus.  You can read one of the articles here.  

Would actually seeing the calories you are about to eat stop you?  Its one thing to have it on the side of a box.... where you have to actually pick up the box and turn it to that side to read it.... in this case, its staring right back at ya..... saying hello!  Plus eating out is where many of us fall off the healthy eating wagon, often eating food we would never make at home or never prepare that way at home (ex. fried food).  

Personally I wish more places did this.  Its so hard to calculate the calories in restaurant food.  Although I rarely eat at chain restaurants, it would be nice to at least have a ballpark idea of what the calorie count is.   Although I wonder when they will start fudging and saying that what they serve you is actually 1.5 servings or 2 servings.   

What are your thoughts on this?  Good?  Bad? You are smarter than me and can figure out how many calories there are already in food when you eat out?  ;-)

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I have to briefly revisit my road race directing glory.....  at least I'm feeling more glorious about it.  Here are a few pictures snapped by others of the start.

Look at all those fast people.......

See they are a blur once they get going.....

Even thest people are a blur.....

Yay!  So now I'm inspired to volunteer at more races too!  Figure its helpful to the race and it will be helpful for me to see how others coordinate volunteers and handle logistics.  The weekend after the NYC marathon I'll be volunteering at a local 1/2 marathon!  :)

Now on to FOOD!

Lunch time I headed home to walk the pooch.  My lunch consisted of leftovers from last night. 

LUNCH

-sandwich thin w/ leftover haddock, greens & some soft herbed cheese

-leftover soycutash w/ feta 

Then it was back to work.  Needed an afternoon snack..... 

Strawberry Chobani & granola

At work today I got my flu shot.  Regular flu shot, not a swine flu one. My arm is a little sore, but I'm glad I got it.  I usually get one and they have managed to keep me healthy through flu season, so I'm a believer!

After work I headed home.  Reggie and I went for a walk.  I started some laundry and finally got around to swapping out some of the pots on our entry stairs with hearty fall plants.  The summer ones were looking a bit scraggly and after a few more nights of frost they were going to be toast.  So I changed them to mums, kale & cabbage.  By the time I was done it was a wee bit dark so no pictures.  :(

I got caught up on So You Think You Can Dance and made some dinner.  Where was that show when I was little miss dancer back in high school, I would have tried out in a heart beat.... I was running from one class to another for awhile... ballet, tap, jazz, modern... ah those were the days. 

Anyhow.... dinner.

DINNER

-sauteed chicken with mexican seasoning

-ww tortilla

-salsa

-mexican shredded cheeses

-plain Oikos 

And a Pumpkinhead Ale.  :)

In case anyone missed it, I'm in search of vegetarian chili recipes.... got one you love and want to share???

Have a great night!

Britt

Getting ready to Reach the Beach!!!!

Its crunch time, I'm scrambling to get things ready for Reach the Beach.  We don't leave till 6pm, but there are little things I kind of put off..... 

Like printing out the handbooks that we are required to have two of.

But then I realized it was way too many pages to do at home.... so I just spent almost an hour cursing at the Kinkos and Staples sites.... they were NOT cooperating!

So my day in food.....

BREAKFAST

was running late again, so I packed up my mix-ins for my at work oats

Mix-ins: blueberries, dried cranberries, walnuts, ground flax

With my oats & a little skim milk.
Yum.

Headed home for lunch and to walk the pooch.

LUNCH

-flat out & marinara sauce, broiled with roasted brussel sprouts & turnips, plus some tomato, roasted potato and feta
It was messy but good.

At work I snacked on some Food Should Taste Good Sweet Potato Chips

After work I got my butt to Kettlebell!!  (since I messed up my alarm AGAIN)

Repeated the all of the following 5 times, 

1 minute rest between each round, each exercise a minute unless otherwise noted

Round 1

-hand to hand sumo deadlift

-figure 8's

Round 2

-Get up sit ups

-Russian twist

Round 3

-Heavy press 1/1, 2/2, 3/3

-1 arm rows

Awesome workout!  I love it when there is lots of variety!

Then I ran around working on some 5K race promotion, after that it was home to walk Reggie and make dinner. 

DINNER

Chicken Parmesan 

-preheated over to 400

-dipped chicken breast in an egg, coated w/ breadcrumbs

-sprayed pan w/ canola oil

-baked for 20 minutes

-added marinara sauce and some parmesan cheese

-baked for 10 minutes more

-boiled up some pasta

(yes I like sauce)    

Time to get some packing done.... need to dig out the sleeping back and warm clothes.  

There is a FROST ADVISORY tonight where we will be running Friday night/ early Saturday morning.... eeks.  

So timeline tomorrow....

6am short run

8am work

noon leave work & finish packing

2pm leave to get huge passenger van from rental place

4pm pick up manuals & grocery shop

6pm pick up van 6 of the crew & head north

8pm dinner, check into our accomodations

My goal is to be IN BED before 11!!!

My mileage for the race....

1st leg 7.95 miles  (9:20am)

2nd leg 3.91 miles  (approx. 8:35 pm)

3rd leg 9.42 miles  (approx. 7:10 am)

Total mileage =  21.28miles

the good: no real late night or early morning running

the bad: my last leg is my longest & the hilliest

I'm going to attempt to blog on the road... not sure how successful I will be!

Have a great night!

Britt

Fueling During A Long Run

Busy day.... again. 

I'll get through the food stuff for the day and then move on to how I fuel during a long run. 

Lunch was inhaled way too fast unfortunately, I was short on time as I test drove a car during my lunch hour.  I popped by my house and whipped up my lunch.

-left over hamburger on a Arnold WW sandwich thin, little cheddar, sprouts, tomato and Wickles... oh and of course ketchup

-side of super yummy watermelon

Then I rushed back to work and finished out my day.  Met up with the hubby to pick my car up from the garage, last time taking it there yay!!!  On my way back I stopped by the car dealer again to test drive another car that was not there at lunch time.  After that I headed home to walk Reggie.... he was definitely ready to go!

Hubby headed off for another meeting while I made dinner.  He's still not back yet, so I had to go ahead and eat with out him.  Tonight was chicken tacos/fajitas whatever you want to call them.... 

The fixin's.... cheese, fresh salsa, plain greek yogurt and some sauteed onions & peppers

I just sauteed the chicken in a pan and then added some mexican spices.  

-little chicken, peppers, onions, greek yogurt, cheese, salsa, all on a spinach Flat Out

-side of Crop Share corn, steamed in the microwave

-little vino on the side....ahh all is good.

So fuel during a long run.  I think I mentioned in my pre-run fueling blog that I typically don't bring anything other than water with me on runs under 10-12 miles.  Over that I tend to put some thought into fueling along the way. There are SO many options now for on the run eats.  I think back in 2000 when I did my first half marathon I just did water & gatorade, since then 

I've moved on to trying stuff out such as....

• GU
  
• Power Gel
  
• Sport Beans
  
• Shot Bloks
  
• Hammer Gel
  

I'm sure there are others but those are the ones that stand out.  What will work best for you? Only you can learn that through trial and error unfortunately.  

There are so many factors... what flavors you like, what flavors sit well in your stomach, do you want something you need to chew or can just slurp down, do you want caffeine in it, additional sodium, etc. 

I'm not too fussy.  But I have opted to use the gels provided at a race before and definitely regretted it..... yes I should know better.... never try anything new on race day!

My preference, the "Just Plain" flavor of Gu.  I usually stick to that with some water in my Fuel Belt.  Occassionally I'll also bring some watered down Gatorade as well, usually orange or lemon-lime.  I get the powder mix and water it down.  While running I typically take a Gu every 40-50 minutes.  I stop and walk, making sure to get it down and drink some water.  I'm fine with walking a bit during my training run, I personally don't see it as a big deal.  

The only thing different I do on race day for a half marathon or full marathon is for my last Gu or fueling I switch to Power Gel, one with caffeine like Double Latte.  Honestly I hate the flavor, but the bit of coffee flavor and seeing the words CAFFEINE on it make me think I'm getting an energy boost... which is usually what I need around mile 21-22 of a marathon!  

Here are some articles to check out on fueling....

• Four Steps to Perfect Marathon Fueling (for those mathematically inclined)
  
• Carbs On The Run
  
• Get Your Carbs Here
  
• Foods For Energy
  

Those should give you some additional ideas on what you can fuel with and how to go about finding out what will work for you.  Use your training runs to their fullest advantage, not only for the miles but to figure out fuel, clothing and other possible needs (ex. bodyglide).  

Have a great night!!

Britt