I was reading in Runner’s World this month about Ryan Hall. He’s a distance runner and will be running the NY Marathon next month.  An American man has not won the NY Marathon since Alberto Salazar won in 1982 so a lot of people are hoping Ryan can do it.  Me too….go Ryan!  Not only is Ryan a great runner, he’s a good human being.  He and his wife are involved with a charity called World Vision that aims to improve the lives of African children by providing them with clean drinking water. There are so many athletes in sports like running that don’t get much visibility and are such amazing role models.  Ryan is the kind of athlete our kids should try to be.

In the RW article Ryan said that his favorite breakfast is muscle milk pancakes.  He makes them with Trader Joe’s pancake mix but since I live in a Trader Joe free zone, I had to improvise.  Luckily I live in the hometown of Kerbey Lane, an awesome restaurant that packages its pancake mix.  So this morning I made some vanilla creme muscle milk buttermilk pancakes and they were delicious! I just used the muscle milk in place of the water in the recipe so it was super easy.  I haven’t been big on supplement type stuff though I really should be, muscle milk is a nice source of protein and minerals.  I struggle to find good breakfast choices that will give me fuel but not make me feel too full and sluggish.  I love oatmeal but it just sits in my stomach for hours.  These pancakes were not too heavy and though today is an off day for running, I really think they’d be great on a running day. Did I mention that my two year old who isn’t much of a breakfast eater liked them too? Double score!

And don’t despair if you don’t live in a Trader Joe’s or Kerbey Lane town, you can order the Kerbey Lane pancake mix right here. The gingerbread is so amazing, I’m going to try those next with muscle milk.

Here’s something for your kids’ running mix, even though these pancakes are decidedly not disappointing!

Why don’t we all make like Ryan Hall and add a little purpose to our running?  Like Emily, who is running a 1/2 marathon this weekend to honor and remember little Emily Mandell.  Please go to Emily’s site and read the story and then say a prayer in your own way for baby Emily and her family.