Worth Reading

* Who in your life has an eating disorder and what can you do about it? It’s more common than you think, especially among runners and, it’s not just women.

* Eggs got a bad wrap years ago, but they are seriously one of the best things you can eat (yep…eat the WHOLE thing, even the yolk, that’s where all the nutrients are!). Shape magazine gives you 20 quick & easy ways to cook them.

* 6 tips for running with your dog (I just bought a gentle lead to try with Sam. I will report back!)

* 5 things to do on a treadmill, besides run on it.

* What’s the optimal running cadence? Find out here.

Video of the Week

T-shirt of the Week

What every woman wants to wear to the weight room:

Available here for $26.96

* 3 ways to build an injury-proof body (solid advice here)

* 5 one-pot meals for runners

* Rejoice! Salt may lose it’s rank as public enemy No. 1. As runners, we lose a lot of salt in our sweat.  I’ve never limited my salt intake and always heed my body’s craving for more despite the drumbeat by those who claim to know what’s best for us.

* A running love story worth picking up: “Do Life”

Video of the Week

Get your tissues:

More about Conner & Cayden here.

 T-Shirt of the Week

Available here in various styles/fabrics.

Mmmmmmm……Let’s talk about food. What’s your go-to breakfast on a race day and how early do you get up to eat?

Banana and spoon full of peanut butter. I Wake up at least. 1 1/2 -2 hours before race time…..but I still consider myself a newbie at races so I get nervous I am going to forget something etc. — Linda Straub

About an hour before I leave the house, I have a protein shake and a cup of tea. — Tom Toale

When I was in my 20s & early 30s I had nothing but water. Now that I’m older (and theoretically wiser) I’ll have a half of a bagel with nothing on it. If the race is longer (like a half marathon) I will also have a small banana to top off my glycogen stores. And water – always water. — Sandie Sweet

Short race: bagel with peanut butter.  Long race, add a banana. — Patrick Krott

Banana with peanut butter one hour before. — Amy Morrow

Banana and water 1hr before race — Kristen Gehrlein

Whole grain waffle with peanut butter on it and some sliced banana. I fold it like a sandwich & eat it in the car. — Rhonda Berlin

A Cliff bar, one cup of coffee and water. — Lisa Shade

I eat 2 hours before, usually a bagel with peanut butter or a chewy almond trail bar! Oh and coffee!! — Karen Groshek

I try to eat a bagel before my annual marathon, but am usually nervous enough that I can’t even finish it. I really wish more races were in the afternoon/evening, I ain’t a morning runner. — Michael Morris

Either oatmeal with honey and cup coffee, or English muffin with honey and cup coffee. — Ginny Sackett

Peanut butter on half a bagel and a banana—–PLUS a couple cups of coffee—-all a few hours before the run! — Sarah Rose

Greek yogurt and an English muffin! 45min before — Suzanne Clickett

Like many of you, my pre-race meal depends on how long the race is. For a shorter race (anything less than a 15K), I usually just grab a banana.  For a 15K or half marathon, I try to eat 2 hours prior and stick with a bowl of Cheerios or a bagel with peanut butter and water, of course.

I rarely eat before training runs — even long runs — though I sometimes eat a banana if I had dinner early the night before.

Marathon Morning Meal  Advice

Check out this Runners World video for tips on what to eat on marathon morning and what to look for on room service menus for breakfast on your big day.

Autumn recipe

Speaking of food — check out this recipe I’m loving this week for Butternut Squash with Apples . While it’s a pain to cut up the squash, this is one delish autumn dish.

I love white chicken chili and here’s one of my favorite recipes from Campbell’s. While the recipe calls for adding shredded cheddar cheese, I prefer a bit of low-fat sour cream which gives it a thicker, creamy texture.

Southwest white chicken chili

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 1 pound), cut into cubes
4 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 large onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
1 medium green pepper, chopped (about 3/4 cup)
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) cream of chicken soup (98% Fat Free)
3/4 cup water
1 can whole kernel corn
2 cans (about 15 ounces each) white kidney beans (cannellini), rinsed and drained
Low-fat sour cream

1. Heat the oil in a 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken, chili powder, cumin, onion and pepper and cook until the chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are tender, stirring often.
2. Stir the soup, water, corn and beans in the saucepan and heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add a dollop of low-fat sour cream before serving.

Christina Shreckengost/Erie Reader

Breakfast in a jar

Runners can’t go wrong with oatmeal — not that powdery sugar-laden stuff in packets, but real oatmeal.  Yes, good old fashioned Quaker oats can be boring, but you can easily doctor it up to suit your tastes.  Check out these two recipes — one for those who like it hot and one for those who like it cold.

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Look “fresh” after a run

…in 4 easy steps…. um…this is just sort of stupid so, of course, I must share it.

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Temporary tatts for marathoners

Forget paper pace bracelets that don’t last 26.2, slap on a temporary pace tattoo. Or, you could simplify things and use a ballpoint pen or Sharpie marker …and, later, a  little Comet and elbow grease to remove it.

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Gym rules

These 27 rules for conquering the gym are just hysterical. Who’d have thought you could find some funny stuff at the Wall Street Journal?

My favorite: “8. There’s also the Strange Guy Who is Always at the Gym. Just when you think he isn’t here today…there he is, lurking by the barbells.”

There are several of these at my gym.

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You have some tape on your shoe

They say you can fix anything with duct tape. But, can it help you with your marathon PR?

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Motivational Poster #6

Courtesy of Mark Remy over at RunnersWorld magazine:

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T-shirt of the week

I think I might buy this to wear to Cleveland this year:

I’m intrigued by this women’s half marathon in Niagara Falls on June 3.

A group of running girlfriends and I did a women’s half marathon in St. Petersburg, Fla., several years ago, and we loved it. The hotel and flight deals and the distance of the race (I would not be flying to Florida for a 10K) made it worth traveling for. It was a blast to be around that many fit women. The ladies ran that town that weekend (literally and figuratively). Read my review of that race here.

So, when I stumbled up on the Niagara Falls women’s half marathon, I immediately put up a link on my Facebook page with a status update that read: “Sounds like the perfect girls weekend to me. Who’s in?”

But, then I realized the race is on the Canadian side which greatly complicates things because, as you know, it’s not so easy to go criss-crossing that border these days.

I have a passport, but I’m not sure how many of my running girlfriends do, so it remains to be seen if this race is going to end up on my summer schedule.

* Have you done a Canadian race? Is it worth the hassle of international travel?