Hi Everyone. Welcome back to the Miles for Memories blog!

March brought us nicer weather and more daylight as we sprung forward with Daylight Savings Time. When I was brainstorming ideas for this month’s blog, I was curious if Daylight Savings looked the same in Finland as it does in the US. I learned that Finland does participate in Daylight Savings time; however it is observed on the last Sunday in March (consistent with other European countries), which is three weeks after Daylight Savings Time in the United States.

I also found it interesting that because northern parts of Finland are located within the Arctic Circle, there are parts of Finland that experience continuous darkness or daylight for several weeks or months at a time. Helsinki is located in southern Finland, so sunrise & sunset times are comparable to what we experience here in the US. Lapland, Finland, however, is located within the Arctic Circle and experiences days of continuous darkness in the winter months & days of continuous sunlight in the summer months. Below are some sunrise & sunset times that I personally found interesting.

Switching gears, it’s time to spring into training updates. With training scheduled to start in late April, my sister, Sarah, and I were recently talking about marathon training nutrition…. Sarah is a nutritional guru and was telling me about diet changes she’s already made to prepare for training. Sarah has always been active – she regularly runs and goes to CrossFit – and she consumes approx. 1,700 calories/day. In anticipation of the start of training, she has increased her calorie intake to 2,200 calories/day with a focus on carbs, protein & fat.

This convo was pretty eye opening for me. I eat relatively healthy, but I honestly don’t know if I’m getting the right amount of nutrients on a daily basis. In an attempt to follow Sarah’s lead and really focus on fueling my body well during this training period, I asked Sarah what a random Monday during marathon training would look like for her (meal-prep wise). She shared the following:

• Breakfast: English muffin & Oikos Green Protein yogurt with blueberries
• Mid-Morning Snack: Light / low fat cheese stick, hard boiled egg & 1 packet instant oatmeal
• Lunch: We have a coach at our CrossFit gym who does meal prep services so I buy my lunches directly from her. They contain: 4oz of protein (either steak tips, ground beef, chicken, salmon or shrimp), potatoes or cauliflower rice, and veggies
• Afternoon snack: Protein bar (I need something chocolatey) and a handful of cheese-it’s, crackers, or baked lays. (Need something salty).
• Sports Run snack: Fairlife chocolate protein milk or water with lemon collagen peptides, clementine oranges and a handful of pretzels
• Dinner: 6 oz protein, a veggie & a starch (potatoes or rice)
• Dessert: Oikos Greek vanilla protein yogurt with some chocolate chips

Sarah and I were having this convo on Easter morning as Sarah was getting ready to host Easter dinner for 25 family members. Mid-conversation, Sarah casually pulled homemade Finnish coffee bread out of the oven. I want to give Sarah a quick shout-out because I honestly don’t know how she does all that she does. She is a mother of four, works full-time, is a very good cook & baker, is very active & does so much more. She makes all that she does look effortless, even though I know it requires a lot of work behind the scenes.

I’m very grateful to have a sister like Sarah, who inspires so many people on a daily basis… and I’m very excited to embark on this marathon journey together starting in late April (in 21 days)!

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Next up: Alzheimer’s 101: Stages of Alzheimer’s

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