Raw Athletes

Comment by Tdee on February 13, 2009 at 9:06am

So a bit of an athlete here, and a bit of a raw foodie. I've been reading a lot of posts from raw athletes of various sports, and I keep hearing about bananas. Unfortunately, they dont sit very well with me. I can see me eating maybe one, not 5 or 10. Things in general dont 'go through' me very easily, and bananas are particularly slow. I'm a runner, training for my 3rd ever 1/2 marathon, and am looking for pre-run power foods, aside from smoothies. Last year I ended up using a packaged raw spirulina bar. It was ok, but not optimum. Any advice or suggestions? Thanks!

Comment by I Eat Adria's Food on February 13, 2009 at 11:51am

I'm no raw genius, but I'd be happy with a Banana + Juice + and couple LÄRABAR type bars. I feel like I need more sugar than spirulina has to offer.

Comment by justin torrellas on February 21, 2009 at 1:09pm

Hey all you runners, especially in California. I invite you to join us for the Bay to Breakers as part of the only vegeterian/vegan/raw team in the event. Click here to learn more.

Comment by I Eat Adria's Food on March 5, 2009 at 5:38pm

I thought RAW Athletes would have more to talk about.....

Comment by justin torrellas on March 5, 2009 at 5:41pm

Nope. Too busy having fun outside!!!! Got to train :)

Comment by I Eat Adria's Food on March 5, 2009 at 5:49pm

... .. . All msgs composed via Speach2Txt while en route to exotic locations. Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed®, GPS and time travel abilities.

Comment by justin torrellas on March 5, 2009 at 5:50pm

To the post from Tdee below:
Personally, bananas aren't my favorite, but they are a very easy to find food which works well for most athletes. If they bother your digestion I'm going to guess you might be eating them unripe like most people do. They should be soft and at least a little bit spotty to be ripe. Usually, the spottier the better, to a point, after which they are over ripe. If you find they still give you difficulty, just try other foods as there is plenty to choose from. Dates work well for nearly everyone. For a pre-race "power up" I think the most important thing is to be eating good carbohydrates in the days leading up to your event. The morning of you don't want to eat too much, but I would stick to more sugary fruits, and avoid fats and proteins (like spirulina) which require more energy to digest, and thus will take a little bit away from your body to run.

Comment by Tdee on March 15, 2009 at 4:02pm

Thanks Justin. You just kinda answered another question of mine. What about avocados? What place do they have in the athletes world? Post workout? pre workout? rest days? etc...

Comment by justin torrellas on March 15, 2009 at 5:58pm

Personally, I LOVE AVOCADOS! And honestly, this morning I had 3-4 right after eating a bunch of pears for breakfast. Local and ripe, what else could you ask for? YUM. This is fine once in a while, but probably too much for a typical day though, especially in the morning. We all need good fats, but too much isn't helpful either. I don't prescribe to 80/10/10, or any other "system" for that matter, I just eat what makes me feel best. For me that's a little more fat, which is typically an avocado or two in the evening, maybe 3-4 times a week. While I love the taste, it's really a "feel" thing for me. Sometimes I want them, sometimes I don't. I can swear when I'm training hard, the "soothe" my muscles in some way. In general, for me personally I prefer to eat them post workout in the evening. They digest well, but fats are more energy intensive to assimilate, so if I eat too many I feel a little sluggish during my workout. I think they are a great food all around, I just wouldn't eat them before a race or hard workout. Also, I will go months without them if they're out of season. We can always get imported avocados, but they never taste right to me. I hope this helps!

Comment by Tdee on March 15, 2009 at 7:43pm

Thanks again. I love avocados...unfortunately, they dont particularly thrive in the bible belt, lol. I was thinking about them for either pre or post run, I had one today post run and it just was sooo yummy. My guacamole could possibly be designated a food group for me, too. lol. I was considering them pre run, only because of the amount of time it would take to break down, I thought that would help me sustain. I love dates, truly, but since my last cleanse, I havent really a taste for fruits/sweets, aside from dark bitter cacao!

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