Last year I upped my season total to 500 miles, culminating in the running of my first marathon in October. I did all of this on a plant-based, vegan diet. Needless to say, I learned a few things as my body rose to the occasion, though not without its bumps and bruises.
Bones, Muscles, Skin, and Sinew
Lessons:
- The body can really grow and change in a short amount of time, but there is always another level available, and a marathon definitely requires another level. As my miles increased in August, I started to neglect other aspects of my training, like strength, speed, and hills. My longest run was 20 miles and I realize now I was only conditioned for it, not 26.2. As a result (not counting the lingering bronchitis) I finished the marathon, but I certainly didn't race it. Sustaining a strong pace for 26.2 requires a core of endurance and strength that I didn't have...so I just endured the last 5 or so miles. My energy was good enough, it was simply a matter of bones-a-burn'n.
- If you're only a casual runner, like I was, you can't expect to excel too much your first marathon/training season. There is no way to go from couch (or even 10 miles a week) to high performance in 6 months. I now see my first serious running season as a base for future running--a base of miles, harder bones, tougher sinews, more vascularity and muscles, that can be a spring board for future race training. Serious goals should be set in years, not months.
- As Sage Canaday says, it is better to be 90% trained than 101% trained. There is a mysterious tipping point when the body has just had enough and can't perform to it's potential--on the other hand, if you under-train, you won't meet potentials either (like me). I learned alot about the balance between pushing through new levels of pain/growth, and the need to rest and recover--both are necessary for marathon training. In the end, I think I could have trained harder, but I don't regret listening carefully to my body this first season as I established a good sense of baseline to push past next time.
- I found it helped to not take any Advil or painkillers. Mostly because I didn't really need them, but also because it helped me tune-in to what was really going on in my legs. I think this helped me avoid injury.
- Taking advantage of rest periods is just as important as performing during a workout--the body can recover very quickly if you let it.
- As for the marathon itself: I definitely learned to not get caught in the back of a corral. I spent so much energy weaving and stutter-stepping in traffic that I otherwise could've used for endurance. My Garmin said I ran an extra 1/3 mile laterally! Alot of people are really slow and the start is really packed. Next time I will do all I can to get some open road in front of me.
- Wear 1 inch round band-aids on nipples for all runs over 8 miles!
Nutrition
Lessons:
- There is no way to overcome a bad diet with any amount of exercise--this is where The Biggest Loser and other TV shows mislead the public, in my opinion (especially coupled with their calorie restriction approach to nutrition). I did the math for my season: 500 miles ran x 100 calories per mile = 50,000 calories burned over 6 months = average of 278 extra calories burned per day. That means 3 extra bananas a day would more than replace the calories burned during marathon training! Lots of people gain weight during training because they don't realize that even that intense level of exercise isn't even close to enough to overcome their food intake. The biggest performance and safety enhancer for me, beyond diet, is to carry less weight.
- Given that, the main benefit of exercise for fitness is not calories burned during exercise, it's the adaptive gains that happen in metabolism, vascularity, etc. Exercise is important, but not critical for weight management.
- I have learned 2 major benefits of plant-powered running from other runners and my experience. First, the food provides the best nutrition with the least amount of digestive energy strain--like fresh high octane gas in the car vs. sludgy old gas. This frees up tons of energy for the running itself. Second, and more importantly, a high-nutrition/low-burden diet both gives the body what it needs to recover as well as frees up energy to tend to recovery--quicker and better recovery = more training = better fitness.
- I'm very sensitive to sludgy blood. All animal fats and oil (yes, even olive oil) raise the body's Clotting Factor 7 roughly equally. That means the blood is thickened up with fat and less oxygen can be processed to tissues. For me, a very low fat, low protein, whole-food high carbohydrate diet is the key to getting abundant sugars, nutrients, and fiber without over-burdening the body. 3000 calories of mostly fruits, veggies, grains, and beans provides about 8-10% of calories from both fat and protein, and 80-84% carbohydrate--more than enough of carb, fat, & protein, even during marathon training. I find these optimal ratios take care of themselves when eating foods in their whole state, but quickly get skewed with processed foods (almost always toward higher calorie density and fat than is found in nature). I did eat the occasional avocado and some nuts.
- Not enough carbs means hitting the wall. The only possible way around fueling the body without ample carbs is an Atkins or Paleo approach, but this is unsustainable, potentially damaging to major organs, creates systemic acidosis (kidney and bone issues), and almost always requires supplements and stimulants like caffeine (or worse). It just doesn't sound right to me to purposefully and perpetually replicate cellular starvation in order to bring about the body's survival Plan B (i.e. Ketosis). No thanks, give me the fruit!
- As for the marathon itself: I think I drank way too much water and Powerade. I felt water logged and sloshy toward the end and could tell I had taken in more than I needed. Energy was sustained with about 2 large Medjool Dates per hour.
