I am a flirt signed up for a marathon, any tips? 

Congratulations!

I'm a vegan (1year) and marathon runner and coach.  I pretty much ate whatever I felt like eating, and did fine.  I am a big fan of the vega products, smoothies and vega bars, and his sports drinks are a good subsitution for gatorade when running.  They come in powder form and you can add it to water and carry it in your water bottle if you run with hydration.  Which I hope you do.  If you are using gels when you run, you will need to check to see if they are vegan.  I know that Carb Boom and some of the GU products are, but you might want to send an email and check with your favorite. 

The more you flirt, the more  you will be able to listen to your body and get a good sense of what foods you need to eat from day to day.  I will say that on my run days, I do tend to eat 4 meals a day and not 3.  

What marathon are you doing?  Have you run one before?

I am newly vegan and have been running for a year, I would recommend a couple things.

1) checkout Thrive by Brendan Brazier, he is an awesome vegan runner

2) checkout the website No Meat Athlete, great resource!

Good luck!

I'm a vegan of 5 years and starting running during that time. I've run 5 marathons so far and they've all felt great. I agree with the previous commenters about Brendan Brazier's 'Thrive' - it's a great resource for good food and gives you tips on how it improves your physical fitness.

If you have them available in your area, Hammer Nutrition produces gels that are all vegan-friendly - they are very tasty. I think most of their other items are vegan-friendly too.

its great to see that there are vegan runners out there.  I have ran a half marathon but stopped running last summer as I was getting a lot of migraines and running out of energy after just a few miles.  After seeing a nutrionist and going vegan I feel better so have just started running again.  Hopefully it will be must easier now.  I will check out the book recomendations above.

I am a marathoner too - completed 11 so far.  And I agree with the others, check out Thrive!  It's a good book.  Also, I use Brendan Brazier's products, Vega.  During races instead of drinking gatorade or powerade I use his Sports Perfomance Optimizer drink.  And instead of "gels" i use dates rolled in coconut for my energy. For food I eat raw cashews, Vega raw bars and/or whole wheat pretzels  (I get really hungry running 26 miles).   I still do pasta two days before a long run and try to make sure I am eating a healthy amount of protein (beans, ect)

Good luck on your upcoming race.

I'm really excited that I checked in today... I've been Veg for 13 years and eat mostly vegan foods the past several years.  I've done two 1/2 marathons, but this is my first full marathon to try for...

I'm currently training, and during my long run days and the day after, I'm Sooooooo hungry, and can't seem to fill myself up.  I'm trying to listen to my body and eat what it needs. but lots of nuts, beans, etc.  And I use coconut water smoothies for rehydration when I get home from a long one.

I'll check in to some of those options to carry with me that you all have mentioned.  Does anyone know if Cliff Shot Blocks are Vegan?

Yay!  So glad to hear there are some runners out there.  I am new to running and veganism, I still consider myself a flirt???  Totally going to buy that book tomorrow, thanks for the tips!  I am running Grandma's marathon in Duluth in June.  Super scared and excited all at once.

Hey! I am a newbie vegan and training for my 3rd marathon, the Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach at the end of March. I haven't experienced any negative effects from my diet change, so hopefully I can maintain that. 

Chloe and Vegmom - welcome to the marathon world : ) you guys will love it, just train smart, listen to your body, and refuel refuel refuel. 

I am also going to get Thrive for some motivation and inspiration. 

Thanks for the heads up. 

OK ladies, gonna get personal here (sorry).... but Marathon training doesn't pause for that time of the month, and I'm finding those weeks Extra Extra Dificult to stay motivated, and comfortable.

Even though mine aren't bad in general since going Veg, there is always that uncomfortable factor and just ick feeling day or two.. also staying hydrated is even more dificult for me.

Although I did mix coconut water with lemonade and chugged it which helped TONS!

Do you have any tricks to share?

Have any of you vegan marathoners tried training while following the super hero meal plans?

Vegmom, don't know if you've already tried this but here is what I do during "that time":

1)  I run 3-4 days a week, during that week I may take a couple days off in a row and do a few short runs back to back later to make up for it.  I also take it a little easier and just get out and do an easy run.

2)  i try to really focus on balanced eating and get in good fats and iron-rich foods

3)  i accept that during that week i won't feel perfect and just try to push thru workouts the best way i can, usually runs make me feel better by curbing water retention cramps, etc.

Hope some of this helps!

Well like I said am a newbie to running but I seem to have my bad days and they don't always fall on "that week".  For me I take the first 10 - 20 minutes and do some sprints.  I gets my adrenaline, endorphins and all that other good stuff going.  It seems to help on the short run days.  On a happy note Thrive arrived at my door today! 

Yay Vegan runners!!!

I started running in 2010 and ran my first Half. This year I plan on doing two Halfs and my first FULL!!

I highly recommend No Meat Athlete's blog and Brendan's book "Thrive Diet" as well. I plan on making the gels that Brendan does for his training. Ive made his Quick Energy Bars and they are amazing. In fact I need to make some more this week. I will probably use those and the gels for my training, as well as his recovery drinks and shakes.

I used to have a lot of digestive problems and had a miserable half with stomach issues. After going vegetarian in January 2010 and purchasing TKD, now working towards vegan, my digestion has improved tremendously and so has my running. I was able to set a half marathon PR last year and look forward to seeing what this year brings for me. I have also read Thrive and found lots of good info. I plan to incorporate more of his products into my running this year. I'm glad to read posts of other vegetarian and vegan runners. It's fun to learn from each other and share info. Good luck to all with your runs this year!