SoulVeggie

Vegan Ultramarathoner - "Diet & Exercise to the Extreme"

How cool to see an article about Vegan Ultramarathon Runner Scott Jurek by Mark Bittman IN THE NY TIMES!!  Wow... here's the full piece, and below an excerpt of a much longer and fascinating report:

"... one might say he has been in a slump: he has not won a major race since the 2008 Spartathlon. On the other hand, he set a personal record in winning there, it was his third consecutive victory on the 153-mile course between Athens and Sparta, and he holds the fifth-, sixth- and eighth-fastest times in race history.

If last year was a wash, this year he is fit and psyched as he prepares to leave for Brive-la-Gaillarde, France, the site of the 2010 24-Hour Run world championship on Thursday and Friday. It is a grueling race to determine how many miles runners can complete on a 1.4-kilometer road loop (about nine-tenths of a mile) in a 24-hour period.

... he showed up at my house and began pulling things out of the refrigerator and pantry with abandon: vegetables, greens, herbs, miso, tofu, olives, shallots, lemons, nut butter and more.... we ate a lemony Greek salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, loads of olives and seaweed; a stir-fry of vegetables with tofu and an impressive miso and cashew sauce; and a mound of quinoa.

... He focuses on three main meals. Breakfast is key: it might be a 1,000-calorie smoothie, with oil, almonds, bananas, blueberries, salt, vanilla, dried coconut, a few dates and maybe brown rice protein powder. Unless he is doing a long run, which for him is seven hours, or about 50 miles, he eats after his first workout. Lunch and dinner are huge salads, whole grains, potatoes and sweet potatoes, and usually beans of some sort or a tempeh-tofu combination.

... Evidently, it isn’t his diet that’s slowing him down."

Here's an old post I did about an interview with Jurek (here).  He IS amazing! (and thanks to the always incredible Ms. V. for sending the Bittman/Jurek link to me!)

The Ultra Vegan: Scott Jurek Interviewed

"When I first met Scott Jurek (pronounced, “yurek”) he had already been coming to my yoga classes for several months... One morning after class I approached Scott to say I hadn’t seen him in several weeks and wondered if he had been out of town. He told me he had been in California competing in a race.

“Oh, and how did it go?” I replied off-handedly. “I won,” he said matter of factly. ‘Wow,” I said with surprise, “that’s great”. “What kind of race was it?” “It’s called the Western States 100,” Scott replied.  “Is that a marathon?” I asked, my interest building. “It’s an ultra marathon” he clarified. “So that’s like 50 miles right?” I asked slightly incredulously. “An ultra marathon is anything over the standard marathon distance of 26.2 miles, this    race was 100 miles,” he explained.  “100 miles…and you won?” I gasped dumbfounded..."

"... Not only was the Western States 100 considered the most prestigious ultra marathon in the world, but it’s also the oldest and most difficult. It starts in Lake Tahoe and goes west over the Sierra Mountain Range ending outside Sacramento via 100 miles of mostly rugged trails through high elevations and soaring temperatures... the real shocker... Scott Jurek has won the race every year for the last five years in a row! At the age of 29 Scott is already a legend in the world of ultra marathons..."

"... I asked to interview Scott about his training, competing, and diet in order to educate and enlighten our readers. What follows is the interview..."

"... I met Leah my wife, who introduced me to the benefits of a more holistic vegetarian diet. Over time, influenced by Leah’s diet and Andrew Weil’s books: Spontaneous Healing, and Eating Well for Optimum Health, I started to make a transition away from meat and dairy. The turning point came when some friends lent me the book Mad Cowboy, by Howard F. Lyman. This book really opened my eyes to the factory farming nightmare and how unhealthy it was for me, the animals, and the environment. I was so inspired after reading this book that I committed to cutting out all animal products from my diet from that point on..."

"... In regards to competing and training I noticed my recovery times had shortened, that I was less injury prone, and had a higher level of energy. Above all, the major changes were in my relationship to food preparation and intake. I became very concerned not just about veganism, but about proper nutrition. I’ve come across many vegans who are still drinking soda pop. The point is you can be vegan and still have an unhealthy diet. So I really got into the origin of my food to the point of grinding my own flour to bake my own bread. The changes were both profound and subtle on every aspect of my life..."

[The Full Interview by Evets Sivad is here and below.  Give a copy to anyone who thinks a vegan can't be a top athelete.  Go low fat vegan!]

Vegan Wins Ultra-Marathon... again

"[VEGAN] Scott Jurek, 32, a physical therapist and running coach from Seattle, WA took first place [2nd consecutive win in the Badwater Ultramarathon] with a time of 25:41:08. Jurek is recognized as one of the world’s greatest endurance athletes, in particular for his seven consecutive victories in the Western States 100-mile Endurance Run, a race held on remote mountain trails, as well as his record-breaking performance at the 2005 Kiehl’s Badwater Ultramarathon, which he completed in 24:36:08.... [from the "About" section: "it is the most demanding and extreme running race offered anywhere on the planet."]

[You can read more about the amazing Badwater marathon course and the particularly difficult weather conditions for the July 24-26, 2006 race, here, and below. I also posted an article about Scott "The Ultra-Vegan" in August 2005... here]

The Ultra-Vegan

"He hardly looks as if he's just run 135 miles, through 115-degree desert heat, from the lowest point in the United States to the slopes of one of its highest points, Mount Whitney.  You wouldn't know that this was his first time racing the Badwater Ultramarathon, or that he shattered the course record by more than half an hour, or that he was a full two hours ahead of his closest competitor.

Before the California race, Jurek had never run more than 90 minutes on pavement. Nor had he trained for the intense desert heat, except for arriving a week early to the Death Valley start area. And, he'd just come off of winning another world-class ultramarathon two weeks earlier -- barely any recovery time between two colossally demanding endurance feats.  For food, Scott Jurek, a vegan, ate energy bars and gels, potatoes and rice balls..."

[Very edited from here:.. full article below.]