Would being a vegetarian make you a faster runner or slower?!
Would being a vegetarian make you a faster runner or slower?
I completley stopped eating meat about 6 weeks ago, that is when our track season started (i'm 14), and i ran the mile/1600 soooooo slow. about a hole minute slower than last season, when i was eating meat. and my times never got better either, even though each time i ran i felt like i was going sooo fast and i was pushing my self to the fullest. Is it because my body is just getting used to not running on meat, or is being a vegetarian a bad benifit to running? will my body soon get used to not having meat, and i will run just as fast or faster than last year?
-i dont want to be slow anymore-
Answers:
Carl Lewis is one of only four Olympic athletes to win nine gold medals and one of only three to win the same individual event four times. In the introduction to the book "Very Vegetarian" by Jannequin Bennett (see link below) he says "my best year of track competition was the first year I ate a vegan diet."
In answer to your question, then, I don't think that being vegetarian will have a negative impact on your performance. However, you may want to have a look at the specifics of your vegetarian diet. It is a myth that you need 'lots' of protein based on the way your body uses it. I would suggest eating plenty of fruit for breakfast, increasing your intake of fresh vegetables and eating smaller meals more times per day. If you are looking for meat protein substitutes, try tofu or beans.
You can find out more about a good vegetarian (or vegan) diet from the Veg Source web site (link below).
Source(s):
http://www.vegsource.com/articles/lewis_...
http://www.vegsource.com
You should start eating meat again it is good for u and will hepl u run faster.
Make sure you keep your iron intake where it should be. Do you take vegetarian support vitamins? I stopped eating meat about 7 years ago, I found I lost weight faster, and had gained more muscle from regular activities. I took the vitamins, and kept a healthy diet.
I was actually reading an article today in "Runner's World" magazine about basic nutritional needs. Maybe you're not getting enough iron? Women need quite a bit more than men. Make sure you're getting at least 18 mg a day. You can improve your iron absorption (who cares how much you get if you're not absorbing it?) by eating lots of vitamin C, and you can eat iron fortified cereal (or something else), or take iron in a supplement. I prefer taking a supplement. I have plenty of friends who are NOT vegetarians who have iron deficiencies though and also take supplements.
Also, of course make sure you're getting protein. It's not hard for vegetarians at all as long as you're eating the right foods ... peanut butter ... garbanzo beans ... legumes, nuts, etc. I'm sure you know where to get it.
Basically, being a vegetarian is not going to slow you down. Maybe you just need to train a little bit more, and it's easy to pinpoint vegetarianism as the culprit.
It shouldn't matter at all whether you eat meat or not. It has no influence on how you run. However, if you're not getting proper nutrients then that's a problem. Make sure you're getting all the protein you need because your muscles can weaken otherwise. There are lots of vegetarian alternatives to meat, and some might taste better than others, but you need to have protein in your diet. Experiment with what's out there... a lot of supermarkets sell protein alternative products as well as health food stores. You should consult your doctor about your diet change, they can help you figure out what to replace the meat with so you get the proper nutrients. Research the vegetarian diet too. You should never make a drastic change to your normal diet without knowing about what you're doing.
Here is a Carl Lewis youtube interview, as the previous poster mentioned.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=botetxwfi...
Brendan Brazier has a number of good articles on his website about being an athlete and eating. You may need to consider more what you are eating, i.e. not too much pasta, etc...
http://www.brendanbrazier.com/index.html...