“Just go out there and do what you’ve got to do.”
- Martina Navratilova, tennis legend and a premier vegetarian athlete
The following article was submitted by sports nutritionist Nancy Clark. Nancy Clark, MS, RD CSSD (Board Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics) counsels active people at her private practice located at Healthworks, the premier fitness center in Chestnut Hill MA (617-383-6100). Her popular Sports Nutrition Guidebook, NEW 2007 Food Guide for Marathoners and Cyclist’s Food Guide offer additional information. They are available via www.nancyclarkrd.com. For online education and workshop information, visit www.sportsnutritionworkshop.com.
Whether you want to analyze your sports diet, get an answer to your questions about creatine, or find a new recipe for chicken, you can get an amazing amount of high quality food, nutrition and health information on the Web.The trick is, what’s quality information and what’s hokum? Here are some of my favorite websites; perhaps this information will be a helpful resource for you, as well.
Read the rest at our partner site: HerActiveLife.com
Episode 63 of The Final Sprint Podcast was done in conjunction with TrailFit.com; a comprehensive trail running, ultra- marathoning, and adventure racing publication and the newest member of the TFS media network.
Today’s guest is Southern California’s MICHELLE BARTON; an elite ultra distance and trail runner with an intoxicating love for the sport, eternally positive spirit, and incredible athletic ability.
These gifts have propelled her to 
ultra-marathon finish lines, such as the 2006 Orange Curtain 100k, ahead of not only the women but also every male runner in the field. Most recently, Michelle was victorious 
at the Holcomb Valley 33 Mile Trail Run on June 10th and then two weeks later had the honor of pacing Gordy Ainsley at the legendary and infamous ultra that he founded: the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run (WS100).
Download the interview to hear Michelle discuss her experience at Western States, how she trains, staying fueled on a vegetarian diet, the differing training and mentalities for ultras, trails and road races, Dean Karnazes, plans for the future, the booming and supportive ultra-endurance community and much more!
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Host: Adam Jacobs
Guest: Michelle Barton
Producer: Greg Cherniet
Music: Ryan Ahlwardt & Darnell Perkins
File size: 16.7 MB
Length: 24:20
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If you’ve ever tried converting a favorite recipe to suit a particular dietary need – from gluten-free to diabetic– you know the challenge of modifying ingredients to make it taste like the “real thing” you and your family have come to know and love.
For longtime chef Brian McCarthy, the transition to a vegan diet 10 years ago meant taking on the task of transforming the mac and cheese, birthday cakes, and turkey dinners he and his family were accustomed to enjoying. McCarthy brings his experience and know how to The Vegan Family Cookbook, a collection of over 400 recipes that offer vegan options for every event, from a speedy dinner to a traditional holiday meal.
The book is divided into 10 sections, each featuring an impressive variety of dishes. The recipes themselves are easy to follow, and McCarthy offers helpful tips on combining different recipes (like homemade breadsticks with marinara sauce) or adding variety by mixing up the ingredients (four different adaptations for his hummus recipe will add flair to this traditional dip). Readers will likely recognize standard fare, like vegan versions of chili, banana bread, and coleslaw, but McCarthy adds more exotic items as well – mushroom and wild rice crepes are far from a “traditional” family dinner, but may soon join pizza and burgers on your family’s list of favorite meals.
Read the rest at our partner site: HerActiveLife.com
With obesity in America at epidemic proportions, we need fewer restaurants boasting oversized meals heavy on deep fried foods, and more people like Steve and Elena Kapelonis, the owners of The Pump Energy Food restaurants in New York City.
The Pump promotes active and nutritious lifestyles by offering a delicious, healthful menu without using or including any butter, egg yolks, bacon, white bread, mayo, or fried foods. While those lucky enough to live in New York can get their fill of healthy fuel at one of Pump’s five locations, athletes looking for recipes that promote fitness and energy will find their culinary match with “The Pump Energy Food: A Revolutionary Cookbook and Eating Plan to Create the Body of Your Dreams“.
More than just recipes, the book is filled with advice for those who want to lose weight, build muscle, and/or increase energy…
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Product: CLIF Bar
Price: Retail $1.39 to $1.69 each, $15 for a box of 12
Rating: Excellent 8.8/10.0
Pros: Enjoyable taste, inexpensive, easy to digest, many flavor varieties, vegan/vegetarian friendly, 70% organic ingredients
Cons: Texture is not immediately appealing
Overall: CLIF Bars offer the best bang for your buck in the world of energy bars. Not only is the taste tolerable, but most flavors are actually very good, although like many bars it suffers from a peculiar texture. CLIF Bars are great to consume before and after races and workouts, with few digestion problems. In addition, they contain no animal products, and are filled with soy protein and carbohydrates.
I remember my first experience with energy bars, well over 10 years ago. I recall being somewhat curious and even a little excited about this new concept. I thought to myself, Will it boost my performance? Will it give me boundless energy?
My eager optimism crashed as soon as I began it to eat it. I managed to scarf down the dense, chewy mass, and proceeded to get a gut bomb that lasted the duration of my run. In the early days, some of those bars were terrible!
Then I discovered CLIF Bar. Conceived as an idea in 1986, debuted in 1992, and incorporated in 1997, CLIF Bar has chewed its way to the top as a leading maker of energy bars.
It is now ubiquitous in bike shops, grocery stores, and race goodie bags. Along with its rich history, CLIF Bar upholds many environmental, health, and social ideals via its philosophy and operations, and also through support of numerous outside organizations.
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Episode 34 of The Final Sprint Podcast features my interview with Scott Jurek; a leading American ultramarathoner and one of, if not the, premier vegan athletes in the world.
Scott was selected as the Ultra Running Magazine’s UltraRunner of the Year in 2003, 4 and 5 and successfully set course records at the Badwater Ultramarathon and the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run; a race he has won seven times. Last year he also became the first American to win Greece’s famed 246K Spartathlon.
Download the podcast to hear Scott discuss the Spartathlon, training for ultramarathons, being a vegan athlete, eating during an ultra, his company Beyond Running, plans for 2007 and much more!
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[PLAY] (To Download: Right click and select “save as”)
[RSS] Add The Final Sprint Podcast RSS feed to your RSS reader to have the show delivered to youHost: Adam Jacobs
Guest: Scott Jurek
Producer: Greg Cherniet
Music: Ryan Ahlwardt & Darnell Perkins
File size: 36.8 MB
Length: 00:40.05
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Runners like myself are constantly searching for foods that can both fuel our bodies for optimal performance and yet also satisfy our cravings and hyperactive metabolisms.
Unfortunately, the plethora of high-end and natural food choices in today’s marketplace often fail to meet those criteria by being tasteless and/or prohibitively expensive. However, one emerging player that seems to have finally gotten it right is neophyte brand Bear Naked.
Whether you’re looking to maintain a healthy lifestyle, are vegetarian or vegan, prefer organic, or are just plain hungry - Bear Naked is likely to offer something that will fit your fancy and power your workouts.
Bear Naked, a hip, home-grown business based out of Norwalk, CT, produces three primary food products: granola, low-sugar cereal, and organic hot cereal.
Their granola line features “Fruit and Nut”, “Peak Protein”, “Banana Nut”, “Apple Cinnamon”, as well as, the new and intriguing “Blueberry Walnut” and “Peanut Butter and Jelly”. The low-sugar cereals come in “Triple Berry Crunch” and “Vanilla Almond Crunch”, while the organic hot cereal is available in “Medley” and “Rolled Oats”.
Although differing in flavor, all of the Bear Naked products embody one, essential attribute: high-quality nutrition to super-charge your performance.
This week I had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Ruth E. Heidrich; the subject of TFS’s January 2007 “Success Stories” column.
In her mid-forties Dr. Heidrich was diagnosed with breast cancer; a shock to anyone – especially a marathon runner who had been in nearly perfect health. In order to stay cancer-free she set two incredibly challenging goals: becoming a vegan and completing an IRONMAN triathlon. Dr. Heidrich has achieved both goals and gone on to become an elite athlete. She has now run six IRONMAN triathlons, is approaching 100 marathons and has collected over 700 medals.
Download the podcast to learn about her fight with cancer, marathon running, being a vegan and the exceptional advice she offers in her new book: “A Race for Life” (published by Lantern Books)!
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[MP3] Direct Download (Right click, select save as).
[RSS] Add The Final Sprint Podcast RSS feed to your RSS reader to have the show delivered to youHost: Adam Jacobs
Guest: Dr. Ruth Heidrich
Producer: Greg Cherniet
Music: Ryan Ahlwardt & Darnell Perkins
File size: 23.1MB
Length: 00:18:50
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Early in the summer of 2006, my “running” hit an all-time low. I use the term “running” loosely, because at that time I had not actually ran in over two months. A better description would be that my overall physical well-being hit an all-time low, as I was suffering from an adductor strain, lower pain back and acute plantar fasciitis all at the same time. My training and racing plans had spiraled into the toilet of pain and inflammation. All I really wanted at that point was just to feel like a healthy twenty-something again … never mind running!
The worst point was in mid-June when I was at a week-long professional conference. I was engaging in my typical travel diet: eating meals at brewpubs every night that consisted primarily of foods high in “vitamin B” (batter). Of course I’d wash these delightful fried foods down with plenty of “hoppy” adult beverages. It sounded good, but it didn’t feel good. Every morning it felt like a chore just to bend over, tie my shoes and limp over to the continental breakfast. The inflammation in my lower back and plantar fascia was at an all-time high.
When I got home from the conference, I was a bit tired of meat, grease, and salt; so my wife and I started making vegetarian cuisines over the next few days just for variety. A week or so later I noticed that my back pain was diminishing, and even my foot was a bit less inflamed. I knew immediately it was the inadvertent change in diet. At that point, I started researching the effects of diet and nutrition on inflammation and applying them religiously. Here is what I found:
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