Welcome!

Taken from the title of this blog, I am sure you all can figure out what its all about: running!  Basically my adventures I will be taking through running or more specifically, training for my longest race yet: the Detroit Free Press Half Marathon 2011!  My hopes are to update this as often as I am able to to take you all through all the ups and downs; the few good runs and the (probably more than a few) painful and tough runs.  But it will be more than just that; I will try to not only share my experience of the actual training, but also try to shed some light on the different nutritional needs of a runner (especially a long distance runner).  Lets just say low carb diets are NOT for runners (or for anyone in my mind).  Each time I update this blog, hopefully once a day, I will try to pick a different food that I feel is great to eat especially if you are a runner.  My hope is to inspire latent runners to hit the road again, and inspire couch potatoes to give running a try!  This is just a short introduction to my blog, and there will be more to come!  But I will still include a Food of the Day that I feel every runner should try and benefit from!

This first food is pretty well known but I will explain why it is oh so good (and not to mention delicious) for you:

The Banana!

Sure, bananas seem like an obvious choice:  its a fruit after all!  But there is more to it than that...

Bananas are loaded with Potassium which is essential for cell functions in your entire body.  Plus, sadly enough, when we sweat out all the nasty toxins as we run, we also lose some good guys too like water and electrolytes.  And guess what Potassium is?  An essential electrolyte!  Eating a banana an hour before or not long after a run will help out our body's Potassium concentration and make for happier cells.  Yay!

Bananas (being a fruit and all) are also good sources of post-run carbs (about 22-23 grams).  And since this form of carbohydrate is all natural from the banana alone (Fructose!) it is way way WAY better for us to carb up with this sugar as opposed to drinking some pop (or eating a cookie).

Also, another awesome fact, Bananas are real easy on our digestive system, meaning its not very hard for our body to break these guys down, which makes for less of a chance of tummy aches and cramps when running after eating them (Although I still always follow a rule of not eating 1.5 - 2 hours before a run!).

So there we have it, the awesome Banana.

Look for updates soon!  Remember, anyone can be a runner, all you have to do is get out there and do it!