Let’s talk about Pop-Tarts.

Pop-Tarts were a fun treat for me as a kid once in a very long while.

And then I went a very long while without ever having them.

It wasn’t until very recently that I had Pop-Tarts on a consistent basis.

I guess a lot of runners use them as a pre-run fuel…but I didn’t even know that really when I started getting them as a snack.

I found them to be substantial post-run, or a few hours after a long run when I was craving something to eat, as I usually do.

The funny thing is, totally separately without us talking about it, my friend Kevin did too.

I only discovered this last summer I think - or maybe not even until we were both in Chicago when he was running the marathon.

He had a box of very sweet Pop-Tarts in the room. They were like strawberry shake or something.

I hadn’t had very many sweet flavors - I stuck to the cherry or strawberry (non-shake variety) that I remembered from my youth.

But lately I have expanded my palette and have tried different ones, like the Frosted S’Mores, which you see pictured above (I’m a sucker for S’Mores-flavored anything), or the Frosted Chocolate Chip, which taste like a Pop-Tart cookie.

(I also watched the Pop-Tarts Bowl college football game this year in its entirety - last year I only saw bits and pieces - and I fell in love with the brand. Great entertainment. If you aren’t familiar with the Pop-Tarts shenanigans during a bowl game, you have to tune in next year. It was great and I’m confident they’ll make it even better each time.)

I still have so much to explore with Pop-Tarts. The box has all the suggestions about how to eat them. I usually toast Pop-Tarts, because that’s what I remember doing years ago.

The Frosted Chocolate Chip are delicious just eating them as-is right out of the box.

But they also say you can freeze Pop-Tarts. I had never considered that!

I have lots of flavors to try out too…

But you can be sure all summer long as I train for the Chicago Marathon I’ll be snacking on a variety of Pop-Tarts…and maybe I’ll even be cooling down on a hot summer day with a frozen Pop-Tart treat.