Different Approach This Time

Those of you that know me can remember my running injury that took place a couple of years ago...I was doing some things that I think could have contributed to becoming injured. This time around, as I am training for a half coming up in March, I am doing a few things differently. To start, I am eating much less restrictively. I was pretty much a vegan back then, with the exception of fish sometimes. I was trying out a very restrictive approach to my eating because first of all, I really love fruits and veggies, and after reading some books, I became convinced that a vegan diet was extremely healthy. I wanted to at least give it a try. During that time I was also running quite a bit....increasing distance, speed, and adding lots of pretty steep hills. It was during a fast 5k that I actully felt the injury happen and when I tried to run a few days later, I realized I couldn't. It was much worse than I orginally thought and I stopped running for about 4 months. I started back super slow with still pain at times. Even today I can still feel it.

Although everything came back great with my blood work, I thought, as well as my doctor, that my calorie intake was just not fueling my body enough for the kind of energy I was using up. Also, I had very little fat in my diet as well. I was stiff, sore, and lacked energy later in the day. I think I could have been deficient in zinc and calcium.

This time I am trying to be smarter and more balanced. My goal is to fuel my body with nutrients, proteins, antioxidants, and fat. I realize now that when I run, my body needs to be replenished and sometimes a red bell pepper and fresh greens are not enough.

So, here are some things I am doing to help me be stronger and injury free this time:

Eating lean red meat once a week
Adding whey protein isolate to my smoothies for extra calories and protein
Adding flax seed meal to yogurt, smoothies, and oatmeal
Eating eggs...and lots of them
Eating some form of protein with every meal and snack
Still eating tons of green veggies and berries
Using real butter and low fat and full fat cheese
Lots of seeds and nuts
Greek yogurt--can't do without this yummy stuff!
Green tea...still a staple
Skim milk
Regular pasta sometimes, but still prefer whole grain
Fortified cereals like Total to give me much needed vitamins since I can't take a supplement

Hopefully, this plan will get me through the training and the run on March 6th!