Vegan Triathlete?

Bobby Patrick

All... I'm curious on thoughts regarding vegan diets as a triathlete. I started reading up but there is so much conflicting info out there on vegan vs paleo and so on. I've generally been eating "semi paleo" for a couple of years. My recovery demands seem to be getting higher as I get older (I'm 47 now). I've become somewhat interested in the vegan approach after reading "Finding Ultra".... but there does seem to be a great deal of conflicting info out there. Any general thoughts on a Vegan approach for a triathlete? I'm a busy professional so it has to be sustainable and not require tons of effort to implement. Any general recommendations on where to start and what to read or study to give it a trial?

tim cronk

@Robert Patrick I have been Vegan going on 9 years this October and I am 56.  I'm happy with my food, life style, and performance. There is lots of stuff here in EN Nutrition.  FB has Vegan groups for every state as far as I know.  Trader Joes has a Vegan FB page.  There is so much data available through books, internet search , documentaries on Netflix, etc I dont even know where to begin. Contrary to popular belief it is not difficult to implement and sustain.  It really is as simple as not eating animals or animal products. Search Rob Mohr , he is a very fast EN Vegan athlete that has a webpage with tons of info for "athletes" he also did a youtube series worth watching .  Any specific questions dont hesitate to ask here or PM me , we have a few Vegans and a few more just joined the ranks this year.

Virginia Edmonds

Hi Robert,
I have been vegan for 30 years, since high school, and have been involved in triathlon for the past 15.  I would not change my lifestyle for anything.  Start with vegetarian, less overwhelming.  Vegetarians don't eat any meat: cows, pigs, fish, shellfish, mollusks, chicken, turkey.   
See how that goes and in the meantime, do your vegan homework.  If you want to continue, eliminate another product, maybe eggs and so on.  
It is a great time to make a change.  The world is becoming very vegan friendly and there are countless resources.
Like Tim said, let me know if you have any questions.  

Bobby Patrick

@tim cronk @Virginia Edmonds

Thanks so much for the comments... super helpful!

Sheila Leard

@Robert Patrick

My experience with clients I work with (I'm a Dietitian) is that it's very doable if you plan ahead and pay attention to blood markers of B12, Iron, Zn and Vitamin D. You should ask for these tests so that you have a baseline. Another lab that is good to know+ is Homocysteine. If this elevated it can be an indicator of B12 deficiency. 

This is an interesting story about an NFL lineman that went vegan. They were lucky to have a Sports Dietitian helping them. It can be done.  
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000711369/article/nfl-veganism-david-carter-griff-whalen-have-broken-the-mold

Sam Marshall

Plant based diet for just over one year now (exception - still eat honey).  Supplement Iron and B12 daily, try to make sure my protein intake stays good.  52 y/o.  Have raced several sprints and a couple 70.3's since going plant based, have had no dietary issues.  Overall health has been very good and have not noticed any problems with recovery.  Biggest challenge for me has been to prepare ahead of time for good snacks, have something plant based handy.  There are plenty of good meals and good race fuels out there!