Nutrition for Athletic Performance

On Not Settling for just OK

March 17, 2013 by Emily Segal 2 Comments

As those of you who follow me on Facebook already know, I finished my last Half Marathon on Friday, in a race where sadly, one young man lost his life, and many others were hospitalized for heat related injuries. A few posts ago, I predicted people were going to get hurt if the forecast was correct and I described how we runners were being encouraged by local coaches to change our pre-race prep and our plans for the race to just run a relaxed pace, watching ourselves and those around us all the time, for signs of heat stroke. The race organizers postponed the full marathon to next week on a changed course off the main streets. They were unable to postpone all the races scheduled because of Obama’s visit to Israel next week. But moving the full marathon assured that no one would be out in the heat too long and enabled them to move all the other races up an hour. The first half marathon heat began at 5:45am. I was in the 6:00am group.

I ran the course from 6am – 8:40am and although the heat was rising quickly in the last hour or so, it was really not THAT hot. And I am someone who is totally sensitive to the heat! There were a couple of problems from my perspective: First of all, they ran out of electrolyte drink very early on. I’d actually love to know how many of the sickened were suffering from hyponatremia rather than dehydration. I had electrolytes in my pocket so I felt comfortable guzzling back large amounts of water. I also didn’t feel like there were enough water stations. Yes, they were every 2 kms, but they were manned by kids – hot and suffering volunteer kids – and there were times I had to actually stop running and ask to be poured a cup or two of water! Finally, we were promised sprayers with hoses and by my count there were only TWO. I could have used 50!! At every water stop, I took 4 cups: drank 3 and poured the 4th over my head. Oh yeah, and there was no food, or at least none by the time I rolled through. Again, I had my own supplies, but if I had been depending on what had been promised, I would have been in big trouble!

Despite these rather minor criticisms - and I know plenty of other runners who do not share my opinion or experience – I don’t think you can lay blame on anyone for the tragedies. I don’t know what happened to those people so how can I say? The man who died was apparently the epitome of fitness and health and nearly 20 years younger than me. How can you explain such a thing? I was running with 50-70 year olds and we were plodding along just fine. I did not see a single person weave, trip, or show any signs of distress where I was at the back of the pack. I was also, for the first time in my life, completely willing to take a DNF (did not finish) if I started to feel unwell.

As you can see from above, my finish time was 2:40 – a far cry from that 2:15 I had been training for!! But I must tell you that this is by far my proudest finish of all the races I have run! I am proud mainly because I got SO many emails and texts from people who said they ran on Friday because they had been inspired by me. I mean, does it get any better than that?! But I’m also proud because despite the string of very valid reasons to drop out of this race over the last few months, not only did I stick with it, but for the VERY FIRST TIME, spent the entire race thinking “I’m OK ! I can totally do this!” I wasn’t worried or wondering. I wasn’t gasping for air or feeling at all hopeless. Other than blisters and toenail trouble, I felt absolutely no pain! I was tired when I crossed the finish line, but I actually forgot to stop running for a minute until someone said “You can stop now.”

Lastly, I am proud because my husband went from non-runner to successful half marathoner who finished a few minutes before me. When I flew into his sweaty dazed arms in the finish corral, he said “I did it! YOU inspired me and I did this!”

shucks ya’ll

You know what I am going to miss the most by not competing in long-distance races anymore? Being an inspiration for people, yes, but I will endeavor to do that in different ways now. Yes, the high of accomplishment and the bragging rights too. But more than that, is the energy of a group of committed people who are out there pushing their physical limits because they want something MORE than the ordinary in life.

There were 35,000 people out there running on Friday. That is 35,000 people willing to put in the training, say no to months of desserts, get out of warm beds on cold days when everyone else is snoozing cozily on, run in rain, get splattered with mud, skip the late night drinks with friends, lose our toenails, (sacrifice our Achilles in the case of my training partner!), stay committed, stay on track. We all have our own reasons for being out there, but I believe we all share the desire for something more. Something greater.

I gave myself one day off. One. Then last night, I sat down with my calendar and my journal and mapped out my next goal. I hope I always have this desire to grow, to better myself, and to make the most of what G-d gave me. I hope I never settle for just OK.

I hope you won’t either. It doesn’t have to be running – it can be any area in which you choose to push the envelope and to stop accepting “good enough”. You will get a calendar, make a plan, check off your day by day goals, and before you know it, be standing at the pinnacle of your achievement, knowing that every single drop of blood, sweat and tears was worth it. Amen.

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Filed Under: Exercise, Goals, Growth, health coach, Inspiration, Positive Thinking, Running, Tel Aviv Half Marathon, Tel Aviv Marathon Tagged With: Achievement, Exercise, Goals, Nutrition for Athletic Performance, Running, Self-Improvement, Tel Aviv Marathon, Vegan Athlete

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

T-minus 10: How to Run a Different Race

January 6, 2013 by Emily Segal 4 Comments

Remember how last year while training for my first marathon, I latched on to Kelli Clarkson’s song, What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger?

Well, this year there’s a new sheriff in town and she says:

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So, I am in my 12th week of training with 10 weeks to go until race day. As you know, I also made the conscious decision to have a different experience with running and racing this year. To accomplish that, I changed my training plan and I changed my training fuel. I don’t even feel like the same person right now, so I think it is working!

This year I am training with a personalized version of Hal Higdon’s Intermediate runner program. The biggest change in this plan has been the kind of speed-work the plan entails. Instead of just running intervals on speed days (short sprints or “fartleks”), this plan uses Tempo Runs. Tempo Training is a gradual process of training your body to be able to sustain a faster speed for longer periods of time, rather than explosive sprints which never helped me get any faster. You can read more about Tempo Training HERE.

(Incidentally, for those who didn’t see when I posted it on Facebook, the link above led me to this fascinating video on how to blow the perfect Snot Rocket while running. For that bit of edification, click HERE. Good stuff.)

Since incorporating Tempo Training I have actually seen my pace slowly improve. It took awhile for me to see any differences but I was persistent and this week I really turned a corner and cut off some serious time at the 5K distance.

Not only has my performance improved, but the shape of my body is changing as well. In the past, I tended to grow some pretty big quadriceps muscles when training for these distances events. This year has literally been a pain in the @ss with most of my new muscle growth in my hamstrings and butt. Why the difference? I have been ATTACKING hills this year. I used to kind of avoid them and we all say how Tel Aviv is a flat course. But it’s not really flat – ask anyone who has run it! There are some looooooong slow inclines that are killer and what about those two crazy hills on HaYarkon at the end?! (If you are thinking “what hills” imagine turning south on HaYarkon from Nordau. Oh yeah, that hill. Oh and what is this on the other side of the tunnel coming up to the Sheraton? It’s a nasty friggin hill at the very end of the race, baby).

Another thing I have changed this year is my nutrition. Back in November I committed to an Eat to Live challenge over on Dr Furhman’s website. I had a kind of wobbly start with being totally compliant, but once I got going, weight started coming down and energy started coming up. Becoming a Nutritarian is changing not only my physical shape, but my mental approach to how and why I feed myself, and undoubtedly it will change the way I coach others as well. I’m sure I will be writing much more about this.

It is crystal clear to me that on the days I eat to meet my nutritional needs and no more, I have great workouts, and days when I eat (or drink) for entertainment, distraction, or mere habit, my body gives me sub-par performance. I didn’t even realize I was getting sub-par performance before upgrading my nutrition! I thought I was doing pretty well. But yo-ho, there is a whole other level up here!!! And I don’t want sub-par anymore and not just in terms of running and working out.

So that expression about doing what you’ve always done and getting what you’ve always got? Completely true.

Luckily, the opposite is true as well.

Training song of the week, Vertigo by U2. This song is like a brick on my gas pedal!

Filed Under: Exercise, Goals, Growth, Inspiration, Running, vegan, vegan challenge, weight loss Tagged With: Achievement, Exercise, Goals, Nutrition for Athletic Performance, Running, Self-Improvement, Vegan Athlete, vegan diet benefits, weight loss

The Next Goal

April 22, 2012 by Emily Segal 8 Comments

So I left you off as we were in the home stretch of preparing for Passover. Truly it was a little intense to have one week between completing my marathon and getting Passover-ready. But once we were into the holiday itself, I had plenty of time to relax. Like much of the Israeli population, we spent the week traveling from place to place, visiting museums, hiking the land, and picnicking.

Here’s a little photo recap:

Alas, vacations must come to an end. We packed up the Pesach plates for another year, we re-stocked our pantries, and attempted to return to a somewhat normal life. For me, this period of time was yet another one of adjustment. All of a sudden, I was goal-less, after being so focused on completing one major goal for so long. Luckily my friend Andrea had cleverly reminded me, before I even ran the race, that last year I got depressed when the race and bar-mitzvah were over and I had nothing to work towards. So after taking a few weeks of break, I now I am ready for my next goal, which is….

Start preparing for next year’s race! I know that sounds crazy, but here’s the very honest deal: I want to be better physically. I want to be lighter and I want to be in better shape. It’s not just for the race, but I do like how the race gives me an anchor event to work for. As time marches on and age accumulates, my body is becoming less forgiving of dietary sloppiness and incomplete physical training. My hormones have been ridden roughshod by race training and my blood sugar is becoming increasingly difficult to control. I need to tighten the screws a bit on my plan.

There are 11 months until the next Tel Aviv Marathon. The next 5 months will be devoted to slimming down and strengthening up, and the following 6 months will be devoted to race training hopefully in a way that enables me to keep the muscle. I know it seems strange, but long-distance run training cannibalized a lot of my muscle. I know what mistakes I made, but I don’t think I can implement the changes I need to make without professional help.

Therefore, I’ve signed a 3-month contract with a new health coach here in Israel to help me achieve my first-half goals. Then I plan on hiring a personal trainer who specializes in long-distance running to take me the rest of the way. I am looking for such a person in the Sharon area if you have any recommendations.

Want to come along for the ride? I’ll be logging my food over on sparkpeople and will open my tracker to public so those of you who have accounts there can follow along with what I’m eating. My plan is a super high-nutrient plant-based vegan diet combined with cross-training and strength training. No sugar. Not sure about gluten yet. I will limit it for sure, but I’m not ready to completely nix it unless I see that I really can’t get my hormones back in balance by eating the occasional wrap or pita.

I’m going to drop my running distance way back – no more than 10k on long-run days – usually much shorter. I’m keeping Spinning at least 2 times a week because I must get the endorphins to stay happy. But aside from that I am going to do something different every single day, keeping it functional and well-rounded without further damaging my adrenals.

My coach and I will be working specifically on the mental aspect. She’s a graduate of the Ford Institute (as well as IIN), so we’ll be getting all Jungian and Shadowy. I will share here as I can.

You know, I didn’t know if I was going to share all this here. It’s hard to be so transparent when you’re the coach and to admit that you too need coaching. But I feel good after writing this. Having the marathon process so public really pushed me to accomplish it. At times I REALLY regretted how public it was! But it felt so supportive to know how many people out there were pulling for me. So, as much as my sharing hopefully helps you, know too how this accountability also helps me. Thank you!

Now, who’s coming with me this time?

Filed Under: Exercise, Goals, Growth, health coach, Inspiration, Running, Tel Aviv Marathon, vegan, weight loss Tagged With: Achievement, Exercise, Goals, Nutrition for Athletic Performance, Self-Improvement, Tel Aviv Marathon, Vegan Athlete, weight loss

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

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

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” …

Filed Under: Exercise, Goals, Running, Tel Aviv Marathon, Triumph Race Club, vegan Tagged With: Achievement, Anti-Ick Techniques, Exercise, Goals, Nutrition for Athletic Performance, Running, Team Triumph Race Club, Tel Aviv Marathon, Vegan Athlete, vegan diet benefits

It’s My Life

January 11, 2012 by Emily Segal 14 Comments

I made you sing Bon Jovi, didn’t I?

OK, so back when I asked for feedback about what you want to read about here, several people said they want to know more about ME, how things roll in my life and how I get stuff done. I thought to myself ”Huh?? Why does anyone want to know about my boring life for?!” Then I realized that I like reading posts about people’s boring lives and maybe it can even be helpful to pull back the curtain a little.

So… today. It’s mid January and “winter” has finally come to Israel. The temp is 13C (55F) and where I live on the coastal plain, that’s about as cold as it ever gets. It is also raining which only happens about 10 days a year, so it’s a pretty darn special day. I am wrapped in blankets and wearing a scarf indoors because, although I swore I would never lose my New Yorker hardiness, I did in fact lose it. I adapted down and my body thinks this is freezing.

Ridiculous, I know, please don’t hate me.

Anyway, I woke up this morning, as always at 5:45am to write my 3 Morning Pages. (This is a practice from Julia Cameron’s book The Artist’s Way that I began back in August and have been doing every morning since). Yes, it is dark at that hour and I have to sneak out of bed so as not to wake anyone. I drink steaming hot tea while I write. This is my favorite time of the entire day. After my writing is done, I reward myself by playing on facebook a bit so I can interact with the North Americans who are still enjoying yesterday.

The kids get up and I make breakfast which is either cereal, oatmeal, smoothies, muffins, toast and eggs (they are not vegans), toast and peanut butter… Then I pack their lunches – as well as my husband’s – which are sandwiches or leftovers from dinner. I walk the dog for the 1st time.

Once everyone has launched off into their day, it is time for my workout. I either go running, head to the gym, or workout at home. Every day is Training Day, just like my t-shirt says! ( except Saturday)

Before I go, I eat a little something depending on what the workout will be. If it’s anything under an hour I just drink a glass of freshly squeezed oj with green powder stirred into it, or I eat 3 dates. A long workout is usually fueled by a bowl of rice with soy sauce. Strange, but it is the best breakkie I have found to fuel me far without stomach upset.

Upon returning home I’m a starvin’ Marvin and breakfast needs to happen ASAP. I normally drink a green smoothie with some Sun Warrior protein powder in it. Other times I have oatmeal or pb&j+fruit.

TaDa! is it bedtime yet? Are you totally bored of this?

Now it is time to settle down and work. I see clients – yay! I write articles. I work on my own website. I do some marketing woo-woo and call my people in to me. I work all the way to lunchtime.

These are Happy Herbivore’s Meatless Balls which are leftover from my dinner last night. More lunch will follow (veggies, and a grain, if I didn’t have oats for breakfast) but these are super filling!

Then it’s back to work until the off-spring return home from school. They both come home in need of immediate sustenance: food, snuggles and a listening ear are all needed after a day away from the nest. I dispense all three in large supply. Once they are sated, I finish up any work I need to finish and by 3pm I turn to my home chores (Job #2 for the modern woman!). We eat dinner between 5:30-6:00 and it takes me awhile to get it cooked, so I usually start somewhere around 4pm and intersperse the cooking with housekeeping, homework advising, and any errands or appointments. Another dog walk happens in this time also.

Today I dumped a bunch of veggies, grains and beans in the slow cooker because it’s a slow cooker kind of day. I’ll serve it with leftover pasta from last night.

Unless I have an overseas Skype client, I try to keep evenings free of work, although much pinterest pinning and facebooking happens. The only TV show I watch is Glee, once a week. Not a big tv person. This frees up A LOT of time in my life!

I also spend some time each evening planning the following day and that usually includes pre-logging what I am going to eat into Sparkpeople. I like it planned ahead because then all I need to do is eat what is on my plan and I get the right amount of calories and nutrients without any guesswork. This has been an important part of maintaining my weight loss all these years!

I’m under the covers by 10pm and read until I fall asleep (approximately 10 seconds later). And that’s a wrap!

There are other things about my life in Israel that differ from the US life:

1. With just one car between us, I go everywhere by foot or bus during the day.

2. We do one big grocery shop a week but I often have to fill in with trips to the health food store, the shuk (daily farm-fresh fruits and veggies), and the little makolet (small private corner market). I do that all on foot with one of those granny carts my husband calls The Mitsubishi.

3. Laundry is an every day thing for me. I alone generate huge amounts of sweaty, stinky clothes, not to mention the kids and husband. Like most Israelis, we don’t use a clothes dryer because the weather is usually quite lovely. Laundry is hung on lines in a little laundry balcony. Its eco and green, but it takes a bit more time.

No hanging laundry on a rainy day!

4. My kids don’t do tons of classes or clubs, but they didn’t in the US either. I personally believe childhood is for school, homework, and decompressing at home with an adult care-giver or with your best buds. I know that makes me out-of-step with lots of parents who believe every moment should be filled with some sort of meaningful learning or hobby, but this works for us. Not to mention it keeps my life simpler than my friends (and clients) who carpool their kids around from place to place all afternoon and evening. We didn’t have all this time-filling stuff when we were kids and you know what? Childhood was plenty fun. We got bored and created things to do. We had time to dream and to think. We knew how to entertain ourselves. We read books and colored and used our creativity. I want those things for my kids too. I know I am lucky that I am working from home and I don’t mean to put down working parent’s or their lifestyles. Just telling my truth and hoping it can be a light for those of you who feel the same but are afraid their kids will “miss out” if they are not in tons of after school activities. They’ll be amazingly fine and happy and so will you!

I didn’t write this so you would compare your life to mine, for better or worse, but basically just to give a glimpse at the way things are for me right now. They may change. Your life might be totally different. There is no right or wrong. Just create a lifestyle that works for you and enjoy each day – even the rainy ones!

Filed Under: Inspiration, Primary Food, What Was For Dinner Tonight Tagged With: creativity, Dieting vs Lifestyle, entrepreneurship, Exercise, Nutrition for Athletic Performance, Vegan Athlete

Cookbook Review: The Happy Herbivore

November 18, 2011 by Emily Segal 2 Comments

Funny thing happened on the way to nirvana.

Today I was scheduled for a “long run”, which at this point is still only 10-11K. It was raining when I woke up and I faced either a depressing hour on the dreadmill at the gym, or a possibly exhilarating, definitely soaking, hour of running outside.

The last time I ran for an hour on the gym treadmill, it began to smoke. People gathered around trying to ascertain the source of the smoke that was filling the gym. It was slightly mortifying.

I decided to brave the rain.

Not wanting to ruin any of the electronic implements I usually have attached to my person, I unplugged. No heart rate monitor. No pace monitor. No pedometer. No ipod. I was going Off The Grid.

“Hmmm, this nature theme makes me want to run through the orange groves”, thought I. I remembered my long training runs last year where I ran from my town, Kfar Saba, to, and then through, the beautiful agricultural (and mansion dotted) village of Sde Warburg. Somewhere in my not so clever morning mind I reasoned that this distance was not quite 10K, therefore I did not bring my phone. Nor did I bring any snacks or even a water bottle.

One hour into the run I suddenly woke up to the fact that I should be home by now, warming my toes and drinking a smoothie. Holy Shit. Last year I trained in MILES. This is a TEN MILE RUN, NOT 10K.

No phone, no water, no food and 6K more to run.

Did I mention the orange groves? Thank you very much to the farmer whose oranges I may have nicked. It was an emergency. I love living in a country where food grows on the trees!

So fed and watered, there was only one way home: my feet! I did my best – had to walk a bit at the end. I imagine ice packs will play a major role in my weekend activities.

Training Log for T-minus 19 weeks:

Sunday: Ran 10K

Monday: Abs and Arms

Tuesday: Legs & Back

Wednesday: Ran 6K

Thursday: Rest

Friday: 10 miles, 16K, I ran about 14-15K of it.

Training Chow:

I got a new cookbook this week and had lots of fun playing with it: The Happy Herbivore by Lindsay Nixon. I am a happy, happy, VERY happy Herbivore, as a matter of fact! How could I not buy this book?

Lindsay’s recipes, not only vegan, are also low-fat, simple, easy to prepare, and use mostly whole, natural healthy ingredients. We have spoken before here about how just because something is vegan, doesn’t mean it’s healthy. (um, like that Vegan Cranberry Almond Cake I made)

So I got down and busy with Happy Herbivore recipes this week and got used to cooking without any fat. Know what? Things really do taste good even if you don’t use oil. Not AS good, mind you, but definitely still plenty good.

This week I made:

Mini Vegan Pizzas, which had a cheese-y topping made of nutritional yeast, wheat flour, dash of cornstarch, miso, garlic and onion powder. Delish! And that’s a side of Split Pea Soup (not from the cookbook, that we splurped and supped all week):

Veggie-Filled Fritata (from tofu):

Red Lentil Dahl:

And Creamy Carrot Soup, in which oats are the secret ingredient to all that creamy. Sorry, no photo.

No training song this week either. I ran all week to PodRunner. 170 beats per minute to the place where 10K and 10 miles feel like the same thing!

Filed Under: beans, Exercise, Inspiration, Product Reviews, Recommendations, Running, Tel Aviv Half Marathon, Triumph Race Club, vegan Tagged With: cookbook recommendations, Exercise, Nutrition for Athletic Performance, Running, Team Triumph Race Club, Vegan Athlete

5772 here we go!

October 1, 2011 by Emily Segal 1 Comment

This past weekend, we Jews celebrated the New Year of 5772. Gosh, we’re old. I’ve got to tell you, I have a good feeling about this year. Big things are going to happen and maybe, just maybe, I am finally mature enough to handle them. I’m optimistic.

Anyway, October 1st is significant in a few other ways:

1. We are ending DST tonight! WooHoo! I dislike DST. I grew up in a state that never adopted it and it just never made sense to me. I’m an Early-to-Bed-Early-to-Rise sort, so it suits me perfectly to have the sun come up early so I can get out and start my day. I’m pretty stoked for a 5:30am run tomorrow morning!

Vegan MoFo (Vegan Month of Food) starts today! I participated last year in this vegan cooking/blogging event and petered out after about 2 weeks. This time, my goal is to post 5 vegan-related posts a week for all 4 weeks. Can I do it? Watch and see! I have assembled the recipes I want to try and tonight will be plugging them into my calendar and making shopping lists.

Here’s the biggie: Marathon training officially begins! I was planning to start in September, but I got injured and had to wait. My marathon is now 6 months away and it’s time to get it in gear. Yikes! That’s physical training, getting enough sleep (thanks again to the time change!), stress management and of course, nutrition. If you see me posting about (or eating) sweets and sugar, slap my hand away please. There’s no time or room for crap now! Hopefully some of my posts for Vegan MoFo and beyond, will be about the Vegan Athletic Kitchen as well.

So, to kick things off for Vegan MoFo, I’m sharing a recipe we enjoyed over the holiday weekend. You will also notice that I’m trying a new recipe plugin that will allow you to print my recipes more easily. I hope. Let me know how it works for you.

Happy New Year and we’re off to a great start!

Moroccan Vegetable Couscous

This is the vegetarian version of traditional Moroccan couscous with vegetables. To ensure fluffy couscous, follow package directions and when couscous is cool enough to handle, use your hands to fluff and separate each grain. This extra effort is really worth it!

Ingredients

1/2 kg (1 lb) instant whole wheat couscous
1 Tbsp oil
2 onions, quartered
4 carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks
200 g (7 oz) pumpkin, cut into large chunks
2 large zucchini, cut into large chunks
4 stalks of celery, sliced thickly
1-2 cups green cabbage, coarsely chopped
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 large pinch of saffron
1 tsp turmeric
salt and pepper to taste
8 cups of water or vegetable broth

Instructions

Prepare couscous according to package instructions. Set aside.
Heat oil in a large pot. Add onions and saute for a few minutes.
Add remaining vegetables and saute for another 5-10 minutes.
Add chickpeas and seasonings.
Add water or broth and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 20 minutes or until the veggies are tender. (Check frequently and add more water if necessary. Final consistency should be soupy).
To serve, spread couscous on serving tray and top with veggies and soup.

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