Meghan's Morgan Hill Marathon and Sunflower Seed and Pumpkin Butter Brown Rice Tortilla wraps

3 weeks ago, my parents, Joe and I headed out to California to watch my sister Meghan run her first marathon. We stayed in Palo Alto, but the marathon was in Morgan Hill, which is located about 40 minutes south. The morning started off cool and in the 50s. Meghan was cold when she took off her jacket, so it was good we brought a trash bag to keep her warm until the 7:30am start.

We left Meghan at the start and drove out to Mile 3 to cheer her on as she passed. Our company included a dead deer on the side of the road and some very loud turkeys. I couldn't believe how desolate it was and that was the moment I realized it was going to be a quiet, lonely marathon for all the runners.

When we cheered, the turkeys squabbled loudly!

Meghan is in the purple tank top (for lululemon fans- Run:Swiftly in Royalty). Note the dead deer!

We had a couple of hours to kill before meeting Meghan at miles 18-19. We had quite an interesting breakfast experience to say the least, which left me with nothing to eat and starving. Let's just say Morgan Hill is not the place to go if you have food allergies or sensitivities. I fortunately found a Trader Joe's and was able to make a great on the go breakfast. I picked up bananas, brown rice tortillas, sunflower seed butter and pumpkin butter. I spread the sunflower seed butter and the pumpkin butter on the brown rice tortilla, topped with sliced banana and rolled it up and made a delicious wrap!

It was a great on the go breakfast, but it would be perfect for a recovery snack after a long ride or run. The pumpkin butter is a great seasonal treat that comes out in the fall. To be honest, I really bought it since I can't seem to get enough pumpkin in the fall and I was reminded by Averie's post at Love Veggies and Yoga that pumpkin butter was back.  Any other time of year, you can leave it out or substitute with jam or raw honey.

  

Why I love Sunflower Seed Butter:

One of the main reasons I love sunflower seed butter is that I can digest it much better than nut butters. It is also full of nutritional benefits.

-Excellent source of Vitamin E  - anti-inflammatory antioxidant that protects the body against free radicals

-Great source of Phytosterols- you know those labels on fake butter/margarine that claim to "lower cholesterol"? That is because the food manufacturers extract these phytosterols and insert in the processed foods. Sunflower seeds contain phytosterols in their natural state, which is more powerful since the whole food is working synergistically to provide your body with the cholesterol lowering benefits.

-Good source of Magnesium- lowers severity of asthma, migraine headaches. Magnesium counterbalances calcium and relaxes nerves and muscles. It is important to get a healthy balance of the both. Deficiency in magnesium can lead to muscle spasms, high blood pressure, muscle soreness and fatigue. 

And of course, I had to get my greens in, so I found Trader Joe's Essential Greens Juice which consisted of celery, spinach, parsley, kale, romaine and sprouts. It was a great convenient on the go green juice.

After the power breakfast, we parked ourselves between mile 18 and 19 and cheered for all the runners. It was so much fun cheering since we could see it in the runners' faces that they truly appreciated it especially since we were some of the only people out on the course supporting the runners. Meghan came by and Joe and I jumped in to run with her. 

She was looking strong and ready at a steady pace. We were running with the 4:00 pacer for a while who didn't have any runners with him. We chatted with him for a bit and then at mile 23 he stopped running all together! We kept going at a steady pace, the sun was beating down, the temperature was now in the 80s and Meghan was doing a great job battling the hills that kept coming up on us. 

It was weird to be the one not running the full distance. I have never jumped in as support for anyone and it was hard to know just what to do to be the best companion possible as you battle through the most grueling miles of your life. Even though she continued to look strong and run strong, I could just feel her pain as we ran miles 24-26. 

Mile 26! Meghan finishing strong as I amp up the crowd and get them cheering!

Meghan crossed the line with a time of 4:03. I am so happy for her and proud of her for finishing with not only a great time, but doing it on a desolate, lonely, hot and hilly course. I'm impressed she made it through the training which she did all by herself and while in college with all the studying (and partying!) pressures. To top things off, we found out a couple of days ago that she placed 2nd in her age group. Congratulations Meghan! We love you!

Cherry Chocolate "Green" Pudding

I love when cherries are in season! They are one of my favorite fruits not only for their sweet tart deliciousness, but for their powerful health benefits as well. I was inspired by the Whole Foods Cherry Recipe contest to create this recipe even though I never entered the contest. This is such a fast, easy recipe and quite decadent way to sneak in some extra greens!!

Chocolate Cherry "Green" Pudding

2 Avocados
3/4 cup Raw (ideally local!) Honey (or Maple Syrup. For completely raw vegan- raw agave or raw vegan sweetener of choice)
1 cup fresh cherries (if cherries are out of season, frozen can be used)
2 handfuls of baby spinach
1/2 cup raw cacao powder

Put all ingredients in a blender (if you don't have a powerful blender like a vitamix or blendtec, a food processor might be better) and blend until smooth. Put in fridge to chill. That is it! Easy!

Some tips:
It is important to make sure that the avocados are not too ripe. If they are overripe, they have a weird taste and you can definitely taste that in the pudding- not good. I have made this mistake before. I have also made this for my grandmother who is quite possibly the pickiest eater I know and she absolutely loved it and had no idea that there were avocados in it.
Raw cacao powder is typically found with other superfoods at whole foods or in your local health food store. It is not typically found in the baking aisle with regular cocoa powder.
Why raw cacao powder?
Raw cacao is unprocessed cacao with lots of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. There are a lot of health benefits that are lost when chocolate is processed. Chocolate turns unhealthy when all the dairy and sugar is added to a the nutrient stripped processed chocolate. Though a dark chocolate bar is considered beneficial in small amounts, it doesn't even come close to the health benefits of raw cacao. It has high levels of antioxidants like resveratrol and the polyphenols catechin and peicatechin. It contains the feel good neurotransmitter serotonin, the motivation booster neurotransmitter dopamine, and the feeling of bliss neurotransmitter anandamide. In addition, it is high in magnesium, chromium, iron, B vitamins and vitamin A, B and E.
I use Navitas Naturals Raw cacao powder which can be found at Whole Foods or most local health food stores:

Cherries- : I love cherries. They are packed with antioxidant anthocyanins which are responsible for the power anti-inflammatory properties. Studies have shown that muscle fatigue and pain was reduced in athletes who drank cherry juice. The study suggests that cherries before endurance training and after can help reduce muscle soreness and pain. It is a much better alternative to traditional NSAIDs (Advil, Aleve etc.)! Cherries also may help reduce inflammation in relation to heart disease and arthritis.

Avocados: some people shy away from avocados because of their bad rap for the high fat content, but they truly have a great kind of fat and are a nutrition powerhouse! We need fat in our diet especially good fat coming from plant based whole foods. The good fat content helps with increased nutrient absorption when eaten with other foods. For example, studies have shown significant increased beta-carotene and lycopene absorption (200%+!) when avocados are added to salads. Avocados are also anti-inflammatory due to their diverse cartenoids.In addition avocados are great sources of folate and vitamin E.

Spinach: We all could use some more greens in our diet! Spinach is full of neoxanthin and violaxanthin which are regulators of inflammation making spinach a great anti-inflammatory food. It contains high levels of calcium, vitamin K, vitamin C and E. It is a powerful food for boosting your immune system.

Raw Honey: Raw honey can look funny to those who have never seen it. It looks creamed or sometimes even hard. This is because the honey is in its natural form and unprocessed. Processing honey causes the loss of all the nutritional value packed in honey in its natural state. Raw honey is a natural energy booster, immune system booster, and contains antioxidant and antibacterial properties. I could go on for a while on the benefits of honey, but we will leave it at that for now! I do suggest buying a local raw honey either at a farmers market, a farm or read the label to see where it was made.