To Boston and Beyond
Oops I ate my run!
Posted Monday, March 31, 2008
“What the hell is one third raw vegan?”
Bad Ben's All Organic Vegan Breakfast Smoothie
Juice the following:
3 good - sized carrots
1/4 small turnip or 1/4 small beet
1 medium-sized red or yellow pepper
(Sometimes I substitute an apple for the pepper)
1 stalk of broccoli
1/3 cup of spinache
(Sometimes I add a little piece of ginger)
Then blend in a blender and add:
1 tsp barleygrass
1 scoop of vegan rice protein
2 tbsp of golden flax seeds
Something Bad Ben said as we started out had just registered to James. We were about a mile down the rocky muddy trail at Clinton Lake. Turns out he drinks some concoction of fruits, vegetables and flax seed each morning, accounting for a third of his diet. He juices it, blends it and claims it’s pretty good. It’s raw — and it’s vegan. I know you’re thinking GROSS.
“Sounds like it’s got some great stuff in it.”
Coleen was in front of me sporting her running skirt and new pink shoes. She is a 100 percent raw vegan. The food in the raw continues even after the breakfast. She and her husband used to smoke, drink and eat French fries. One day in solidarity they decided to change, cold turkey — well turkey wouldn’t be in the diet.
“I looked at your old pics online and I can’t see much difference.”
“It was like I had a layer of fat over everything, but most important, I have so much more energy,” she said.
I have to admit. She looks pretty fit. Runningraw.com is a good resource for those wanting to learn more about the raw vegan diet.
If diet and food were a mountain to climb — for me being a raw vegan would be Everest. Impossible. But that’s what most people say about running a marathons.
“Sophia, I was in Olathe and saw some of the folks in the marathon.”
This could be the closest my co-anchor Ben ever comes to running a marathon.
“How did they look?”
“Not good Sophia, not good.”
Often the key to getting through a first marathon or new eating habits is through supportive friends. Coleen and her husband had made the commitment to healthy eating together.
Here’s the kind of solidarity I get:
“Hey Sophia it’s Monday — you know what that means?”
I was working with our photographer Colton. He was referring to Spangles half price Monday. I struggled weakly, trying to make a better choice, but failed. I ate the entire order of greasy, hot, salty onion rings before we even got back to the station, a 5-minute drive. I wish I could say it was a new personal record for food debauchery, but that would be a lie. That morning I’d run 11 miles and worn off roughly 1,100 calories. Yes, I’d eaten my run in less than 5 minutes. Probably topped it off with a Girl Scout cookie too.
“Well if you’re doing all that running it balances out,” said Kendall Jones, one of our reporters who was trying to give me some encouragement.
Unfortunately it doesn’t quite work that way. (See Running Time Calorie Calculator.) True, I’m not gaining weight, but I’m not losing any either. Worse yet, what I am losing is energy.
“Sophia you have a lot of natural talent for running, but you would feel better and run faster minus ten pounds. Hell, so would I.” That was Bad Ben giving me some advice after a 20-mile long run at Clinton lake followed by lunch at The Mirth. (Learn more about losing weight to run faster here.)
“Short stack or large on the honey whole grain?”
“Large---definitely large.”
He’d watched me inhale the four pancakes each as big as my head, loaded with lots of butter again in record time.
“Hey do I get some sort of minus points for the blueberries I added?”
Nope. (Visit WeightWatchers.com. It helps)
Coleen across the table ordered half a fruit plate and spinach salad, minus the dressing and feta cheese. I went home and climbed into bed. She went and worked at her store, Need More Disks, all afternoon, probably full of energy. (okay seriously though — I think she was looking pretty longingly a couple times.)
Truly the secret to maintaining a rigorous training schedule while working a demanding news lifestyle is a healthy diet. It’s about quality fuel. Not just enough calories to sustain the 50 to 60 miles a week, but the right kind and quantity. Science. Science. I need more science. In the past I’ve called it the Marathon Diet. It does not include the fancy reduction sauces and seven course meals I’ve been known to cook, nor drastic changes to vegan food in the raw. Instead, simple stir fried veggies, whole grain pasta, whole grain tortillas, grilled salmon, chicken and no cheese. It’s not Everest, but maybe I can get back to it.
“I’m running in the back today -- in case I puke.”
Debbie made it through 12 miles but had a rough start.
“I was over-served.”
She was running with what we call the “hangover handicap.”
So while my nutrition was off, it could have been much worse. Booze and running… hmm. We’ll look at that next week, after all I am running Brew to Brew.
Cheers!
Mud Babe.
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