I have not been good about keeping this blog! So I decided since I still want to get the plant based message out I will leave it up but use my twitter for updates and food pics. So follow me there @pureultra

Quick update:
Finished a handful of 50 milers this year and one 100 miler. Got one more 50 and one more 100 to race for this year.

My diet is high fruit in summer and winter time I follow the Starch Solution diet.

Other than that all is good!

Wow, been so busy can even find time to write. Sept and Oct are my busy months. Things are finally slowing down.

So just a real quick update. Then hoping I can keep up on my blog. I have some great pics and recipes to show you guys soon.

I ran in my first 100 miler in August but unfortunately I did not finish. Stomach flu hit me. My daughter had it the week before and I shared a watermelon with her. Dumb idea. That night it hit her. I was like oh crap. To make a long story short, the day of the race I woke up thinking, man I don't have an appetite. Hmmm must be race nerves. Well I never did get my appetite that day and you need one when you run 100 miles. So I stopped at mile 53. With in a half hour, black goo was coming out ofboth ends, sorry TMI. Then fever, chills hit. It was short lived. This is the second sickness I have had in 6 years. The other one was a stomach flu too. I avoid flus and colds but can't seem to avoid the stomach flu.

I am going to try for two 100 milers next year. That gives me two chances to finish.

Oh and let me tell you, when I wear my Forks Over Knives t-shirts, I can't tell you how many people say they saw that movie. It is crazy. People love it. I don't know if it makes the go plant based but I think it makes them think they need to start changing their bad habits.

bye for now.

 One of my favorite fruit meals is bananas and blueberries. Great pre-run combo!

 On top of the peak. I busted out of the cloud layer and found sun.

Another great combo too!

Been MIA for awhile. Summer has been so warm. Been enjoying every minute of it.

Running is going great. I am now tapering for my first 100 miler. It is in 1 1/2 weeks. So looking forward to it.  This week is short hill climbs. I don't want to waste my legs. Now is the time for rest and repair.

My meals are now fruit for breakfast, starch or guinoa with a veggie burger for lunch and another fruit meal for dinner.  Once race day approaches I will do only fruit for 3-4 days prior. This keeps me very hydrated. You will not see me eating spaghetti the night before the race. All that grain and salty, garlicky spaghetti sauce only makes me super hydrated for race morning. Not only that I can't stand that stuff. I wake up with foul breath. I prefer to make my on sauce and put it on cucumber noodles.

I will post of few more times before next weekend to let you guys know how I prepare for endurances races. Stay tuned!

Isn't this a colorful dish? For lunch I cooked up an acorn squash, cut up some heirloom tomatoes and a 1/2 of an avocado. The flavor combo was really good.

I have about 8 weeks until my 100 miler. Crossing my fingers I don't get any injuries prior to that.  Right now my mileage has increased and so has my appetite.

I think everyone goes through phases in their life with diets and trying to figure out what the best way to eat is. I know I am one. I never been on a diet to loose weight since I have never been overweight but my problem is that for about 10 years I have suffered some sort of GI tract discomfort. Since going vegan, but especially dropping dairy and wheat, has helped soooo much. But I have notice the days when I need a lot of calories I tend to be bloated more. ?!?!?! I mean geez, my diet is really clean. What is going on. So this past week I have been grain free. I think the grains have been fermenting and causing a lot of gas. A lot of people probably don't have problems with grains, but I seem to do. And I am talking not just wheat, but oatmeal, rice etc. 
To give you an example. Last week I was planning an all night run with a group of runners. We were starting at  7 pm and running until day break. That day I had to eat and get my calories in. My breakfast was a huge bowl of oatmeal with fruit and maple syrup, second meal same thing and the last meal just a huge bowl of yams. Simple. That night I looked like I was 9 months pregnant. And had uncomfortable gas pains on my run. So that got me thinking to do no grains for 30 days to see. And so far so good.
Now what do I do for fueling? I have a back to back long run this weekend, 20/40 miler. Well I went online to search for recipes, and came across some banana chocolate chip muffins.  The muffins are grain free. For flour I used almond and garbanzo bean four. And added a little bit of coconut flour. They turned out perfect. So I froze them and will carry them with me on my runs. I can also use this recipe, minus the bananas, for pancakes too.

Here is a list of foods I will probably be using for my long training runs and my 100 miler. The key is a lot of calories and a lot of fat.
-Lara bars: only one I like is peanut butter cookie
-trail mix that  I make: dried fruit with some chocolate chips and a few walnuts
-fruit: grapes, strawberries
-potatoes
-Justin candy bars
-kettle chips (these always hit he spot after a long run and I don't eat very much. I am not a big chip person either.)
-fruit leather made by Cliff bar

I will be adding to the list but as of now this is what I have been practicng with.

Today's menu
breakfast 1/2 cantaloupe plus banana muffin
run: quick run up the hill 4 miles 1200'
lunch: pic above
dinner: will be some fruit and veggies with humus.

I have been so insanely busy. Been trying to write a quick post. Just been running and doing the mom things. Never a dull moment.

My strength has increased tremendously from last year. I was out last weekend with other ultra runners on a training run. We ran a 20 mile 5600 feet vertical run. I pretty much PR'd this out and back we ran. And I was just at cruising pace. Didn't realize my time when  I got done. Definitely a confidence booster.
I have another 50 miler soon, it is tough. Lots of vertical in hot sun. Can't wait.

I have been enjoying summer fruits. We bought a case of donut peaches and nectarines. I was in pure sugar bliss. And the strawberries and been fab too. They go great in oatmeal.

I might pick up a 50k here in two weeks. This is a great run. I know the trail very well. That helps a lot.

I had a beautiful amazing run in the mountains last weekend. Full of wild flowers. The smell was incredible. This is why I run. To explore. It is endless.

No race day morning is complete without a huge bowl of oatmeal.

Crossed the finish line on Sunday for my 50 miler. It was a good race. I have had better races. I think the rain and cold got to me a bit.

Two days prior to my race I nutritonally focused on fruits, oatmeal and potatoes. No beans or veggies. Just the easier digesting foods. I did not overeat to carb up before a race. If I stuff myself silly with food I feel blah. And honestly, if you meet your calories everyday, there is not need to overeat.

Race morning I started out with a bowl of oatmeal, 1 cup cooked oats, lots of strawberries, raisins and lots of maple syrup. Toed the line at 6 am. Overcast, calling for rain.

About every 5-6 miles there were aid stations. But since I am gluten free I tend to stay away from most of the food there. (If I ingest any gluten during a race, I would be doubled over.) Though they always have potatoes but that wasn't going to be on my race menu. I have a waist pouch that surprising carries a lot of food. My goal was to eat 100 calories every 1/2 and I started that eating one hour into the race. I found a gel made of all fruit. I despise GU gel and all that other gels. There are quite a few companies coming out with fruit based gels so that is nice. On top of that I also brought some cliff blocks. These work great too. This was my fuel for the first 30 miles. I was right on target with eating even though I didn't always feel like eating. Everything went perfect. I arrived at mile 30 on the trail where my family was at about 1/2 hour earlier than what I thought I would be arriving. Cool. Feeling good. At this point on in the race, I was going to eat grapes for the rest of the time. I switched to my hydration pack because the hand held bottle I was carrying was making my arms tired. I stuffed bags of grapes in my pack, grabbed my friend who paced me and off to finish the last 20. 

The last 20 didn't go as planned. By about 35 miles, I was wet and cold.  We had an incline up to the turn around. The rain was coming down and all I could think about was my warm house. I didn't have rain gear, but I am tough and some how I plugged along. I do know that this course is a flatter course than I am used too. I knew going into this race I needed to train more flats. I really should have put in 3-4  25-30 mile long runs on the flats. All my long runs had been hill work and I power walk the hills.But none the less, I think I ran 47 miles out 50. You definately use different muscles. This is the only flat race I will be running in this year, the rest of  them are hills. That is what  I love.
I ran through the finish line, happy and tired. Came home and ate strawberries and oranges. And then later ate potoatoes with salsa.

Today, other than sore quads I have no issues. All is good. Just been eating and drinking lots of water. I may go for a light jog on Wednesday and Thursday Then this weekend pick back up my training for my next 50 miler.

I will be doing a write up for Forks Over Knives on my race. It will be a shorter version with pics. Just waiting on some pics to come in. So look for that. They sponsored me in this race! Thanks guys!