It's almost been 2 months since I went vegan. I've discovered new recipes, challenged my own beliefs about nutrition and become an advocate for a plant based lifestyle. Quite the summer.
My husband also joined me on this journey. He likes to say he isn't a real vegan since he does indulge occasionally. While that's true I actually think he just doesn't want to tell his meat and cheese loving family that he's turned vegan, haha. I don't blame him though, they love nothing more than to gossip about each other and I'm sure he doesn't want to be the subject of conversation. Although it should be rather interesting the next time they visit, especially when my MIL decides its time to cook bacon and eggs! hahahaha....how about some tofurkey and lentils?
I was chatting with some coworkers yesterday about being vegan after hearing the appalling things they do in the meat department of our local grocery store just to make the meat look more "red". One guy said he tried it but found he was lacking something. I told him if he and his wife really decide to go vegan they need to shift their mindset around meal time. We, in North America anyhow, have been told our meal time plates need to have a vegetable, a carb and a slice of meat, generally dividing the plate into thirds. With vegan eating, you usually end up cooking one dish, combining multiple foods into one delicious meal, such as rice, with lentils, black beans, avocado, red peppers, topped with some sprouts. Make enough and you won't be "lacking" for anything. That's the one thing my husband said has kept him on the vegan-train, he's never hungry. From the onset I made sure to always make a ton of food so no one is scrounging through the cupboards looking for something else. It's also self-serving since I was concerned initially that as a runner I might just pass out from lack of meat protein on a run. So far that's not happened and my runs have actually felt easier, but that could also be related to the weight loss that comes with a plant based lifestyle. So far my husband is down 15 pounds!
My knee arthritis is now an afterthought as opposed to being something I have to consider every time I take a run or even climb stairs. I still have achy knees occasionally, but I've noticed that only seems to happen when I've eaten something fried, like French fries. I no longer get the sporadic electric-shock pain that so many of us with arthritis know all too well and I don't wake up in the middle of the night to move my knee into a more comfortable position. There's no pill in the world that has fewer side effects and faster results than a plant based diet. I, for one, am a convert!
Thursday, August 24, 2017
Tuesday, August 15, 2017
When life gives you lemons...
You make lemonade right? Right. So after hearing that my brother can't run the 50k with me in October (DAMN IT) I started to look for another race. I found a sweet deal on a Tartan Twosome race for MRW. I'll be running a 5k on Friday night (in September) and then a half marathon the next morning. The best part is that I get 3 medals for the two races! SWEET! And to top it off, its the race that literally goes past my house, so there is zero travelling time to factor in.
Ok, so I'm all set, now to just continue training so I can be ready to run some speedy miles, or at least respectable finishing times. Let's giv'r!
Ok, so I'm all set, now to just continue training so I can be ready to run some speedy miles, or at least respectable finishing times. Let's giv'r!
Saturday, August 12, 2017
Runner's Woes
Oh my lord. I am a bit surprised that I'm here but, here I am. My brother, and co pilot for the 50k we were supposed to run in October told me (on my birthday, no less) that he's been asked to be in a friend's wedding on the same weekend. :-( Good lord. First my MIL tells me to block off my traditional 50k weekend for a birthday party, then the plans never appear, now my brother is canceling on me for my back up race. Holy hell. And its not like I can ask my husband to drive 2 hours and then sit around for 6+ hours waiting for me to finish running in the Valley, and I don't know anyone else running that distance or that would want to stick around for hours afterwards.
So. Here I am at square one, with some decent training under my belt and my vegan lifestyle well established. It's one of those "What the heck universe?!" kind of moments. I'm trying to see this as some kind of lesson; to take my 50k build up more slowly and get my half marathon time down to under 2:15. I'll be doing the 50k in 2018 (come hell or high water!!).
To that end I've decided to enter the local half marathon in September. I could run it now but it wouldn't be a fast time. I'll dedicate my next couple of weeks to speed sessions and maintaining my long runs around 15-20ks.
When life throws curve balls you can stand there, get hit and cry about it or you can take your hit and try to avoid the next one.
Wednesday, July 26, 2017
Solid Training and Running away from Nosy People
I've buckled down and started training for the 50k Valley Harvest Ultra in October. While it's only week 1, it's been going pretty well. I've been using podrunner's 180bpm tracks to keep my pace consistent and my stride short and so far, so good. My average pace time is hovering around 7:20 per/km.
I've noticed that I'm not feeling as gutted as I have been on my runs. Whether its the new vegan lifestyle or the podrunner pacing, or a combo of both, I'm not sure but I'm glad its working nonetheless.
Yesterday I explored a new-to-me trail system in Cole Harbour. The single track was well groomed and varied enough to keep me speeding along right to the end of the trail. It skirted a beautiful lake, included small wooden bridges, all the while covering the users in a canopy of green tress. On the way back I noticed there was a "closed trail sign" indicating the upcoming section was being groomed by heavy machinery. Since it was past 5pm I figured I was fine since no one was operating any equipment. I forgot that I should never underestimate the nosiness of other people. Shortly after getting on the section of trail a newly self-appointed trail warden started yelling at me from their fenced backyard, saying it was closed. I get that, and if something had happened to me on that section I certainly would have taken personal responsibility for being on said trail...but this person would not let it go; they kept yelling and yelling, and not really wanting to cut into my run, I kept running...away haha. I did cut the trail run short though and got back onto the road just incase the new warden decided to grab a bike and come after me.
So minor adventures aside, it's been going well. My legs feel good and I fell like I've got my fueling and recovery nailed down. This weekend is another camping adventure; this time in another province. I only have a 2 miler to do on Saturday (I'll be doing my long run on Friday, before we go), so getting in my training won't be an issue. I'm looking forward to hopefully finding a farmer's market along the way so I can grab some fresh, local produce. My local grocery store is fine, but I'd like to see if I can get more bang for my buck by going to the smaller markets (for vegetables at least). Here's to more summer adventures!
I've noticed that I'm not feeling as gutted as I have been on my runs. Whether its the new vegan lifestyle or the podrunner pacing, or a combo of both, I'm not sure but I'm glad its working nonetheless.
Yesterday I explored a new-to-me trail system in Cole Harbour. The single track was well groomed and varied enough to keep me speeding along right to the end of the trail. It skirted a beautiful lake, included small wooden bridges, all the while covering the users in a canopy of green tress. On the way back I noticed there was a "closed trail sign" indicating the upcoming section was being groomed by heavy machinery. Since it was past 5pm I figured I was fine since no one was operating any equipment. I forgot that I should never underestimate the nosiness of other people. Shortly after getting on the section of trail a newly self-appointed trail warden started yelling at me from their fenced backyard, saying it was closed. I get that, and if something had happened to me on that section I certainly would have taken personal responsibility for being on said trail...but this person would not let it go; they kept yelling and yelling, and not really wanting to cut into my run, I kept running...away haha. I did cut the trail run short though and got back onto the road just incase the new warden decided to grab a bike and come after me.
So minor adventures aside, it's been going well. My legs feel good and I fell like I've got my fueling and recovery nailed down. This weekend is another camping adventure; this time in another province. I only have a 2 miler to do on Saturday (I'll be doing my long run on Friday, before we go), so getting in my training won't be an issue. I'm looking forward to hopefully finding a farmer's market along the way so I can grab some fresh, local produce. My local grocery store is fine, but I'd like to see if I can get more bang for my buck by going to the smaller markets (for vegetables at least). Here's to more summer adventures!
Wednesday, July 19, 2017
Running on Plants
For the first two years after being diagnosed with knee OA I searched. I searched for brace that would fix my pain, pain pills that wouldn't have too many side effects, therapies that would repair my knee, all to no avail. I kept looking to the outside world to fix my problem when all along it was what I was eating that could relieve my pain and solve my chronic inflammation.
I still have knee OA. That doesn't get reversed. But how I manage it has been changed by how I eat. I no longer wake up every. single. night to pain. I no longer predict rain by how sore my knee is feeling. The fear that on a run my knee will give out or intense stabbing pain will hobble me isn't a concern any longer. You would think anyone with OA would want a piece of this. Heck, I would have paid thousands of dollars to get this magic pill to relieving my knee pain 2 years ago. Oddly enough, the cure is actually saving me money.
I went plant-based. I was a vegetarian growing up since my single mom was a vegetarian. I never really thought much about it at the time, I just ate what we had in the house. My mother isn't a preachy vegetarian, she made the choice when she was 13 so she pretty much always ate that way. Then I met my husband who came from your rural meat and potato-eating family on a very tight budget. He had me try bacon, then came the chicken, pork chops and steak. Eventually my vegetarian diet become the standard American diet. I had no idea how weak it was making me. We ate this way right up to a month ago when I was sitting outside thinking about my personal health. I realized it had been a long time since I felt full of energy, full of life. In fact, I realized, the last time I felt truly physically great was when I was a vegetarian. Now that's saying something. I have run marathons, and ultra marathons all on the SAD (standard American diet). I, of all the people I know, should have felt great. But I didn't. In fact, it started to seem like I was developing health issues I had no control over. I decided to make a change. But exactly to what?
Then, serendipitously, I stumbled upon a lecture online called "Why am I still fat?" With more than a few injury pounds to get rid of I was getting frustrated at my slow weight loss progress even though I was running 60kms a week. So I watched it and then watched "How not to Die". After watching that documentary I was shocked by the claims made about the vegan diet. So I looked up a few more. I watched "What the Health" on Netflix and became angry. I was angry at my own lack of common sense that food companies had no interest in health, they were only interested in making products that we are already addicted to and will sit on store shelves long enough to turn a profit. We are being used a profit vessels. Watch a tv commercial next time from a food company (think about the latest bacon and/or cheese burger). You can bet the claims about the food's deliciousness will center around the meat and dairy in the product. Why? It is NOT because they are healthy, it's because meat and dairy producers pay for those ads. Vegetable farmers don't. Common sense right? I was also angry at the so-called societies that claim to help those with specific ailments (Cancer society, Arthritis society, Heart and Stroke foundation, etc.) Those groups are also profit driven, and they sure can't survive if their patients keep getting healthy, so they take funding from the meat, dairy and pharmaceutical companies. If you are stuck on an endless cycle of pain pills that don't actually solve the source of your illness, then you are just putting a Band-Aid on your cancer, heart disease or arthritis. I've been down that road and all it leads to are more pills. When was the last time you heard someone say, I took XX pill and now I no longer have heart disease. Never, right? They continue to take XX medication to "help" with the disease but XX pill never, ever cures the disease. That wouldn't be profitable, right? Those CEOs have to feed their families too ;-)
So I made up my mind to go cold turkey and turn vegan. At first it seemed daunting, then I started trying out vegan meat alternatives and realized this wasn't going to be "hard" at all. In fact, nothing could be easier than grabbing an apple or a banana for a snack. I still had a few hiccups where dairy was an ingredient that I wasn't initially aware of before I ate something, but I've gotten better at reading the packages of food I buy. Then my meat-enticing husband said HE wanted to try veganism. This was WEIRD, especially coming from the guy who turned me onto meat, but I was happy that he was taking such a radical leap. The first week was rough. He didn't like any of the meals I made and kept saying he was just trying this out for a couple of weeks, then he'd be back eating meat. This week though has been better. I found a few different meat alternatives that taste really close to the real meat thing and he's been slowly coming around. He hasn't noticed any huge health benefit yet, but I'm hoping he'll hang on long enough so he feels like he doesn't need to take his heart burn meds as much or at all any longer. Time will tell. I know my own vegan journey though, will continue.
I still have knee OA. That doesn't get reversed. But how I manage it has been changed by how I eat. I no longer wake up every. single. night to pain. I no longer predict rain by how sore my knee is feeling. The fear that on a run my knee will give out or intense stabbing pain will hobble me isn't a concern any longer. You would think anyone with OA would want a piece of this. Heck, I would have paid thousands of dollars to get this magic pill to relieving my knee pain 2 years ago. Oddly enough, the cure is actually saving me money.
I went plant-based. I was a vegetarian growing up since my single mom was a vegetarian. I never really thought much about it at the time, I just ate what we had in the house. My mother isn't a preachy vegetarian, she made the choice when she was 13 so she pretty much always ate that way. Then I met my husband who came from your rural meat and potato-eating family on a very tight budget. He had me try bacon, then came the chicken, pork chops and steak. Eventually my vegetarian diet become the standard American diet. I had no idea how weak it was making me. We ate this way right up to a month ago when I was sitting outside thinking about my personal health. I realized it had been a long time since I felt full of energy, full of life. In fact, I realized, the last time I felt truly physically great was when I was a vegetarian. Now that's saying something. I have run marathons, and ultra marathons all on the SAD (standard American diet). I, of all the people I know, should have felt great. But I didn't. In fact, it started to seem like I was developing health issues I had no control over. I decided to make a change. But exactly to what?
Then, serendipitously, I stumbled upon a lecture online called "Why am I still fat?" With more than a few injury pounds to get rid of I was getting frustrated at my slow weight loss progress even though I was running 60kms a week. So I watched it and then watched "How not to Die". After watching that documentary I was shocked by the claims made about the vegan diet. So I looked up a few more. I watched "What the Health" on Netflix and became angry. I was angry at my own lack of common sense that food companies had no interest in health, they were only interested in making products that we are already addicted to and will sit on store shelves long enough to turn a profit. We are being used a profit vessels. Watch a tv commercial next time from a food company (think about the latest bacon and/or cheese burger). You can bet the claims about the food's deliciousness will center around the meat and dairy in the product. Why? It is NOT because they are healthy, it's because meat and dairy producers pay for those ads. Vegetable farmers don't. Common sense right? I was also angry at the so-called societies that claim to help those with specific ailments (Cancer society, Arthritis society, Heart and Stroke foundation, etc.) Those groups are also profit driven, and they sure can't survive if their patients keep getting healthy, so they take funding from the meat, dairy and pharmaceutical companies. If you are stuck on an endless cycle of pain pills that don't actually solve the source of your illness, then you are just putting a Band-Aid on your cancer, heart disease or arthritis. I've been down that road and all it leads to are more pills. When was the last time you heard someone say, I took XX pill and now I no longer have heart disease. Never, right? They continue to take XX medication to "help" with the disease but XX pill never, ever cures the disease. That wouldn't be profitable, right? Those CEOs have to feed their families too ;-)
So I made up my mind to go cold turkey and turn vegan. At first it seemed daunting, then I started trying out vegan meat alternatives and realized this wasn't going to be "hard" at all. In fact, nothing could be easier than grabbing an apple or a banana for a snack. I still had a few hiccups where dairy was an ingredient that I wasn't initially aware of before I ate something, but I've gotten better at reading the packages of food I buy. Then my meat-enticing husband said HE wanted to try veganism. This was WEIRD, especially coming from the guy who turned me onto meat, but I was happy that he was taking such a radical leap. The first week was rough. He didn't like any of the meals I made and kept saying he was just trying this out for a couple of weeks, then he'd be back eating meat. This week though has been better. I found a few different meat alternatives that taste really close to the real meat thing and he's been slowly coming around. He hasn't noticed any huge health benefit yet, but I'm hoping he'll hang on long enough so he feels like he doesn't need to take his heart burn meds as much or at all any longer. Time will tell. I know my own vegan journey though, will continue.
Wednesday, June 28, 2017
Re-evaluating Summer Goals
Last weekend's race was fun, and hard. It also woke me up to the fact that I'm not really ready for the marathon in a month. If I managed to bring in a time of 2:30, maybe I'd be on the fence, but knowing that I'll likely be skirting the cut off time for the full marathon discourages me more than I realized.
So, I've re-evaluated my plans. I want my first full marathon back post injury/arthritis diagnosis to be fun but also not a slog-fest. I am pretty sure that means not running it in the middle of the summer.
On the plus side, I have all summer to train, to slowly ramp up my speed and distance to where I'd like it to be. I also want to find a marathon with a bit more of a generous cut off time than 6 hours.
I've fallen into the overtraining rut before and don't want to go back there.
So, my options revolve around a fall marathon. I am hoping to do the Valley Harvest 50km race still, so whether or not a full marathon happens before that is still up in the air. Decisions!
So, I've re-evaluated my plans. I want my first full marathon back post injury/arthritis diagnosis to be fun but also not a slog-fest. I am pretty sure that means not running it in the middle of the summer.
On the plus side, I have all summer to train, to slowly ramp up my speed and distance to where I'd like it to be. I also want to find a marathon with a bit more of a generous cut off time than 6 hours.
I've fallen into the overtraining rut before and don't want to go back there.
So, my options revolve around a fall marathon. I am hoping to do the Valley Harvest 50km race still, so whether or not a full marathon happens before that is still up in the air. Decisions!
Monday, June 26, 2017
Good times at the MEC trail Half Marathon
I did it. I finished my first race of 2017. It was a brutal slog after the 10km point, when temperatures reached 30C, but I dug deep and followed my brother's feet so I didn't roll off the trail and into the water lol.
I knew from running the trail a lot that there would be a lot of jostling around as the trail is super narrow. I managed pretty well until the 5k runners split off from the rest of the pack. Then it was basically runner vs. the heat. The causeway was windy, which was a sweet relief but it was also monotonous as it's a straight out and back section. I was so thankful to reach the turn around point but also a bit disappointed I hadn't managed to stay on pace for longer. That pace only got worse as my brother and I made our way back, although we fought pretty hard not to let it slip over the 8 minutes/per km mark. I guess I know where I need to put in the work in my long runs lol.
So, a night of sore hips and legs made for a restless sleep but I'm super happy that I accomplished the distance and didn't chicken out at the 10km turn around point. I'm also very happy my brother gutted it out with me. I doubt I would have made it if he wasn't there keeping me laughing. The best part was that my knee didn't bother me once. AT ALL.
...and now I'm looking up my next race...
I knew from running the trail a lot that there would be a lot of jostling around as the trail is super narrow. I managed pretty well until the 5k runners split off from the rest of the pack. Then it was basically runner vs. the heat. The causeway was windy, which was a sweet relief but it was also monotonous as it's a straight out and back section. I was so thankful to reach the turn around point but also a bit disappointed I hadn't managed to stay on pace for longer. That pace only got worse as my brother and I made our way back, although we fought pretty hard not to let it slip over the 8 minutes/per km mark. I guess I know where I need to put in the work in my long runs lol.
So, a night of sore hips and legs made for a restless sleep but I'm super happy that I accomplished the distance and didn't chicken out at the 10km turn around point. I'm also very happy my brother gutted it out with me. I doubt I would have made it if he wasn't there keeping me laughing. The best part was that my knee didn't bother me once. AT ALL.
...and now I'm looking up my next race...
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