i’ll be running a half marathon on april 7 {eeek! that’s soon} with one of my good friends, Courtney — she’s my race-running buddy :)
and even though it’s my 6th or 7th half {yeah, i lost count…}, i am still learning new ways to train and fuel my body to prepare for a successful race.
one thing i struggle with is a good pre-run meal.
last weekend, i went to a few stores nearby to check out their “energy” bar selection. there were a few that looked great, but then i looked at the ingredients. meh.
and then there were some that were all natural/had organic ingredients, but then i looked at the price tag. geeeeez.
so i decided it was time to make my own homemade Running Bars. i love it because you can control the taste – like your bars to be sweeter? add a bit more honey. like a nuttier taste? add a dab more almond butter. you can’t go wrong doing it yourself!
the perfect pre-run {or pre-walk/jog/workout/climbing/yoga/etc.} bar!
Running Bars
recipe adapted from: No Meat Athlete’s “Ultimate Energy Bar Formula”
**No Meat Athlete’s website is awesome. take a minute to check it out — he provides a formula {not a recipe} for making delicious energy bars. This recipe below is one that I created from the formula, with a few tweaks to the ingredient amounts.
ingredients
- 15oz Great Northern Beans
- .5 cup almond butter
- .25 cup raw honey
- 1 small banana
- .25 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- .25 tsp sea salt
- 1 .79oz packet Garden of Life Raw Protein in Vanilla {or 1 serving of your favorite protein powder}
- .75 cup spelt flour
- 1 cup oats
- .5 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
directions
Preheat oven to 350° – Grease a 13×9 glass baking dish with a dash of oil.
Using a food processor, pulse beans, almond butter, honey, banana, vanilla, cinnamon and sea salt until smooth.
Add protein powder, flour, oats, and coconut and pulse again until combined.
Spread mixture into pan. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes.
…Enjoy!!
