For the last two years, I have started almost every day with a smoothie. This was a departure from a lifetime of cereal. With one smoothie, I pack in almost a days worth of fruit, vegetables, and super foods. They are easy to make, digest, delicious, nutritious, and portable. I make a large one for myself to drink at breakfast and take another one to work to sip on during the morning.
My typical smoothie includes:
1 large banana
1-2 cups frozen berries
1-2 cups frozen greens (spinach or kale)
1 ginger root (about the size of the tip of your thumb)
1 tbsp tumeric
2-3 tablespoons of chia and/or flax seeds
1 lemon or lime
2-3 table spoons of tart cherry juice
I fill to almost the top of the blender with water, and blend until smooth. Any blender will do, but I probably couldn't live without my Vitamix!
How do you fuel your day and workouts? Share your favorite smoothie recipe or other pre or post run fuel on my blog or the NOASM Facebook page for a chance to win a free entry to the sold out Harvest Moon Hustle!
Thursday, July 28, 2016
Tuesday, July 5, 2016
It Started With a 10K
Once again I am proud to sponsor the Harvest Moon Hustle 10K, one of the best races on the local running calendar. The race is fun and festive. It reminds me of my first 10K twenty years ago.
I was inspired to start running by Ken Hawley, my friend Jason's dad. He started running when it was still called "jogging." It's funny, you never hear that anymore! Anyway, he knew that I had started running to get in shape and he suggested that I try running a road race. I lived in Alliance, NE at the time, and there were few options. Ken had run the Bolder Boulder 10K in Colorado many times and raved about it. At the time, it was probably the second largest road race in the country, with ~50,000 runners. I was regularly running 4-6 miles, so I was in decent shape, but I had never considered running a race. I now considered myself a runner, or jogger, if you will, but a racer? Surely not.
I considered it a great challenge and signed up for the Memorial Day race (by US Mail!). I trained through the spring as best as I knew how. As the race approached, I was really nervous and excited. What would I eat before? What if I had to go to the bathroom? Do I stretch before? What if I couldn't finish? What would the other real runners think of me?
As I stood at the start and looked around, I saw very fit, obviously experienced racers, but also saw plenty of people just like me, maybe not first timers, but people just there to test themselves and take in the experience.
The Bolder Boulder starts in waves of thousands of runners. When it was time for my wave to start, I went out, not knowing if I was running too fast or too slow. I just...ran. The Bolder Boulder is a real spectacle. I saw people running the whole thing backwards. I saw a group that was leap frogging the whole race. And there were too many crazy costumes to count.
The race ends inside Folsom Field. As I neared the finish, I was overcome by emotion. I was going to finish my first 10K! Just two years before, I was 65 lbs heavier and could not run a mile. Now, with a little inspiration and a lot of hard work, I was not just a runner. I was a racer.
http://www.harvestmoonhustle.com
I was inspired to start running by Ken Hawley, my friend Jason's dad. He started running when it was still called "jogging." It's funny, you never hear that anymore! Anyway, he knew that I had started running to get in shape and he suggested that I try running a road race. I lived in Alliance, NE at the time, and there were few options. Ken had run the Bolder Boulder 10K in Colorado many times and raved about it. At the time, it was probably the second largest road race in the country, with ~50,000 runners. I was regularly running 4-6 miles, so I was in decent shape, but I had never considered running a race. I now considered myself a runner, or jogger, if you will, but a racer? Surely not.
I considered it a great challenge and signed up for the Memorial Day race (by US Mail!). I trained through the spring as best as I knew how. As the race approached, I was really nervous and excited. What would I eat before? What if I had to go to the bathroom? Do I stretch before? What if I couldn't finish? What would the other real runners think of me?
As I stood at the start and looked around, I saw very fit, obviously experienced racers, but also saw plenty of people just like me, maybe not first timers, but people just there to test themselves and take in the experience.
The Bolder Boulder starts in waves of thousands of runners. When it was time for my wave to start, I went out, not knowing if I was running too fast or too slow. I just...ran. The Bolder Boulder is a real spectacle. I saw people running the whole thing backwards. I saw a group that was leap frogging the whole race. And there were too many crazy costumes to count.
The race ends inside Folsom Field. As I neared the finish, I was overcome by emotion. I was going to finish my first 10K! Just two years before, I was 65 lbs heavier and could not run a mile. Now, with a little inspiration and a lot of hard work, I was not just a runner. I was a racer.
http://www.harvestmoonhustle.com
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