Going Long & Granola Pt. 2

I loved all of your comments to my last post on regional food choices – so interesting to see how where we grow up and live influences our food choices (for better or worse!).

I’m traveling this weekend, so even though it’s only Thursday I got my long run in for the week early this morning. I think my alarm went off at 5:02 a.m., which is early even for me. I chomped on a banana,

stretched (I stretch before every run, even if recent research says it may not matter) laced up my shoes and was off.

It’s been getting increasingly humid in NYC this week, so even though I only had about 12 miles on the schedule I brought along a water bottle with a Gatorade/water mix in case I needed it.

OMG, did I need it! The air was so soupy, and I was absolutely drenched by the time I got back to my apartment. But 12 miles before 7:30 a.m. on a Thursday isn’t too shabby!

I kept the pace super easy since my last long run was only a few days ago and my legs are still feelin’ a little heavy.

As I gear up for marathon training in a few weeks (!!), this reminds me that some tweaks to my training schedule are inevitable to account for regular life happenings.

Sometimes I get too hung up on running the exact mileage I had planned on the exact days that are in my schedule, which kind of stresses me out. For this year, I’m developing my own plan and leaving it open for tons of tweaks based on how I feel and what my extracurriculars are like on a given week.

Post-run breakfast – Kashi Heart to Heart with berries

When I went to Napa and San Francisco a few weeks ago, I made some homemade granola bars to take with me and have on-hand in case I needed some extra energy or fuel. They came in super handy, even if a bit on the crumbly side.

This past weekend I attempted round 2 with a few different ingredients – Gogi berries, orange flavored cranberries and almonds. I love this recipe because you can basically throw whatever you want into the mix, and the result is almost always delicious.

I refrigerated them after baking and waiting until they were completely cold before cutting, which I think helped reduce crumbly-ness.

Delicious Chewy Granola Bars (source)

Ingredients:

• 1 2/3 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp flax seeds
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2  cup orange flavored cranberries
• 1/4 cup Gogi berries
• 1/3 cup peanuts
• 1/3 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/3 almonds
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 5 tbsp melted Earth balance
• 1/4 cup agave nectar
• 2 tbsp light corn syrup

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line an 8″ x 8″ with parchment paper, letting it hang over the sides a bit. Lightly coat pan and parchment paper with cooking spray. Stir together all the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, mix together the Earth balance, agave and corn syrup. Combine the dry ingredients, wet ingredients, and nut butter until evenly crumbly. Pour into pan and pack down. Use a piece of parchment or saran wrap to prevent it from sticking to your hands. Bake for about 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Allow to cool completely before cutting into bars.

Question: Do you tweak your training plans regularly? If so, how? And, what’s your favorite snack to bring along when traveling?