A couple of months ago, my ass was dragging. I was training for the shittacular DNF marathon and I was super fatigued. I bitched and whined in my running log about how dead my legs were and how awful running felt. And my coach sent me a nice little note with a pep talk telling me to take some easy/rest days. Which, I did. She also mentioned that when she gets dead legs that she revs up her protein intake a bit and that she's noticed that it helps.
Meh. Protein? Admittedly, I'm a little irrationally sensitive to the protein issue. But, I just assumed that I was getting enough protein. I eat pretty healthy, all the nutrition should be there. Including protein!
Uhh... except, it turns out, it's not there. The seed was planted and I started thinking about my diet and how much protein I get. I came to the conclusion that I get about 15-25 grams of protein a day. Hmmm... probably not enough.
So, I picked up a huge ass container of this the other day:
Full disclosure, I don't really know what the hell all the mumbo jumbo about glutamine and BCAAs means and I don't really have any interest to find out. All I know is that it's plant based and the nutritional stats seem pretty decent:
26 grams of protein and 120 calories and no sugar?
Okay, that seems reasonable enough.
Okay, that seems reasonable enough.
I've only been using it for a week or so and as I have droned on for the past zillion blog posts, I'm not exactly having the greatest runs lately. So, I can't really speak to whether or not it's helped with recovery, leg fatigue, or performance. But, I've been able to incorporate it into my daily life seamlessly. I just scoop out a serving and add it to my lunch smoothie. Easy. I kinda wish there was a "non" flavor, but the vanilla flavor is pretty mild.
In my eyes, if it helps with recovery or performance, then that's just a bonus. The real success is realizing that just because I'm eating healthy, doesn't mean I'm getting everything I need. Sometimes it's good to be reminded to take a look at your diet and see what you need. I would have NEVER given a second thought to protein if my coach hadn't mentioned it. And while, the hippie in me kinda hates the fact that I'm not getting enough of what I need from my daily diet, I'm pretty happy with this protein supplement that seems about as natural as you can get (in a giant tub).
Anyone else use protein powders? Can you tell any difference in performance or recovery?
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3 comments:
That stuff has been on my "to buy" list for about a month. Really want to try it, but apparently sold only at one inconveniently located store in town. Anyway, I've had "unflavored vegetarian protein powder" on my "to buy" list for about 4 years.
I don't worry much about protein honestly and I've been using an nutritionist for about 3 years. I don't think it has anything to do with deadlegs/fatigue either. I do have the pea protein also but I bought spirutein - it's probably cheaper and tastes the same. I'm pretty indifferent to it really.
yup, I dump a scoop in my morning smoothie. protein helps with recovery - that's really all I know, but it's good enough for me!
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