| SomeWeirdSin |
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Weight: 173, 5'9.5" miles/week: 90 running, about 5 hours of biking/week as well (I'm a bike commuter). Slowly bumping up my mileage. Looking to add about 2-3 miles a week until I'm in a good spot. Don't plan on competing until fall 2013 at the earliest. No point racing unless I'm going to RACE. Running since Jan 1st. Used to do a lot of other sports where endurance was important (running as cross-training, never as competition), got a career ending injury on my shoulder. Few years of injury+surgery+recovery. Starting to love running now that it's less slow and miserable I started feeling sick/overtrained about 2 weeks ago. I was a vegetarian. I didn't want to mess with it, and I've eaten beef almost every day since then. I feel much better now. Any way to make vegetarian diet+distance training work? I eat lots of oats/almonds/spinach, but maybe it's just not doable without supplements? |
| well |
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I'm having a lot of trouble believing this post, but to answer the direct question yes it's possible to be a vegetarian and run a lot |
| Vegger |
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I bet the 90mpw includes the biking, right? I haven't had meat/fish for 9 years and have no trouble training. That said, when I first stopped eating meat I was crazy tired for about 6 weeks. Could not sleep enough and was never fully awake. Multivitamin and extra protein sorted it. Just be careful to get enough B12 and protein, you'll be fine. |
| SomeWeirdSin |
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no, the miles don't include biking. and I'm not at all clear that the over trained feeling was at all linked to anemia, I'm just making sure to cover my bases until I know more. |
| SomeWeirdSin |
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and I've been mostly vegetarian on and off for years (meat once ever 10-20 days). I generally don't order/purchase meat, but if I'm at someone's house and they serve meat for dinner I'll eat it without a problem, or if I go out to eat with a group and there aren't any reasonable veg entrees I'll eat meat. |
| Vegger |
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What's your running history? Is that your regular weight? |
| minnesnowta |
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I've been a vegetarian my entire life. I don't think that it has a negative effect on my running now that I take iron and B12. I was most likely semi-anemic throughout high school, which is why I did not run extremely fast, though now I am a walk-on DI runner with a sub-14:10 5k to my name. |
| SomeWeirdSin |
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running history: 10+ years of 20-50 miles as cross training for other sports---wrestling, rugby, etc. I was a 197 pounder in wrestling and a wing forward in rugby (kind of like an outside linebacker) over 11,000 miles of long distance hikes (Appalachian trail sort of stuff) Weight was around 160 during this stuff--my body adapts quickly to the activities I choose. had to get major reconstructive surgery to fix really bad shoulder problems. Long rehab/recover process, it was a huge fiasco I'm still overweight. I was 200 when I first started running. 155 would probably be healthy for me, maybe 150. Hoping I can re-build my muscles a bit more over the next year or two and be healthy around 140 or so |
| another weightlifting troll |
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You're in the wrong sport. |
| Vegger |
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Ok, 90mpw from 10-50 is a huge jump. Sounds like you're doing too much too soon. Build up slowly, 10% increase every week and back it off every 3rd week. 50, 55, 61 then a down week 55, 62, 69 then a down week etc Right now just take it easy for a few days, eat healthy, sleep plenty and build her up slowly. In time the weight will drop and all those miles will feel easier. And don't be afraid to race. |
| SomeWeirdSin |
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Thanks for the advice. I've actually worked up to 90 slowly bit by bit starting at the beginning of the year. A lot of stuff went wrong in the week when I started getting really sick--went form part time to full time work, got attacked by a dog and bit twice on a run, and had sleep problems, etc. This week and last I've ran 90 miles/week and felt fine. I just don't like some things about eating meat, and I want to have a better 'vegetarian+running' strategy before I go back to my normal diet IF that is even part of the cause. |
| bootsie |
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I have 20 plus years of vegan distance running experience, but the first thing I would say is that everyone's nutritional needs are different, and the most important thing is that you figure out what yours are. One of the biggest mistakes is not getting enough calories when switching from meat-based diets to plant-based diets. Because most plant-based foods are lower in calories than their meat counterparts, you must consume a significantly higher volume of food to get the same number of calories. As long as you are maintaining the kind of caloric intake that you are used to, you should be fine nutritionally because plant-based foods are generally quite good in terms of vitamins, minerals, and yes... even protein. The iron/b-12 issue is not as much of an issue if you are only going vegetarian, though it's worth it to get those numbers checked once a year, or if you go through a sustained period of low energy. For vegans, it's a bit more of a challenge, and supplements might be the way to go. I tend to juice a lot of spinach and kale, which I grow in my backyard (organically grown vegetables that aren't sand-blasted clean tend to have the soil bacteria that contains b-12), which seems to keep my levels in the normal range. |
| Querfeldein |
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I don't think your acute problems are caused by the nutrition (which you said you've held constant for a long time), but from the huge jump in milage. Have you been resting more since you first felt overtrained? In that case, I suppose your recovery is most likely not caused by the surge in beef intake, but from the rest. In any case, if you suspect anemia, why don't you get a blood test? It's a very simple procedure, and will give you a clear answer. It could also flag up other possible problems (overtraining sometimes shows in increased markers like cortisol). It is definitely possible to be vegetarian (or vegan, the milk and egg really don't add anything for runners) and a distance runner. Some take supplements, some don't, same for meat-eaters. But don't take iron supplements unless you know you need them (and how much); self-diagnosing and overdosing with iron can be harmful over time. |