3 weeks to marathon and musings on nutrition

Workouts:

Monday: 2.31 mile (19 min) AM run, bike to class and to lab.

Tuesday: 4.7 mile (43 min) AM run, stomach hurt/felt unusually fatigued.

Wednesday: Bike to class and to lab, 3.4 mile (33 min) PM run.

Thursday: Feeling fatigued, rest day, tried to walk up extra flights of stairs.

Friday: Same as Thursday.

Saturday: First 20 mile run!  Didn’t go too badly, the last 20 minutes were tough (as usual) but doable.  Took a 3 hour nap afterwards.

Sunday: Played soccer

Musings:

                I’ve been thinking a lot about nutrition lately (even more than usual).  One of the training books I’m reading recommends a “Paleo for Athletes” diet, which basically means eating lots of whole fruits and vegetables, lean protein with every meal, and limiting starches and refined sugars to during and after workouts, when your body is best suited to replenishing glycogen stores.  This diet is compatible with foods that I know I don’t tolerate very well (wheat, dairy and sugar) and consequently try to limit.  These are also the foods I love (bread, ice cream, desserts…) so I’ve had a hard time successfully limiting.  I understand most of the reasoning behind this diet; it cuts out processed foods and emphasizes a whole foods approach.  You give your body high Glycemic Index carbs when it needs it, but not at times when it doesn’t.  Removing dairy and increasing fruits and vegetables makes your blood more “alkaline,” which helps you retain muscle mass and bone density as you age.  Overall this eating plan seems well balanced, maintainable and supported by basic research.   

                Removing meat from my diet is another option I’m considering.  One of my best friends (who’s also training for Ironman CdA) recently mentioned that he’s thinking of becoming a vegetarian, and recommended that I watch the documentaries Forks Over Knives and Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.  These documentaries are really interesting; I would recommend them to anyone who suspects that their diet might not be ideal (which is probably pretty much everyone, including me).  FOK talked about the ramifications of our highly processed, meat-centric diets.  I’d heard about the connection between meat and cardiovascular disease, but hadn’t heard as much about the connection between various types of cancer and animal protein (including the proteins found in dairy).  I’m going to do some more research into it, but it seems as though minimal amounts of animal protein don’t have the same detrimental effects as the amount found in most American diets.  I already don’t eat much dairy (I don’t like cheese unless it’s on pizza), and I have one or two 4 oz servings of meat a day.  I’ve been trying to only eat meat that is grass-fed and free range, or sustainably-caught wild fish, and since these tend to be more expensive, eating less of them is appealing.  So I think I’ll just try to replace a little more meat with plant protein, but continue to eat it.

                Overall, I’m just going to aim for moderation.  I know I can’t cut out all desserts or breads or steaks, but I can reduce my intake of those while increasing fruits and vegetables.  This way I’ll get plenty of nutrients and naturally find my way to an optimal race weight, while still enjoying life.

Motivation: