The Great Vegetarian Experiment

This season I’ve fallen (pun intended) in with this fantastic group of trail runners near me, and I’m having a great time running with them once a week in the Lynn Woods. The group does a bunch of fun trail races in the area. I feel so fortunate to have so many fun trails to race on in New England!

 

The crew after our most recent run in the woods - 14 miles and then a fire pit and birthday cake!
Photo cred Allison Cunningham.

Through the group, I heard about the “GAC Fat Ass 50K” race January 5 on the trails of Bradley Palmer. It’s one 10K loop runners can complete anywhere from one to five times. So that means, on the spot you can decide if you want to run anywhere from a 10K to a 50K. Dammit. I was hooked. First of all, Bradley Palmer is a gorgeous spot, and it’s just a quick 30 minute drive from my house. Also, January 5 is my 11th wedding anniversary, and my husband’s number one favorite part of being married to me is waiting at finish lines for me! He’s super happy my number one hobby involves him waiting for hours in the rain and snow!

Engagement photo from 11 years ago - Kevin was also super psyched to pose for this pic with my pet cat. 

So I’ve been considering a training plan because this race is only six weeks away. That’s not good. Don’t misunderstand me – I don’t plan to actually run 31 miles. Although I’d like to try for a 50K at some point, it’s not likely I could train for and successfully run 31 miles in this time period. My goal for the Boston Marathon is to toe the start line uninjured, so I’m not going to push myself to run 31 miles without adequate training. But I would like to complete two or three loops, which would be 12.4 to 18.6 miles. I’ve been reading the book Eat and Run by Scott Jurek. It’s a really incredible story about Jurek’s journey to become one of the world’s greatest ultra runners. Jurek is an evangelist for the benefits of a plant-based diet for distance athletes. I have been thinking about going at least partially vegetarian for a while but thought it would destroy my marriage so decided against it. My husband is quite the carnivore…he loves to cook and creates very adventurous and beautiful dishes, usually featuring meat. He roasts a whole pig several times a year in our backyard. His most prized possession is his Big Green Egg grill - and suffice it to say his focus for his smoker/grill is not vegetarian platters.

Nevertheless, I decided this six-week period would be a great time to try out vegetarianism (makes sense, right), to test if it really does improve my performance as an athlete. As I’m writing this, I’m one week into my plant-based diet. I am already dairy free, because of my intolerance to the dairy protein, but I have been eating eggs, because full on vegan would be too much too soon.

I’ve also decided to give up alcohol for the six weeks. I’ve never been a heavy drinker, but I have 3-4 glasses of wine per week, spread over a few days. It’s been a week, and so far I’m feeling really good! I had been doing weight watchers and had lost 10 pounds. I always weigh in on Fridays - the last time I weighed in was two weeks ago. Last week I didn’t weigh myself because I was travelling for Thanksgiving. Over the last week of vegetarianism and no alcohol, I haven’t counted points. Although WW is a wonderful program, I’m finding it’s difficult for me to survive on the points they allot me given my intense training routine. I wanted to see if this lifestyle shift towards a plant-based diet would allow me to maintain my ideal weight while not starving myself. Well, as of yesterday I had lost two pounds, even though I ate kind of crazy over Thanksgiving! I am very excited. My running is feeling good, and I’m excited to see how things progress. My husband, however, definitely does not feel so good about it. To put it plainly, my little carnivore is pretty crabby. I’m not sure what he’s more upset - that I won’t be eating meat or that I won’t be drinking wine.

To try to make up for it, I have also reserved us a room in a B&B in Ipswich, near the race. I thought after I run the trails and Kevin waits in the cold, it would be fun to have a fun night out and stay away from the kids. It’s our anniversary after all! And the room has a clawed foot bath tub, so - win. It’s only fitting that we should spend our anniversary at a race - I think that my journey as a runner is a perfect analogy for the difficulties of marriage. When Kevin and I got married, I was 24 and he 27, and I had never run 1/4 a mile in my life. I used to say I hated running, and that I could never even run in a 5K race because my shin splints wouldn’t allow it. Now I’m obsessed and plotting to train to run distances that most people wouldn’t even want to read about. We are both simply completely different people than when we were first married. But, we still laugh a lot, we still have fun, and we still know how to party. We’ve both grown and changed a lot in the last 11 years, but we’re going on this journey together. It certainly has not always been easy and sometimes has taken a lot of determination and work. But the rewards are worth it. Just like running.

Also please send whiskey to my husband for the six hour wait in the cold and rain…