The other day I paced my friend who was running an ultra race, a 200 miler. I paced for about 28 miles. I brought with me bananas. I started out with the usual banana-date smoothie for pre fuel. I ate some bananas during the run too. At the aid stations they had red potaotes. I decided to try some to see how they would do with bananas in my stomach. Thank goodness, no problems! This is great. That means my ultra races I don't have to carry fuel with me. Typically aid stations have unripe bananas but they always have other fruit and potatoes. I might run in a 50k in a few weeks so I will try it out.

And a little bit more of info I came across on the sailcylic acid found in fruits. I found the pH of the acid to be 2.4. That is very acidic. Soda has 2.5 and we all know that erodes enamel. So I can see why people are having problems with their teeth. Some of us have a past of unhealthiness at one time or another that can cause bad teeth. But I have notice it is a trend of alot of raw natural hygenist that don't see a dentist. Are you kidding me?!?!? They try to stay away from doctors as much as possible. Well not me. I see a dentist 2x a year. And I get my cavities filled. I am not messing around with my teeth. So you can't always blame diet. Oral hygiene is just important. I couldn't imagine my teeth if I hadn't seen a dentist regularly since birth. I don't even want to think about it.

Yesterday I had a strong run in the mountains. Ran 28 miles with 5000' of vertical. For breakfast I started out with 5 bananas and 5 date smoothie. For my fuel, I brought bananas and celery juice, equivalent to 6 heads of celery juiced. But I drank 3/4 of this. Cold celery juice is so refreshing on a hot day. You know you need salt when it tastes so good. For lunch I had watermelon and dinner I had sweet potatoes, wild rice, olives, avocado, tomatoes and lentils. This was perfect since I had no other ripe fruit. Still doing great with cooked plant food at night. No salt or oils added. People would think that this combo would be bad on the digestive system. Well maybe for some but not me. I make sure I chew really good, and don't eat too fast. I went to the dentist and I have a cavity. It is under an old cavity. Sometimes old cavities have to be replaced. I do have a few sensitive spots. But some may say that a fruit diet can be bad for teeth. I don't know for sure but what I do know is I had cavities and a few sensitive spots looooong before I started my fruit diet. My dentist said that I have very little plaque and I am one of his best patients for having healthy teeth. But what I do know is when I first started out on this diet I was eating alot of dates and not swishing my teet with warm water afterwards. I did end up getting a few cavities from that and a few senitive teeth. Since then I no longer eat dates, only blended and I sip through a straw. I also sip through a straw with OJ too. But now my teeth are great. Though with this new info I found out about the high salicylate acid in fruit that was picked unripe, I am more aware. My teeth are doing great now, but what about 5 or 10 years from now. I just need to eat more tree ripen fruit. And if I can't I need to rinse with water after an acid meal.

Well I just came across some interesting posts from a forum. There are some ex-811ers having problems with their teeth, enamel erosion. And someone had mentioned that vitamin k which is a bone builder, is not absorbed very well on a high fruit diet. And the reason for this is the high salicylates found in acid fruit, (bananas are minimal). Now someone else mentioned that salicylates are only found in fruits that are picked unripe, which is most fruits. And even when they ripen they still contain the acid. BUT fruits that fully ripen on the tree do not contain the acid. Now this is something I just read so do your own research and come to your own conclusions. I am just sharing what I read. It does get me thinking though. You can look google which fruits are high in the acid. Most are citrus, melons, stone fruits and berries. Ones that are really low are bananas, pears, golden and red delicious and some others. I guess I am glad I planted my fruit trees. Food for thought.

I am so excited! I know this may seem strange but I am able to eat a cooked vegan dinner without any digestive issues. Not only that I was able to eat it for the last 5 days in a row without issues. Years ago I experienced really really bad digestive issues. I know why, I was wheat intolerant. My GI tract was really inflammed. And I had candida issues too. So when I came across 811, I was like "yeah, I can eat volumes without issues, I can eat all the carbs I want, I don't need heaps of protein". So now I decided to bring back some cooked to see how my body would react. And I wanted to make sure I would be okay on an utlra race if I had to have something other than fruit. Well I can say that 811 really helped me heal. My issues have gone a way. The last 5 evening meals have been cooked, and it consisted of yams, quinoa and/or wild rice, and lentils. Actually what I did was have a heaping bowl of yams smashed, topped it with 1 small avocado, with a handful of quinoa, a handful of lentils, tomatoes, and steamed veggies and some herbs. I have also been afraid of fat due to my candida issues. I used to eat a ton of nuts, avos, and nut butters, I was a mess. So now I have increased my fat (not sure my % but one medium avocado a day). Fat is very grounding. So now I make sure I eat fat every day and so far no issues. I add no salt or oils and definately no condiments, (I can't stand vinegar, yuk!)Now this opens up a lot for me. There has been many times I get home from a run and there is just isn't enough ripe fruit. So I go searching two different stores and pay high prices because my wholesaler is 3 hours away. This will help in winter especially when there is limited fruit variety. And the great thing about yams and sweet potatoes is that I can go to the store anytime and they are always available and ready to eat. And I can keep rice, qunioa and beans stored forever in the pantry. Always on hand when fruit is low or I need more calories. My calories are higher right now. Since eating cooked, I have maintained my weight, I still sleep just as soundly, I am still hydrated. Actually a huge banana smoothie dehydrates me more than the cooked meal. And my bowel movements are still the same. I did think that maybe I would get backed up in the department, but I haven't. I still wake up fresh, I still have tons of energy. Nothing has really changed. But I am really keeping my cooked meals wholesome. So my diet, has been as follow, morning I drink a banana smoothie, lunch is a green drink and an acid fruit meal, dinner is cooked vegan. Sort of 811rv meets McDougall. I just go with flow. I am always evolving. But what I do know is I like my carbs and I am keeping it vegan.

I have been enjoying the sunny weather. It makes me happy. Getting some runs in too. All is good. Still not sure I will be ready for my 100 miler. I really could use another 6-9 months of more training. So we will see. But in the meantime I need to start practicing fueling with things other than fruit. I did ironman all on fruit. Both went perfect. Though towards the end of both races I couldn't look at another banana. Not a real fan of bananas to begin with. I know when I do a my first 100 miler I need to eat what the aid stations have available. They always have fruit but if my body is wanting something other than fruit I need to eat. I don't do wheat so potatoes are a good source. So I will see how much potatoes I can eat and how it combines with some fruit in my stomach. My body does fine with cooked starches. It doesn't freak out. But it would freak out if it was very proccessed food with chemicals in it. Yuk! Oh and just a quick note: I am pretty much sick of the raw food movement. The level of immaturity is beyond anything I have ever seen. First off, as I have always said, cooked plant food will not make your health go bad. Junk food will along with smoking, drugs and alcohol. Eating cooked food and then feeling guilty is an eating disorder. I have stated many times that I became vegan for health reason. The last 5 years I have not been 100% because I had a long transition and I still thrived during my transition. Why, because I got rid of wheat and upped my fruits and veggies. And I have said I have no problem eating cooked foods. I have a closet full of rice and beans for an emergency. I also do take b12 and vitamin d3. It is okay to supplement. We do not live in a perfect world. With that being said I want to be known as a vegan athlete. The raw food movement is getting out of hand and embarrassing. Today's menu breakfast - bananas/dates lunch - melons dinner - salad with one avocado for my dressing

My knee healed up just fine this week. I did a 30 mile run with 5000 feet of vertical today. No problems with my knee. Now time to put some miles on this week. But first get some zzzzz. I am so sleepy right now. Breakfast-banana/date smoothie 500 cals fuel for run - celery/dates and bananas lunch and dinner- not sure exactly, we have a ton of fruit but nothing really ripe. I scraped up what I could fine. Lots of date juice today though. I can't wait for more fruit to come into season.

It was a great day to race on Sunday but unfortunately my knee prevented me from finishing. I have a knee injury that has been there for about 10 years. My knee cap is off center. Doesn't track straight. So anytime I plant my foot wrong it can cause it to hurt and swell. Unfortuately my knee is easily tweaked. My other knee is very strong and can take a beating. But during the race I was coming down some steep stairs and I think I hyperextended my knee. So I had to pull out at mile 28. But I was running really good. I didn't even break a sweat until mile 20. I was running easy in the beginning hoping to have a good 2nd half. Oh well. I do worry about the 100 miler. Not sure if my knee can withstand that long of a distance. If I don't do the 100 miler this year there is one next April that is a looped course and if my knee swells I can easily pull out of the race. I have been training and racing for a very long time without any knee problems. Though this past year I have spent so much time on the mountains on technical trails that I have to really watch my footing. A friend of mine told me of some excercises to do to strengthen the inside of my legs. So I am going to get serious and do them religiously. I don't give up easily. But I do have to listen to my body. I don't want my knee to be blown out. I would like to have it intact when I am 100 yrs old. I do realize there are somethings I may not be able to. I ran the day after my race and my knee was fine. Though going up hill was a little tender. So I am taking today off and I should be good to go tomorrow. I have noticed that with my diet, I do heal faster than before. Most likely to do with not injesting inflammatory foods like dairy and wheat. In my pic above was the fuel I used for the race. Each plastic bag contains two heads of celery juiced blended with 10 mejool dates. The day before my race I woke up at 4:30 with a starting time of 6. I know early in the morning I have no appetite. So I just ate one banana and some water. Immediately from the start of the race I was sipping on my date/celery juice. Got to my drop bag at 6 miles and I had more juice on ice and refilled my bottle and ate two medium bananas. Then at mile 14 I refilled my juice again and ate 3 more bananas. The celery date juice is a great way to go for long hot races. And I want to mention what I ate the day before my race. Typically like the day leading up to a long race, I do nothing different. I eat like I would any other day. I do not overeat or undereat. I eat fruit, no greens or fat. Some people think carbing up before a race is important. Well, I carb up everyday so there was no need to for me to do anything different. But this time I wanted to do something a little different. I wantd to drink only juice the day before. The reasoning is I did not want to have a ton of fiber in my GI tract. I usually have 3-5 bowel movements everyday throughout the day. I didn't really want that on race day. So I drank date juice and watermelon juice, (all strained of fiber). I drank alot. Race morning I had one BM and boy was my stomach flat. I felt so light. And I felt great during my run. Fueling went great too. I felt so good. So yeah I was really bummed about pulling out.

The other pic was a salad I put together. My daughter has been asking me to get tahini to make dressing. I haven't had much fat lately, no avos around. And one of my ultimate fav dressings is orange juice and tahini. So we got creative and here is a yummy dressing we put togher. It actually looked like thousand island dressing because we used an orange bell pepper. ingredients: 1 small handfulls of (non oil) sun dried tomatoes soaked in water 1 orange bell pepper 1 juice of orange 1 tb of tahini 1 lemon 1 roma tomato chives This was just soooo gooood! Adding more orange juice can make more dressing to saturate the lettuce.