Last weekend – displaying the kind of exuberant and ill-judged optimism that grips many of us in the New Year – I signed up to run a marathon.
I’ve been a distance runner for over fifteen years now, starting in 2004 with my first Great North Run. During that time, I’ve maintained that I have a marathon in me, but have failed repeatedly to get myself up to standard, and as a result, always bottled it when it came time to signing up.
I always thought that my marathon – when I finally managed to do it – would be a one-off affair. 10 miles is my sweet spot for running really, stretching to a half-marathon when I felt like getting involved with the fun and excitement of the GNR. I thought that going double that distance would be too much for me to accomplish on a repeated basis – not least because the time and energy required to prepare for it is just not available to me.
And a lot of that training and preparation is about the food you eat. I realise that I have five GNR runs under my belt and I did them all whilst still eating hotdogs, meat pies and full fat ice-cream. But I honestly believe that anyone can cover a half-marathon distance with a half-decent exercise routine for a few months beforehand (so long as they’re not wanting to do it in a world-record threatening time). But a marathon…
I don’t hold to the idea that vegan diets are lacking in protein, or the nonsense that’s peddled about meat being the only source. A modicum of basic research can show how readily available protein is from a plant-based diet. However, over the last year of being vegan, I have lost over a stone in weight (and at 5′ 8″ and 150lbs when I started, there wasn’t much to shed), and I’m pretty sure my legs are skinnier than they were…
So, after my first week of training (two 5ks and an 8k), I think it’s time to work out a strategy for my eating over the next twelve weeks – did I forget to say that the marathon is on 5th April, meaning I have less than three months to get myself in shape? For the first time, I’m going to have to work out a nutritious, protein-dense vegan diet that can get me over the finish line in Manchester without suffering severe long-term damage.
Happy New year!
