Nell Stephenson, Paleo Nutrition & Fitness

Another Far-from-Paleo Race Goodie Bag

This time it's an Iron supplement tablet, a mini Clif Bar and a tube of peanut butter...awesome!

I'll stick with a huge bowl of raw garlic spinach with an orange for my iron (eaten with Vitamin C, so the body absorbs four times the iron) and of course, a nice piece of rare beef, far better sources of iron than a pill.   Coconut oil in lieu of the peanut butter to use in my signature smoothie and yams to starch up rather than a grainy Clif Bar....I'm all set by myself, thank you very much!

Wouldn't it be cool if there were a race in which the title sponsors were a a fruit, vegetable, meat or fish distrubutor?

Think of something like...

"The first annual "X" marathon, sponsored by "X" Grass-fed beef farms and "X" raw kale"

Daydreaming?  Maybe, but all great ideas start with a dream!

Cal International Marathon this Sunday!

Just arrived in Sacramento for may last race of the year- the California International Marathon.  It's my first time on this course and it's meant to be a fast one! : )

CLICK HERE for the event's website and click on their LIVE RUNNER TRACKING button.  

BIB # 6820- send me your good vibes!

If you're here to specate, I'll be the gal in black with the huge smile on my face the whole time.  Love, love, love running!

The gun goes off at 7AM PST.

Stay tuned!

Camp!

Picture from KonaCamp-me on R side of pic w pink shoes; coach Lance on L standing solo in blk...

Post Race Paleo

Nell,

What did you eat after you finished Ironman on Saturday?

Thanks,

Nick

When I came across the finish line and into the athlete's area after racing 140.6 miles at Ironman World Championships, my choices for food were:

• Pizza
• Ice Cream

Not that I was surprised, as this is typical post-race fare.    What an insult to one's body!  After it worked so hard all day long, to inflict gluten and dairy upon it... it's appalling, in my opinion.  I much preferred the kale shake my husband had waiting for me after Vegas 70.3!

For most races, I'll prepare Homebrew and bring it along, packed on ice and drink it right away.  For Ironman, however, I do take a bit of a different approach.

As you regular readers know, I'll have eaten my sole non Paleo food (carbohydrate gel)...and nothing but, all day long!

After ten hours of sweet, sweet, sweet, the last thing I usually want is more sweet!  In addition, my body's just been through a long day, at a high intensity, with fuel very different from what I'll have eaten on a normal day.  Not much veggie and protein eating going on during Ironman! : )

So, I go with what my body is telling me I need, and I almost always go for a nice, grass-fed burger on copious amounts of leafy greens with healthy fats like avocado and olive oil.  I'll have some fruit as well, once the sound of the sweeter type foods becomes appetizing.

Part of the purpose of having the homebrew recovery drink is also to prep the body for the next workouts to come, and since I'll have a few really easy days post race, I don't feel particularly concerned with this aspect of recovery. 

Of course, if is of utmost importance to ensure I do everything I can to support my body nutritionally to recover so I focus on all my normal alkaline food as well as some extra servings of the natural anti inflammatory components in my diet like turmeric, oil of oregano and extra fish oil.

I also drink even more water to continue to flush out all the extra electrolytes I'll have consumed during the day.

In a nutshell, I get back to normal Paleo eating asap!

KONA 2011

Wow, what a day. Conditions were pristine!   Not hot and not windy, save a few gusty bits heading out to Hawi and back.

I must thank you blog readers and twitter followers, some of whom I had the great pleasure to meet  in person this past week, for sending your good wishes to me.  Always very much appreciated!

The day after a big event like this, for me, is always a bit of an anti climax.  It's a year in the making, and it's an incredible high and then...it's over!

At the moment, while I'm happy with my Kona IM PR (22 minutes; a finish time of 10:17, down from 10:39 from 2010), of course, being a high-goal setter, I've got a HUGE fire in the belly to get on the podium next year, as I missed it yesterday by the skin of my teeth (57 seconds).

(Remind me WHO says Paleo doesn't support a strong performance at the races? : )

Today is dedicated to taking it all in, getting a bit of R&R with my husband and good friends, while we spend on more day in paradise before heading home tomorrow.

Send your post-race questions along, please, as they always make for good blog topics!

And again, thank you for your support!

Breakfast in

Paleo breakfast in(blue sweet potato, sig banana/almond butter/egg pro Smoothie & blk coffee...)<2hrs til gun goes off!

RACE TIME

I'm writing this post the night before the big day, October 8th.

The cannon will fire at 7AM Hawaii time for the 2011 Ironman World Championships.

As always, it is an incredible honor to race here and I plan to race my heart out with a smile of gratitude on my face.

Send your good wishes, cheer, track online HERE using the athlete tracker function (#1456)... and stay tuned to read all about it, post race!

One of my pre race day snacks! Blue sweet potato, pineapple, turkey, runny egg, broccoli, avo, after my last little training ride...

Let The (PALEO) Starching Up Begin

As I've mentioned before, with Ironman a mere two days away at the time I write this post, I now need to begin topping off my glycogen stores.

NOT the night before the race, and NOT with ridiculous portions of pasta.

Small amounts of yam, or sweet potato, or my Hawaii starch of choice- the local blue sweet potatoes, eaten along with my regular paleo meals throughout the day Thursday and Friday for a Saturday race, always does the trick!

Here's a pic of my usual prep, tossed with extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and roasted until soft. Finish with a touch of freshly ground pepper, and you're PALEO golden!

VERY happy to have had such a lovely Paleo meal @ Merriman's Waimea... Local lettuces, luau leaf, swiss chard & wild boar... To DIE for!!!