I have been a vegetarian (dairy only) for about 3 years after about 10 years of only occasional poultry & fish.
I've improved a little in the last year, but that was due more to a 20lb. weight loss and increased dedication to serious training than diet.
I take vitamins daily (or almost daily anyway) and have a protein shake with dinner 5 or 6 times a week. I keep a journal of everything I eat, so I tend to eat healthly stuff anyway, not just when peaking for a race.

(Begin editorial) At 57 yo, I feel much better than I did when I was a meat eating 40 yo. (End of editorial)

quote:<HR>Originally posted by girlrunner:
How do you get enough protein to recover properly from long runs? <HR>

The best recovery meals/drinks are 4:1 carbs: protein. Protein is generally not the issue in muscle recovery, even from weight lifting, but a little bit of protein will help with the uptake of carbs. Flavored soy milk would be an easy way to get this ratio (flavor, or added sugar, is important because it raises the carb content high enough). Alternatively, almost any normal meal you could imagine should provide you with a good balance. Getting enough protein on a vegetarian diet is very simple: it requires eating enough of a variety of food, and definitely including in your diet several of these: beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, soy products, (and dairy and eggs if you like). In addition to that, make sure you are eating most of your grains in a whole form: brown rice, wheat berries or whole wheat, oats, millet, barley, quinoa, etc. Eat as many fruits and vegetables as you can. If you eat this way and you eat enough calories, you will not need any additional protein supplementation. More serious things to worry about would be B-12, zinc, calcium, Omega-3 fatty acids, and possibly iron (depending on your diet, age, sex). These are a little trickier than protein, but still very doable on a totally vegetarian diet with very minor supplementation (the right vitamins).

If you're adding more activity, do as the weight lifters do, eat more of the same exact kinds of food. As your caloric needs go up, your protein needs go up proportionately, so the same foods that nourish you well when you're less active will nourish you well when you're more active. The more active you are, the freer you can also be with things like simple grains and sugars to assist in recovery.

quote:<HR>"I eat only veggies and long grain brown rice, and beans (oh and fish a few times a week)...no bread, pasta, sugar etc. "<HR>

Sounds like the ideal eating plan for the promotion of anorexia.

quote:<HR>Originally posted by reboot:
Sounds like the ideal eating plan for the promotion of anorexia.

<HR>

I think the OP said specifically she didn't want to turn this into a debate. Please, if you don't have anything to add, keep it to yourself.

I have been vegetarian for about 15 years or so. I have no issues getting protien. I eat a lot of bean dishes, soy milk, and other foods like quinoa that have protein that adds up. If you are vegetarian and not vegan you can eat eggs or egg beaters, yogurt, milk products, etc for easy sources of protein.

I have been a vegetarian for 28 years and started a year after starting running.

I definitely felt better - running was easier, I just can't remember the specifics.

It helped even more when I stopped relying on cheese for quite a few meals (I live in Wisconsin).

Now I only eat cheese and eggs about once every two weeks, and fish about once a month.

Beans combined with whole grains provide plenty of protein, and (as others have mentioned), just eat more while exercising a lot.

I don't generally run a lot, but during any of the 24 hour runs that I've done I have always thought I fared better than others who trained more, and I also have had no problems during any of the 7 or 8 bicycle camping trips that I have done going 1 to 3 weeks at a time.

I do use ground flax seeds with my breakfast meals as they are great for Omega 3.