Notable This Week

Active Stretching
I am a keen supporter of stretching. I ALWAYS make time to stretch after running. So I found this video captivating.
Running Stretches with One Mile Runner
He incorporates eccentric and concentric moves using body weight as resistance. (Wish I had a private trainer...)
Theses moves felt so good - especially the plantar stretch!

Masters Need Easy Runs
I pay attention to all Masters running chatter. (Yeah, I'm old.)
Over the years I’ve seen a lot of changes. This podcast from Running Times interviews Pete Magill. A 48 yr old runner who can do a 10k: in 31:27.30 !
He emphasizes the need (for us older runners) to listen to our body. On his easy day runs, he just runs - no set pace or distance. He found his body responding to these “rest days.” Conclusion - even with these slow comfortable runs he was able to maintain his fast race times.
His training philosophy:

• "Put away your watch; stop counting miles and start listening to the body. Our bodies will tell us more accurately how fast and far to run than a watch or training log ever can. And our bodies will warn us when we're courting disaster - injury or overtraining - long before our minds are willing to accept the premise. More importantly, when we learn to listen to our bodies, we learn how to race."

New Cereal
Tried out a new cereal – Kashi 7 Grain Nuggets. I just add a quarter cup to my usual base - Oatmeal, Cheerios or Shredded Wheat.
This is a substantial breakfast when you include raisins or my latest fad – DATES.
Half a cup of this cereal has 7 grams of protein!

Masters T-shirt

-----

Food Questions

I always read a writer’s bio. I need to know the person behind the article. In last month's Vegetarian Times , they asked the contributors several questions. The answers were so varied.
Why are we so different when it comes to food?


Here are a few of questions with my responses:

1. “What’s your No.1 grocery splurge?” I would have to say a good $$$ Balsamic vinegar or a jar of organic pasta sauce. (I usually make my own.)
2. “What’s your most treasured family recipe?” Because I’m vegetarian now, most of my family recipes are no longer viable. But I would have to say a Christmas Shortbread recipe still lingers although it has been somewhat modified…
3. “What’s your No.1 pantry staple?” Vegetable bullion cubes and Garlic cloves. I’m attempting to reduce my sodium intake. I used to free pour soy sauce over my stir-fry dishes. Now I mix half a tablespoon with water. I found fresh garlic and lots of it is a great replacement for salt.
4. “What was your most memorable dining experience ever?”When the master cook at an Asian restaurant found out we were vegetarian, he went off to his main kitchen and came back with several unique sushi rolls - elaborately fashioned with such things as grated beets and exotic mushrooms. O – Did I tell you we were at the Palms in Vegas!

I’m curious to hear your answers!

-----

What Do You Eat Before a Long Run

The TiaRT question this week is asked by Jill of (Jill Will Run).

“It's the morning of your weekly long run... what do you eat and why?”

I used to take in a far amount of food before my runs. This included: bananas, soy milk, toast, peanut butter and COFFEE. (I don’t drink coffee before I run anymore…)
But I found that stuffing myself before a long run had absolutely no benefit. All it made me feel was sluggish and even nauseated.
(You can live without food for awhile – but must have water!)
I now eat big after I run.

My reduced intake:

• Handful of Puffin cereal - dry. I munch on these while I catch up on e-mails.
• ¼ cup of almonds - dry not salted.
• Cup of Black tea (It’s not really a food item, but has caffeine.)
• Glass of Water as soon as I wake up and then a couple of gulps before I leave.

What does your recent pre-run menu include?

-----

Oreo Cookie Vs Zucchini Bread

Oreo Peanut Butter Cream
Ingredients:
Sugar, Enriched Flour (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamine Mononitrate {Vitamin B1}Riboflavin {Vitamin B2}Folic Acid) Peanut Butter (Peanuts, Hydrogenated Rapeseed and/or Cottonseed and/or Soybean Oils, Salt) High Oleic Canola Oil and/or Palm oil and/or Canola Oil, Cocoa (Processed with Alkali) Maltodextrin, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Cornstarch, Salt, Baking Soda, Soy Lecithin (Emulsifier) Chocolate, Vanillin - an Artificial Flavor. (Not too evil...)


Homemade Zucchini Bread
Ingredients:
Whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, raisins, Ener-G , canola oil, sugar, grated zucchini, applesauce, and vanilla extract.

Winner - Zucchini Bread!

BTW - Regular Oreos are considered Vegetarian.
Here’s the original recipe Low Fat Zucchini Bread.
(I always modify the sugar level!)

-----

Eat This

This week’s theme at Runner's Lounge TIaRT is.... Runners version of Eat This Not That.
Eating and running go hand in hand. Food is the fuel for action and the matrix for recovery.

"As most of you know I have been vegetarian for about 15 years. I won’t attempt to deliver a sermon on how healthy a vegetarian diet is for your body, but just know it is a healthy and rewarding lifestyle."

Breakfast
Oatmeal vs. Corn Flakes
Bowl of Cornflakes Protein 2g
Bowl of Oatmeal protein 5g

I always feel satisfied after a bowl of oatmeal. (You can’t say that about cornflakes.) I avoid the instant variety as it is too sweet. Old fashioned oats cook in about 4 minutes in the MW. Make sure to use a large bowl to avoid boiling over bowl mess incidents. To increase the benefits, you can add your own amount of sweetener and other good things like raisins, cinnamon, nuts, soya milk…

Snacks
Almonds vs. M&Ms
22 Almonds dry roasted 169 cals, fat 15g, sugar 1g, protein 6g
M&Ms 1.6 ounce (1 small bag) 240 cals fat 10g, sugar 31g, protein 2g

I can’t say enough about almonds. They are one of my staples. They satisfy, are portable and easy to digest. And contain tryptophan an essential amino acid.

Fruit
Banana vs. Cranberry Juice
1 Banana 100 cals, sodium 0, carbs 27g, protein 1g
Cranberry cocktail - 1 cup 137 cals, carbs 34g, protein 0g

I have never met a runner who didn’t like bananas! They are best right after a run – easy to digest, giving you a much needed boost from the carbs. Juice is a quick fix – but to reap the full benefits of the fruit (fiber & nutrients) – eat the fruit!

Above Nutritional Data
Another benefit of eating fruits and vegetables – Longevity!

-----

Food is Fuel

I always shudder when I hear, what runners eat. Like running gives us the license to eat whatever we want.


Runners who tweet

But beware – not all calories are equal. Some provide vitamins and nutrients that does a body good while others can virtually kill you.
Like
½ c of Haagen-dazs Crème Brulee ice cream has 19 grams of fat including 120 mg of cholesterol! This stuff can coat the insides your cardiac arteries.
Instead
When I drink carrot juice my face glows.

125 Healthiest Supermarket Foods
Surprisingly, I found this list on healthy eating in Men’s Health magazine. Not that I condone store bought re-fried beans over homemade - but for those who don’t prepare food, this list gives some great suggestions.

And before the big race
"Many runners assume that they must eat a lot of food the night before..... There is nothing you can eat the evening before a race that will help you. But eating to much, or the wrong foods, can be a real problem.”
-Galloway

What crap do you eat?

-----

Need a Protein Boost

As a Vegetarian, it’s easy to fall into the carb trap.
Hungry… munch on a handful of pretzels. Starving… slice of toast with jam. Really hungry…a bowl of cheerios sprinkled with chocolate chips.
But lately I’ve been noticing an increase in flat out exhausted moments – all I want to do is rest or eat more carbs.
(We all know that dead zone feeling after a sugar rush high.)
So for the rest of this week going to see if increasing my protein intake makes any difference.
Today’s Breakfast Protein Amounts

• Old Fashioned Quaker Oats – 5 grams
• 1 Tbs of Soya Protein - 6 grams
• ½ C Soya milk – 4 grams
• ½ Wheat bun – 3 grams
• 1 Tbs peanut butter - 3 grams

Grand total = 21 grams of Protein!

Active humans need around 0.1 gram of protein for every kilo you weigh. So I need around 54 grams. Hey, almost half way there!

More sources of Vegetarian protein

Trader Joe's Soya Protein Powder

-----

Banana - The Happy Fruit

I’m a few days late posting in the Gimme Food meme over at Runners Lounge, but I couldn’t resist adding my 2 cents on one of my favorite food items.

Bananas!

Not only do they provide runners with quick energy - they fill you up! And I love them.

Banana Factoids:

• They are 93% carbs.
• They have 5.9 mg of calcium.
• And 0.3 mgs of Iron.
• An average 118gm banana has 88gms of water.
• A cluster of bananas is called a hand.
• Bananas are America's #1 fruit.
• Bananas were officially introduced to the American public in 1876 at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition. Each banana was wrapped in foil and sold for 10 cents.
• There is banana beer.
• The average American consumes over 28 pounds of bananas each year. I know I eat more!
• Bananas contain tryptophan which is good for people suffering depression.

But I still don't have one of these - > Bananasaver
~
Ref - Wiki, rawplus, and corsinet.

-----

Recovery Meal?

I place more importance of pre-run fuel than post-run nutrition. In an article in the latest Outside – a dietician speaks out about the “Golden Hour.” That’s the 60 minute period after you workout. During that time the body ardently seeks out nutrients to replenish itself...
When I return from my run: I do a standing stretch in the garden, play with the dog, take note of yard work, go inside, MAKE COFFEE, do a 15 minute stretch including sit-up...and then breakfast.
The article says we need about 0.1 gram of protein for every kilo you weigh. So that puts my requirement around 5 grams.
Easy enough to grab before I start stretching. I will just replace some water with soya drink (8 grams of protein in 1 cup) and a few almonds.

Some Other Sources of Protein

“Every responsible source in body-building and athletics recommends that you eat after training, and preferably within 45 minutes (or even an hour) after a workout. This period, known as the golden hour…”

What’s your recovery food?

Image from vrg

-----