Running on Veggies
1:34:10 – 9 miles
I like to use myself as a guinea pig as find that’s how I get my best results. There are plenty of books, advice, and experts out there, but the truth of the matter is that each of our bodies is a little bit different. About 6 months ago I started taking Juice Plus as a way to help improve my nutrition. It’s actual fruits and vegetables in a capsule … not a supplement. My goal was to test this out and see if it helped with getting ready for my first ultra marathon. Within 2 weeks of taking this, I saw a vast improvement in recovery times! I didn’t drag throughout the day after a long run in the morning and I felt much more alert.
I was reading an article last month about Dave O’Brien. At the age of 56, he was the oldest man to complete the 4 Desert Races in one year. My first question was what was he eating? He said that “fit people die, but healthy people do not.” What he’s saying is that no matter how hard you train or exercise, if you’re not eating the right food then all the hard work will be for not. Food is the fuel that allows us to continue forward.
Now I like donuts. I often make the joke that I run so I can eat donuts and chicken wings. Since taking this Juice Plus and eating more fruits/vegetables, I’ve noticed a change in how I view food. When I’m deciding on what to eat, I’m thinking about how it will make me feel an hour later and can I run even farther because I eat this. Increasing the amount of water I drink as well has increased energy and made sleeping more effective.
This morning’s experiment was to take Juice Plus before I started running. The fruits and vegetables help heal the damage being done to the body during a long run, so my theory was this would allow for 1) improved run and 2) faster recovery. On the 9 mile run, I took no other fuel except for water. I felt great! Around mile 8 I started to get signals to eat something, but otherwise, everything flowed along. As for the recovery, I had a protein drink and that is all (it’s now 3 hours later). I still feel on top of it, not tired, and body is doing well. Going to try a few more practice runs around this and add in Juice Plus Complete which is a nutritional drink. It’s all about the details as the big things seem to work themselves out.
