Right now I am smack dab in the middle of Lynne Cox’s ultra-swimming epic tale Swimming to Antarctica. Hidden within Lynn’s amazing stories of record smashing swims (many of them in absolutely frigid waters) was a fascinating fact:
Plastic water bottles weren’t invented until the late 1960s!
And it took several more years for the athletic version to come along. That meant when Lynne completed her World Record swim across the English Channel in 1972 she used Ketchup bottles filled with hot water and juice for nutrition. How crazy is that?!
So that got me thinking about my own race day nutrition. I am guilty of being a total tri-geek with the gels, bars, and crazy liquid concoctions. But my favorite mid-race treat is commonly found in my local grocer’s freezer (or likely in my five year-old neighbor’s lunchbox):
I LOVE Uncrustables!
I am convinced Uncrustables are the ideal Ironman nutrition. Each one is 220 calories of absolute goodness. They come pre-packaged for less mess, and have the perfect peanut butter to jelly ratio. Those people at Smucker’s really know what they’re doing.
I ate two Peanut Butter & Strawberry Uncrustables during my last two Ironmans and had zero stomach issues. They’re delicious, easy to carry, and just make me happy.
However, one word of caution: Uncrustables are not perfect.
Once, my colleague David anxiously opened an Uncrustable hoping to satisfy his mid-morning hunger pangs brought on by intense auditing. That’s when he found the unthinkable:
Yes, that is CRUST on an UNcrustable. It’s hard to imagine. After seeing the crust David and I immediately sent an angry email to Smucker’s. We suggested a free lifetime supply as an apology. I’m pretty sure the Uncrustable truck will be showing up at work any day now.
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If I recall, the letter went something like this:
November 16, 2010
The J.M. Smucker Company
1 Strawberry Lane
Orrville, Ohio 44667-0280
To whom in may concern:
As a loyal Uncrustables customer, I expect a certain quality when I purchase a box of Uncrustables. You can imagine my suprise when, on November 16, 2010, I opened an Uncrustable package and found a Peanut Butter & Strawberry Jam Sandwich with crust on it……
Wait, so the ketchup bottle wasn’t washed out before she put water in there? mmm.