I’ve been eating differently for the last few weeks, doing the Slow Carb diet. In a nutshell it’s no white carbs, no dairy, no fruit and no sugar/sweeteners for 6 days a week. The 7th day anything goes.
It is going extraordinarily well. I have lost 8 pounds and I feel really great. I was worried that the lack of fast carbs would effect my running but so far it hasn’t really had an impact.
The first time I ran, I felt exhausted at the 1.5 mile point but I pushed through and recovered by mile 4. I was able to do 6 miles at a pretty decent pace.
Today I ran 5 miles at lunch time. I felt good throughout the entire run, so I think my body is adapting to the lack of sugar and fast burning carbs.
Yesterday I signed up for a half-marathon on April 2nd, so I have less than 4 weeks to get ready. I was worried that the diet would hinder my training but I think it’s going to be okay.
I will time my long runs and the race for my “cheat day” – the day I can eat anything, so I won’t have to worry about having a gel or two and some Gatorade.
5 responses to “Running and the Slow Carb diet”
way to go! thats great! no way i’d be able to cut out fruits for 6x a week…
I’m seeing some good results so I’m going to give it another month and see what happens. My energy is really level all day, so I’m intrigued by that. And I love, love, love the cheat day, even though I don’t seem to eat all that much after all.
Hi Laura – how is this going? Have you stayed on this 100% while training for the April 4th race? I’m thinking of going back on myself while training for a July 1/2 marathon. I also noticed the mini-wall at 1.5 miles or so and wonder if it goes away. I guess I’ll find out myself but another post from you about slow-carb training after the race would be welcome!
Hi Ken,
Thanks for your comment. I have stayed on the SCD while training. My body had adjusted enough so that I can do my regular training runs without any problems, up to about 5 miles. The mini-wall does go away. I had to push through it the first few runs but now I don’t have that issue anymore.
For my long runs, I have to schedule my cheat day for the day before. I made the mistake this weekend of thinking that I could reverse the days and it was a big mistake. I wanted to run 12 miles on Saturday and then have my cheat day on Sunday. It was a stupid idea, but today was Maine Maple Sunday which was just too perfect for a cheat day. Maple syrup flavored everything! My run yesterday, the day before a cheat day, was miserable. After mile 6 I knew I was doomed. I ended up only running 9 miles instead of the planned 12. Last week I cheated on Saturday and ran a wonderful 11 miles on Sunday. I won’t make this mistake again.
Next week the 1/2 is on Saturday so I’m going to have to cheat on Friday. I now understand about runners and their pasta dinners the night before. I will be doing that. I can now tell the difference.
–Laura
I believe that avoiding processed foods will be the first step to lose weight. They will often taste very good, but prepared foods have got very little nutritional value, making you eat more only to have enough vigor to get through the day. If you are constantly taking in these foods, switching to whole grain products and other complex carbohydrates will let you have more electricity while taking in less. Great blog post.