Marathon - tick!

Marathon - tick!

(POST FROM 2015)

Great - finally knocked a Marathon off the bucket-list. I turned 30 last year, and I used to feel like this would be a good milestone by which to set myself some challenges.

I didn't manage most of them, but I think this is normal. I had hoped to run a marathon, be engaged, to have learned a new language, become self-employed, to have written a book, to have started a new band... the list goes on.

My target of a marathon by age 30 was challenged by an acute bout of ITB Syndrome, which made it impossible to manage more than a shuffle and climbing stairs was suddenly a struggle. This was of particular annoyance because commuting in London, whether by train or by foot, you are expected to keep pace with the crowd or you are just taking up room. Suddenly I was the slow-coach I used to tut and scoff about for costing me precious seconds on my way to the office.

So I made an appointment with the physiotherapist.

Physio: "Do you run?"
Me (with a proud grin): "Yes. I run, and I am training for the Edinburgh Marathon."
Physio: "Well there's your problem."

Right. I had assumed she would take one look at my toned quads and my exceptional balance when standing on one foot and deduce that this injury was just a sign that, if anything, I was just training a little too hard. Running a little too fast.

Me: "Well what what you recommend in order for me to run this marathon then?"

What proceeded was a rude awakening.

Physio: "You are too weak in the major muscle groups...you have over-trained without properly stretching/strengthening...you are imbalanced...your trainers are too worn...you are not getting any younger..."

Great. Invincibility evaded me once again.

The following year I started a new marathon training schedule after:

- A few months of regular pilates
- Squats, lunges and deadlifts at the gym for glute strengthening
- Planking and other core excercises for core strength and balance

After all that, and the resulting weight-loss, I arrived at the line at the Blackpool marathon 2015 and came away with a respectable time, no injuries and a smile on my face!

Take-away from this - cross-training is key, and running alone is not my friend!

Vegan for January?

Can I go Vegan for January 2016? So far so good... 

This Christmas just gone was my first spent at my new In-laws' house in Lancashire, and in typical fashion when we celebrate anything, the wine flowed like beer, and the food...oh the food. The Coopers' know how to cook, and how to enjoy it.

Despite one moderately strenuous walk in the lake district, my belly grew, my metabolism fell, and falling asleep in the wee hours after plenty of beer, wine, Aperol and port became the norm. 

First world problems, I hear you exclaim! Yes, we are unbelievably lucky to be able to live like this, and I have had a really special Christmas with my new family.

However, I have a half marathon booked in for March, and then the Blackpool marathon in April. I've got an extra stone of weight I'm carrying around and I have barely started training. Shit.

So, I wonder, what would be a quick way to whip my body into shape and gain some much needed focus upon returning to London this week. Well, my wife and I have decided to try going 'vegan', or 'plant-based' for January. (Well, from the 4th onwards after some meat-based activities with family we couldn't rearrange).

Monday the 4th was our first day, and I started with:

Breakfast: Weetabix with almond milk. Herbal tea.

Snack: Carrots.

Lunch: Hummus, pitta....carrots.

Snack: Carrots.

Dinner: Buckwheat risotto with roast beetroot, broccoli and tahini dressing.

I was tired last night, desperate for some cheesy fat and some crispy crunch, though I fell asleep quite quickly. There's enough left over for today, so today's meals will look something like:

Breakfast: porridge with bananas, almond milk and honey.

Snack: Coffee

Lunch: Buckwheat risotto with tahini dressing and pitta.

Snack: Carrots

Dinner: Potato and spinach curry with cauliflower rice.

Let's see how this goes for January, and whether it helps/hinders my running program.. A good friend of mine, and talented runner, swears by beetroot for endurance and oxygen uptrake (I believe there is evidence for this in studies), so if I feel good I may try to keep the beetroot in regular rotation..

I listen to plenty of podcasts (as I'm sure you do) that extol the virtues of a plant-based diet. Rich Roll is the main one I listen to, and some of the info he shares does seem to have hit home. I mean if this guy can weigh 300 pounds and gorge on nothing but plants, this guy can win 50k races munching on nothing but leaves, and this guy can compete against meat-eaters in the super-macho MMA circuit, perhaps I can improve my 5k time and get a sub-4 hour marathon consuming non-animal calories ?

Going into this, I can say that I know I am very unlikely to pursue this as a permanent life-choice. I really, really, REALLY enjoy eating cheese and, from time to time, meat. I also can't see how I would spend so much time with my friends and family, while eating so differently to them.  

The animal rights perspective also affects me somewhat - I am certainly shocked by what I hear on PETA adverts and other documentaries. Because of this, I already try to limit the amount of meat I eat, and focus on buying quality produce - especially after seeing films like Forks Over Knives and Cowspiracy.

I wish you could have seen me in 2008, at University, where my diet consisted of beer, kebabs, chips and worse. I'm miles away from that today, but I am still boozing much too much. 

So I'm going to quit the booze for January too!

Gulp.