Nutrition: A Key Variable in My Comeback Equation

The Maffetone Method that I am following is not just about training at the proper intensity to develop my aerobic system and to teach my body to more efficiently burn fat for fuel. It is a more holistic approach that challenges the athlete to not only re-evaluate their training methods but also to look at nutrition and stress levels as other key variables that affect his/her overall health and fitness.  If I am going to give his method a fair try, I need to embrace the whole approach, not just some of it. If I am going to bother to do this thing, I might as well do it right.

I have known for a long time that nutrition was a weak link in my training. I have made occasional half-hearted attempts at improving my diet, switching to a primarily vegetarian diet for a while, but have not really made the type of serious changes needed. Over the past few years my weight had climbed 8 to 10 lbs over my previous optimal running weight of 120.  In the past six months, my weight had gone up an additional 5 lbs, to peak at 134.8 two weeks ago, three days before my 52^nd birthday.

Part of my problem was that, like many runners, I did not want to admit that I had to give up anything to achieve my goals. I wanted to be able to eat whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, run a bit, and magically be at an optimal weight. Well, obviously that does not cut it.

As I started the section on Diet and Nutrition, a sentence in the opening paragraph really grabbed me:

 In the first section, I discussed various ways to improve aerobic function , including increasing speed, burning more body fat for energy, and various approaches to training and racing for optimal endurance performance without injury. But unless you also pay attention to diet and nutrition, many of these positive changes will be negated.*

I knew that. I think we all know it at some level, but for some reason it really sunk in this time. Why would I want to work so hard, for so many hours, in training  just to sabotage it with poor eating habits? 

Maffetone recommends that athletes get their nutrition from high quality food sources. He recommends avoiding refined carbohydrates and the overload of sugar in the American diet. He talks about carbohydrate intolerance and how it affects athletes’ performance.  He recommends a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains, quality protein sources, and good fats. He also recommends low glycemic carbs to avoid insulin reactions. Nothing new here, it is what most dieticians would recommend.

For me, though, this meant a major change to the way I was eating.  The first step was to eliminate refined sugar and carbohydrates. I had a serious addiction to bread, pasta, bagels, crackers, rice, etc. Even though some of those would be considered “healthy” by some standards, there was way, way too much refined carbohydrate in my diet. For right now, I am avoiding almost all starchy carbs and replacing them with other fruits and vegetables. I also have upped my protein intake considerably.  I made the decision to eat meat again. (I may change that at a later date, but for now it is what I am doing).

I also had a serious hidden addiction to sugar. I did not know I had an addiction to sugar. We didn’t even have sugar in the house (we use Splenda for everything), but when I looked closely, there it was. Seriously, people, they put it in EVERYTHING these days. You never realize how much sugar is in things until you start looking – and how hard it is to avoid it when trying to.

My diet is pretty stripped down for now. I am eating pretty much just vegetables, fruits, yogurts, some beans and legumes, eggs, meat, and cheese. I will eventually add in some low glycemic carbohydrates and whole grains, but for now I am leaving those out of my diet. I am keeping my carbs under 150 grams a day.

Based on my previous tries at this type of diet, I thought I would be hungry all the time. There was a key difference this time, though. I decided not to worry about fat or calories. Before I had always gone low carb, low calorie, and low fat, and ended up hungry and miserable. This time, I didn’t worry about fat or calories and just concentrated on the refined carbs and sugar.

I got off to a rocky start. At the end of my first full day of eating this way, I got a headache. It was a migraine and was the most excruciating one of these I had ever had in my life.  I couldn’t do anything but lie in bed and wish I was dead. After about an hour of that, I got nauseous. About a half hour later, I was throwing up. Exhausted and miserable, I finally went to sleep.

When I woke up the next morning, the headache was gone. I decided to keep going with the eating plan -- unless the headache came back. It did not. And, amazingly I was not feeling starved and deprived as I expected I would. In fact, over the next few days, I was feeling really good, not focused on food, and full of energy.  What was also amazing is that I was coming in consistently below my calorie goal each day without even trying.  I am now two weeks into this form of eating and have lost 3.8 pounds.

What is even more amazing to me is that I am not bonking on my runs (something that had happened when I tried lower carbohydrate approaches in the past). One of the things Maffetone says is that the slower running encourages the body to burn a higher percentage of fat and a lower percentage of glycogen for fuel. He also says that adjusting the diet helps with this. It appears to be working.

The big test will come this weekend in the 12 hour “race” I have entered this weekend, the Whispering Pines 12 Hour Run/Walk  I intend to keep my heart rate in my training zone for as long as I can keep going.  For fuel, I intend to use fruits and honey, along with no sugar electrolyte drinks.  I am anxious to see how it goes. I will report back.

Have any of you ever tried eliminating refined carbohydrates and sugar? How did it work for you?

* Maffetone, Philip (2010-09-22). The Big Book of Endurance Training and Racing (p. 200). Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

Vegetarian Athlete Part Two: How Is It Going?

In my previous post  I explained that I had finally decided to address my problems with weight and nutrition in relation to my running .  My decision to take meaningful action on this had been brought on partially through my own observations, but had been pushed over the edge by reading Scott Jurek's book Eat and Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness. I decided to focus more on the quality of the food I was putting in my body and to give a vegetarian diet a try.

Now I am about seven weeks into the change. In the past seven weeks, I have eaten meat only twice, both times when eating out (a steak salad and some chili that contained meat). I have drastically changed my food choices and am now eating a diet that is almost exclusively vegetables, fruits, and whole grains, with some dairy and eggs mixed in. I have drastically reduced my consumption of diet soda, replacing it with iced green tea. I have eliminated nearly all junk food from my diet (if you don't count frozen yogurt or apple chips as junk food).  How is it going?  Pretty well. Here are some of my observations:

1. It is easier than I thought it would be to make the changes. If a person is going to make this type of change, summer is the best time to do it. There are so many fresh fruits and vegetables available at this time of year, that it is easy to forget that the meal does not include meat. It is also easy for me to choose salads for lunch and dinner when it is hot like it has been. Fresh fruit for a snack always seems like a good idea in the summer, with the variety of yummy choices available. I don't know if this will change in the fall, but for now that aspect is working.

I don't miss meat nearly as much as I thought I would. Interestingly, I don't crave chicken at all. I used to eat a lot of chicken, so I was surprised about this one. A few times early in the process I did crave steak (as evidenced by the steak salad), but even that has gone away. Truthfully, any cravings I get now are normally brought on by burger commercials, and all I have to do is think about how bad most of those are for me or how the advertisers are manipulating me, and that is enough to put that thought to the back of my mind. I have already decided that if I do eat meat, it is going to be quality stuff, like lean steak or pork chops, but so far I haven't really wanted either of those enough to actually have some. The meat cravings tend to be very short-lived. The diet soda cravings are way more intense for me. What is it about carbonation that makes it so addictive?

2. It is fun to learn a new way of eating. I like to learn things and try new things, so I am actually having fun with this. I am learning about new foods that I have not done a lot with before, such as tofu, tempeh, quinoa and other grains, and am trying new recipes. I am also learning how to use vegetables I am familiar with in new ways.  

From Incredible Smoothies: How to make a  Green Smoothie

Last night I made portobello pizzas, not as a substitute for real pizza, but as a fun new way to work with portobello mushrooms. A few days ago, I made a creamy cauliflower and mushroom soup from scratch. Thanks to a recipe posted by Dr. Tom (of fixing my IT band fame), I made eggplant subs. I have also tried my first "green" smoothies, using kale and spinach, respectively. Some of the stuff, I have not been crazy about and will not try again (not a fan of kale in the smoothie, but the spinach was surprisingly good). Most of the things I have tried I have really liked.

My Little Garden

An added bonus is that I have found several new and interesting resources. I am a magazine junkie, and I am delighted right now with Vegetarian Times. I have also found a new blog that I really enjoy, Closet Cooking, which has some great recipes. This is not an all vegetarian site, but there are many, many recipes there that are vegetarian or which can be easily adapted to be so. I have also planted a little garden to help supply some of the vegetables that we use the most. 

3. It does seem to be helping with inflammation and energy levels. This is a hard one to prove because it is so subjective. I can say very confidently that the diet changes have made a difference with the inflammation. I am nowhere near as sore as I was six weeks ago. The soreness after short and easy workouts is almost completely gone, and the soreness after hard workouts is greatly reduced.  I have not had to use NSAIDs, except for after the trail marathon at Keyes Peak.

In terms of energy levels, this is a tougher one. I do seem to  have more energy, but that could also be because my stress level from work is currently down. I do seem to be sleeping better most of the time, but I am still having middle age hormonal issues that sometimes interfere there. As a whole, this aspect is slightly better. 

4.  My weight is coming down.  Since I made the diet change, I have not been counting calories. I have pretty much been eating all I want, but trying to make better choices when I do. I am still eating six meals a day, and my portions do tend to be a little out of control, but because of the food choices I am making (more fruits and vegetables), I am still losing weight. I have lost 3-4 pounds in the last six weeks. That is despite having developed a serious frozen yogurt habit in the past week or so.

5. Making better food choices is not as convenient. The one drawback to this change so far is that it does take a little more thought and planning than my previous diet did. We are eating a lot less packaged and processed food. Making meals from scratch, even simple meals, takes a little more time and some planning. I think part of this is a learning curve, though. In the beginning, it seemed like it was a lot harder to "throw together" a meal or figure out what to have for lunch or dinner. Now that I am a little more used to things, it is getting easier. Another aspect of the "not as convenient" is that we shop more often, especially for fresh fruit and vegetables.

We also are doing a lot less "fast food."  Despite the fact that many fast food restaurants now boast "healthy" choices, these are mostly salads, and they are way overpriced and often not that good. Fast food has been pretty much reduced to either bean and rice burritos or veggie delight subs (which are actually quite good and only $5 at Subway). 

As a whole, I am pretty satisfied that I am on track with the nutrition and the food choices I am making. This brings it down to the last two questions on all runners' minds: Is it helping my running? Is it going to make me faster?

I think the answer to these questions is yes, but it is a little early to tell for sure. I did have a trail marathon PR last week, but I am not sure if that is diet related or course related. I am lighter, which should result in some improvement in times. My training is going very well. The lessened soreness is doing a lot to help with the regular training, and I think I am running better because of it. I will know more as time passes, but for now, I feel that I am moving in the right direction. I feel that this piece of my overall performance is starting to come into line with my training. Hopefully the race results over the next few months will bear this out. I will keep you posted with updates.

Related Articles:

Vegetarian Athlete?: Part 1 Realization Strikes
Race Report: Keyes Peak Trail Marathon

Vegetarian Athlete?: Part 1 Realization Strikes

For a long time I have been ignoring an elephant in the room related to my running. I have been doing the training, fighting the aging, but ignoring one aspect that was having a major impact on my performance: nutrition. Actually the nutrition problem has two parts, weight and fuel, and I had pretty much been in denial on both fronts.

Weight is a tricky issue with runners. With all the scare over eating disorders and disordered eating in our society, it is a risky thing to say that a key to improving running performance is losing weight, but it is true. Weight is related to distance running performance. From a physics perspective, speed boils down mostly to what it does in all sports: a power to weight ratio. In fact, VO2max, a key physiological variable related to running performance, is measured in milligrams per kilogram of body weight. The easiest way to change the VO2 max is to change the weight side of the equation.

The truth is that for maximal performance in running, a person needs to be what is considered below average in weight for our society. Studies of elite distance runners versus sub-elite runners shows that the major factor separating them is not mileage or training, but weight. An interesting article on this was printed in Peak Performance a while back. There is also a book called Racing Weight: How to Get Lean for Peak Performance which explores this more deeply (and includes 9 pages of references to scholarly publications to support the discussion). The fact is that to perform optimally in race situations, one needs to be at an optimal racing weight.

Anecdotally I have found this to be true. When I was running my best and set PRs at all distances, I was about eight pounds lighter than I am right now, and about eleven pounds lighter than I have been for most of the past several years.

As I was contemplating this idea and realizing that instead of training more (and risking injury), perhaps I should take a look at the losing weight side of the equation. About this time, I read the preview chapter from Scott Jurek's book Eat and Run  that had been printed in Trail Runner magazine.

That article pushed me over the edge. It made me realize that not only did I need to get this weight thing under control, but that I also needed to stop trying to get my body to perform like a race car on poor quality fuel. As I read Scott's information and then started to do some research on vegetarian/vegan athletes, I was intrigued. I was surprised at what a "hot-button" issue this is in the athletic and nutrition community, with very strong opinions on both sides. 

One of the problems that I have experienced for many years is extreme muscle soreness. I am not talking the typical delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) that one gets the day or two after a hard workout. I expect and gladly accept that. I am talking about muscle soreness that would come on immediately after even an easy run and last most of the day.  I could do an easy three to four mile run with friends, head home in the car, and be as sore as finishing a marathon by the time I had to get out of the car to walk into the house. It was ridiculous. I talked to a few doctors about it, but none of them had any idea why this should be so. I just resigned myself to living with soreness.

What I read in the information from Scott and other athletes, such as triathlete Brendan Brazier, was that most of the vegetarian/vegan athletes mentioned improved recovery and reduced inflammation and soreness as benefits of a diet change. That was the final straw. I was willing to give anything a try that might help with the soreness. That a switch to a vegetarian diet might also help move me to an ideal weight now became a secondary consideration to the idea that I might not have to be sore all the time.

Thus, about six weeks ago I started on the path toward becoming a vegetarian athlete. I am not quite ready to go all out with the vegan thing, and I am also not ready to be what I call one of those "crazy" vegetarians who goes into convulsions if meat is in the same room that they are. Plus, I am practical and cheap (we still had a few really good pork chops and steaks in the freezer).  However, for the past six weeks I have been on primarily a vegetarian diet. I can count the number of times I have had meat on one hand.  I have also started to become much more conscious of the idea of food as fuel, which has changed the way I look at all types of food. 

So," how is it going?" you may ask. Are you getting any of the benefits you hoped for?  Is it hard to do? Do you feel deprived? Well to get those answers you will just have to wait for Part 2.

Related articles:
Book Review: Scott Jurek's Eat and Run