Bianca Phillips's Blog, page 111

St. Jude Marathon 2017 Race Recap!

For the past couple weeks, I've been blogging about what I've been eating to prepare for my third full marathon — the St. Jude Marathon. It's a massive charity raise for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, which treats kids with cancer and other catastrophic diseases (and doesn't charge the families a dime!). This year, they raised more than $10 million from this race! My first full marathon was last year's St. Jude, and then I did a second race, the Little Rock Marathon back in March. On Saturday, I completed the St. Jude Marathon once again!


Marathons are HARD for me. I'm a slow runner, a solid back-of-the-packer. I run pretty much the whole way, only taking walk breaks at water stations and a few short walks toward the end when I feel like quitting. But I also stop for selfies and high-fives from friends along the route. I keep doing races because I'm addicted to feeling of accomplishment that comes from running long distances, and, as a crazy Type A person, I'm also probably addicted to the structure of a 16-week training plan and the race day excitement.

My morning started with my usual pre-long run breakfast of an oat cup with nut butter. I had Trader Joe's Strawberry Raspberry Oatmeal with Vanilla Maple Frosting Almond Fluffbutter & Agave. I also had a banana just before the race.


This year, Paul signed up run the St. Jude 5K, so we got to experience the pre-race jitters together! He stood with me in my corral until the race started at 8 am (his race started at 8:50 am). Fortunately, the weather was AMAZING! Sunny and a high of 64. It was pretty chilly when we arrived to the race at 6:30 am though, so I brought some throwaway sweatpants and a pullover (they donate throwaway clothes to charity). I also wore some sleeves that could be rolled down when I warmed up.


The corrals are released in a wave start, so mine didn't take off until about 8:20 am. I was moving pretty great for the first 12 miles or so — a solid 11:15 to 11:30 per mile (which is fast for me and slow for most people). I did stop at Mile 2 to take a free sample of whiskey from Old Dominick Distillery. They were handing out samples to runners, and it sounded like either a great idea or terrible idea. I took a chance, and turns out it was a great idea! The small bit of liquor helped to calm my early race jitters and propelled me along.
Those first few miles just flew by, and before I knew it, I was at Mile 8, where my fellow board members from the Crosstown Memphis Community Development Corporation had a spirit station. I stopped for a selfie with Donna, who has been playing the drums for runners every year since the race started! Everyone calls her the Drum Lady.

Just a few miles up the road at Mile 12, my co-workers at Crosstown Arts had a spirit station called Cancer is a Drag with drag performances, bloody marys, and vegan blueberry pancakes prepared by Octavia, owner of Midtown Crossing Grill. My co-worker Stacy met me by the barricade and snuck me a few pancakes, which I stuck in a baggie and put in my pocket. Yes, I ran with pancakes in my pocket! Like you do.

Paul was also at the Crosstown Arts spirit station by then. His 5K was long over (he PR-ed by 2 minutes!!!), and he'd driven home. So he walked from our house to see me pass by. Stacy's husband grabbed a shot of us together there.

My friend Andy's house is directly on the race course, and I passed by at the end of Mile 12, just after the Crosstown station. Here's me and his friend Tyler!

Just a few blocks down from Andy's house, I decided to go ahead and eat one of the pancakes in my pocket! It was sooooo good right then. I typically only eat energy gels and chews during my long runs, but I get sick of super-sweet stuff. The pancake was only lightly sweet from the blueberries. Sadly, I knew that I couldn't stomach more than one mini pancake while running long distance, so I had to ditch the other two pancakes. I was a little worried experimenting with a new food on my run would cause GI distress, but I was okay! 
I saw my friend Vaughan at Mile 15, when the race went through Overton Park. I leaned over to pet his dog Shelby, and Vaughan took this weird pic, which totally cut out poor Shelby. Trust me. She's an adorable pup!

Around Mile 17, my friends Jennifer and Simon met me with a sign (and a roasted, salted potato!). Salted potatoes (or any salty snack) are a godsend that far into a race when the idea of sugar just grosses me out. Jenn & Simon live between Miles 17 and 19, so I saw them again at Mile 19 and got another potato! And just a block away from them, my co-worker Ginger had me a potato and some pretzel rods. SCORE. By the way, I stopped for a pic with Simon and Jennifer. We found a random dude walking down the sidewalk to take this!

And that was it for friends along the course. The last seven miles were a long, slow slog. There were times that I felt like giving up and times when I got bursts of energy. There were more salted potatoes from strangers. There was a little walking involved. And I got through it all by sheer force of will. My pace slowed down between 12:30 to even 14 minute miles at times. My final time was 5 hours, 46 minutes. That's five minutes slower than last year! I'd hoped to PR, but my main goal was just finishing. My half-marathon times keep improving, but my marathon times keep getting slower. It may have something to do with all my pee stops, snack stops, and selfie stops. But whatever! I like to be comfortable and have fun!
And speaking of fun, I take every bit of beer offered on the course (there were two beer stops during the race), and I make sure to drink both of my well-deserved, post-run beers. I skipped over the free snacks after the race (most weren't vegan anyway), but I took a Micaloeb Ultra and Wiseacre Tiny Bomb.

Paul picked me up from the post-race party after I finished my beers. Once at home, I had a No Cow Crunchy Peanut Butter Protein Bar to help with recovery. I'll be doing a full review on these soon!

And then Paul and I posed for a pic together with our medals. 

I was pooped! But I'd made post-race pizza party plans with some friends, so I knew I had to shower and get ready for that. I kind of wanted to just sleep forever instead. But I got my act together and met my awesome, supportive buds at Midtown Crossing Grill for vegan pizza.

I had a Vegan Vegetable Pizza with potatoes (of course!), spinach, mushrooms, and red onion, plus a couple of beers (Meddlesome Oatmeal Stout and Lazy Magnolia Southern Pecan). SO GOOD. And by the time we were served dinner, I was famished and destroyed this pizza.

After dinner, Paul and I headed to Wiseacre Brewing Co. so I could try their special-edition marathon beer, the Tarahumara Dry-Hopped Pale Ale. Born to Run by Christopher McDougall is one of my favorite books, and it's all about the native Tarahumara people of northwest Mexico, who are known for their super-fast, long-distance running skills. Love that Wiseacre named a beer after them!

Next, we headed to the Bayou Bar & Grill for a glass of wine with my friends Shara and Mary, and then we tucked in for the night. I slept like a log and didn't set an alarm. Managed to sleep until almost 9 am on Sunday! Win!! And then I spent Sunday taking it easy — watching the Sopranos on DVD, cleaning, blogging, online holiday shopping. 
I'm so proud that I've finished yet another marathon. I haven't fully decided what is next, race-wise, but I'm sure I'll have a plan in place soon. I've definitely got some 2018 races on my wish list.

Marathon Road Map Meal Plan, Day Before the Race!

I survived the St. Jude Memphis Marathon again! It was my second year running the full St. Jude marathon, and my third total 26.2 (I ran the Little Rock Marathon last March). I'll post a full race recap tomorrow, but I want to devote this post to what I ate the day before the big race.

For the two weeks prior to the race, I followed the No Meat Athlete Marathon Road Map meal plan, which is included in the road map race training plan. It was a whole foods-based, carb-heavy plan with very little sugar and only sprouted grain bread (no white stuff). I felt great over the past couple weeks on the plan, and because I didn't set any real restrictions on myself, I was still free to go off plan when I wanted to (and I did a few times!). Before most races, I pay extra close attention to what I eat the day before, and this was no exception. Fortunately, the meal plan was not far off from how I typically eat before a race.

It started with yet another smoothie (and no run or workout, so I could rest my legs!). This was a Blueberry Acai Smoothie with frozen banana and bloobs, plus acai powder, flax seeds, wheatgrass powder, almond-cashew milk, and natural Vega One protein powder. Delicious, but I am getting a little tired of smoothies EVERY DAY. I'm glad this meal plan is over so I can go back to having them a couple times a week.


Morning snack at my desk was a Banana with Almond Butter. Carbs, fat, potassium. 

Dave from Dave's Bagels (the awesomest local, handcrafted bagels!) was doing a sampling event at Curb Market, the grocery store in my office building, that morning, and though I was trying to avoid white bread, I couldn't pass up a hot bagel. Dave gave me a half-size Apple Cinnamon Bagel, and I split it with a co-worker. Worth it. And more carbs couldn't hurt!

Lunch was leftovers from the night before — Sweet Potato & Tofu Curry with Bok Choy & Brown Rice. Such a great meal! More carbs! Plus protein and healthy cruciferous veggies!

Afternoon snack on the meal plan was always a salad, and this time, I had a simple salad with crunchy sprouts, bell pepper, carrot, and the last of my Classic French Vinaigrette from the No Meat Athlete Cookbook.

Dinner on the plan was actually the same thing I chose to make before my last St. Jude race! It's Pasta with Pesto, Potatoes, & Green Beans from the No Meat Athlete book (not the cookbook, the first book — it's mostly an informative book, but there are a few recipes). This is whole wheat penne with boiled potatoes and green beans, and those are tossed with a homemade spinach pesto. It was supposed to be basil pesto, but Kroger was out of basil. I think I like spinach pesto better anyway because it has a milder flavor. Nothing beats pasta for carb-loading for a race!

After dinner, Paul and I went to the St. Jude Marathon expo to pick up his race bib. He was running the 5K, and I was doing the full marathon (but I picked my bib up the night before). We walked around the expo a bit and got some pics. 

I always try to turn in SUPER early the night before a race to ensure I get lots of sleep. And my one ritual night-before beer helps with that. It calms my nerves. I chose a Good People Pale Ale, the perfect end to my night. I was in bed by 9 pm!

I'll be back tomorrow with a race recap!

Marathon Road Map, Day 12 (WITH CAKE)

Another day, another smoothie. I'm on day 12 of the No Meat Athlete Marathon Road Map meal plan, and my race — my third marathon — is just two days away!! I'm ready and not ready at the same time. Does that make sense?

I'd like to say I stuck to the plan all day, but that's a lie! I had an unexpected (and delicious) deviation today. But more on that in a few. My morning started with — yep — a smoothie! After a 2-mile shakeout run, my last run before the race. I'm taking Friday off to rest my legs. Today's smoothie was ugly but tasty. Banana, strawberry, almond-cashew milk, hemp protein powder, sunflower seed butter, and kale powder.


Morning snack was Veggies & Hummus. I went with carrots and celery with Trader Joe's Spicy Hummus Dip.

The meal plan calls for last night's leftovers every day for lunch. But we had our monthly staff luncheon today at work, and we were meeting up French Truck Coffee in Crosstown Concourse. Their menu is pretty healthy, but there aren't a ton of vegan options (just a couple). One of those is the Savory Quinoa Bowl — a breakfast bowl that's served all day with quinoa, arugula, tomato, and avocado. It normally has goat cheese, but I ordered mine without that. I don't love arugula, but it's okay sometimes. It was alright in this. I would have been a little bummed about the small size of this (it would be okay at breakfast but too small for lunch), BUT ...

... WE ALSO HAD CAKE. VEGAN CAKE. Every month, we celebrate staffers' birthdays, and we have a number of vegan/vegetarian folks. This month, we had two vegetarians (one who doesn't do dairy and another who is on-again/off-again vegan), so there were TWO VEGAN CAKES from Muddy's Bake Shop. I can't turn down vegan cake, meal plan or no. I chose a slice of the Chocolate Mint Cake.

And it was so drool-worthy. I didn't realize that I'd missed sugar until I took a bite.

That said, about 15 minutes after consuming the cake, I started to feel pretty gross. I felt sluggish, and then I got a headache. I know it's just because I've been eating so well for so many days, and adding all that sugar was a shock to my system. No regrets though. It was delicious, and the bad feels passed.
I brought my afternoon snack salad to work, and eating that definitely helped with the sugar crash. Raw veggies cancel out cake hangovers, right? This simple salad had bell pepper, sprouts, green olives, and French vinaigrette.

After work, I headed straight to the St. Jude Marathon race expo to pick up my bib! I'm going back tomorrow with Paul to get his bib (he's running the 5K), but I was eager to get my stuff asap. Then I ate my dinner at home before heading to a friend's house. Tonight's meal was Sweet Potato Curry with tofu, Thai red curry paste, steamed bok choy, and brown rice. I feel like this also helped erase my cake hangover. And look at that beautiful bok choy flower!

I hadn't planned on eating anything else, but when I got to my friend Shara's house for girl's night, she'd made Vegan Zucchini Pizza Bites. These are so good, and I feel good when I eat them — lots of them. She bakes zuke slices topped with marinara, olives, mushrooms, onions, and peppers. 

I'll be back on Sunday with a full race recap! Y'all wish me luck!

Marathon Road Map, Day 11

Only a few more days to go until the marathon, and I'm still eating healthy, whole foods-based meals. And since I've not given myself any real restrictions (just following the No Meat Athlete Marathon Road Map meal plan!), I'm not even tired of it. I will be glad when I'm not drinking smoothies EVERY day (though I always have smoothies several times a week, and that will continue), but I love me some bagels and tofu scram. Nothing against those things, but these daily smoothies are allowing me to cram in a ton of awesome nutrients!

This morning started with an easy 3-mile run since I'm tapering, and then I had an Everything But the Kitchen Sink Green Smoothie — just a mish-mash of odds and ends from almost-empty bags of frozen fruit in my freezer. This had mango, kiwi, apple, strawberry, banana, kale, almond-cashew milk, greens powder, wheatgrass, chia seeds, and Vega Coconut-Almond Protein & Greens powder.


My morning snack was a fun one! Sprouted Grain Tortilla Chips with Salsa. I made these using Food for Life sprouted tortillas. I cut those into triangles and baked at 350 until crisp. This held me over until 1ish, which was great because we had artist talk at work from noon to 1 pm, and I didn't get to eat lunch until after.

Lunch was a leftover No Meat Athlete Veggie Burger (lentil-walnut-mushroom) on a sprouted grain pita with roasted sweet potatoes. On a Halloween plate at my desk at work. Like you do.

I had yoga at 6:15, so I wanted my afternoon snack salad to be pretty hearty. I knew I wouldn't get to cook and eat dinner until at least 8 pm. So I made my salad with a little sea salt & pepper cashews, tahini dressing, carrots, radishes, bell pepper, mandarin oranges, and green leaf lettuce. I figured the cashews and the seed-based dressing would provide a little fat to keep me full for awhile.

And it worked! I finally got dinner — Tempeh Stir-fry with Black Bean Sauce — on the table a little after 8 pm. This had tempeh sauteed with kale, bell pepper, snow peas, mushrooms, and an Asian-style fermented black bean sauce. Served over brown rice. Very good! I love tempeh and don't cook with it often enough. This may be my favorite meal on the plan so far!

Marathon Road Map Meal Plan, Day 10

I'm on day 10 of my two-week meal plan from the No Meat Athlete Marathon Road Map. It's a whole foods-based plan designed for athletes, and I'm hoping it helps me fuel properly for this Saturday's St. Jude Memphis Marathon (my third 26.2!).

My morning started with a 4-mile run, the longest run this week since I'm tapering for Saturday. Then I had an Orange Cranberry Vanilla Protein Smoothie. This may be my new fave protein shake! I used a frozen mandarin orange-pineapple-papaya blend with fresh cranberries, banana, almond-cashew milk, hemp seeds, vanilla protein powder, and a little carrot juice powder. Like an orange creamsicle with a slight tartness from the berries!


Morning snack at my desk was Celery with Almond Butter. I keep these little packets around for on-the-go snacks. So handy!


Lunch was leftovers from yesterday — Lemony Lentils with Caramelized Onions & Brown Rice. Not pretty. Looks like dog food. But tastes amazing.


I had a few squares of Endangered Species Cranberry Almond Chocolate at my desk in the afternoon because I got a craving.

For my afternoon snack, I had a salad with lettuce, mushrooms, bell pepper, carrots, brown rice, dried cherries, beets, sunflower seeds, nooch and a tahini-ginger dressing. Every afternoon on the plan includes a salad, which is perfect for tiding me over through post-work meetings or prepping dinner. Tonight, I had a Friends for Life board meeting at 6 pm, so I had my salad first.


I was hoping this would tide me over, but the meeting ran long, and I was famished when I got home around 8 pm. Dinner was most already prepped, but I had to wait for my potatoes to cook in the air fryer, so I shoved a spoonful of SunButter sunflower seed butter in my mouth. No shame. Dinner was awesome though and worth the wait. We had No Meat Athlete Veggie Burgers in Sprouted Grain Pita with a side of Roasted Sweet Potatoes.


The burgers (recipe is included in the Marathon Road Map plan) are made from lentils, walnuts, mushrooms, onions, garlic, and wheat gluten. They're bursting with flavor and perfect on a little pita with lettuce, tomato, and onion. Paul didn't like the burgers, but he's liked most everything else on the plan so far. He likes super-textured plant meat burgers, and these were softer veggie burgers. Oh well! More for me. I froze four of the leftover patties for quick dinners later in the month.

The meal plan didn't call for a side, but burgers need potatoes if you ask me. I tossed some cubed sweet potatoes in a little olive oil and air-fried until crisp. YUM.

Marathon Road Map Meal Plan, Day 9

My marathon is less than a week away! On Saturday, December 2, I'll be running 26.2 miles for the third time at the St. Jude Memphis Marathon, which weaves through downtown and Midtown Memphis (right past my office at Crosstown Concourse and through many of my friends' neighborhoods). To prepare, I've been doing a two-week meal plan using the sample plan in No Meat Athlete's Marathon Road Map (which also contains the 18-week training plan I'm using).

Today started just as the last 8 days have — with a smoothie. I went on an easy 3-miler right after I woke up. It's taper week, which means I'm ramping down my mileage considerably. And then I had a smoothie. Today, that was a Strawberry-Coconut PB&J Smoothie with strawberries, banana, PB2, coconut-almond Vega Protein & Greens powder, almond-cashew milk, rolled oats, and flax seed. Super thick and filling and quite lovely in my Memphis AF glass.


I had to speak on a panel about PR careers for a class of communication students at the University of Memphis around lunch time, so I postponed my morning snack and had an early lunch of leftover Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes & Chickpeas at my desk. This was last night's dinner, and it was much prettier then. But still tasty today.

Since I ate lunch at 11 am, I was pretty hungry again before I got off work at 5 pm, so I had my morning snack on the plan in the afternoon (around 3:30 pm). This was a fun one — Avocado with Lemon & Pink Salt. I'll take any excuse to eat an entire avocado with a spoon.

My usual afternoon snack on the plan is a salad, and I didn't skip that! I love snacking on salad while I'm fixing dinner. Tonight's salad had baby spinach, grated carrot, radish, crunchy sprouts, cucumber, and mushroom. Since I had that super-fatty avocado earlier (good fat, I know!), I was craving a lighter dressing so I went with Spicy Hummus Dip and Salsa rather than an oil- or nut-based dressing.

Dinner was Lemony Lentil with Caramelized Onions & Rice. This was an easy, humble dish of lentils cooked with brown rice (in the same pot) and dressed up with a little lemon and some onions. Not the prettiest dish, but tasty and very satisfying. Of course I added sriracha!

I'm allowing some alcohol on the plan because the idea isn't for me to exclude things from my diet but rather to focus most of my days on eating the healthiest foods I can for fueling my running. Also, Matt from No Meat Athlete talks a lot about how his nightly "dessert" is usually a beer or glass of red wine. Tonight, I opened some red wine to make tomorrow night's veggie burgers (more on those tomorrow!), so I had a glass as a little nightcap. I mean, who can actually open a new bottle of wine and not indulge, right?

My Veganaversary! Plus, Marathon Roadmap Weekend Recap

I always celebrate my veganaversary on Black Friday since I went vegetarian on that day in 1994 and vegan on that day in 2004. Of course, the date of Black Friday changes from year to year, but it's just easier for me to remember that way.

I'm doing this two-week No Meat Athlete Marathon Road Map meal plan to prep for my marathon next weekend, but I decided before I started it that I'd take off the meal plan on Thanksgiving and Black Friday. Except I did start my Friday with a smoothie, as the plan calls for, to make sure I got a few nutrients in before another day of gluttony. I made the Everyday Double Berry Banana Smoothie from the No Meat Athlete Cookbook. This had banana, strawberry, blackberries, green leaf lettuce, flax seed, and walnuts.


I had that smoothie to tide me over before my big lunch. Every Black Friday begins with brunch at Brother Juniper's with my mom. She comes over to shop with me on Black Friday, and we fuel up with Tofu Scramble, Toast & Jam, and Home Fries. We've been doing this for YEARS. It's the perfect start my veganaversary, which, by the way, counts 13 years vegan/23 years vegetarian this year.



After brunch, we hit the Tanger Outlets mall to grab some Christmas gifts for ourselves and Paul and my dad. My mom headed back to Jonesboro, and I heated up a plate of Thanksgiving Leftovers! It may not be as pretty as the original plate, but I think the leftovers plate tastes even better.


I usually have Thanksgiving leftovers for DAYS, but this year, I was eager to get back on my meal plan. So I froze what was leftover after Friday night. After dinner on Friday, some friends and I went to Railgarten to see our favorite local aristocrunk group, Lord T & Eloise, and I had a few beers.

But on Saturday morning, I was right back on the plan with another Everyday Double Berry Banana Smoothie only with wheatgrass this time, hence the change in color. I had this before my 10-mile training run — my last long run before the marathon.


After my run, I had a quick protein shake with almond-cashew milk and Vibrant Health matcha chocolate creme protein powder.

Then it was time for my morning snack on the meal plan — a frozen Amy's Bean & Rice Burrito! Yes, that's right. My meal plan called for a frozen burrito, and who am I to argue with that??

Weirdly, the meal called for a very similar lunch of Rice & Beans with Salsa. I used a can of Trader Joe's salsa-style refried beans, brown rice, and mild salsa. It was pretty much like eating another burrito, but again, who am I to argue? You can never go wrong with rice and beans.

Afternoon snacks on the plan are always salads, and you get to build your own. Saturday's salad had green leaf lettuce, mandarin oranges, radish, baby carrots, sliced almonds, crunchy sprouts, and french vinaigrette.

And finally, Saturday's dinner! This was a super-impressive looking plate with a Grilled Portabella with Caramelized Shallots, Grilled Sprouted Grain Pita, & Spinach-Beet Salad. I loved this meal. Typically, I would eat a portabella on a bun, but it was more fun to eat steak-style. Plus, it had an awesome Dijon-worcestershire marinade that gave it a fancy flavor.

I opted to stay in Saturday night, which is rare. That's usually my going-out night, but we partied pretty hard the night before at Railgarten. So I watched the Walking Dead in my bed with Polaris, while Paul watched TV in the living room. I snacked on some coconut oil-popped Popcorn with Sea Salt. Polaris helped me eat it! Just kidding — I only let him have one bite, but he does love popcorn.

Sunday morning started with another smoothie. This time, I made a holiday-themed Cran-Apple Smoothie with frozen cranberries, apple, banana, flax seed, white beans, and ginger. Excited to finally use my vintage holiday glasses!

Morning snack today was a Sprout Sandwich — crunchy sprouts (my fave kind!), hummus, garlic spread, and lemon juice in a sprouted grain pita. I had this while cleaning the house.

Lunch on the plan was supposed to be leftovers of yesterday's portabella mushrooms. But since I'd skipped a meal on the plan over Thanksgiving, I wanted to try that recipes that I'd missed. So I decided to save my leftover 'bella mushroom for my afternoon salad and make the Seared Tofu & Broccoli for lunch. This was a simple and yummy dish of sauteed tofu, broccoli, and sesame seeds with a little soy sauce, served over rice. Easy to make, yummy to eat.

I used my portabella and leftover shallots for my afternoon salad, which I dressed with french vinaigrette. 

And dinner was an awesome dish of Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes & Chickpeas. I slow-roasted tomatoes with garlic and herbs and then tossed those with cooked chickpeas, spinach, tomato sauce, and whole wheat pasta. Definitely one of my fave meals on the plan so far!

Whew! What a yummy weekend! See y'all tomorrow.

Thanksgiving Feast!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday! Mostly because of my mama's dressin' and hash brown casserole but also just because I love to eat all the things. Gluttony is totally my jam, so I like to work up an appetite on Thanksgiving morning with a nice run.

For the past couple years, Misti and I have been running with a group of folks in Paragould, a small town just outside my parents' hometown. It's an unofficial Turkey Trot that meets outside Greene County Primary School. The full group does 10 miles, but some choose to do less. My No Meat Athlete Marathon training plan called for a 5-mile tempo run today, so Misti, her daughter Melani, Paul, and I just did 5 miles. It was so cold this morning — 30 degrees! — but we made it.



Post-run, Paul and I both had protein smoothies with chocolate hemp protein, banana, chia seed, and soymilk. Those held us over until noon when it was time for my mama's Thanksgiving lunch!
Here's my plate. I've been eating so healthily over the past few days on my No Meat Athlete meal plan, and it was fun to pile my plate full of plant meat and vegan cheesy, buttery casseroles.

We have a small family, so it was just my parents, Me-Maw, Granny, and me and Paul.

Here's a close-up of everything. I opted for a Tofurky Roast this year. I'd planned on getting those individual Gardein turk'y cutlets (because I didn't want a ton of leftovers), but I couldn't find them anywhere. And Sprouts had Tofurky on sale, so there ya go. Honestly, I do think Tofurky really is the best plant turkey out there, taste-wise and texture-wise.

And here are the stars of the show — Mama's Cornbread Dressin' and Hash Brown Casserole. She makes vegan versions (for me!) and non-vegan versions for everyone else. I have a lot left over that I can freeze for later!

She also made a Vegan Broccoli Cheese & Rice Casserole with the new Daiya cheese sauce packets. She didn't do a non-vegan version of this, so everyone ate it (and it was actually Paul's fave -- even though he claims he doesn't like vegan cheese).

Of course, there was homemade Cranberry Sauce.

And Green Beans.

And Corn.

Mama always makes some sort of salad, and this year, that was a Coleslaw made with olive oil and a little sugar and salt.

Mama said she thought she put too much Earth Balance on the Dinner Rolls. I told her there's no such thing as "too much Earth Balance."

She usually makes some sort of pie for dessert, but this year, Mama already had a non-vegan turtle cheesecake in the freezer that she wanted to serve. So I picked up a Daiya Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake, and she made me a pecan praline caramel topping for it. Mmmm mmmm, y'all. This was a tasty vegan cheesecake!

Hope y'all had a delicious Thanksgiving!!

Marathon Roadmap Meal Plan, Day 4

I'm on day four of my 2-week No Meat Athlete Marathon Roadmap meal plan. It's a sample plan that's included in my race training program, all of which is available for purchase as an e-book on the No Meat Athlete website. I've been using this running plan for 16 weeks for instructions on how long to run on what days and which days to do speedwork. And there's also a sample two-week meal plan that I opted to do in the two weeks before my December 2 marathon.

Every morning starts with a smoothie. This morning, I made the Bulked Up Protein Smoothie from the No Meat Athlete Cookbook (not from the e-book, but Matt Frazier's awesome hardcopy cookbook). This smoothie doesn't have protein powder but instead relies on a combo of beans and almond butter for protein, plus oats, banana, berries, cocoa powder, and greens (I used a greens powder rather than fresh greens). I used no-salt-added cannelini beans, and you can't taste them at all, but they do make for a creamy, delicious smoothie.


By the way, I don't run on Wednesdays, so I typically hit up the gym for Butts & Guts class. Today's class was super-challenging with lots of weight lifting, ab work, spinning, and sprinting on the treadmill. This smoothie was the perfect post-workout treat.

My morning snack — enjoyed at my desk — was a Trail Mix made with raw cashews, almonds, sunflower seeds, pepitas, dried apples, cherries, and cranberries.


Lunch was leftovers from last night — Spiral Pasta with Squash and Tomatoes. This is made with gluten-free brown rice and quinoa pasta, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and garlic.


My afternoon snack every day is a salad, but I left that at home to nibble on before dinner. I started to get hungry at my desk at work around 4 pm, so I snacked on the last of my Rosemary Pecans from So Nuts (the nut roastery inside Crosstown Concourse, where I work). I figured this was a whole foods snack that would be No Meat Athlete-approved! Enjoyed out of the lid of a Mason jar, like you do.


When I got home, I had my salad, which had romaine, baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, and a ginger-tahini dressing (made by mixing fresh ginger, tahini, and rice vinegar).


And finally, dinner! This Quinoa with Cashews & Oranges was AWESOME. It was basically a stir-fry with a sauce made from the canned mandarin orange juice (thickened with cornstarch). For the veggies, I picked a frozen stir-fry mix that had asparagus, zucchini, carrot, and green beans. Plus, there were orange bits, cashews, and some fresh mushrooms.


Tomorrow — Thanksgiving!!! — I'm giving myself a day off the meal plan (except I'll stick with the morning smoothie). And I'm taking Black Friday off too since it's my 14-year veganaversary. I'll post a recap soon! And I'm back on the meal plan this Saturday. Happy Thankgiving, y'all.

Marathon Roadmap Meal Plan, Days 2-3

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I'm following the meal plan included in the No Meat Athlete Marathon Roadmap — the training plan I'm using to get ready for the St. Jude Marathon on December 2. It's a healthy, whole foods-based plan with lots of salads and smoothies. Here's what I ate yesterday and today!

Mondays always start with a 3-4 mile run, and I opted for 4 miles yesterday. I had a medjool date with almond butter before my 6 am run, and then afterward, I replenished with homemade switchel and a Cacao Strawberry Protein Smoothie with chocolate protein powder, strawberries, banana, flax seed, almond-cashew milk, and cacao nibs.


My morning snack on the plan was a fun one — Sprouted Grain Wrap with Veggies & Hummus! I used Ezekiel wraps, which don't usually fold well, but this one held together okay. The hummus was Trader Joe's Spicy Hummus Dip, and I chose romaine, bell pepper, carrot, and cucumber as my veggies.

Lunch was leftover Orzo with Citrus "Cooked" Veggies from Sunday night's Thanksgiving potluck. I made a big batch to share, but I kept a little back for lunch. This had a citrus vinaigrette, plus cherry tomato and avocado. I love that this plan has you eating leftovers from the previous night's dinner as lunches because that's how I eat in real life, when I'm not following a plan.

I'm supposed to have a salad as my afternoon snack every day on the plan, which is awesome because it forces me to get those raw veggies in daily and it gives me something to eat while I'm getting dinner ready. Yesterday, I made a salad with romaine, mushrooms, tomato, bell pepper, and Cashew Ranch from the No Meat Athlete Cookbook. All the recipes for the meals are included in the Marathon Roadmap, but it doesn't include salad dressings. I could use bottled ones, but this gives me an excuse to make some of the awesome dressings in the NMA cookbook.

I snacked on my salad while I prepped dinner, Potato Lentil Curry over brown rice. This was a fantastic, creamy curry with coconut milk, red potatoes, green lentils, and peas. Paul is doing the plan with me, and he's much pickier than me. But he loved this!

Today — Day 3 — started with an interval speedwork run. I had my usual medjool date with nut butter (sunflower this time!) before my run and then post-run switchel and an Orange Hemp Creamsicle Protein Smoothie. This had a mix of frozen mandarin oranges, papaya, pineapple, and banana, plus almond-cashew milk, vanilla protein powder, flax seed, and hemp seed.

Morning snack on the plan was Broccoli with Spicy Hummus Dip. I lightly steamed the broccoli because I don't care for it raw.

Lunch was leftover Potato-Lentil Curry, but I totally forgot to take another pic. It wouldn't have been as pretty as the one above anyway because I ate it at my desk, out of a plastic Tupperware bowl. My afternoon snack was another salad — this time with green leaf lettuce, blackberries, cucumber, almonds, and the Classic French Vinaigrette from the No Meat Athlete Cookbook. I also had a small square of Endangered Species dark chocolate in the afternoon. There aren't any desserts on the plan, but I'm allowing myself a little dark chocolate when I want it (because antioxidants!). 

And dinner was another carb-heavy meal of pasta! This Spiral Pasta with Squash & Cherry Tomatoes was simple and hearty and comforting. The squash is cooked in oil and garlic, which coats the pasta. Glad I have more for lunch tomorrow!

After dinner, I was craving something sweet. I rarely eat dessert, so I think I was only craving it because it wasn't on my meal plan. Rather than reach for more chocolate (which would have been fine), I opted for a Sparkling Kombucha Mocktail. I mixed some of my homemade strawberry booch with unflavored sparkling water and a squeeze of lime. Yum!