The Chicago Marathon Health and Fitness Expo | Two Regular Guys ...

The Chicago Marathon happens on Sunday here and as a prelude to it, they stage The Chicago Marathon Health and Fitness Expo.

Although I am no longer a runner and under no circumstances would I ever consider running a marathon, I went to the Expo. A friend of mine said she had gone in previous years and while there was a lot of running info and products, there was also enough general endurance sports stuff to make it worthwhile. So I went.

There was a lot of emphasis on running in general and the Chicago Marathon in particular, a goodly number of vendors had stuff I was interested in.

One problem I have as an active cyclist is that I often come home with pains in my upper legs. Fortunately for me, runners do, too and there were a number of very neat massagers available.

I saw a good display of The Stick.

Aptly named, The Stick looks like one

If you are unfamiliar with The Stick, it is a stick with beads on it that you roll over your aching muscles. It can give you sharp pain in the moment, but works wonders for relaxing sore muscles and breaking up lactic acid deposits. I know that some NFL teams use them. I already own one, but my friend bought one after trying it out.
I was very impressed with the Moji 360 massager.

The steel balls roll over your skin in the Moji 360

It worked similarly to The Stick, but you could also rub in circles with it and The Stick doesn?t allow that. I bought their ?show bundle? and got a smaller massager that just fits over the palm, too. (My dog enjoyed a rubdown with the palm one.)

There were a number of stands with tee shirts available and I picked up several with wicking material. I was interested to see that not many cotton shirts were for sale.

As you might imagine there was a plethora of energy drinks, gels, bars, etc., all claiming to give the runner (or endurance athlete) that little extra something to extend their performance. I already use PowerBars and Clif Bars now, but was impressed with the taste and attributes of the Power Crunch Bar. Of course, I has some sample pieces, too.

I want to reproduce the data directly from the website to give you a feel for this product.

The Power Crunch Bar tastes as good as it looks

The Original, and Still the Only High-Protein, Creme-Filled Wafer Energy Bar
?Power Crunch is truly the ?Next Evolution of the Nutrition Bar.? Just like the flagship product Proto Whey, BNRG has created the most unique protein-energy bar available. Unlike all those hard, chewy extruded bars, Power Crunch is a delicious, cr?me-filled wafer cookie, bursting with Proto Whey protein. Light and crunchy Power Crunch is currently available in 6 delicious flavors for a full spectrum of tastes. Naturally low in sugar and carbohydrates, Power Crunch has a low glycemic response and has no sugar alcohols. And it?s made with Proto Whey 100% pure high-DH hydrolyzed whey protein so you know the protein will absorb swiftly and completely, making Power Crunch an ideal snack choice before or after workouts, in between meals or as a delicious and nutritious dessert. No sugar alcohols in any Power Crunch and now featuring 3 sucralose-free flavors ? Triple Chocolate, Peanut Butter Cr?me and Peanut Butter Fudge.?

Features and Benefits:?
High in protein, low in sugar and carbohydrates. Di and tripeptide rich protein (see Proto Whey) allows for rapid and maximum protein absorption.

Tastes Too Good to Be Good for You
With its crunchy texture and sweet, velvety, protein-rich filling, Power Crunch tastes too good to be good for you. Every time you bite into a Power Crunch protein energy bar, you?ll hardly believe it?s a protein-packed treat with only five grams of sugar.

The Power Crunch Bar really did taste ?too good to be good for you? as their ad copy says. I already get plenty of protein, so that wasn?t very relevant to me. I liked the taste and thought it would be a nice substitute in my regular biking, so I bought a box.

After I got home and was putting away all my goodies from the show, I took a last look at the nutritional breakdown for the Power Crunch Bar. I was very disappointed to see that each bar contains 5 grams of saturated fat. Really disappointing. I have no excuse for missing this except that the Expo was exciting and I had liked the taste and read about all the fancy ingredients with ?low glycemic response, etc.? So, I didn?t check out the fat content.

I hope you can learn from my carelessness and make it a point to check out all the ingredients and not just be carried away in the moment if you find yourself in a similar situation.

On balance, I had a fun time and got some cool stuff that I will use in my exercise program over the coming months. I suppose if I string out eating those bars over the next couple of months, they won?t do much harm.

Tony

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Source: http://guysandgoodhealth.wordpress.com/2011/10/08/the-chicago-marathon-health-and-fitness-expo/

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