High mileage runners: What is your typical diet like?

Well, I am not old enough to be carrying out 80 mile weeks, but from the past experience of myself and others I believe a plant based diet to provide optimal energy. Take a look at runners like Scott Jurek. He holds the 24 hour american record, and he eats a plant based diet. Michael Arnstein isn't too shabby either, and he eats a raw plant based diet, which is pretty quick to prepare, and certainly isn't difficult.

Assuming this thread becomes popular, I will not be surprised to see some angry replies to people that are opposed to a plant based diet. It's easy to forget your own biases, especially when it comes to arguing in the favor of something you enjoy doing, such as eating meat.

If you are truly interested, I suggest you keep an open mind. Do some research. You may be surprised at what you find.

Typically my diet is a carb based breakfast cereal, with milk and sugar. For lunch i'll have some tortellini with a chicken component to it. For an afternoon snack i'll have a can of chicken. Then for dinner I'll have meat and vegetables. I also take an electrolyte supplement, some calcium/magnesium tablets, and iron tablets. And to wash it all down I take vitamin C tablets also.

Mileage: 110-120 mpw

Weight: 132- 138lbs depending on what phase I'm in

Height: 5ft 10

Jurek does not hold the American 24 hour record.

I run high mileage and eat garbage. I have also beaten Jurek in races.

I've come to hate when people use professional or extreme athletes as the model to follow. You are counting out one huge point: Jurek is a freak of nature. You could put thousands of runners on a plant based diet and they would not be able to win Western States 100 six times (or run a hundred miles within 24 hours at all). Its just the same as saying "I run the 800, Nick Symmonds runs long runs, therefore, I should run long runs." I have no idea if NS runs long runs but that logic has absolutely no value to the LetsRun community.

gads wrote:

Typically my diet is a carb based breakfast cereal, with milk and sugar. For lunch i'll have some tortellini with a chicken component to it. For an afternoon snack i'll have a can of chicken. Then for dinner I'll have meat and vegetables. I also take an electrolyte supplement, some calcium/magnesium tablets, and iron tablets. And to wash it all down I take vitamin C tablets also.

Mileage: 110-120 mpw

Weight: 132- 138lbs depending on what phase I'm in

Height: 5ft 10

What gender are you? That doesn't seem like very much food at all for so much work.

As an aside, lol, if someone has to ask what gender you are from your height and weight.....

mitchellmac2 wrote:

Well, I am not old enough to be carrying out 80 mile weeks, but from the past experience of myself and others I believe a plant based diet to provide optimal energy. Take a look at runners like Scott Jurek. He holds the 24 hour american record, and he eats a plant based diet. Michael Arnstein isn't too shabby either, and he eats a raw plant based diet, which is pretty quick to prepare, and certainly isn't difficult.

While not necessarily opposed to vegetarian/vegan diets in general, serious caution should be taken when adopting one if you are serious about high end athletics.

Many vegetarians will claim you can acquire the same nutrition (ie protein, iron etc) from plants, however the fact is that many of these nutrients are very poorly absorbed from plants. As well, many meat alternatives are a bit "low density" in regards to calories, meaning you will have to eat a lot in order to get enough for high mileage.

It would seem that physiologically, some athletes (ie Jurek) are able to handle this while many others are not. I used to be vegetarian, but stopped because I could not be healthy while following this diet. Despite consuming more than adequate amounts of iron from plant sources, and later supplementation, I could not consistently maintain proper iron levels. I also realized after reintroducing meat that I had been feeling like garbage most of the time (as a note to all the angry vegs out there, I did my research and my diet was nutritionally sound).

If you (or other readers) are considering this, please reflect on why it is you want to be vegetarian/vegan. While not true of all athlete-vegetarians, I've noticed many athletes choose this lifestyle as an extension an OCD personality where they feel they must eliminate all "fat person foods", under which they have classified meat/animal products, or in other cases to create a socially acceptable mask for an eating disorder. If this is you, please realize that a moderate, healthy amount of meat/animal products is good for you!

And like mitchellmac2 wrote, do your research. Get frequent blood tests, especially in the beginning. Supplement appropriately, and be aware that you may have to eventually make a choice between vegetarianism and running if things don't work.

kenyan diet works best.

I am a garbage eater.

Probably 1-2 microwave pizzas everyday. A bunch of chocolate milk. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Boiled Peanuts. Candy. Nutty Bars. Doritos. Cookies. Ramen Noodles. Microwavable BBQ.

Oh, and I feel GREAT everyday.

Yeah, you're such a stud dude.

Yeah, you're such a stud dude.

Mate, I've been an ovo-lacto vegetarian for about one year now, and I've felt great since dropping meat from my diet. I did see the doc to get some blood tests at one point, but everything was within normal range. I think the challenge is adequate caloric intake. I eat a lot of oatmeal, tofu, soy, granola, flax/hemp products, veggies, yogurt, eggs, and quinoa/brown rice. All nutritionally sound, but not enough calories overall. I've found that by adding some mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks, it is easy to make up for caloric deficiencies. YMMV...

Well, Honestly, I've been a vegetarian for 8 years, and I've been a vegan for 1. The results are fantastic, I have so much energy, and it really helps my training go through so much better!

I appreciate your opinion, but I must counter you on one thing. You've said some nutrients are poorly absorbed from plants, and that just not true. The only supplement I take is iron and I only take that as a performance enhancer. In my past blood test on the diet, I have been perfectly healthy will all nutrients. I am not deficient in anything, nor am I close. The truth is, there are no nutrients that are better provided by animal foods than by plant foods with the possible exception of B12.

On the other hand, animal foods are lacking in SOOOO many nutrients compared to the plant foods. It's the small unknown nutrients in plant foods that keep you free from disease, and full of energy.

On the subject of runners like Jurek and Arnstein, both of them noticed a SIGNIFICANT improvement having adopted the diet.

There is one truth to what you're saying however. Eating a plant based diet is NOT, just not eating animal foods. Eating a plant based diet requires eating a TON of food to get sufficient calories. It certainly requires dedication, but when the dedication is applied, you'll be AMAZED what it does for your performance.

I take care to eat very healthy. 3 meals a day and 0-2 snacks. A lot of fruit. Only whole grains. A lot of yogurt. A little bit of nuts.

Even when I'm running a bit over 20 miles most days, unless I watch my diet, I start gaining fat. 5-8 135.

"It's the small unknown nutrients in plant foods that keep you free from disease".

Umm yeah, that doesn't sound the least bit crazy. I could swallow the idea as an extra defense but free of disease.....not a chance.

140 mile a week runner wrote:

I take care to eat very healthy. 3 meals a day and 0-2 snacks. A lot of fruit. Only whole grains. A lot of yogurt. A little bit of nuts.

Even when I'm running a bit over 20 miles most days, unless I watch my diet, I start gaining fat. 5-8 135.

Jesus. Is this a troll? Whether you're male or female (assuming female?), you should start doing some form of resistance exercise if you're seriously gaining "fat" based on that.

I know some high mileage people that look fairly decent, but the responders to this thread all sound like a bunch of skinny-fat dweebs.....

Start lifting weights or something.

A balanced diet of protien, carbs and pu$$y

When I ran high mileage I ate whatever food I could get my hands on.

Donuts, fruit, meat, pizza, pasta, deserts, vegetables, beer. It sounds pretty bad but in the 1970's and 80's there were only two food groups I recognized. Meats and Carbs (which included fats ).

Im a guy, its a case of portion size.

Breakfast is 500 calories

Lunch is about 1200 calories

Snack is only 250

Dinner is 1000ish

I havent included and energy drinks or anything in there either.

So its actually a pretty decent ammount of food!

I run 50-60 miles a week. Not high mileage. I eat whatever I want...eggs, cookies, cheese, chicken parm, pasta, lots of wine. I just east whatever I want. I'm big by runner standards, but I can still run pretty fast....5'7'', 130lbs. If I focus too much on my diet I start to hate running/competing, so I decided it was best for me to not worry about it, race, and enjoy running/racing. I'm old, never injured and can still run decent times. I think being well rounded is the way to go.