Running the Houston Marathon Vegan Style

February 17, 2013 by Emily Segal 1 Comment

Today’s guest post is by Triumph Wellness reader and vegan runner, Kanishka deSilva. I want to thank Kanishka for writing this post for us and congratulate him on his vegan marathon finish!

As soon as the gun went off, the rain started. I knew it was not going to be a day for a PR (personal record)! I was among the 12,000 marathoners and 13,000 half marathoners who had trained hard to achieve a personal goal and the time has come to execute it. The weather on January 13, 2013 in Houston, Texas was wet, cold and windy. The wind was gusting at 15 to 25 mph. The Cold Front bringing arctic cold air slammed into Houston around 6.30 am on race day just before the 7.00 am start time. Despite this nasty weather and the challenges I faced over the next few hours, I am proud to say that I completed the full marathon that day in a time of 4:24:29!!

I started running about 10 years ago. As years went by, I needed a goal to keep me motivated and continue running. I did 5K’s and 10K’s for a couple of years. During this time I was a non-vegan and ate a typical meat centered diet. I love nature, wildlife and the environment. As an environmentalist, I participated in local environmental causes and supported national organizations such as WWF, Sierra Club and the Environmental Defense Fund. As I read about what causes harm to the environment, I realized that raising meat is one of the worst environmental offenders! So I started to cut back on meat consumption. I also started to realize the effect of red meat on my health and the benefit of eating vegetables. I slowly removed meat, poultry, and finally dairy from my diet and became a vegan in 2009. I was still running and competing in 5K’s and 10K’s.

Each year in January, the local TV station provides live coverage of the Houston Marathon. When I watched the coverage, I wished that I was at the starting line ready to run rather than watching it from the comfort of the living room couch. But running 26.2 miles was a huge jump from your typical 10K. In 2011, I joined a running club that was formed at my work place and started to run with some co-workers. We had folks who were Ultra Marathoners and some who couldn’t even run 1/2 mile. Each week we added miles and our training runs extended to 5 miles. A few times we did two laps and I was able to finish 10 miles! It was an awesome feeling to complete a 10 mile run and I knew that I was ready to do a 1/2 marathon. My fellow runners urged me to register for a local 1/2 marathon in March 2011. My goal was to finish the 13.1 miles. I finished in 2:10:16 at a pace of 9:56 min/mile.

By this time I was a total vegan and my vegan lifestyle certainly didn’t stop me from finishing a half marathon in good time. So I set my sight on the next goal, the Houston marathon. During the training for the full marathon I read about Scott Jurek, one of the top ultra marathoners in the US who is also a vegan. Jurek writes about running, veganism and how to get proper nutrition when you are a vegan runner. He was an inspiration for me as I prepared for my event.

In 2012, the runners in our club were running hard and fast in July-August, the worst times to run in Houston. Some days the temperature would be 95F with 98% humidity in the evening and we would still go out and run. My times were slowly improving and I PR’d most of my races in 2012. I PR’d the 5K, 10K and the half Marathon distances in 2012. I shaved off 15 minutes from my first 1/2 marathon and finished in 1:55 at a pace of 8:49 min/mile. My vegan lifestyle was definitely helping as I was running faster despite getting older.

On January 13th my big day arrived and with it, that horrible winter storm! As the marathoners started off, the atmosphere was electrifying and my adrenaline was in full swing. I was not used to running in a rain poncho (rain coat) and it took me some time to adjust to it. At 5K, I was running at 8:52 min/mile pace and realized that I was going too fast. I slowed down and was still making good time. At 15K, the weather was taking a toll. My pace has decreased to 8:56 min/mile and the cold windy rain was still coming down in bursts. My fingers were numb and I could not even reach into my pouch to get my energy gels! At the half way mark (13.1 miles), my pace has dropped to 9:06 min/mile. I was really slowing down and if I ran slower than this my finish time would be over 4 hours. At 30K, my pace was 9:28 min/mile! I resigned to the fact that my goal of finishing below 4 hours was over. A few miles after the 30K my legs started to hurt. The muscles were screaming for oxygen and energy and I had to slow down and walk as my legs refused to run.

At this point my goal was just to finish and forget about getting a PR! I think I lost interest in the race when I knew that I would not be breaking the 4 hour mark. The mind does play an important role in racing! If the mind is not fully engaged with your goal, things starts to fall apart. I believe training the mind to keep your goal in the radar is as important as training your body to finish 26.2 miles. As I was so tired and exhausted, I slowed down considerably and added a some walking to give my legs a break. As we headed back to downtown, the rain had ceased and the crowd was getting larger. I grabbed some oranges that folks were handing out and that gave me a little boost. As I got closer to the finish line, I gathered up the last few grams of energy and pushed on. My wife was there to cheer me and I put on a brave face for the camera. As I crossed the finished line, I was overcome with mixed emotions. Happy to finish the marathon but dejected that I could not achieve my goal.

The hardest part was walking back to the car to get home!

The weather affected everyone who braved it and ran that day. None of the top finishers in the full and the half marathon established records or PR’s. The local newspaper mentioned that only 40% of the marathon runners started the race. The normal dropout rate is about 10%. Out of the 60% who started, 98% completed. Which is really good. I guess only the die hard runners were at the start line. I am still trying to figure out what I could have done differently that would have changed the outcome. During the last two months of training, I had started to change my diet based on Dr Fuhrman’s Nutritarian program. I feel that I may have not consumed adequate calories as my weight went down by about 4 pounds during the last month before the race. Maybe I should have increased my long run from 20 miles to 22 miles and increased my calorie intake to compensate for the change in the diet? I will take notes of all these issues and adjust my training plan for next year.

Personally, completing the Marathon was a great achievement for me and the most physically demanding event that I have done.

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Filed Under: Exercise, Goals, Growth, Positive Thinking, Running, Triumph Race Club, vegan Tagged With: Achievement, Goals, Nutrition for Athletic Performance, Race Club, Running, Team Triumph Race Club, Vegan Athlete, vegan diet benefits

Team Triumph: Corrie is Triumphant!

June 27, 2012 by Emily Segal 1 Comment

Great news patient readers! We are officially saved from my recent blog apathy by a Guest Blog, yay! Here is my friend Corrie with her Half Marathon Race Report:

Hello everyone! My name is Corrie and I blog over at www.blurbcolumn.blogspot.com. I have known Emily virtually for about 6 years now and have always found her to be an inspirational, giving and loving person. Last year when Emily organized Team Triumph I agreed to participate and immediately signed up for the Helvetia Half Marathon on June 9, 2012. I had participated in the Helvetia 10k in June of 2006 (running) and in June of 2009 (walking with friends) but had never done the half. I ran a half marathon in July of 2006 in Seattle, but it has been about that long since I have done any serious running.

I originally planned to run the Helvetia Half as I had over half a year to prepare.

And then life happened.

I started with good intentions in January by getting outside in the good weather and spending time on my feet. Then Winter Term at school started in full swing (I am a full-time student at the moment). I was taking 5 classes. The weather was still frequently dark, cold and miserable. I was studying all the time. I still tried to get outside to spend some time training, even working up to 1 minute walk/jog intervals at one point. But as the term wore on I realized that I was not going to be able to put forth the time necessary to train to run 13.1 miles the way I thought I should.

I seriously considered just quitting and not doing the event, even though I had already signed up and paid my entry fee.

And then I remembered Team Triumph. I had made a commitment to do an event. I had told all of my blog readers about it, told Facebook about it, put it on Twitter and had invited a bunch of friends to do it with me! I couldn’t quit! But, it was apparent that I wasn’t going to be able to run it.

I could walk it though. I could easily already walk 6-7 miles without too much difficulty, so there was already a base level of distance there. All I needed to do was increase my distance. I wasn’t doing it for speed. All I wanted was to finish in less than four hours.

Spring Term started and I was only taking four classes. They were still fairly work heavy, but I made a commitment and I found time during my week to get in at least one long walk. Some weeks I did two or three, but I felt that if I got at least one long walk in per week I would be ready. As the race crept closer I increased my distance in earnest. 7+, 8+ and 10+ miles…then a taper week with a short hour long walk then…RACE DAY!

I walked 13.1 miles in just shy of 4 hours (3:52 something) with my friends Kelsey, Ann and Shorey (Corrie is #98 in the middle). We had a great time together, laughing and motivating people around us. Anytime we saw someone walking alone we cheered them on, especially older people. We had one group of girls tell us they hoped we would be back next year because we were cracking them up! The scenery was gorgeous and the weather was perfect! Slightly overcast with sun breaks and only two drops of rain at mile 12.

The race itself went very smoothly. We kept to a decent pace, and kept each other motivated. My stomach was a little wonky first thing in the morning so I didn’t eat much more than some peanut butter. I took some advil just before the start. Then we were off! The first few miles were easy and nice. Around mile 4 we started up the hills, which honestly were nothing compared to what I had trained on, so I was good there. I ate some cheese and drank some water around that point. Sometime after mile 7 we all started to feel a bit weak and tired and realized we hadn’t had any food in a while. We downed some clif shot gel (surprisingly tasty!) and within moments were perky and energetic again. Amazing what a little fuel can do! I also took a couple more advil at this point to keep the swelling in my knees down. We noted different parts of our bodies “talking to us” at various points, one time it would be a hip or a foot then later some other body part, but luckily nothing to slow us down or keep us from finishing. Around mile 10 we came across a girl who was really hurting. She said she hadn’t laced her shoes up tight enough early on and her socks had rubbed the balls of her feet raw. She looked miserable. I offered her some of my advil and she looked at me like I was an angel! Hey… sometimes we are in the right place at the right time. She was super thankful and I was happy to be able to help. We saw her at the finish and she thanked me again. I was just glad she made it! We kept trucking along and before you know it we were at mile 12 and then 13 and then we entered the stadium where the finish was at! I told Shorey and Ann that we had to jog to the finish! We could do it!

We ran through the stadium and crossed the finish line together! Woohooo!! My friend Kelsey had already finished and was waiting for us. We got our finisher medals, took some pictures and then went to get some much needed food!!

We did it! YAY!

Ann was staying in a great hotel with a lovely jacuzzi, so after the race we went there and toasted each other and our own success with a glass of champagne and a soak in the jacuzzi. It was a great way to end the event and certainly helped with the sore muscles!

I feel grateful to Emily for encouraging me to do another half marathon. I am so proud of myself and my friends. My body was sore Sunday, but I wasn’t in pain. I had a lovely massage and chiropractic adjustment Monday and was back to feeling great!

Thank you Emily for organizing Team Triumph. I can now say:

I am Triumphant!

(You sure are Corrie! I am SO proud of you for honoring this commitment even though life got in the way. In my book, that makes the difference between ordinary and extraordinary. I’ve got more to say on that soon, I promise…)

Filed Under: Exercise, Goals, Inspiration, Running, Triumph Race Club Tagged With: Achievement, Exercise, Goals, Running, Self-Improvement, Team Triumph Race Club

Ruth Ran Jerusalem! Half Marathon Race Report

May 10, 2012 by Emily Segal Leave a Comment

Back in November 2011, I received an email from Ruth that said:

Hi Emily,

I discovered your blog this morning through your interview on Cooking Manager.com, and I have barely left it all day.

I have recently started running (less than a month ago) and I would like to join Team Triumph. My current goal is the Jerusalem 10K, while my husband runs the full marathon.

Thanks for all your inspiring posts!

What followed for Ruth and I, was a Facebook friendship of mutual interest and running support. And only 4 months after sending me that email, Ruth ran, not the 10K, but the Half Marathon (21K)!! WOW!!

Here is her story:

I took up running at the start of November 2011, and decided that I would run one of the races in Jerusalem on Marathon Day, 16 March, 2012.

My initial aim was to run the 10K race without taking any walking breaks. So, not following any particular plan, I started running. The first time I went out, I ran (I say ran) about a mile. I ran until I ran out of breath, then walked until it came back, then ran again, as long as I could manage. A little like the couch-to-5k program, but I ran/walked in accordance with how I felt rather than what the stopwatch said.

I ran in this fashion 3 times per week, and I surprised myself incredibly by the speed at which I improved. I increased the distance I was running, by about 1- 1.5km per long run Friday. Before a month had passed, I was running up a kilometre hill with an average 6% elevation!!!

The Jerusalem municipality organised a few free “warm up” races in the months leading up to marathon day, which I signed up for. I thought it would be a good idea to sign up for them for a few reasons: I only ever run alone, I run when I want and I run where I want. I thought these races would give me some experience running with other people, on a set course, and at a set time. The first of these 2 warm-up races was at the end of January, with a 5k and a 10k course. As I had worked up to about 8km for a long run, I decided to jump in at the deep end and go for the 10km course. I ran most of the way, keeping pace with a few other runners of the same approximate speed as myself. As we got towards the end, they all ended up ahead of me, but turning back into the Jerusalem Botanical gardens, I gave it a last burst of speed. Expecting to finish any second, I hadn’t realized that I had a kilometre to sprint through the botanical gardens before the finish line. That was a challenge!

By then, I’d conquered my initial goal of running a 10km race. So I did what you’d expect any crazy person to do, and signed up for the Jerusalem Half Marathon. I followed Hal Higdon’s beginner’s program (which I’d already been following for the previous few weeks, in case I made the decision I ultimately did.

I followed my training program to the letter, and the rest of my training was uneventful.

Race day finally arrived. The weather was pretty dreadful. It had been raining heavily all night and Gan Sacher was a mud bath. Throughout the race, the rain was on, off, heavy, light, there was a strong wind blowing throughout, and it hailed at times too.

But most of the time I didn’t notice the weather. The hills were not as steep as my local hills (the name of my neighborhood literally translates to “hills”, and not without reason!) Despite the weather, people were out lining the streets to encourage us runners. You could feel the love! There’s also something very special about running through Jerusalem’s Old City with hundreds of other people!

I felt fabulous until after the 20km mark, when my legs decided they’d had enough, and I had to walk most of my last km. My initial plan had been to give it all I had for the last 500m, but all I had left wasn’t very much, so I revised to giving it my all for the last 100m. That worked.

My aim was to finish vertical, which I did. I had hoped to finish in 2:45-2:50, but ended up with a 2:27 time which I’m overjoyed with. Just makes it more of a challenge to beat next time!

Filed Under: Exercise, Goals, Inspiration, Running, Triumph Race Club Tagged With: Achievement, Exercise, Goals, Jerusalem Marathon, Running, Self-Improvement, Success, Team Triumph Race Club

Race Report Tel Aviv Marathon 2012

April 1, 2012 by Emily Segal 8 Comments

As many of you know from Facebook, I finished the Tel Aviv Marathon on Friday in a time of 5:44, eight minutes slower than my predicted finish but before the six hour cut-off.

You also probably know that I was pretty down on the experience right afterwards. If I had written this post then, I would have said that running a marathon was the dumbest thing I have ever done and that I would never ever EVER do it again.

Now a few days have passed. I have had time to forget some of the worst pain and to allow some of the better memories to come through. I have a tremendous amount to express and I imagine it will come trickling out over the following months. The fact that I set this GIANT goal last year, spent months researching it, planning it, training for it and then accomplishing it, really is awesome and a bit overwhelming.

Lessons Learned and Confirmed:

We can accomplish anything we set our minds to. It may not come out perfectly or pretty, but we can get it done.

Setting a tough goal and then working to get it done is the most amazingly delightful and empowering thing. Goal Achievement = Invincibility 101.

Age and body shape do not need to be limitations. There were old and gray runners way ahead of me. There were younger runners behind me. Some people were small, others less so. Determination levels the playing field.

You don’t need to eat any animals or animal products to be able to run a marathon. Booyah! This is probably the thing I am most excited to prove to the world. I trained and ran on a 100% Plant-Powered diet. There is sufficient protein in plants alone to build the strong muscles it takes to run 42.2km (26.2 miles). You can be strong and powerful AND make compassionate food choices.

Plant-Powered 45 year old Vegan Marathoner

Description of the Day:

It turns out that a full marathon is NOTHING like a half marathon. I did not expect how different it would be. Aside from the obvious double distance, there were a quarter as many participants in the full as there were in the half and they were a shockingly serious group of runners. As I lined up at the back of this relatively small group, I kept thinking “but where is everybody?” The gun went off, we began, and they friggin’ bolted. ALL of them. By the time I passed the sign for KM 1, there were NO runners in sight. I forced myself to not look back but assumed I was the last person and I was completely shocked and disheartened. I had expected to be at the back but not from so early on and not that far back! I cannot explain in words how devastating this felt. It was like having the wind knocked out of my sails right at the start.

One tiny benefit of being alone at that point is that the course photographers were bored. It was like having my own personal paparazzi. I mugged about for the cameras like an idiot while they egged me on. There are 25 crazily good pictures of me on Facebook, HERE.

Forty-five minutes into the marathon and on came the half marathoners sounding like a rampaging herd of elephants. That was kind of scary and I got knocked around quite a bit as the lead packs pushed past, but at least I wasn’t alone briefly. But by km 11, the two races separated and once again, total solitude. At this point, on the full marathon course, there were no bands and few spectators. It wasn’t even 10am and I felt like the city had forgotten that I was still out there struggling on with hours ahead of me.

I also discovered at this point that a woman about my age had been following me and using me a pacer. She came up and we chatted a bit. She told me there were others still behind us. She and I would run together for much of the race. It was great to have a body there but I was limited by my inability to be exhausted and speak Hebrew at the same time. In the end, she finished a few minutes behind me and I was there to give her a high-five in the International language of achievement and joy.

Although desolate and lonely, the course was spectacular. The city has never looked lovelier. The weather was absolutely perfect – cool and cloudy to start with a few gentle showers, sunny but breezy and cool (75F I’m guessing) later on. The Mediterranean had her turquoise on in a convincing impersonation of the Caribbean. North Tel Aviv was posh and immaculate, Ganei Yehoshua and Park HaYarkon were lush and green. There were scullers on the Yarkon River that made it look like the Charles. Running down the closed main streets of the city center felt like Yom Kippur without the solemnity.

Me and the beautiful Sea

At km 28, my husband showed up on his bike and rode next to me for the rest of the race – another benefit of being so far back – the rules didn’t seem to apply anymore. I was suffering deeply by then. I was exhausted, my toenails felt like nails were being driven through them on every step, I had a big blister on the bottom of one foot, and my knees and hamstrings were calling it a day. My husband kept joking that I should get on his bike for awhile – no one would know. It was tempting I tell ya!

At km 35, I picked up a second escort. My friend Pamela, also on her bike, rode on my other side and stayed with me all the way to the finish line. Running (and walking by this point) between the two bikes was wonderful. I drew so much energy from the two of them and they let me rant like a lunatic and bathed me with positive words. Pamela has probably never heard so much swearing in her entire life! Sorry Pammy!

You know how during childbirth you’re out-of-your-head with pain and fatigue and begging to be put out of your misery? No? Well I was, and this marathon was pretty much the same. I wanted an epidural and I wanted it BAD!

Two more friends met me on the course: Lymore walked with me a bit, and Olivia, just hours before a trip abroad, ran alongside me. That is when it really dawned on me what needs to be different if I ever do this again. I need people. It’s as simple as that. Training alone was fun for me, but running a marathon alone felt like crap.

The other stunning and amazing thing that happened for me is that although there were few spectators, there were the race volunteers and the other runners who had already finished and were walking home. Every 20 seconds of the last hour was a chorus of Kol Hakavod’s (Good for you), clapping and cheering.

Israelis are a generally surly bunch. I think it says a lot about the power of exercise and fitness that this particular group were so very kind. Either they were riding high on their endorphins or they just have a generally more positive outlook because they work out. If more people in this country and our neighboring lands exercised I think we could solve a lot of our problems.

There ya have it, run a marathon and come up with a solution to Middle East Peace! I’m totally not joking by the way. I may have just found a new direction to pursue…

Gratitudes:

To those of you who cheered not jeered, I thank you. Every single “Kol Hakavod” was a gift, and the folks who said “You’re at the end, only a little left” were my epidurals.

To those of you who served drinks and snacks, and guided and clapped, thank you for staying there until the very last person passed.

To my friends who helped me on the course, amen, what can I say? Pamela, I’m not sure you can really understand what an angel you were to me.

To Oran, who came over with homeopathic remedies for my post-race cramping and pain a few hours before her Shabbat company arrived, and stayed to let me get some of this off my chest, I am deeply grateful.

To my husband, who helped me by taking care of the house and cooking every Friday of my long training runs, who got up at 4:30am and drove me to Tel Aviv, found parking, walked me to the start in the pitch dark, and escorted me for hours on his bike, then came home and cooked Shabbat dinner, I clearly married the right man.

As we drove home from the race, my husband said “Emilooshka, I hope you know that if you can run 42.2km, you can do ANYTHING.”

Thank you G-d for making sure I found this man and for not letting me mess it up when I did.

Post-Race Swollen-Legged Banana Massacre (not my yogurt)

Now, I know that some of you are reading and thinking “Well sure, Emily can do this stuff because she gets all this support. There is no one in my life who would ever support or help me, especially not my husband!”

Listen UP: You have to ASK people. You have to say “I have this dream and I need your help to make it real.” And if at first they don’t believe in you or your dream, then you believe in yourself. When they see your determination and your perseverance, they will come around.

When I told my husband I was going to do this marathon (…lose 70 lbs; … go back to school at age 38; …open my own business (twice in 2 different countries); … move to Israel; …become vegan) he has always answered with skepticism. I forged ahead and when he saw I was serious, he climbed aboard.

You believe in you.

You believe in your dream.

You make it happen.

Your own angels are just hovering there, praying for you to begin.

And if you’re not sure you can even believe in yourself, bring it to me, baby. I will lend you some of my faith.

Any dream will do.

Hey, what do you know, a blog segway into Passover…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wET9fnLpERM

Filed Under: Exercise, Goals, Running, Tel Aviv Marathon, Triumph Race Club Tagged With: Achievement, Exercise, Goals, Nutrition for Athletic Performance, Team Triumph Race Club, Tel Aviv Marathon

My Final Exam – Tel Aviv Marathon T-minus 1

March 29, 2012 by Emily Segal 4 Comments

(It says the road is closed for the marathon)

Here we are, the 11th hour.

I stand here today on the edge of a goal that will challenge me more than anything else ever has. Tomorrow I run my first full marathon.

My only goal is to finish it before the course closes. I have 6 hours to do so. If I take only a few short walking breaks, my pace will bring me in for a 5:36 finish. If I have to walk more…. well, I’m cutting it close.

A lot can happen in those 5+ hours. Good things can happen. Bad things can happen. Things I cannot control can happen. Things I CAN control, I might have to struggle to do so.

But even if I cannot complete the race in the time allotted, I feel that I have already succeeded. I got through my training. I did everything I said I would. I have run 100′s of kilometers, with my longest single run being a 36k. I have already accomplished 99% of what I set out to do. All that remains is the final exam.

Although I have my fears and worries, I truly believe I can do this. I believe I can finish 42.2kms (26.2 miles) in under 6 hours even if I am the last person to cross the finish line.

To all of you who have been with me through this journey, I thank you for reading. I thank you for telling me how this all has inspired you. I am honored by those of you who have been inspired to change your own lives and to take on your own new challenges. Every ounce of support you have poured out to me has strengthened me and I will carry it with me tomorrow to keep me strong.

Although tomorrow is my test, and mine alone, it feels very much like it has been a community project.

And now, as Elphaba says in Defying Gravity (something I hope I will manage to do tomorrow),

It’s too late for second guessing.

Too late to go back to sleep.

It’s time to trust my instincts,

Close my eyes and leap…

Filed Under: Exercise, Goals, Inspiration, Running, Tel Aviv Marathon, Triumph Race Club Tagged With: Achievement, Exercise, Goals, Running, Self-Improvement, Team Triumph Race Club, Tel Aviv Marathon, Vegan Athlete

Preparing for Your Long Run

March 25, 2012 by Emily Segal 2 Comments

Today I wanted to write what goes into preparing for a long outdoor exercise session. I have a checklist that I check before heading out the door. Trust me when I say that forgetting your sunscreen or water bottle on a hot day is none too pleasant.

ID: You MUST have some sort of identification on you. Although most likely you will never need it, if something happened to you and you were unable to speak, you would want the paramedics to be able to notify your family and know your name and any medical condition you may have. I have a pocket that attaches to my shoelace in which I keep my house key and a slip of paper with my name, my husband’s phone number and the suggestion that I might respond best to English not Hebrew.

Sunscreen: I never wore sunscreen before this year when I began to notice brown spots appearing on my cheeks. It’s too late to reverse the damage I’ve already done, but not too late to prevent future damage. Don’t be cocky like me. Just because you don’t burn, doesn’t mean you are not incurring damage that will show up years later. I am seriously bummed out about those spots.

A hat: Same reason as above, plus protection against heat building up on a dark head like mine. A hat with a brim also keeps rain out of your eyes on a rainy day.

Sunglasses: My husband and I are addicted to Native Dash XP’s. We have been wearing them for years and would not wear anything else. They are perfection.

Vaseline or other anti-chafing gel: Anything that rubs – be it skin or fabric – will end up chafing. That’s breasts, nipples, armpits, butt cheeks, testicles (so I’m told), and the elastic band of your undies. Grease it all up! I have used aloe vera gel and Vaseline. Some runners use diaper cream.

Ibuprofen taped to arm: This is one of the techniques I have worked out during this training period. I tape two advils to my inner arm and one hour into my run, I pop them into my mouth. One hour in and things are starting to swell, especially those knees! Also helpful in case you fall or get blisters or chafing. Goes without saying that I’m not a doctor so don’t take medicine advice from me.

Kleenex: When I run, so does my nose. Take kleenex to avoid wiping it on your shirt. Stick it in your waistband.

Music/ipod: If you want to listen to music or a podcast, don’t forget your mp3 player! Sometimes I run with, sometimes without. I am still trying to decide about this year’s race, but I think I will probably use it to dial in my desired pace at the beginning of the race. Running too fast early on is the key mistake long-distance racers make. I use PodRunner Podcasts to match my cadence to a pre-determined steps-per-minute: 174-175 to start the race. Then, after the pack thins out (ie, I get left behind), and I am not tempted to try to keep up, I will probably take the music off and soak in the sounds of the surf, the city, the spectators, the entertainment and my own thoughts.

Watch and foot pod. I have a Polar RS300X with a SD Foot pod. This is my 2nd year with it and I love it. It tells me time, distance, pace, heart rate, calories burned if I wear the chest strap (which I don’t for running, see chafing above), and all sorts of other cool features.

However, because last year I had a bit of a disaster with an inaccurate foot pod that led me to believe I should be finished with the finish line nowhere in sight, I now double check my mileage by logging my route into www.sportdistancecalculator.com.

Food and Drink: Big topic, let me break it down.

If you are exercising for less than an hour, you probably don’t need to eat anything and you can just drink plain water. However, if your workout is going to be longer than 1 hour, you will need to eat something and to drink an electrolyte beverage.

Food during a workout:

Your body generally has enough fuel for about 60-80 minutes of strenuous activity. I personally have found the best results by eating some carbs before I get hungry – at about 80 minutes into the workout. I use a commercial gel called Gu, my raw cookies, or just plain old dates. Runners pin their food into their shorts, or buy shorts with built-in pockets like these big-butt beauties from RaceReady.

First of all, do I get major crazy points for putting a picture of my butt up in public??

If you are overseas and want to order from Race Ready, contact customer service for the lowest shipping option. They shipped my shorts for about $12 USD and marked the package in such a way that it flew right through customs. It also arrived 2 days after I ordered it.

Now, in my case, I have learned via many, many blood sugar crashes that I can’t just eat sweats during my runs. Although I do not have diabetes any more, I do still have hypoglycemia. I don’t eat any sugar in regular life and doing so on my runs doesn’t work well for me. So I mix sweet snacks up with some sandwiches. Yes, I run with two half-sandwiches tucked into my shorts! I’ve been using peanut butter and salt, but a friend suggested marmite and I’m going to try that. I know this is not as easy to digest as the gels and drinks, but it is the only way I have been able to keep my blood sugar steady.

For me, the timing is: 1:20 for the first snack and then every 30-45 minutes until the finish. I expect to be out on the marathon course for over 5 hours, so basically I am a running buffet. Smaller, faster runners with normal blood sugar don’t need to eat quite this much, in case you were wondering. Some probably run the entire race without eating a thing. Everyone is different and you need to figure out what works for you. You will know when it has been too long without food because you will become cranky, tired, your legs will feel like lead and you will want to quit. The classic Hitting the Wall symptoms. It works best if you don’t let yourself get to that point in the first place, hence the buffet in my shorts.

Drink:

Exercise over an hour and you need to replace electrolytes. You can use a commercial sports drink like Gatorade, or if like me, you want to avoid all that sugar, try Ultima Replenisher, which uses stevia. I couldn’t find it the last time I was in the US and came home with Emergen-C instead. I ran with that for a few weeks, but again, the fructose gave me trouble. So….

I made my own of course!

Emily’s Electrolyte Drink
Squeeze the juice of 2 clementines into your 750 ml sport water bottle. Add 1/4 tsp salt.

Fill with water and shake. Sip during your workout, adding more water as when it becomes available.

I finish about 2-3 of these bottles over a 5 hour period.

BE CAREFUL! Plain water can literally kill you when you are competing in an endurance event!!! People have died from drinking too much plain water without any electrolytes. You need the salt to keep things in balance. Apparently you can buy salt tablets, but I haven’t used them.

OK, you’re all geared up and ready to get out there and RUN!

Five days until my marathon…

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Filed Under: Exercise, Product Reviews, Recipes, Recommendations, Running, Tel Aviv Marathon, Triumph Race Club Tagged With: Exercise, hypoglycemic runner, Nutrition for Athletic Performance, Running, Sugar Addiction, Team Triumph Race Club, Tel Aviv Marathon, Vegan Athlete

How to Dissolve Fear

March 18, 2012 by Emily Segal 1 Comment

I have a few recipe posts waiting in the wings, but first have some good stuff to share.

1. The 2nd annual WISH Summit is underway. WISH stands for Women’s International Summit for Health and it is founded and headed up by Tera Warner of the Raw Divas. WISH is 40 days of amazing interviews with some of the top names in health, spirituality, finanial health, business, sexuality, and creativity. Tera is an excellent interviewer and things rarely get boring!

I download the talks onto my ipod and listen while I am running or doing chores. In fact, I am still listening and re-listening to some of the amazing talks from last year’s summit! I keep hearing new things. This year’s summit has also been wonderful and I have already had a ton of light bulb moments as I listen. My favorite speakers so far are EFT Master Carol Look, comedian Kyle Cease, and writer and physician Bernie Siegel. The program is totally free and you can listen to past talks as well. You can sign up HERE. This is not an affiliate program. I am just recommending it because it’s great.

2. The Tel Aviv Marathon is in 11 days and I am in taper mode, which means short, easy runs to keep up fitness levels without tearing down muscles or courting any injuries. I am as trained as I’m gonna be!

An amazing thing has happened in terms of my previous high level of terror and fear surrounding this race. While listening to one of the WISH talks I mentioned above, new age comedian Kyle Cease described a technique he uses to beat stage fright and to allow himself to be more in the zone during performances. Instead of doing affirmations like “I am running the Tel Aviv Marathon successfully”, you say “Remember when I ran the Tel Aviv Marathon and it was so fun and so inspiring? Remember how the spectators were so great and there was so much camaraderie with the other runners? Remember how the sky was so blue and the city and the sea looked so beautiful? Remember how wonderful and strong I felt the whole way through and how proud and excited I was when I crossed the finish line?”

So instead of making an affirmation that is off in the future somewhere, you put what you want to happen in the past. Then your mind looks on it like it already happened. When I started doing this, I found that 1.) much of my nervousness dissipated and 2.) I realized that my main goal in doing this race is to have fun! Sure I have other reasons why I want to do it, but having FUN while doing it is really the most important thing. I actually am thinking about bringing a camera along with me!

This is my toe. It is half purple and the nail is contemplating jumping ship. It is seriously cramping the having fun part of running a marathon! Apparently this toenail business happens often to marathoners and it’s not a big deal except that it hurts like the dickens and I am a little worried about it coming off right before or during the race. If just talking about this is grossing you out, do NOT google “black toenail syndrome”! I hereby promise to not post any pictures grosser than this one.

Do you think it will help me to say “Remember when my toenail spontaneously healed before I ran the Marathon?” I will try anything.

4. One of the things I worked on with my coach Karen, is being brave enough to refine the direction of my business. The thing I am truly most passionate about is eating compassionately without harming animals. That has gotten lost in the shuffle of working with everyone no matter how they want to eat. So as I slowly re-align myself with my core values, I am looking for writing opportunities that fit better than some of the websites I have previously written for. Case in point The Vegan Woman! This website is truly head and shoulders above the rest, with fantastic writers and an extremely talented and organized editor. The amount of synchronicity that happened around this transpiring for me was truly stunning. Remind me to tell you about it one day.

My first article for them is up and it’s all about why some people lose tons of weight when they go vegan and others don’t. Why Did the Magical Vegan Weight Loss Skip Me? can be found HERE. Please visit, look around, participate, comment, re-post and re-tweet whatever you find useful. I greatly appreciate your support in this new endeavor! If there is any vegan topic you want me to cover over there, just let me know.

Oh, and if you are a happy omnivore with no interest in plant-based living, and you have been on the fence about working with me, do it NOW. I am not sure how much longer I will be working with people who are not in some way interested in vegetarianism or veganism.

“Remember when I started devoting my business to Plant-Based Nutrition and it was so wonderful and successful?”

I think I just said that out loud…

… and the fear is gone!

Filed Under: coaching exercises, Growth, health coach, Inspiration, Positive Thinking, Product Reviews, Recommendations, Running, Tel Aviv Marathon, Triumph Race Club, vegan Tagged With: Exercise, Running, Team Triumph Race Club, Tel Aviv Marathon, Vegan Athlete, vegan diet benefits, weight loss

Training for your Mind

March 6, 2012 by Emily Segal 3 Comments

This post is about the mental aspect of fitness training. But in reality, your thoughts – those mental tapes you play on auto-repeat all day every day – play a HUGE part in every aspect of your life. Relationships, career, health, weight loss, etc are all impacted by what we are constantly telling ourselves.

So as you read this post, even if you are not an exerciser or runner, try applying the same ideas in other places where you are struggling with your current reality. If you need me to spell it out more clearly than that, email me or comment below and I will write a post on turning Limiting Beliefs into Empowering Beliefs.

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A big part of working out is for your body, right? But don’t discount what is happening above your neck! The thoughts running through your head can make you or break you.

Imagine this scenario: You are running outside. It’s hot, you are tired and there is a hill in front of you. Your thoughts start telling you “Ugh, I can’t do this! This is too hard! I am too hot. My knees hurt. If I run up this hill I am going to DIE!”

Are you going to run up that hill? No, you are going to stop and walk.

Now imagine that same scenario, but instead of the doomsday report, the mental tape you start playing is saying things like “I can do this! I got this. Bring it ON. My legs are like pistons; tireless and powerful.”

With those thoughts, you will make it up that hill and be pumping your fists in victory when you reach the top!

I have been collecting running mantras for some time now. I know I will need them on race day. I already use them on some of my harder runs, and always to get up those hills! Here are some of my favorites:

(Note: I did not write these myself)

Pain is inevitable. Suffering, optional.

There will be a day when you cannot do this. Today is not that day.

“I did not come 100 million miles to turn back in the last 10 feet.” – Gary Sinise, Mission to Mars

Winners never quit. Quitters never win.

Failure is not an option.

Smooth and Strong All Day Long.

“Pain is temporary, quitting lasts forever.” – Lance Armstrong

“You don’t know what you are capable of until you try.” -Jillian Michaels

“Pain is weakness leaving the body.” – Jillian Michaels

Sweat is Fat Crying.

My feet hurt from kicking so much ass! – Nike ad

You didn’t choose this race because you thought it would feel good. Whatever your reason, it goes far deeper than the physical. -Matt Fraizer, No Meat Athlete

and my current favorite:

And because sometimes, in the thick of it, I am not capable of verbal thought, I employ mental images as well. For some bizarre, rooted in the 1980′s reason, the image I most often call upon to motivate me, is this one:

I’ll be baaaack.

What do you tell yourself to pull through tight spots? What words or images do you use to motivate and empower yourself?

Filed Under: coaching exercises, health coach, Inspiration, Positive Thinking, Running, Tel Aviv Marathon, Triumph Race Club Tagged With: Achievement, Exercise, Goals, Running, Self-Improvement, Success, Team Triumph Race Club, Tel Aviv Marathon

Inhabiting the Body

February 20, 2012 by Emily Segal 1 Comment

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This post is NOT just about running, so read to the end even if you don’t give a hoot about my stinky sneakers.

In a panicked effort to prepare myself for my first full marathon, I carefully hit every single workout. I feared that missing even one would spell certain disaster come race day. This caused me to sometimes run when injured, tired, and in bad, bad weather.

The sneaker hit the fan the Friday before last, when I set out for a 27km run on what appeared to be a sunny morning wearing only shorts and a t-shirt. Within 1 hour, a cold front had swooped in, dropping the temperature dramatically, lashing me with wind and rain and then pelting me with hail. Despite being frozen, wet and capital-M-Miserable, I finished the remaining 2 hours and 45 minutes of this run. There was nothing fun about any moment of it.

As I headed into that weekend, I knew I was in trouble. Everything ached, including, and most importantly, my soul. I sat with my training schedule on my lap and had the very first thoughts of ”I can’t make it.” When I entered the words “over training syndrome” into Google, I learned that everything I was experiencing from irritability, insomnia, lack of joy during workouts, old injuries flaring up, and a sense of heart-wracking despair, could be attributed to doing too much running and too little of anything else. The treatment: Take a few days off from running and cross train instead.

As scary as this was for me, it felt like the correct solution. This did not feel like a Wall I needed to push through. Rather, it felt like treading water in the Atlantic Ocean without a flotation device. I was sinking and I knew it.

So the next Friday, when my schedule said “19km” and I woke up to rain, I packed my gym bag and headed off in search of my lost endorphins. First, I laid my mat down in a packed, early morning yoga class. As I slowly stretched muscles and rotated ligaments, I realized with a thud, what had gone wrong with my training. Then, in the following hour on the spin bike, dripping with sweat and laughing with joy, my suspicious were confirmed:

I had vacated my body.

How could it be possible to lose touch with my physical vessel when training for a marathon? Well, several things happened. Firstly, those training runs are LONG. In some cases, 3-4 hours long. To stay present in your body for that long, well, it never even occurred to me! I had been thinking the goal of passing that time was to get lost up in my head, in the beat of the music and the matching cadence of footfall. I would make periodic scans of my body: how’s my head, my mental state, my temperature, my hips, my knees, my feet, my toes… but those were just quick visits and back into my head I quickly retreated.

The second culprit was how far away my mind was taking me. While running I was not entirely conscious of my whereabouts, as evidenced by the number of times I accidentally crossed on red lights and barely dodged angry drivers cursing and honking at me. I was always surprised, “But surely the light was green! Or was it…?” I was always thinking about the next section of the run, the terrain, how much time was left on my watch, what race day in Tel Aviv would be like, how I would feel on THAT day.

Last Friday, first in Yoga and then in Spinning, I was fully present in this, the earthly home of my soul, for the first time in a long time.

It felt like a Homecoming. ”Hey girl, welcome back!”

There is greater significance to this story than just marathon training. People who do not exercise regularly, or engage in any sort of mindfulness practice like meditation, yoga, tai chi etc, often spend entire lives cut off from the body. Driving around all day, sitting at a desk at work, always thinking of what needs to get done next and how much time we have to do it, we stay all up in the cerebral and far away from the Now, the present moment and the bodies we inhabit. When a diagnosis comes of disease or injury, or we find ourselves having gained weight or gotten out-of-shape, we often look down at our bodies in surprise for the first time “What? You needed tending? But you seemed fine without me. How can you betray me like this?”

We eat when we are not hungry and we overeat when already full. We ignore hunger and try to live on meager calories. We stay up when tired. We sleep when depressed. We eat meals while reading, while driving, while doing the crossword puzzle. We watch tv while having sex and think about what we will make for dinner while we are meditating.

Not surprisingly, I checked out during race training and traded my mojo for a tempo count.

Today, my first day back after my little running break, I shut off my music and listened again to my breath. I went down into my legs and watched the muscles stretch and contract, stretch and contract. I observed my feet and ankles instinctively making minor adjustments to keep my balance over rough terrain. I felt my heart pumping hard and my lungs filling and emptying. I sensed my skin reacting to the warm sun striking it. All of this had been happening and I had been completely oblivious to the grandeur of it!

I found my bliss again. It was right here, just below my neck, the whole time.

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Filed Under: coaching exercises, Exercise, Growth, Inspiration, Positive Thinking, Primary Food, Running, Tel Aviv Marathon, Triumph Race Club Tagged With: Achievement, Anti-Ick Techniques, Exercise, February slump, Goals, Running, Self-Improvement, Team Triumph Race Club

What Doesn’t Kill You…

February 8, 2012 by Emily Segal 2 Comments

image by: http://www.flickr.com/photos/petrus01/

We are now 8 weeks from Marathon Tel Aviv. This journey which began 10 weeks ago, back in November, is drawing to it’s conclusion. When I started, I was able to run 8K. Now I am up to 24K, and have 26K scheduled for Friday. Back in December, I got panicked when I realized I had embarked on a 10 mile course (16K) rather than a 10K. I struggled to complete it. Today, 16K, to Sde Warburg and back, is an “easy run” (except that it’s really 13K now that I have adjusted my pedometer. Hey, at least this time I calibrated it BEFORE the race!).

At the start of my training, I was experiencing terrible knee pain, plantar fasciitis, and was immobilized by a back injury. Last Friday I ran for 3 hours and 17 minutes with very little of any pain at all, and then spent the rest of the day on my feet cooking and cleaning and even managed a walk on the beach before Shabbat. The only pain I am currently suffering (pupupu) is sore toenails and post-long run insomnia, both common side effects of distance training.

I have run through armpit, butt, groin, and boob chafing. I have run through depression and blues. I have run through wind and rain. I have run when I did not want to run, and when I was stuffed up with a sinus infection and stiff with a sprained ankle.

I have seen spectacular sunrises. I have run through orchards, heavy with dizzying smell of ripening fruit. I have experienced endorphin highs lasting all day and well into the night (ergo insomnia). I have spent more time outside in nature this winter than I have in all the years since summer camp!

When I walk in the door on a Friday morning and my family turns to me expectantly and asks “So, how far today?” I about bust my sports bra with pride as I tell them what I have accomplished while they were still sleeping.

A year ago I struggled to complete a Half Marathon. Now, I run more than a Half Marathon every Friday morning and then go about my normal day!

Despite how challenging the path has been this far, it’s only the introduction. The next 8 weeks are when things will get serious. Actually, there are only 6 weeks left of active distance training, as the final two weeks are a “taper” down towards lower mileage, in order to preserve strength and lessen the chance of injury.

Already this week, my plan has really turned up the intensity: My mid-week runs are longer and closer together, lowering the recovery window between runs. I attribute my vegan diet for helping me recover as fast as I am between runs. I have tweaked my nutrition to include more (vegan) protein and will then increase carbs again closer to race day.

Mentally, I can tell you that on hard days it’s a little hard to see the forest for the trees. When people ask me “Why do you even WANT to do this if it’s been so hard?” I am really struck blank. Remember when I warned those of you training for events to get some GOOD motivators and write them down? Mama told you there’d be days like these!

I know enough about the psychology of change and achievement to know that the mind will do everything it can to preserve the status quo, and that includes needling you to quit, making you forget your purpose, and filling your head with doubts and fears of failure and defeat.

MY reasons (now that I am clear-headed):

To push myself beyond my current boundaries, mentally and physically
To prove that I can achieve this
To become the person I want to be - a 45-year old Vegan Marathoner – and just a heads up that my vision also includes being a 50-year old Vegan IronWoman so stay tuned!
For the major confidence infusion that comes from taking every step of a grueling journey towards an achievement that seems beyond possibility
To build a strong body, awesome cardio capacity, excellent heart function, reduction in the likelihood my diabetes or obesity will return, strong bone density, less depression, mental clarity and creative insight and on and on and on and on.

I believe very strongly that most of us use a very small amount of our potential in life. We plod through our days, rarely stretching our limits, hardly using even a drop of the abilities we possess. Training for this race has been about systematically stretching my comfort zone and pushing down mental and physical barriers in my path. But in the end, it will require an inner strength I have yet to meet, but am confident lives inside of me. After 45 years, it is high time she came out to play!

To see the entirely frightening course map, click HERE. I don’t know exactly how, but I am going to run that mother, and this is what I will be singing when I do: Kelly Clarkson “Stronger” …