Isabellah Andersson, the first woman to cross the finish line at Stockholm Marathon for the forth year in a row, two months after a knee operation, told a reporter during an interview that she had just become vegetarian. It wasn't a big deal for her; she described how eating meat was a very rare occasion when she was growing up in Kenya. She's of course not the only successful vegetarian or vegan runner in the world. Scott Jurek, a trail runner who is also a vegan, is just one shining example among many others.
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I've been a vegetarian for almost three years, and a committed runner for almost as long. I've been aware of how important it is to make sure I get all the nutrients I need, and that it is even more important with the amount of exercise I put in. I've often wondered if it is even possible to build a strong, healthy body on a vegetarian diet, especially with all the recent articles about how the Caveman diet is beneficiary to an athlete. Now, I'm not an elite runner and I don't even put in nearly as much training as some of my (amateur) running buddies do, but it's been a struggle to plan simple, healthy vegetarian meals, especially with a carnivore in the house. Let alone compensate for the extra nutrients that I need because I exercise.
Seeing that some of the athletes I admire have thrived and succeeded on a vegetarian or vegan diet inspires me. It helps me see that, if I eat right, my training doesn't have to suffer for my dietary choices. I just wish someone else would do the cooking.
Jamenprecis, vaar är den nakna kocken när man behöver honom??? :D
ReplyDeleteI think it is good that vegetarian and vegan athletes are getting a bit more press now (although I just watched the "highlights" of the marathon and saw her win, but it cut out right after that)- I think for years meat has been seen by many as the power food, or something like that, when really there is so much energy in seeds, nuts, etc, and veggies get their energy and nutrients straight from the plant, without it going through an animal first. :)
ReplyDeleteAKA: Haha! Vad livet skulle bli enklare då ;)
ReplyDeleteMaria: Exactly! I think that, when it comes to protein and energy, it's not that hard to compensate for the lack of meat in my diet. Getting enough iron, on the other hand, has always been tricky, even before I became a vegetarian...