Friday's Favorite Fit: The Runner's World Cookbook

By Cool J in Minneapolis

"Friday's Favorite Fit" was on a short hiatus (I blame Berlin!) But don't worry, now it's back, and today's favorite fit is the Runner's World Cookbook:

Have you ordered a copy of the Runner’s World Cookbook?

No?

What are you waiting for?!?

Runners, you will LOVE this cookbook! It has 150 easy, delicious, and QUICK recipes loaded with all the right vitamins and protein that you need to "perform better during your workout, and recover faster!"

Well that’s what they say will happen if you eat meals made from recipes in this cookbook, but let's be honest,  I haven’t become any faster...but I have found these recipes to be tasty, and they seem to be pretty healthy. All the nutritional facts are included on each recipe, and I think you'll be pleased with the stats.

Most of the recipes have corresponding pictures in the book, which I always enjoy. What can I say, I like to see if the dish looks appetizing before making it.

I received my copy late last week, and have already made several recipes from it. 

First, I baked up a batch of the hearty whole grain breakfast muffins. 

They are packed full of healthy ingredients like whole wheat flour, flaxseed, almonds, and dried fruit. They were super simple to make and they were good for the whole week in a Tupperware container.

I loved having these around to grab on the go when I’m running out the door on my way to work. It’s a much better option that grabbing an unhealthy scone at Starbucks with my morning Americano. I plan to make another batch this weekend to tide me over next week as well. The muffins are hearty and filling: definitely a recipe I will be using frequently. 

I also made one of the recovery smoothies last weekend: the immune-boosting raspberry-almond smoothie.

It was really unique. I loved the touch of ginger, and it actually filled me up after a 7 mile run on Sunday. Dustin said it was a little “tart” – perhaps from the kefir? However, I really enjoyed this smoothie, and will be making it again.

The cookbook categorizes each recipe as “pre-run”, “recovery”, “low-calorie”, "vegetarian," and/or “fast”. Honestly all of the recipes have been pretty simple and fast. We had the shrimp and bean quesadilla the other night for dinner- (so good). Another night, I made the salmon salad sandwiches. The Cashew Butter and Mango Chutney Sandwich was my breakfast on one morning this week, when I needed some variety from the hearty muffins.  I love cottage cheese, but hadn’t really ever had it for breakfast. According to the cookbook, this breakfast “contains the essential fats to help keep you satisfied, absorb nutrients, protect heart health, reduce injury, and decrease joint pain.”

I was particularly pleased to see one of Deena Kastor’s recipes in the cookbook, and it was a recipe that I was already familiar with from the Runner's World magazine. Dustin and I have been making Deena’s caramelized onion/fig/goat cheese pizza for years, and it’s one of our favorites. So good! Definitely try that recipe when you get your copy of the cookbook.

 

source

The cookbook is about $30 on the Runner’s World website, though I see it on Amazon for only $17. Either way, its still well worth the price tag. I highly recommend that you pick up a copy. This cookbook makes a great Christmas present too for one of your runner friends, (or non-runner friends.) Order your copy today, and start cooking!

P.S. Happy anniversary Dustin. Five years today!

Curious about past Friday's Favorite Fits? Here is the whole list!

9/20: run msp t-shirts at gear
9/13: bkr resusable water bottle
9/6: knuckle lights
8/30: the best carbo loading recipe
8/23: nine west polka dot heels
8/16: the lululemon bitty bracer
8/9: tasteful animal prints
7/26: trigger point foam roller
7/21: outdoor yoga in mpls
6/28: bold colors and patterns
6/21: trail running
6/14 gal pal garment deodorant remover
6/7 the sock bun
5/31 the white oxford shirt
5/17 toms shoes
5/10 bic bands
5/3 race day with a first timer
4/26 cobalt blue
4/19 lululemon wunder under crop
4/12 i run this body t-shirt

Functional Fit: Supporting Your Runner.

By Cool J in Minneapolis

This week more than ever, there's been such an outpouring of support and love in the running community, it's astounding.

Check out Pavement Runner for information on the #BostonStrong runs planned in multiple cities for tomorrow.

I haven't organized any major events, but I showed my support for my special runner in my own small way today. Dustin was in Washington, D.C. for a conference Friday and Saturday, and he didn't return until late last night. Therefore, he missed the long run with the Calhoun Beach Run Club.  He had to make up the long run this morning. With 18-20 miles on the training schedule, he wasn't too eager to do it on his own. Though I didn't join him for the running, I did spend my morning driving around the city to provide him support along his way.

He followed the same route as the run club did, with a few moderations to start from our house. I met him around mile 8, mile 11, and again at mile 15 with Powerade, water, GU's, and bananas.

At the last support stop, I brought Matilda, thinking the three of us could run 3-4 miles together. We started off around 8:30's, but Dustin quickly informed me that he needed to continue on with his 7:45's...Too fast for this girl on a recovery run! I went on my own way, and just did an easy 4 by myself, and Dustin and Matilda headed home to finish his run.

Dustin and me post-Get Lucky half

Dustin had a great run, on a windy, cold (April???) day. None of the public water fountains have been turned on yet for the season, so he wouldn't have had any water any other way. I'd like to think my support made it a little easier for him. He's not one to wear a fuel belt, so having Powerade and fuel along the way hopefully helped him feel good for all those miles.

So, I guess this is my public thanks to me post :-) Helping Dustin this morning was my way to show my support for the running community (via my husband) in my own small way.

How did you support your favorite runner recently? Or, did you participate in something grander? Please share!

Fresh New Fit: NatureBox Snacks

By Cool J in Minneapolis

I'm not a nutritionist. It's true that both LL and I love fitness, fashion, and fitness fashion! But we both struggle sometimes with diet, and we're not experts by any means. Honestly, Dustin and I don't eat horribly in our house, but we could do better.

However, part of why we love to run so much is because we also love to eat! And running a lot means we're hungry a lot. A friend of mine asked if I would post about some recommendations for filling, healthy snacks for runners.

My standbys usually involve peanut butter: a banana with peanut butter, pretzels with peanut butter...maybe peanut butter with peanut butter! But seriously, its tough to find snacks that are filling and still healthy. I asked Dustin to chime in for this post, and all he said was "chocolate milk." He does love his chocolate milk post-run!

A few other snacks that I suggest/love:  baked kale chips, hummus with veggies, Luna bars, or Greek yogurt.

Finding healthy snacks is a definitely a challenge, so I decided to leave it to the experts: I signed up to try "Nature Box"- healthy snacks delivered to your doorstop!

Nature Box is $19.95/month, though I found a deal on facebook to try it out for just $9.95. My first delivery arrived a few days ago: 

It was filled with five unique bags of goodies.

1. Banana Bread Granola:
Pretty tasty! I snacked on this dry, but it would be good for breakfast with some almond milk.

 2. Lemon Meringue Waffles:
At first, these seemed really light and flavorless, but then they started to grow on me. And one serving is the WHOLE BAG. Eeks. But it didn't take me long to finish these.

3. Taj Mahal Snack Mix: 
This one wasn't my favorite, but not bad. A pretty standard mix of nuts.

 3. Whole Wheat Raspberry Figgy Bars: 
These are like Fig Newtons, which I happen to love. I actually liked this snack bag the most. The figgy bars are individually wrapped and great to throw in your gym bag for an easy filler.

 5. Italian Bistro Pretzels: 
Okay- these were tasty enough but WHEW! They gave you stinky, stinky breath. Dustin ate a few, and I swear I could smell him eating them from upstairs when he was in the kitchen. Altoids necessary with this snack.

Overall, I enjoyed my first NatureBox. It's all super healthy and unique, though perhaps not exceptionally flavorful. Some items were definitely better than others though. Unfortunately, even if you really liked one of the items, you can't buy more of it anywhere yet.

As a friend of mine said after her first delivery, "Nature Box is great, but it's definitely not going to solve all your snacking woes." I would agree- it's a fun way to be introduced to different snacks.  I think I'll try it out a few more times, just to see, but I will probably stick to snacks I  can easily find at Whole Foods and Trader Joe's instead.

What are some of your favorite snacks? 
What's the best midday fuel before an evening run?
Have you tried NatureBox? What did you think?