Vegan Ultra Marathoner looking to go more raw - Training/Nutrition log

I am training for the 125k Canadian Death Race and hope that adapting a more raw diet will help improve my performance.

Confession time. I'm vegan, low fat, but not raw. Up until about 3 or 4PM I am generally raw, however after that I enjoy cooking with my fiance. Always vegan however. I feel the time is right to give being a true LFRV a shot. My fiance is on the other side of the state working as an academic camp counselor for 6 weeks and I will be in deep training for the Death Race.

Mike Arnstein is a huge inspiration for me. I am all for the environment and animal rights. Those were actually the initial reasons I became a vegetarian 7 years ago. However this experiment is purely for sports performance. I would love to lean up for the Death Race, and if LFRV can improve my mental and physical performance, I'm all for it ;)

I hope to post daily updates on training and nutrition, as well as thoughts along the way. I want this to work out, but it will be a challenge!

Thanks for your current and future support along this journey.

Note. These updates are all coming from my blog, which can be foundHERE

0 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Haakon on May 31, 2012 at 5:59pm

Good job! Keep it up.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Kyle Kranz on June 1, 2012 at 11:35am

Hey good tip! I knew #1, just did not think of it :) Will keep in mind for later!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Greenmama on June 5, 2012 at 2:31am

Salt cravings are tough. After 21 days or so of elimination you will experience relief. Celery helps. But I know from personal experience, cutting salt for a day or two doesn't cut it. As long as there is some salt in your diet, you will crave it.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Kyle Kranz on June 5, 2012 at 2:37am

Yeah I messed up and had SOY SAUCE with my raw avocado rolls on Sunday. I was not actually craving salt, I just always have it with my sushi, you know? I hope that does not set me back.
I hate celery. That is not something I see myself eating very often.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Sideah Shannon on June 1, 2012 at 11:27am

I would definitely recommend more calories. I eat around 4500 and I am moderately active. Also, make sure the bananas are spotty and very sweet.

If you can I would recommend buying wholesale boxes of bananas and keeping them around. It's great motivation to eat as much fruit as possible.

Make sure you are eating properly ripened fruit and try to aim for mono meals. It helps immensely with being clear headed and when you have a clear head you start to notice what foods work and don't work for you (for e.g how tired cook food makes you feel.)

Hope this helps!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Kyle Kranz on June 1, 2012 at 11:36am

Thanks. I plan on buying some bulk organic bananas from the local food co-op soon :)

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by NathanB on June 1, 2012 at 11:47am

Hey Kyle,

hope the transition goes well for you.

Dates are not going to be 100cal/each. ('Date plums' are a different fruit). I think 80/10/10 says dates are something like 250 cals per 100g. So an individual date will be 60cals maximum, maybe less depending on the variety.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Kyle Kranz on June 2, 2012 at 2:27am

Thanks Nathan, I looked around the internet and figured it out. I'm eating organic Medjool dates. I do not have a food scale, but according to Livestrong.com one date is approximately 66 calories. That's the number I've been using now :)

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Tom Holowka on June 2, 2012 at 2:44am

I weigh my dates when I can but I've found the most accurate estimate over the years (weighing 10s of thousands of calories of dates) to be about 45 calories per date. This equals about 6 dates per 100g or apprx 270-280 cals per 6 dates.

Hope that helps

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Kyle Kranz on June 2, 2012 at 6:17am

Nice thanks. Maybe in the future I will get a scale, however the simpler I make the calorie counting and food log at this point, the better. For now I will stick 1 date = 50 cals, for simplicity.

Thanks Tom!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Kyle Kranz on June 2, 2012 at 6:55am

From http://bit.ly/K37Rle

Day 7

Thursday, May 31

Today I ran 11 on the trails, and it was fantastic! One of the best runs I have had all year, seriously. I have not noticed a single issue with my training after seven days of eating nothing but raw fruit and vegetables.

During the trail run this morning, instead of making Dateorade and blending a few dates into water and carrying that, I used an Ultimate Direction Thunderbolt. That gave me 20oz of hydration and a pocket to carry 6 dates in. Every couple miles I would take out a date and eat that, chase it with some water. No issues. Tasted great and was easy!

The only negative issue I have came across is excessive amounts of pineapple and it's acidity causing a sore inside my mouth. Just behind my last tooth on the left lower side. It came on the day after I ate two pineapples. That was...three days ago, and I feel like tomorrow the sore will be completely gone.

Maybe I am urinating more often as well? I have never actually kept track of that before. I know I am drinking way less, that is for sure.

I continue to have more gas than on my previous diet. However #2 has not been influenced much by the new diet. Sorry if this is too graphic, but I want to be truthful with this experiment. My poop seems to be, heavier? Not that I have picked it up, but just by the looks of it. Maybe a bit more thick. However it's still soft and I have no trouble dropping the mail off.

I have not been asked to go out and eat with anyone yet. I do not feel like it will be too big of an issue. Most places of salads, and I'm not going to have a hissy fit about putting their dressing on it. Also sushi would be just fine as well. Like I have said before, I can eat whatever I want, I am simply choosing to focus on raw fruits and vegetables. If I get invited out to Chinese, a bit of steamed rice and veggies with some peanut sauce is not going to kill me. Flexibility is just as good when dieting as it is in bed.

While I did pass 3000 calories on Thursday, it's no where near the goal of 4000. I know many raw fooders make Dateorade and just take that with them to work. Dates are very nutritious and fully of energy. All the low fat raw vegans who are helping me along with this experiment are stressing the need for more calories!

Morning
1 Banana pre run
AM 11 mile trail run
6 Dates during run

Afternoon
7 Bananas
1lb Strawberries

Evening
1 Banana
3/4th cup dried Cherries
PM 4 mile easy run
8 cups Watermelon
1 baked potato
Salad with
Avocado
Dressing
Carrots
Broccoli
Cabbage
Jalapenos

Calories: 3200
CHO: 84%
PRO: 6%
FAT: 10%

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Kyle Kranz on June 5, 2012 at 2:12am

Day 10, with 113 miles ran in the last 7 days! From: http://bit.ly/M2RAl8

This last week has been AMAZING. Total mileage for the last 7 days was 113, almost all on trail. I believe this is the most I have ran in a single week. Ever. The last four runs have also been four of my best runs all year, if not in the last 6 years. Often one run will stick out once in a while. But to have 4 extra ordinary runs in a row, is unique. For me anyway. Most runs are pretty good, but these have been noticeably more so.

I have felt so good this week that after the 15 on Sunday I was hanging around that evening and thought to myself, "Was that today I ran 15?" I was standing and shifted my weight forward and back slightly, feeling for fatigue, and not finding any. That's how good my legs felt. After 113 miles :)

I am not going to jump to conclusions here. Sunday was day 10 of my raw vegan experiment. It could be totally coincidental that the four of the best runs I have ever had were this week. The true test will continue into the next five weeks. I am hoping to continue with this high volume trail running until the second week of July, and then taper for a month up until the Death Race. I keep stressing to others and myself, that this is not an experiment to prove a low fat raw vegan diet is the best diet for me and my training. It is a test to determine if it is a better diet than the one I was previously on. If it's not the best option, than the experiment was still a success.

During Sunday's 15 I also received my first bee sting! The gusts were reaching 30mph today and I was out on an open road running right into it. All of a sudden something slams into my head just above my left eye, under the brow. I literally almost got knocked over! I have no doubt the bee never meant to sting me, and she probably had no idea what was going on either ;p A lady who saw it happen (wouldn't that be a sight?!?) pulled the stinger out with a pair of tweezers, and I was on my way, with still 12 miles left on this loop. For the next half hour the left side of my nose as well as all around my left eye socket and forehead felt like it was being poked by little needles. After 45 or so minutes it passed, and now it only hurts a bit if I press on the skin right above my eye under my eyebrow.

Also, a coincidence of this low fat raw vegan experiment has been being devoid of dietary gluten as well. I went out with a couple friends Saturday night and tried gluten free beer for the first time. I honestly liked it more than most other beers I have had, and will continue to experiment with gluten free drinks!

Sunday June 3rd