Rich attributes his success largely to the fact that he adopted a "plant-based" (vegan, for all intents and purposes) diet. Adoption of the diet led to significant weight-loss which permitted him to engage in the kind of intense training required to complete his race. I was a vegan when I ran my first marathon in 1993, and my experience was similar. I clocked a 3:34.01 for the race, not bad considering where I was coming from. Over the year prior to my race I quit smoking and lost about 75 pounds, which made running a lot easier. When I started I could barely make it around the block but as the weight came off I was able to extend my runs with little effort. I've since changed my diet around a few times, but I always notice when I'm up a few pounds; I can feel it in my joints before I even think to step on a scale.
I've been toying around with the idea of training for this year's racing by going completely vegan, just to see whether I can drop this 10-15 pounds that stubbornly remind me that my metabolism ain't what it used to be. I might try the Mark Bittman route and go "vegan before dinnertime". I'm not really sure yet.
Maybe I identify with Rich Roll because his story is broadly similar to mine, I don't know. I do know that his podcast is totally blowing my mind. A few months back Rich and his wife Julie Piatt took their four kids and moved to the island of Kauai, where they took up residence at an organic farm community named "Common Ground". Common Ground is the brainchild of internet entepreneur Chris Jaeb, founder of the website Broadcast.com and creator of click advertising. (It's mission, near as I can tell, is to create a model for sustainable living in the digital age that is accessible to all through the advocacy of farm-to-table and local food networks.) Ostensibly about health and fitness, the podcast is really more a meandering thought experiment, where Roll and Piatt hold forth on topics ranging from nutrition to sustainable living to the challenges of forging strong male/female relationships and seeing the divine in other people. It's a pretty fascinating approach to podcasting, I can tell you that. Give it a listen. Rich's wife Julie is a dynamic personality in her own right and is a yogi, musician and chef, among other things. Her and Rich have a company called Jai Lifestyle which sells a few products that support their lifestyle, including a pretty good vegan cook-book.
I've been toying around with the idea of training for this year's racing by going completely vegan, just to see whether I can drop this 10-15 pounds that stubbornly remind me that my metabolism ain't what it used to be. I might try the Mark Bittman route and go "vegan before dinnertime". I'm not really sure yet.
Maybe I identify with Rich Roll because his story is broadly similar to mine, I don't know. I do know that his podcast is totally blowing my mind. A few months back Rich and his wife Julie Piatt took their four kids and moved to the island of Kauai, where they took up residence at an organic farm community named "Common Ground". Common Ground is the brainchild of internet entepreneur Chris Jaeb, founder of the website Broadcast.com and creator of click advertising. (It's mission, near as I can tell, is to create a model for sustainable living in the digital age that is accessible to all through the advocacy of farm-to-table and local food networks.) Ostensibly about health and fitness, the podcast is really more a meandering thought experiment, where Roll and Piatt hold forth on topics ranging from nutrition to sustainable living to the challenges of forging strong male/female relationships and seeing the divine in other people. It's a pretty fascinating approach to podcasting, I can tell you that. Give it a listen. Rich's wife Julie is a dynamic personality in her own right and is a yogi, musician and chef, among other things. Her and Rich have a company called Jai Lifestyle which sells a few products that support their lifestyle, including a pretty good vegan cook-book.
I think tomorrow morning I'm going to get out there for a 10 miler. I need to spend less time writing about running, and more time doing some actual running.
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