I'm not sure about where you are, but spring is being its usual fickle self here in New Hampshire. Sweater-shedding temps one day and snow the next. But if there's one thing that's constant it is the anticipation of up coming spring races, especially spring marathons! Besides the anticipation of spring races there's a lot more going on this week in the running community. Here's a few things I "found:"

Meal Plan Inspiration

When it comes to shopping for and cooking meals some times I just lose steam. I run out of ideas and simultaneously get sick of what we've been eating over and over again. This week I stumbled on the this article in Runner's World Online featuring 800m runner Alysia Montano. I love the weekly guidelines she has for dinner meals and since reading it we've adopted the schedule and it's been making meal planning and shopping a little easier. Here's her schedule

No Meat Monday

Taco Tuesday

Winged Wednesday

Terrain Thursday

Fish Friday

I've added to this list:

Pizza Saturday

Burger Sunday

[Tweet "Get meal plan inspiration from the elites like @alysiamontano #eatlikeanelite #fridayfinds"]

Train Like Meb

In case you haven't heard Meb and his sponsors Elliptigo and Sketchers are hosting and amazing giveaway. You can win an Elliptigo and a get outfitted in the Sketchers that Meb uses in his training. The Elliptigo is a very popular cross training tool with many elite runners and I know my friend Tina loves using the Elliptigo. What's interesting about the Elliptigo is that using it is incredibly close to running, in fact Elliptigo sites a study that says that perceived exertion on the Elliptigo is the same as running. Click HERE to enter for your chance to win. I've got my fingers crossed for my entry, although with all the hills around here I've no idea how I could manage to ride it.

Contest details:

Giveaway opens- Monday, March 21

closes- Monday, March 28

Value of prize - over $2,500

[Tweet "You could win an @elliptigo and shoes from @sketchersGO to train like @runmeb! #fridayfinds"]

Rule 40

In case you missed it there was a bit of a buzz on the inter webs this week thanks to Sally Bergesen's post regarding the IOC and USOC's Rule 40. Her post highlighted some of the restrictive rules in place for non-sponsor businesses associated with Olympic athletes, like Oiselle, Sketchers, Saucony, Brooks and any pretty much every running brand except for Nike. You'll have to read her post for the details, but Rule 40 pretty much creates a black-out-period where business like Oiselle cannot mention the Olympics (or a list of words associated with the Olympics like "Rio") on any social media, they can't even send congratulatory messages to their athletes or any Olympic athletes. It's an amazingly restrictive rule and for business in the running (or sports) industry it can be damaging: they can't comment or be relevant during an incredibly important world-wide sporting event.

[Tweet "Rule 40. Bad for running business #fridayfinds"]

Joovy Caboose Ultralight Graphite

I had the chance to test out the Joovy Ultralight Zoom360 for Women's Running Magazine recently and I really liked the construction of the stroller. They recently sent along one of their other strollers, the Joovy Caboose Ultralight Graphite a great run-around stroller that seats two children. When I first saw the stroller I wished it had come just a week earlier, it would have been the perfect stroller to use traveling to and from and tooling around Disney. The stroller is perfectly suited for Liam (10 months) and Jack (3 years old). Jack loves the sit/stand option in the back as it gives him a bit of freedom and autonomy, which he likes. The stroller is really maneuverable, which surprised me since I've always used jogging strollers as a primary stroller. The stroller is the width of a single stroller, lightweight and easily folds and close. I was hesitant to take our double jogging stroller with us because it is so cumbersome when it comes to going through security and I didn't want it to get damaged in transit if we chose to check it as baggage. The Joovy Caboose Ultralight Graphite would have easily solved that problem, it would have been great around the airport and riding the buses to and from the parks while we were at Disney.

Keeping it Real

Stephanie Bruce has done it again: make every mother runner feel "normal" in their perfectly imperfect postpartum bodies by sharing her stretch marks and struggles. I love her honesty and transparency, the Today Show featured an article highlighting her comeback. Whether or not you've been following her journey on her blog or Women's Running Magazine this feature is worth the read. You can find it HERE.