Nuun, energy bar and 11.5 miles

  I won a nuun hydration giveaway over at Mom vs Marathon and it arrived the other day so I am ready to give it a go.
 The UPS driver gave it to my son Jupiter to take inside and he came bounding in to hand me the box. My son Jupiter is 8 years old and has autism. He is nonverbal. This was a pretty cool thing for him to interact with the UPS driver and then bring the box in to me.
  I opened it to find a bottle, a pair of socks that are way too small, (will turn into a giveaway at some point!) 3 flavors of nuun tabs and a couple of stickers that the littles promptly stuck to their shirts.

  I like the shape of the bottle as it fits nicely in my hand and it fits into the cup holder on my treadmill!  I was really pleased with the berry flavor and it had just a hint of effervescence. I ran for 11.5 miles and it kept me well hydrated and I started to really like the flavor even though it was different than the super sweet stuff I usually drink.

  In other news I made energy bars last night that do not turn me into a raging lunatic! I must say it is fun and I find a great deal of satisfaction working within the limitations of gluten intolerance. I have goals and sense of purpose in taking charge of what I put into my body.
Anyways,  It is a bit too sweet but very tasty otherwise.   With the last attempt I took loads of photos and was going to do a fancy elaborate post but after the first attempt being a huge flop, well learning experience, lasting 2 days in discomfort I sort of lost my zeal for it so I decided to just post the recipe and a photo!  

Here is the recipe, you can't screw it up!
In a large bowl, throw in these ingredients Emeril style cuz its fun.
1 1/2 cups Koala Crisp cereal (its the only rice cereal they had at the store that didn't have corn syrup so this is what I got. I plan to go to another hy-vee to get  a not so sweet version next time)
1 cup Crunchy Flax cereal
a large handful each of raisins, dates, craisins and pistachios.
                                                                                    1/3 cup shredded coconut
                                                                                    1/2 cup agave nectar
                                                                                    1 cup sunbutter
                                                                                    4 scoops chia seeds
In the last batch I added cinnamon, ground cloves and ground ginger. I forgot to add them this time but will try to remember for next time!   I think chocolate chips or cacao  nibs would be wonderful too!

I mixed all the ingredients together in the large bowl and then pressed it into a baking dish lined with wax paper about one inch thick. I put it in the freezer for a couple of hours to harden up. I am also storing them in the freezer.   After a couple of hours I took it out and cut into serving size pieces and wrapped individually in wax paper and taped shut.

I tried to eat a bar at mile 7 and found that I had to slow down to eat and breathe at the same time! Its tricky and something I will have to practice doing.  I got a bit of a stomach ache at about mile 8.25 but I think it was more from digesting while running rather than what in particular I was digesting.
I ended pretty strong and ate another one after wards and felt pretty good.

 Between choking up and crying a bit when Claire had her baby on Lost and trying to eat and run, I am surprised I didn't turn blue and fall off the damn thing!  All in all a good test run for both.