Taking It Easy

Opie napping on my jogging shoe

I have decided not to keep increasing the distance for my long runs for awhile.  Pain set in when I ran over ll miles.  And, my goal is to be pain free.  Last week I was scheduled to do a long run and I kept it under nine miles.  I felt great.  I ran 1 min run and 30 second walk the whole way.  This change was hard to get used to (versus the 3:30 run 30 sec walk I was doing).  But Jeff Galloway suggested that my pain was due to running too fast.  He was right, slowing down helped with the pain.  I was not trying to run fast before, it felt natural to me, but obviously my joints could not handle it.  This week, I ran every other day about 45 minutes each time and ran one slightly longer run at 52 minutes.  I am in a lot less pain than I was a few weeks ago. My pain is all on my right side in my quad and IT band. On my days off running, I am walking more.  We just got a new dog, Opie who is helping motivate me to walk!  As you can tell from the picture, he is not a big runner. 

Plant Based Athletes

One of my favorite quotes is from Pam Popper, PhD "you build muscle in the gym not from your plate."

One of the myths out there is that you must eat meat to build muscle and to sustain you in endurance training.  People are so fearful of carbs, but carbs are what give you energy so that your brain will function and carbs sustain you through your workouts, it is those workouts that will in turn build muscle.  (And, of course burn the fat away.)  But, when I say carbs, I am specifically talking about whole food, plant based carbs.  Sweet potatoes, organic corn, rice, quinoa, millet, oats, squash, beans, peas, fruit, etc.  Not the standard American diet of white bread, white pasta, processed and fried everything.

Eat whole grains, whole foods and enjoy your carbs!  Eating a variety of whole, plant based food, and eating until you are satisfied will ensure you get enough of all the essential nutrients.  (Yes, it might be wise to occasionally, supplement with B12 and vitamin D)  As an athlete, you do need more protein, carbs, etc than the average person.  But it is about needing more calories in total not just specific nutrients.  As you workout more, you burn more calories, and you will need to eat more.  If you stay focused on eating a variety of whole, plant based food and eating until you are satisfied, you will naturally be eating more protein and all the nutrients that your body needs.

This blog post just hit my email today: Where Do You Get Your Protein?

As I am not a nutritionist or a Doctor,   I will not pontificate further but below are a few examples of plant based athletes.  I look to these people as inspiration.  They all eat a plant based diet and achieve extraordinary physical accomplishments from ultra marathons to the Tour De France.  Read what they have to say about being fueled by plants:

Ultraman- Rich Roll
Tour De France Cyclist - David Zabriskie
Triathlete - Rip Esselstyn
Vegan bodybuilder - Robert Cheeke
Professional Triathlete - Brendan Brazier
Newly converted - Lance Armstrong
Other - No Meat Athlete

Not going as planned

March 14th I ran 11 miles successfully.  According to my plan, I was going to run 13 miles two weeks later on March 28th.  (My training plan is to increase mileage every other week)  The week in between I took it easy. I could definitely feel things tighten up and some soreness after my 11 mile run.  I ran 3 times during that week, 30 - 45 minutes each run.  March 28th came around,  I set my route, rested the day before and felt ready.  That morning getting the girls ready for school took longer than expected, so I started later.  I had a field trip to chaperone, so I decided I would run 11.5 - 12 miles instead of 13 due to my time constraint.

I did a 3:30min run / 30sec walk the entire time.  The weather was perfect, I felt great.  At 40 minutes, I had that feeling, "hum, not sure I am going to make it the whole way."  Then at an hour, my thought turned to, "wow, I will skip the field trip and do the full 13 miles."  Then 1 hour 15 minutes the pain began.  My knees had a deep ache, my hips were hurting, and I could feel my IT band from my hip to the outside of my knee.  I slowed my pace down.  Despite the pain, I was kind of in a zone, had my rhythm down and did not want to stop.  Mentally I was focused on the present moment, energized, and my lungs felt great.  I was not out of breath, if it were not for the joint pain I think I could have run much farther.  But at 1 hour, 51 minutes I stopped.  I definitely was feeling pain from my hips to my knees.

I took Advil for a couple of days, I had a massage the next day, and she really worked on my ITBand, and hips, but the pain continued for almost a week.  I did a couple of short runs and several walks during the next week.  Finally after 10 days, I did an hour run and felt good.  But the pain has me completely freaked out!  I have spent so much time in pain and had to stop running completely for long periods of time, several times in my life.  It brought me back to my real goal - it is more about being able to run every week, and with my girls than the distance I run.

During this time, both girls ran in a little race at their school.  It again reminded me that I want to run with the girls and continue to be a "running" role model for them!

Look at these smiles: (Ryder, my youngest daughter is on the left in the first picture, behind her good friend)

Sierra

I am going to stick with 9 - 11 miles right now for my long runs every other week.  And, take these two smiling faces out on some short runs around the park.