Four months of vegan diet and counting

Back in January, I attended a triathlon camp in College Station with some fellow athletes I hold in high regard and some others who I had not previously met.  Don't be offended, guys.  Looking back, I hold you all in high regard now.  One of the guest athletes is a guy by the name of Rich Roll, who is a two-time Ultraman finisher and finished in 6th place last November.  The guy is an incredible athlete and one of the things that intrigued me about him was the fact that he turned his sedentary life around and his biggest tool has been switching to a 100% plant-based diet.  He has become a major advocate for a healthy and active vegan lifestyle and I continue to draw a lot of inspiration from his journey.

At that time, I was already eating a very healthy diet, at least by American standards (which might not be saying much) and I had gone vegetarian for a short period in the past just to see what all the fuss was about, but I had never approached it with any structure.  After spending the weekend with Rich and the other athletes, I decided it was time to give this a try.

My wife was up for the challenge as well and we got a few good cookbooks and went to town.  Over the course of the next 3+ months leading up to today, I have learned a lot about nutrition and food.  I have started making some bizarre concoctions in my Vitamix blender and taking the time to learn about the benefits of various foods like flax seed, hemp oil, quinoa, kale, almond milk, lentils, sprouted grains, etc.

It also gave me a better appreciation for making my own food from its component parts as opposed to just going out and buying the same thing off the shelf.  There's a lot of crap out there, even in "healthy" foods and a lot of it simply cannot be avoided because of preservatives added to improve shelf life.

My first big test of the new diet was about two weeks in when I ran the Rocky Raccoon 50-mile race knowing that I would not be sampling most of the incredible food they had at the aid stations.  I planned my own supplements and nutrition and the plan went off perfectly.  I set a new PR and was never hurting for food or energy.

It's been a lot of fun figuring out the journey that leads up to this race and beyond.  It's also been a lot of fun to watch my fellow triathletes learn and improve their own diets, just as I am doing.  I don't consider myself a vegan even though I eat a vegan diet.

The big test will be in about a week and a half when I race the Lone Star 70.3 triathlon knowing that these last three months of training have been done with only plant-based fuel and a hell of a lot of hours of training.  I have lofty goals and I aim to meet them.

We shall see...