Running to Think

Wednesday, 26 March 2014

Vegetarianism and athletic performance

To my dear vegetarian folks,
if you do sports and you are also following a vegetarian diet, please help my research by answering these few questions.

Thanks for your time.

Caroline

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Tuesday, 25 March 2014

Summary of week 12

Unknown 09:47:00 eco trail paris , schedule 0 Comments

A boring week with total mileage of 75 km.

19/03/2014
After a fast recovery from the trip back from Spain, I finally met my hills in Liege Sart Tilman. They gave me a painful welcome though: half marathon on steep irregular terrain. A tumble on the ground started something that I still feel: pain between the left rhomboid and the spine.

20/03/2014
Easy pace 12 km run, even though in Sart Tilman nothing is really easy.

22/03/2014
Really not in the mood to go out. The pain of the rhomboid is killing me. Finished 10 miles on the treadmill. Quite boring.

23/03/2014
Rhomboid slightly less painful. I cannot appreciate any running session with this.
18 km with intervals on 400 mt.

Pain pain pain, and there is only one week before the Eco Trail Paris 80 km...

Summary of week 11

Unknown 09:28:00 schedule , summary 0 Comments

Nothing special happened in week 11. Just feeling closer to race day and slightly more stressed.
Weekly total mileage: 85 km.

11/03/2014
A very easy run in the morning. 10 km on the usual dusty road near El Goloso, Madrid.
At 6pm I realised that the fridge was quite empty and needed to go shopping. Thing is that the house where I was living is 4 km out of town. I turned the hydration pack into something that could carry some vegetables and rice. Evening run of 8 km.

13/03/2014
Things usually get serious on thursday. Interval training on the distance of 2 km, 5 times with minimal rest. Exhausting.

14/03/2014
Easy pace 10 km run. Preparing for sunday.

15/03/2014
Interval training on the distance of 400mt with a total mileage of 17 km at average pace of 4':30" per km.

16/03/2014
Last run to El Pardo. It needed to be fast. But the previous training sessions kicked in since the beginning. Not bad though: 25km on the hills of El Pardo, below 2h

Wednesday, 19 March 2014

The power of chia seeds

Unknown 11:46:00 chia seeds , diet 0 Comments

I bought myself a bag of Chia seeds today.
Have you ever heard of it?
Well, this seed is usually referred to as superfood. This made me as curious as excited to try it out.

Chia is a seed that comes from the desert plant Salvia hispanica, that grows in Mexico. The first discovery dates back to the time of Mayan and Aztec cultures.
"Chia" literally means strength. Those seeds were used by these ancient cultures as source of energy packed in for for their running messengers. Those people were used to carry a small pouch of seeds together with them.
Chia has also been described as Indian Running Food because of the incredible energy that it can deliver whenever necessary.

From a nutritional perspective this all makes sense. Infact, chia seeds are a concentrated of healthy omega-3 fatty acids, carbohydrates, proteins, fibers, antioxidants, and calcium.
Their size is also a quality: due to the fact that they can absorb an amount of liquid that is many times their size and weight, they are excellent to prevent dehydration during exercise or exposure to heat.

The capability of making you feel full is yet another property. This means that a meal with chia seed should make you eat less while still giving you the nutrients that a superfood can give.
A dream, for those who are on diet.

But let me insist on the benefits that this special seed can give. Chia seeds will

boosts strength
bolsters endurance
levels blood sugar
induces weight loss
aids intestinal regularity

Now, let's assume you got your bag of seeds. How would you integrate into your diet?
The mild, nutty flavour of chia seeds makes them quite easy to add to foods and beverages. They are usually sprinkled on cereals, sauces, vegetables, rice dishes, yogurt or mixed with drinks and baked goods. They can also be mixed with water and made into a gel.

Here is a delicious recipe for breakfast, something I personally suggest:

Ingredients

2 tablespoons chia seeds
3/4 cup water
1/3 cup cashews
2-3 fresh pitted dates, or dried pitted dates soaked in water overnight to rehydrate
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of sea salt
fresh or frozen blueberries

Preparation

Since chia seeds rapidly absorb fluids and take on gelatinous properties when soaked, they can be considered an ideal nutrient-dense pudding base.
Soak chia in water for 15 minutes. In a blender, combine with the rest of the ingredients, except the blueberries, and blend until smooth. Transfer to serving bowl and top with blueberries.

Enjoy!

Love,

Caroline