Sunday, March 24, 2013

Marathon PR plan: Do Whole30, try again

Well, I have nothing to share about running this weekend, because I didn't do any. I went to spin class Friday morning, and fully intended to knock out 10 miles Saturday morning, and then I just...didn't. My bed felt good, it was warm inside, I wanted to hang out with Eric (especially because he cooked me breakfast), so it didn't happen.

But we did have a football game Sunday morning, and despite that fact that the other team scored 40+ points and we scored....zero.....it's still 40 minutes of repeated sprints, so that must count for something.

Don't worry though, I still have something to talk about. It's a bit of a confession, really.

Eric and I started doing Whole30.  For those who aren't immersed in the blog world and didn't ask for a homework assignment, it's basically a very strict diet (although it claims not to be a diet) that you follow for 30 days. 

In a nutshell, you don't eat or drink:

  • Sugar (including honey, syrup, agave, etc) or fake sugar 
  • Dairy
  • Grains or legumes (like peanuts)
  • Alcohol
  • Anything processed (so no chemicals, artificial colors, flavors, etc)
If I've represented myself accurately through the art of the written word, this should surprise you. It meant that approximately 95% of my diet was out, and it makes my blog title a lie. I love to eat and openly mock restrictive HLB blogs (if you consider Twitter an open mocking platform). Furthermore, while I love to eat, I wouldn't say I love to eat meat (yet) and it's still new and somewhat foreign to me. On this diet, meat is one of the main components (there aren't many other options!). I believe it's also closely allied with the Crossfit community (based on the fact that I've heard Cross-fitters mention it more than once) and the only thing I can do with Crossfit is hysterically laugh like a 12 year old boy about people doing snatches and jerks at their box.

And yet I'm not only doing it, I've convinced my husband to do it, AND we're already 7 days in.

Here's what happened.

Victoria ran a 3:47 marathon. Sounds unrelated, but stay with me. Victoria also told me about Whole30 right after her marathon, and before mine, and it seemed like a lot of WholeCrap to me.

Then the marathon happened. I trained my ass off to PR and failed. I'm sure we've all gotten sick of that sob story. At about mile 23 of that marathon, it became apparent that a PR was out unless I suddenly managed to run the last 3 miles at a 7:00 pace (and I did fade in and out of delusions that I could do so). During one of my more lucid periods, when I was trying to come to terms with the fact that it wasn't happening, I yelled out "that's it, I'm doing Whole30!!". We all know that if you commit to something during the final miles of a marathon, you can't back out.

So I checked out the website, gave it some thought, and it was on. There are a lot of other reasons we decided to do it (and also Victoria trained like a beast, I didn't think Whole30 was some magical fix or anything), which I may or may not write about, depending on whether I can make them sound interesting or not. But they can essentially be summed up here.



I was hesitant to blog about this because it's the kind of thing people have pretty strong opinions on and I was really trying to go into it with an open mind and wanted a chance to form my own opinions. Especially since I'm pretty easily swayed by peer pressure. I was also concerned that I'd barely be able to make it through one day, much less 30, and make a huge sweeping declaration about my intent and then have to come back the following day and be like "uh, never mind about that, I really wanted cheese".

I can definitively say I no longer think it's WholeCrap. It's been actually much easier than I thought and I've felt pretty good. Rest assured thought that I don't ever plan on becoming one of those annoying "GLUTEN IS THE DEVIL" types. 

Thoughts? Bring on the mocking, I can take it.

23 comments:

  1. wait, didnt you just eat a turkey burger? so what, no bun?

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    1. No bun! Just avocado and (sugar free) mustard!

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    2. I never even knew there was such a thing as sugar free mustard. So, you had to replace all condiments and everything?

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  2. You are willingly giving up dairy. I can't. I just can't even comment.

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  3. ummm, i don't know...i hate the whole restricting of food group diets. and i love beer too much to ever give it up. and chocolate milk after a long run. and milk with my cereal. i would last an hour!

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  4. Ugh....didn't you make fun of me for Chia seeds?

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  5. I'm excited that you are doing this. I am a firm believer in "junk in-junk out." Running is so much more than logging miles. Diet, sleep, and stress-levels all play roles in performance. You are going to feel better.

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  6. Ha, you know where I stand...I feel like my emails are long enough that you don't need to read my jibberish in a comment too :)

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  7. I tried Paleo and actually loved it, but I had problems getting in enough carbs for running, maybe it was mental too. I did feel great while doing it and my acne totally cleared up, that part alone makes me want to do it again.
    Dairy is so hard for me to give up, so I didn't.

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  8. I've wanted to try a no processed sugar routine but just haven't been able to commit to it. I think this one might be a little too far out of the box for me (but know people who have done it and liked the outcome). I tend to go binge crazy after a few days of trying to restrict anything so this could produce bad results for me. Looking forward to hearing about it though!

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  9. You know my thoughts on this. However, if you annihilate me in DE, I might have to change my tune.

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  10. I hope every time you look at your blog name in the next 20 days, you realize that you are sitting on a throne of lies.

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  11. I won t judge, but curious to hear how it goes. It would be tough for me because I like beer (had one last night), plan to have plain Greek yogurt with honey and walnuts as a snack today (triple fail) and I often have pb or almonds as part of a snack.

    I eat fruits and veg daily though and lean meat and fish and eggs...a few times a week? That's all that's left, right?

    What are your options for nutrition on long runs?

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  12. What color is your football team? I ran around the park yesterday and thought about coming in (aka stalking) to see you guys play.

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  13. I am so excited for you to do this! I love the paleo guidelines. I can't say we are strictly paleo, but we try to follow the rules, especially during the week (GF pizza + fries post long run this weekend were AMAZING) and the results are so noticeable.

    I also PR'd while following the paleo diet. 3:37. Just sayin'.

    Also, your blog makes me want to run DE. What is wrong with me?!

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  14. I'm so excited for you to do this! It is going to be awesome and there are delicious options out there. Honey Stingers are paleo (I believe no added sugar). We also just found semi-paleo running fuel at REI. It's an almond butter base with cocoa. Not bad.

    I also PR'd while paleo. 3:37. Just sayin. :)

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  15. Hmm...good luck? You could already kick my ass at just about anything, so if you get even faster I might just cry myself to sleep at night...and then try the diet myself.

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  16. I had a massive brownie the night before I ran a 3:46, but to each his own. Excited to hear more about your experience with it!

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  17. You realize this means you can't have Easter candy on/around Easter. I'm just glad you will be done with this before Alumni Weekend.

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  18. Good luck! I can't wait to hear how this goes for you guys.

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Thanks for commenting! Comments make me probably more happy than they should.