Food and Running

I've been running a lot lately - training for my first half marathon on Sunday, November 7th.  Now one of the reasons I started running was to improve my health. For the most part this is working.  One problem running presents is food.  First off I am hungry ALL THE TIME!!!  Even after I eat a meal I feel like I need a snack.  This is fine on my long run days when I am burning close to 1,000 calories but that is usually only one day a week.  Lately I've been reading and learning about fueling before the run, during the run and after the run.  Most of these recommended foods are full of sugar and white flour (after all you don't want a lot of "fiber" before you go out for a run).  So what did I buy the other day - Pop Tarts, Gummy Bears, Fig Newtons and white bread.  These things haven't been in my house in years (okay maybe Gummy Bears for the kids).  It just seems so counter intuitive to the idea of being healthy but I'll try anything once.  On Sunday I ran 12 miles and fueled every 30 minutes on " Cliff Shot Bloks" which are basically little gel cubes full of carbs and electrolytes.  Not bad tasting but I'm not really sure what is in them. A couple of days before a race I try to eat low fiber - white flour bagels, PB&J with white bread, white flour pasta etc.  and no nuts.  For breakfast before a race I will have either a banana smoothie or a bagel with peanut butter.  About 30 minutes before I will eat Fig Newtons or a Pop Tart then fuel with the Shot Bloks during the run. After the race I always crave pizza and beer!!! So in the end I guess I really don't run to be healthy - I run to justify eating junk food!!!