Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Those school lunches are sneaky

I think we need to address a hidden danger that heretofore has been overlooked by the running community. I am talking (or writing as the case may be) here of school lunches. Yes ladies, you know the ones I mean. The lunches for which you are obligated to buy all manner of "fun sized" food stuffs from Cosco. (I'm pretty sure there's a conspiracy there between the Department of Education and whoever invented 5 gallon tubs of creamy peanut butter, but that's another blog and another time.)

It is my belief that whoever makes those little snacky candy bars (Willy Wonka and his little oompa-loompas I'm assuming) is anti-marathon-training or else why would they make those tiny candies seem so harmless? Do not be fooled - if you eat 8 of those little guys (like I did yesterday ) it's just like eating 2 big ones, and you cannot count it as a good training lunch just because there are a lot of colors in the M&Ms bag and the Snickers has protein (peanuts) and dairy.

I learned this, to my cost, yesterday when I tried to do a hill workout after eating most of what I purchased for this week's school lunches. Needless to say - it hurt really bad, and there was a lot of bouncing. It just cannot be a good sign when 3 miles feels like the hardest run you've ever done and that includes the ones you've done on the coldest and hottest days ever recorded in America (not really, but it felt like that at the time.)

And so... I'm going to stick it to The Man. I am not going to fall victim to the "fun sized snack" lie anymore. I am going to fuel myself with nutritious food. I'm going to drink lots of water. And most importantly - I'm buying full size candy bars next time.

8 comments:

Mel said...

Great post! I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who "sneaks" the kids treats;)

Tall Girl Running said...

I read in Runner's World recently a tip from an elite runner who uses mini-sized Milky Way candy bars during her long runs. The lightbulb above my head went off and I soon found myself stocked up with mini Snickers bars in my fuel belt instead of the usual carb gels. I really thought it was brilliant... what could be better than rewarding myself with a little chocolate heaven during a long run? Alas, I was sorely disappointed to find the chocolate heaven wreaked a little havoc on my digestion system while running.

Sigh... back to the drawing board. Or the carb gels, as it were.

amydear said...

Very clever! I found myself wandering through Costco last week looking for school snacks, but I could only buy the fruit leather. The dreaded Halloween is fast approaching; I'd better up my miles!

foxontherun said...

And don't fall victim like me to buying the Halloween candy thinking you'll keep it for Halloween and then the whole bag is gone in a matter of days. That's a whole month and a half away.

Jessica said...

Way to stick it to the Man!!!

Kelly(M&M) said...

Kids' food is one of my biggest pitfalls. For some reason I always have to take a bite or a lick of theirs. I am trying to stop this. I love your writing and I love that you are a part of our blog!
Endre is a good friend of mine- check out her personal blog if you get a chance. She is hysterical!

e. said...

oh kelly - you're making me blush. (By the way - I maintain that if I don't eat the entire "thing" (whatever I've taken off my kids' plates) it totally doesn't count.

merathon said...

if you just get healthy snacks for the kids, then you don't need to buy the junk food and then there's none in the house to tempt you! start the kids off with good habits while they're young!