Confessions of a Paleo Runner

I know some of you have been waiting for the post about my in-race fueling.  WHAT DO I EAT DURING A RUN?  It's a question asked by every beginner endurance runner.  And for those of you who have come looking for Paleo solutions to that question, I have a confession.  *stage whisper*  I don't stay Paleo during my races!

Before you close your browser tab in a huff, please consider this:  Dr Cordain supports using non-paleo  foods during an endurance event in his book The Paleo Diet for Athletes.

"Serious athletes, however, when it comes to immediately before, during, and directly 

after workouts,  need  to bend the rules  of  the Paleo Diet  a  bit  since we're  placing 

demands on the body that were not normal for our Stone Age ancestors. Hour after

hour of sustained high energy output and the need for quick recovery are the serious 

athlete’s unique demands. This requires some latitude to use non­optimal foods on a 

limited basis."

If you are participating in training or a race that's longer than 1.5 hours, you will need to supplement with high-glycemic index carbs.  You COULD carry a candy bar with you, but if you're trying to be as paleo as possible, sports drinks are a better option.  I prefer CYTOMAX brand sports performance drink.  It's a bit lower in sugar than Gatorade.  Rob Wolff also prefers CYTOMAX for endurance events.  

  

You will need 200-400 calories of some sort of carb replacement for every hour that you're performing.  This is of course based on your body size.  Smaller people need less than those big burly guys.  I sip on one serving of cytomax the first hour, then I use a GU with caffeine at the beginning of the second hour  and if I'm nowhere near the finish line, I'll use another GU without caffeine at the beginning of the third hour.  That's a total of 300 calories over 2 hours for me.  I feel great using this combo, and only occasionally have had GI distress after a race.  

If you are determined to stay paleo, I would recommend carrying 1/4 cup of raisins in place of gu and you can make your own electrolyte drink.  The raisins are an EXCELLENT source of carbs.  I found this electrolyte replacement drink at Mark's Daily Apple:

1. Slightly heat some coconut water on the stove. Don’t let it get anywhere near simmering. Just let it get warm enough to melt the next three ingredients easily.
2. Add a few dashes of sea salt, preferably one with high mineral content. Sea salt provides sodium, an important electrolyte, plus trace minerals. You’re going to be burning through a lot of it during the race.
3. Add honey, preferably raw and from a local farm (remember, many store bought honey isn’t actually honey anymore).
4. Add blackstrap molasses. Blackstrap molasses comes after the third boiling of sugar cane. It contains less sugar than either white sugar, brown sugar, regular molasses, or dark molasses, but far more minerals and electrolytes. See, sugar cane is a plant with roots that stretch deep into the soil to extract nutrients (some research suggests sugar cane roots may go down as far as six meters). Very few of those nutrients make it into white or brown sugar, and regular and dark molasses contain some, but it’s blackstrap molasses which gets the bulk of the minerals. So, when you add just a couple tablespoons of blackstrap molasses to your energy drink, you’re getting more than twice the potassium than a banana, more calcium than a cup of raw spinach, and almost 100 mg of magnesium.
5. Mix it all together until everything melts and it’s a dark brown murky viscous fluid. I didn’t include specific amounts, but start with a couple tablespoons of each sweetener and the juice from one coconut (or one carton of coconut water). You’ll be cruising for the first bit of the race, thanks to your effective pre-race training and fueling, but when you really start dipping into your glycogen stores, having a banana or two and a bottle of high-potency Primal energy drink will prove useful.


Read more: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/how-to-fuel-a-marathon/#ixzz2920LHavY

Your Thyroid on Paleo

Hey guys!  I'm spending the weekend traveling to San Jose to run the San Jose Rock N Roll Half Marathon with my mommy and some of her crazy runner friends.  I couldn't leave those of you who enjoy my blog without something to read, so I've scheduled a few updates while I'm gone.  If you're interested in tracking my race, you can choose to use Runner Tracking at Competitor.com.  Just search for me, Juri Peterson.  I look forward to sharing my 5th half marathon and first Paleo race experience with you all!

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Thyroid health is a subject near and dear to my heart.  For you see, I don't have a thyroid.  I was diagnosed with goiters on my thyroid in Late 2009.  A surgery in early 2010 revealed that I had Thyroid Cancer and my entire thyroid and 2 lymph nodes in my neck were removed.  The process of learning to live on synthetic thyroid hormone has lead to a healthier and more active lifestyle.  Paleo is a new addition to this lifestyle, one that has brought changes that I didn't think were possible.  

My Paleo friends who do have a functioning thyroid should know that the Paleo Lifestyle does put them at risk of hypothyroidism.  As Sebastien from A Paleo Diet Lifestyle writes: "Iodine is a mineral that is really important for proper thyroid functioning and most people today have very low levels of iodine. You’re at risk of being even more iodine deficient on a paleo diet if you eliminated conventional salt from your diet. In fact, salt started to be iodized because goiters in North-America were a major health problem and most people were deficient in iodine because the soils are now almost universally deficient in iodine. Chronic low levels of iodine lead to the enlargement of the thyroid that we call goiter. Seaweeds are a great source of iodine." 

From my experience with hypothyroidism, you feel lethargic, have short term memory problems, weight gain, bloating, joint pain, hair loss, mood swings and depression.  I had all of those during a 30 day period before I started my synthetic thyroid hormone.  

It seems the iodine and the need to supplement is still debated in Paleo circles.  The folks over at Paleo Plan asked the question "Do you need to Supplement Iodine?".  Their article is inconclusive, but does state that "The recommended intake of iodine per day is 100-150 mcg."  They also link to a website that lists foods high in iodine.  

PALEO FRIENDLY FOODS HIGH IN IODINE 

Measurement is based on a 100 g or 3/4 cup portion

• 1 cup seaweed (hijiki) - 47000 micrograms
• 1/4 lb sea fish - up to 350 micrograms
• 1 cup Basil - 42 micrograms
• 1 cup watermelon seeds - 24 micrograms
• 1 cup Parsley - 22 micrograms
• 1 cup daikon radish - 19 micrograms
• 3 eggs - 15 micrograms

While most people following the Paleo diet do eat eggs regularly, you can see that good sources of iodine that fit into our lifestyle are few.  To get the iodine you need, you'd have to eat large amounts of certain herbs OR you can eat fish a few times a week.  Another option is to use iodized salt in your cooking.  Keeping your thyroid working properly is essential for you to be successful on the Paleo Diet.  You'll feel all the benefits of being healthier and stronger.

RAQ: Recently Asked Questions

Although I'm not the creator of the Paleo diet, or a Professional Marathon Trainer, many friends look to me for help when they join me in my journey as a Paleo Runner.  I think this is the highest complement paid, when someone trusts my advice.  I do try to do as much research as possible, and I'm never afraid to ask those that I consider to be experts.  I also suspect my friends like me to be the Guinea Pig, trying these new fangled ideas of "running" and "not eating processed foods" first.  Give it to Juri, She'll Try it!!

What follows are some of the more recent questions I've been asked.  I'm proud to have helped these friends with some of their questions.

Q: Why do my feet hurt after a 3 mile run?

A: Provided that there's no injury there's a good chance you're wearing the wrong kind of socks.  A burning sensation at the end of a 30 minute run is a sign of friction.  Wearing athletic socks designed for running will help your feet breath, reducing moisture and will help with friction.  If you're already wearing appropriate socks, then you can try using GLIDE or any similar friction-reducing product on the bottoms of your feet.  I glide my feet before every race (no matter the distance) and before every long training run.

Q: What was the Biggest change to your diet when you started Paleo?

A:  As a runner the biggest change was the removal of all processed grains and sugars from my diet.  The Paleo Diet adheres to the idea that we were not meant to eat the foods developed through agriculture.  These foods may have been found in the wild, but have been altered by our need for bigger, faster plants to feed our growing populations.  These were not foods our bodies were designed to digest, and they can have drastic effects like bloating, gas, weight gain and even cause damage for those especially sensitive.  Giving up those processed grains and sugars meant giving up the "tried and true" source of energy for runners.  Pasta parties and pre-race carb loading have been an accepted part of endurance racing for many years now.  I've had to replace my carb loading pastas and breads with sweet potatoes and fruits.  A positive change to my diet was the emphasis of the Paleo Diet on proteins.  Getting a high level of proteins means that my muscles recover faster from long training runs.  My muscles develop faster for this reason, giving me more power and eventually I hope this translates into more speed.  This is something I plan to track as I run my next few half marathons.

Q:  Why am I so tired?  Isn't Paleo supposed to make me have more energy?

A: If you're past the normal 1-2 weeks of sugar detox that happens when you start a Paleo diet, then low energy can be caused by several things.  First, make sure you're drinking a lot of water.  Protein absorption does tend to make you slightly dehydrated.  Also, make sure you're getting enough sleep.  6-8 hours is ideal.  For those who are trying Paleo to lose weight, don't make the mistake of not eating ENOUGH calories.  You're shooting for enough calories to support your BMI, with 50% of them coming from fat.  Check out my article on losing weight on the Paleo diet here. If none of those apply to you, I'd check with your personal physician to make sure that you don't have any underlying problems that could be affecting your energy levels.

Q:  What do you mean by "Tapering"?

A: Tapering is the week to two weeks before a runner's Goal Race.  This is the race that we signed up for MONTHS AGO and have been logging hundreds of miles to prepare for.  For the two weeks before the race, runners will slowly reduce the number of miles they are running to help with the build up of glycogen in muscles (to fuel them during the race) and to prevent injuring themselves.  The lack of running may make them grumpy, and they'll complain of feeling fat and lazy.  Beware of the tapering runner and give them wide berth and consideration as they prepare to take on their next challenge.

If you have any questions that you think I could answer, feel free to send them my way!