Endurance Running on a Vegan Diet

This article will explore the benefits of a plant-based diet for endurance running and provide you with some facts around this topic.

Author: Tabi Clark

Most vegans will have been asked this question at one point or another, but as a vegan athlete, I hear it constantly. I’m a long-distance runner and a vegan, and this article will explore the benefits of a plant-based diet for endurance running and provide you with some stats and facts around this topic so that the next time somebody asks you this question, you know what to say.

I have been running long-distance for 8 years, but I always struggled to get further than a few miles at a time- no matter how hard I worked to increase my stamina. It wasn’t until I changed my diet to a plant-based one that I was able to reach my goals and run for longer than I ever knew I could. Just six months into eating this way, I completed a 6.5-mile race. I am now preparing to run a half-marathon (13 miles), and the food I eat is a huge part of the training process.

The recent COVID-19 pandemic caused an upsurge in both the rise of vegan diets and, simultaneously, long-distance running. Currently, 10% of marathon runners follow a plant-based diet. The title of this article recalls the common misconception that vegans do not get enough nutrients and are unable to eat enough protein to build the necessary amount of muscle to be an athlete. On the contrary, the winner of ‘strongest man in Germany’ and often called ‘strongest man in the world,’ Patrik Baboumian, is a passionate vegan. In fact, he only achieved these titles and lifted his heaviest weights after he had become a vegan.

A vegan diet contains high levels of protein and carbohydrates, which are essential for long-distance running – nuts, beans, legumes, and even vegetables all provide high levels of energy. It’s reported that upon switching to a vegan diet, athletes experienced higher energy levels after meal times and in the mornings and noted a lack of the lethargy that was present in their previous animal-based diet.

The majority of carbohydrates come from plant-based foods, and eating more carbohydrates increases your endurance – distance runners get up to 80% of their energy from them. A recent study found that vegan runners ate more carbohydrates such as beans/seeds and fruit/vegetables than omnivores, and this led to them scoring higher with performance and recovery times.

Ultimately, eating for optimum performance involves great focus on your diet and active decisions about what you are putting into your body. Due to this, any vegan who wants to try endurance running is already used to making informed food choices, and arguably this would make them more likely to hit nutrition goals than athletes following an animal-based diet. 

To summarize, it is 100% possible to be a successful vegan athlete, and in fact, you probably consume more protein and have more energy for endurance than the average omnivore in the same categories as you! 

You can check out some protein packed recipes, go to Vkind.com. 

Resources:

https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/14/15/3151

https://medium.com/four-pursuits-ventures/worlds-strongest-man-is-a-vegan-c2db543c62c8

https://www.runnersworld.com/uk/nutrition/diet/a774185/veganism-should-runners-take-the-plunge/