Books
Pose Method of Running, Nicholas Romanov with John Robson
Power, Speed, Endurance: A Skill Based Approach to Endurance Training, Brian MacKenzie
Olympic Lifting: A Complete Guide for Athletes and Coaches, Greg Everett
Becoming a Supple Leopard: The Ultimate Guide to Resolving Pain, Reducing Injury and Improving Athletic Performance, Kelly Starrett
Paleo Diet for Athletes, Loren Cordain, Joe Friel
16 EATING FOR OCR
Food choices and hydration are an important part of any training regimen.
Featuring elite Spartan Pro Team racer Alec Blenis and Death Race winner Nele Schulze
We could fill libraries with all the books and articles written on health and nutrition. To simplify for the purposes of the book, I thought it would be very helpful to include two nutrition paths that are currently popular in the world of OCR. I asked Alec Blenis to write on plant-based eating, and Nele Schulze to contribute her thoughts on the Paleo diet. These are merely suggestions and, as with gear and the various forms of training, your results may vary. I suggest experimenting and finding out what works best for you.
Plant-Based Diets
I first saw Alec Blenis on video, watching his third place Spartan Race finish in March 2012. A few weeks later, he was so far ahead of me in an ultra-marathon that he passed me going back the other direction. I soon reached out to connect with him via social media, and we’ve since traveled to many races together.
Alec swears by his diet as one of the contributing factors to consistently making the podium in either his age group or overall (at least fifty times as of this writing), in everything from local 5ks to obstacle races to ultras.
“You must train really hard,” I often hear, as though hard work is the sole determinant of good performance. So common is the ideology that if you want to be a better runner, you just need to run more; if you want to be a better cyclist, you need to cycle more; if you want to be stronger, you need to lift more weight. Rightfully so, a genetic component is also typically used to describe performance. The formula goes something like this: good genes + hard work = performance. This thought process comes so naturally to most people, athletes especially, that the most crucial aspect of their training is often neglected entirely.
In simplest terms, exercise is little more than breaking down muscle tissue to stimulate cellular regeneration. Destroying muscle doesn’t sound like much fun, but that second part is key: What would exercise be without recovery? Many people assume that exercise automatically results in recovery; the truth is, exercise does not cause recovery. Your body may recover in response to the stress of exercise, but what happens when that response is inhibited? Is it possible to actually increase your body’s response to exercise (and other forms of stress)? If so, that means an athlete could actually train less but perform better. Further, by reducing recovery time between workouts, this athlete could effectively train more frequently and with more intensity if recovery is maintained. Clearly, recovery is key for maximum performance.
What is recovery? More sleep? Ice baths? Massage therapy? Protein shakes?
Recovery comes in many forms, but all can be tied directly to nutrition. Food has the power to rebuild muscle tissue (amino acids), reduce stress on a cellular level (antioxidants), provide instant fuel (carbohydrates) and fuel for the long haul (fatty acids), and much more. Good nutrition is critical for any athlete. This brings us to what constitutes good nutrition.
GOOD NUTRITION THROUGH WHOLE FOODS
Everyone is different. Different people have different lifestyles, training habits, and favorite foods. It’s important to find what works for you. A good nutrition plan is one that includes quality energy and nutrients to fuel your active lifestyle, and that’s not too rigid or restrictive. A good nutrition plan is one that you enjoy and can stick with.
I personally adhere to and recommend a 100 percent whole-food, plant-based diet. (In practice, it’s more like 80 percent whole food, 100 percent plant-based, but more on that later.) But what are whole foods and plant-based foods?
WHOLE FOODS: Any fruit, vegetable, nut, seed, grain, legume, or spice that has not been processed in any way that alters its nutritional profile and completeness.
WHOLE FOODS VERSUS INCOMPLETE COUNTERPARTS
Here are some examples of whole foods and incomplete counterparts.
Whole Food
Incomplete Food
Brown rice
White rice
Whole wheat flour
Bleached enriched flour
Coconut water
Cola
Whole milk
Nonfat milk
Other incomplete foods include refined sugar, starches, and oils.
ANIMAL-BASED VERSUS PLANT-BASED FOODS
Here are some examples of animal-based foods and superior plant-based alternatives.
Animal-Based
Plant-Based
Cow milk, goat milk
Almond milk, coconut milk, hemp milk
Whey protein powder
Pea protein, hemp protein, rice protein
Fish oil pills
Flaxseed oil, chia seeds
Butter
Coconut oil
Beef chili
Bean chili
Many whole foods are also animal-based foods, and many incomplete foods are actually plant-based. Take away foods that are incomplete and animal-based, and you’ll get a list of whole-food, plant-based nutritional powerhouses:
• Fibrous vegetables: beets, bell peppers, carrots, celery, cucumbers, spinach, kale, collard greens, zucchini, squash, and chard
• Legumes: black beans, red lentils, black-eyed peas, kidney beans, and green peas
• Pseudograins: quinoa, wild rice, buckwheat, and amaranth
• Grains: whole oats, brown rice, kamut, barley, and wheat
• Seeds: flax, hemp, sesame, sunflower, pumpkin, and chia
• Nuts: almonds, cashews, hazelnuts, walnuts, pine nuts, and pecans
• Fruit: apples, apricots, bananas, berries, cherries, dates, figs, grapes, melons, papayas, peaches, pears, pineapples, and plums
PLANT-BASED FOODS: A food that does not contain any animal-based substance or ingredient derived from an animal-based substance. All ingredients are plants, parts of plants, or originated from plants.
This is the basis of good nutrition, and the variety is endless. While these foods are the foundation, other foods such as spices, fermented foods, whole-food supplements, sports nutrition products, healthy sweeteners, and desserts can all be part of a healthy, plant-based diet. Powerful, healthy food does not have to be bland and boring. If your food doesn’t taste great, you’re doing it wrong.
THE WHOLE FOOD, PLANT-BASED PYRAMID
Remember our old friend, the food pyramid? Here’s a better one: The foundation is fibrous vegetables—and not just broccoli, cabbage, carrots, and spinach, but also more unusual varieties such as lotus root, daikon, bok choy, spaghetti squash, and sprouts. Vegetables are rich sources of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, and they provide the carbohydrates you need to sustain activity (without spiking blood sugar).
The next level of the whole-food, plant-based pyramid is protein. People love to talk protein! We live in a society that advocates low-fat, low-carb diets and foods and emphasizes protein consumption. Critics of vegan diets often point out that plant foods are incomplete proteins; however, the fact is that the entire notion of complete proteins is outdated and inaccurate. Yes, eating a wide variety of foods to get a full spectrum of amino acids is important, but the apparent need to consume all nine essential amino acids at every meal is not based on science. Studies show that as long as we consume the necessary nutrients and amino acids over the course of a day (or even a week), our bodies have no difficulty synthesizing the proteins we need for proper functioning.
“If your food doesn’t taste great, you’re doing it wrong.”
You can still get com
plete protein—and lots of it—from plant sources: A Whopper from Burger King has 31 grams of protein and packs 670 calories. For the same amount of calories, you can get 45 grams of protein from black beans, 24 grams from quinoa, 24 grams from almond butter, or 50 grams from broccoli!
The next level of the whole-food, plant-based pyramid is fat. Fat often gets a bad rap, but essential fatty acids (EFAs) are important for good health, and the ability to metabolize fat for fuel is critical for endurance performance. But not just any fat. Look for cold-pressed, unrefined oils such as tea seed, coconut, red palm, avocado, olive, hemp, and flax oil. Those are listed in order of heat stability; oils such as tea seed and coconut are great for cooking because they don’t degrade under high heat and have a high flash point; hemp and flax oil should never be heated due to their high omega-3 content.
Speaking of omega-3s, many think you can’t get enough of them through a plant-based diet: wrong. In fact, the number one known source of omega-3 on the planet is a plant. Plukenetia volubilis, more commonly known as the Sacha Inchi seed, has seventeen times the omega-3s by weight as wild-caught salmon. Chia, flax, hemp, and certain vegetables also contain ample amounts.
WHY FOLLOW A PLANT-BASED DIET?
Plenty of evidence, both observational and empirical, suggests this is the best way to eat (not to mention ethical and environmental concerns, but that is another topic entirely). Here are a few notable vegan athletes.
Alec and Nele both attribute their success in racing to their nutrition plans.
SUN-DRIED TOMATO BROCCOLI SOUP
10 to 16 ounces (283 to 453 g) chopped frozen broccoli thawed
6 ounces (170 g) sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
3 cups (710 mL) chicken broth
Oil of choice for cooking
Salt and pepper to taste
Heat oil of choice in a large saucepan. Sauté the onions and garlic over medium heat until tender, about 8 to 10 minutes. Stir continually so you don’t burn the garlic.
Add in broccoli, sun-dried tomatoes, and chicken broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.
Blend in an immersion or regular blender until smooth. Return to the sauce pan on a low heat and season with salt and pepper; serve warm.
Makes 6 servings
Courtesy of www.civilizedcavemancooking.com
RICH ROLL: Top finisher at the Ultraman World Championships (6.2-mile [10-km] swim, 261.1-mile [420.2-km] cross country bike ride, 52.4-mile [84.3-km] run), multitime finisher of lifestyle for his transformation from overweight and out-of-shape to one of the fittest men on earth.
BRENDAN BRAZIER: Former professional Ironman triathlete and Canadian 50-km (31.1-mi) National Champion and formulator of the award-winning sports nutrition line Vega, he authored Thrive, a book advocating a diet much like the one described earlier.
SCOTT JUREK: Ultramarathon runner with multiple wins at Badwater, the Spartathlon, and Western States 100, Jurek also set the American record in the 24-hour run with 165.7 miles (265 km). He adopted a plant-based diet in 1999 to improve his performance and accelerate his recovery.
ENJOYING A WHOLE-FOOD, PLANT-BASED DIET
“But plants don’t taste good,” you might be thinking. Bad (real) food hardly exists, but bad cooking is everywhere. Not all your food has to be steamed, boiled, or raw (although raw food is great), and you don’t have to give up sweets forever. Experiment with different recipes and cooking methods, and you’ll surely find something you enjoy. Here are two of my favorite recipes.
PALEO ENERGY BARS
There are also some really delicious desserts you can make. This is my favorite.
1 cup (80 g) shredded coconut + additional to coat balls
3 cups (680 g) pitted dates
1 tablespoon (7 g) ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon (20 g) maple syrup
In a food processor, process 1 cup (80 g) of the coconut for 5 minutes, until smooth. Add the dates and cinnamon, and process for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the maple syrup, and process for 30 seconds. Roll the mixture into balls and toss with the additional shredded coconut to coat.
Makes 10 to 12 small servings
BURRITOS
One of my favorite things to cook is a burrito. The possibilities are endless: beans, veggies, Mexican spices, or something more unique.
1 onion, chopped
1 tablespoon (14 g) coconut oil
1/2 cup (64 g) diced bell pepper
1/2 cup (64 g) diced carrot
1/2 cup (64 g) diced zucchini
2 cups (342 g) beans (black, pinto, or a combination)
Cumin, coriander, cayenne pepper, black pepper, cilantro, to taste
1 tortilla (sprouted wheat or brown-rice) or a collard leaf
In a medium pan, cook the onion in the oil over medium heat until translucent. Add the pepper, carrot, and zucchini. Add the beans. Add cumin, coriander, cayenne pepper, black pepper, and cilantro to taste. Place the mixture into the center of the tortilla or collard leaf and wrap up.
Makes 1 burrito
Alec Blenis is currently on the Spartan Pro Team and is an engineering student at Georgia Tech University in Atlanta.
The Paleo Diet
Nele Schulze has a very sweet disposition in her day-to-day life as a developmental specialist and researcher. She is also a fierce competitor, which everyone in the OCR world became well aware of when she won the 2013 Winter Death Race. I asked her to put down her thoughts on how the Paleo diet helps her to train for obstacle and endurance racing.
I have struggled with gastroenterological problems since my teenage years. I’d get stomach pains, I would constantly feel bloated and tired, and I would develop rashes. In June 2012, I fell in love with OCRs, and I began to train for races, but it did not occur to me to change my diet for quite some time.
Sometime later, I met Beth Jones from the New England Spahtens, and she introduced me to Paleo. I had never heard of this diet or lifestyle before. She’d had a fantastic experience with Paleo, and it had become her lifestyle. Then I began CrossFit as a form of cross training, and I noticed how popular Paleo was in the world of CrossFit. With help from my CrossFit gym, Mountain Strength CrossFit in Winchester, Massachusetts, I began to investigate this diet further and give it a try. “What’s the worst that could happen?” I thought.
NUTRITION RESOURSES
Plenty of great resources will teach you how to make your food both healthy and delicious. Here are some good places to start.
Thrive, by Brendan Brazier (Da Capo Press, 2008)
Whole, by Dr. Colin Campbell (BenBella Books, 2013)
Crazy Sexy Diet, by Kris Carr (Globe Pequot, 2011)
No Meat Athlete, by Matt Frazier (Fair Winds Press, 2013)
Forks Over Knives (film, 2011)
At first, I was overwhelmed when I saw what I could and couldn’t eat. The list of foods to cut out was long. It was time to hit the books and learn more about Paleo.
The Paleo diet is based on the diets of the people of the Palaeolithic era, which is a period in history that dates from about 2.6 million years ago to roughly 10,000 years ago when stone tools were first developed. The diet consists of predominantly meat and vegetables, some fruit, and some nuts and seeds. It excludes dairy, grains, legumes, and processed food. Essentially, the Paleo diet is a stricter, more-defined version of clean eating.
Personally, the Paleo diet and lifestyle works well for me; I like having strict can/can’t eat lists that are very black and white. It’s also simple because there is no calorie counting, something I hate doing.
My first week of being on Paleo was tough. I was shocked by how tired I felt, but I knew why. I had drastically cut down on carbs, and my body was fuelling itself differently, and it takes some adjustment. Training during that week was hard. I lacked the motivation I usually had, and so many times I just wanted to be in bed. I even skipp
ed a workout or two to stay home and curl up on the sofa. I knew this was going to happen, and I knew to stick it out.
“Paleo is a tool to help you listen to your body in terms of diet and find a healthy balance, including what works for you.”
After that first week, I started to feel more energetic. It slowly became easier to get up and go run or go to the gym. Working out after work became a breeze.
As the days went by, I noticed that my body was becoming more defined. I felt like I jiggled less when running, and I had developed a flat stomach. I had spent so much of my time feeling bloated and weighed down that seeing a flat stomach with the beginning of abs blew me away. I had been intensively working out for months, but felt my physical appearance had changed more in the few weeks I had been on Paleo.
FRIED BANANAS
1 ripe banana (or as many as you want to eat)
Coconut oil (for sautéing)
Ground cinnamon
Slice the banana lengthwise. In a medium pan, sauté the banana in the oil until brown and caramelized. Sprinkle with the cinnamon.
Makes 1 serving
Because I wasn’t bloated, I felt faster. My times were starting to decrease. I was averaging a 7- to 7:30-minute mile (1.6 km) when previously my average was more around 8- to 8:30-minute mile. The high amounts of protein I was consuming definitely helped my muscle mass, and my strength increased, although not as much as I thought it would.
As an athlete, I had to modify the Paleo diet to work for me. The Paleo Diet for Athletes by Loren Cordain is the book I would most recommend. The Paleo diet is great, but an athlete who trains 6 days a week and participates in 40- to 60-hour endurance events needs to be able to be more flexible with Paleo. The Paleo Diet for Athletes helped me find a good balance in terms of my diet. With help from Reload Fitness (a supplement and nutrition company that specializes in the needs of specific athletes), I was able to find a balance within Paleo that worked for me.
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