Meat, its what's for dinner

 

Eat one of these and call me in the morning.

I started reading a book called The Butcher and The Vegetarian and had a realization. The author was talking about her symptoms of fatigue and inability to lose weight no matter what she did. She was a life long vegetarian and the solution: Eat Meat. The book is delightful thus far but it also made me  realize that I had been forgetting something very essential to my own success. I was writing a post on my other blog but I think the portion that follows really fits here as well...

From the delicious journey:

For the last few months of training and life, I have been working incredibly hard. I have run numerous 100+ mile weeks, ate healthy, been smart and on top of things. And yet, I have not really been feeling good. If anything, I feel like I am back to where I was in the twilight days of my veganism. Training hard, eating healthfully and tired as a corpse and not seeing results that my training and diet would indicate. I realized then that I needed to start eating meat again. I did, I felt better. Wahoo. Problem gone! Energy returned. Training gains achieved. I have the type of constitution that thrives off a diet consisting of fruits, vegetables and meats (and fats) and all parts of that are necessary for me.

But somewhere over the past year, I started eating less meat again. I would eat meat when dining out or special occasions, but slowly and surely meat dropped out of my diet for the most part until I was having it only 2-3 days a week. And lo and behold, for the last few months (since November) I have been feeling like dirt. My energy is low, my body composition is not changing (for the better) and my training gains appear lack luster. Today I realized that in an effort to work towards my training goals that I have been more strict about my diet during the week and basically eliminated meat during the week. My logic was poor on this choice as somehow I decided that regular meat consumption just meant added calories to my diet, when the fact of the matter is, I eat less when I eat meat (because I am satisfied) and that is just plain dumb anyways. I eat meat on the weekends or if I dine out, but in comparison to my needs from training, it is not enough, especially in the last month. I don't think I need a lot, but I need to have a modest portion on a nearly daily basis. If that means I need to swap out something else to make room on my plate, so be it. It WILL make a huge difference. No wonder I feel so good at the beginning of the week and crap by the weekend, I have eat meat on the weekends and not during the week. Thus, I need to eat meat and be good about including it in my diet.

For those of you who aren't familiar, I was a vegan in addition to being gluten free but ended up in really poor health. I discuss this topic in previous blog postings on my food website Fast Foodie cooks, this post and this post discusses the above further. And I think they illustrate that I have not and do not make the above statements in an unconsidered way.

Race Weight

 

A bite of gluten free muffin. Not a quandry.

Over the years I have been blogging, I have posted at least once a year about race weight- mine, diets, weight loss, "looking like a runner", etc. As the first major efforts of the year are creeping closer and closer, I am again thinking about it. Most of the thinking has been prompted by reading the book, Race Weight by Matt Fitzgerald. This book is geared towards endurance athletes and focuses on more than just beginners.

As someone who knows a good deal about nutrition, healthy eating and food, it is nice to read a book that does offer simple steps/ practices to move towards race weight. The book isn't touting any certain type of diet, though it is in line with what I already believe and practice, a very Michael Pollen-esqe "eat real food" type recommendation. It is informational yes, but in the end it runs me into the same road blocks/questions/conundrums that I consider my biggest hurdles in achieving my race weight.

Currently, as of this morning, I am about 5-6 lbs over my lightest race weight. I could go as much as 7-8lbs down and still be within a healthy range for me. If I am being honest, I would definitely like to achieve something like that weight this season preferably before WS100. I also don't want to sacrifice health and training and such just to be lighter. Fitzgerald says, your ideal race weight is the amount you weigh on the day you run your PR. I care less about the number, than I do about how I feel on race day. Weight is, ultimately, an arbitrary number.

Fitzgerald argues that the best way to lose weight is to increase your training. I agree it is much easier to run 5 more miles (and not up calories accordingly) than to cut 500 additional calories out of your diet when you are in training (at least for me it is). The really big roadblock that I continually run into and did with this book is: calories in to lose weight, but eating enough not trigger hormonal imbalances, muscle loss and fat gain. I have been in the position where (when vegan) I wasn't getting enough calories, got hypo-thyroid and ending up gaining fat/losing muscle because my calories in/calories out were too far out of balance. Thus, I find myself when training hard constantly wondering if I am eating too much (to lose weight) or eating too little for the mileage I put in.

I have had my BMR checked and would wager based on my weight that I burn, maybe 90kcals/mile. Thus, on an average weekday during February in which I have been doing at least 100mpw, that I run (say 20 miles over 2 runs) and work (seated/computer) that I would be burning about 3500 calories per day. My average calories in (weekdays) is about 2400-2800 calories. In theory that means, I should lose a bit of weight each week. But that is not happening. Which means, I am either overeating (which is what I am always convinced I am doing, but not necessarily true) or undereating and freaking my body out. Trying to figure out which one, could drive you insane. Instead, I just try to listen to my body and my hunger. I eat an incredibly healthy diet, so I am not really concerned about the quality of my diet at all.

I know that I could be like some of the elite athletes in the book/that I know/that I have been at one point or another and be completely rigid about my diet. But that is the second roadblock I run into. Do I want to be so strict about my diet that I don't enjoy my life? Do I want to abstain from wine with friends, coconut ice cream out of the container after a long run and trying new things at restaurants or going on weekend trips designed around all the places we can eat? I don't. Being overly obsessed with food and weight is unhealthy and alienates you from everyone and everything. I don't think that running is a free pass by any means, but I think moderation is completely fine.

I don't like to even thinking about race weight or weight at all, but as Fitzgerald discusses, we think about it as elite endurance athletes because it makes a difference. We can feel it. I am less worried about achieving a certain number than I am about feeling a certain way about my body.

Thus, as the season thrusts itself upon me, I am devising strategies to encourage my body towards race weight or better described, race body feeling,  while being happy, healthy and fueled enough to do the good hard work. At the same time, I am remembering that the things I will remember most about my training days are the fun I had with friends running then refueling, not how fat or fit I felt on that day.

 

Post run treats with speedsters at Flying Apron

Tempus Fugit

 

Mile 55- Western States 2009. Photo by Gareth Mackay

It's feels like just yesterday that this photo was taken as we moved Krissy through Michigan Bluff, mile 55 at States. I can feel the sweltering heat of the day and the crazy energy of the race. It's been, what 2/3 of a year? There are now 134 days left until States. It's just weird where time goes.

This is not a Western States posting though. I am as excited about Western States as I am for any of my other races. I want to run well, challenge myself in both training and racing and enjoy the heck out of myself.  

It is funny to reflect on how quickly things change. While I feel like I have just been in true "training mode" since coming back from Hawaii, my off season really seemed to fly by. This year, my off season was not really an "off from running" season but more of an off from racing season. I haven't raced since Rodeo Beach 50k and raced in an "A" race since JFK in November. And now, I am quickly approaching my first race and am thinking, "ack! Where did time go? Am I ready? Am I fast enough yet?" I was looking at my training plan and race schedule and it really just feels like a hop, skip and a jump and suddenly it's June! The reality of the situation is that I have been doing some great training, dropping the hammer on some good running and am just continuing to be patient. Patience is afterall what I recommend to those runners just starting out, so I need to remember to heed that for myself. And remembering to enjoy, though I would say I really don't have much problem with that. I am as much looking forward to my races, as I am for many a weekend running adventure, pacing gigs and training.

In all honesty, while I am in "training mode" now, I feel this mode has become one that is not hugely separate from my regular mode. What I mean is that, the good habits of "training mode" like maintaining a healthy (but also balanced & balanced with enjoyment) diet, core training, stretching, getting bodywork etc. I feel like, more than ever, that running is just a completely integrated part of my life. Maybe it's because I spend the majority of my time with people who think a weekend is best spent running on trails for hours followed by good food, drink and laughs that I feel this way. Though this has generally never been the case, I know feel like the epic cool runs we do on the weekend are the center piece of the weekends plans instead of something that will be fit in. I mean, I guess most people know by now, that there are not many activities I love more in the world than running and cooking! 

 

The small amazing moments. 

Sunrise over the city on yet another 5:30 Headlands run.

Photo by Brett Rivers.

While I look at my schedule and say, "ack! where is time going?", I am also really aware that I am more present than ever. I am more in the here and now. It is a really cool feeling to know, acknowledge and work towards plans/goals for the future, but to not be missing out on all the great things going on right now that make me so happy, excited, present and content. Life is really good. So even though, when I pause for a minute to think about it, time seems to be racing and I have to work hard at holding on to all the amazing moments that are playing out every day (thank goodness I have taken to journaling), I still feel like each moment is rich and fat and drawn out for my enjoyment.

Integration and Presence. Above all, right now that is where I am. And I, frankly, am quickly forgetting any other way to be.

Little old me

I don't have a place on my blog where you can look up my race history and profile, I don't keep a (public) rolling tab of my races as of this moment. However, if you are interested in knowing about me and my racing history, two of my sponsors have created cool profiles they . Check them out!

Amazing Grass
Hydrapak
FRS