Why is it that even though I have really good eating habits and am fully vegetarian, people can drink milk eat pizza and pig out and still do better than me in track. I mean I don't think this is supposed to be a miracle diet or something but I'd expect to atleast be better or do better.

Oh veganhottie, how I sympathize. I can't fathom how this is possible; I for one, as only a vegetarian, can vouch that after I eat pizza my running is bombed for three days afterward (my legs feel like cement blocks!). I can only ask the obvious questions, like are you getting enough calories (obviously people eating like that may be getting more), proteins, carbs, etc? You are training as much as these people, quality wise? I know that Some People will be better at a particular activity than almost anyone else even when They aren't at Their best. Maybe you have an extraordinarily talented competition. Have you ever been to coolrunning.com? Lots of good advice. Good luck!

I think running has more to do with your athletic ability than what food you eat.

I know for one thing that even though I've been vegetarian for 5 years now, I still can barely even run half a mile even though I'm not in terrible physical shape. As Artichoke said, I think it has more to do with your athletic ability than your diet.

vegan_hottie07,



I'm afraid that some people just have a natural ability for certain sports, and no matter what we eat, or no matter how hard we try, sometimes we will just not be better than them. Not to say you are not a good runner, or that you might not become a great runner, you may be great, I don't know? Sometimes being great at a sport depends on how much better you want to be, some people have the talent, but don't have the drive. You'll have to figure out where you are in the scheme of things, and then work to be better according to your own personal goals. You don't have to be #1, but you should be the best you can be! Now that's being a winner! Try improving a little at a time...personal goals...don't even think about the rest of them. What do you want to accomplish?

I ran the fastest when I was anoretic...I was 10-20 pounds underweight and could run a mile in 9 minutes on an empty stomach as opposed to the 10+ it's always taken me at a higher weight. BUT, that doesn't mean it was a good thing. I wasn't even vegetarian then, so I seriously doubt being a veggie has diddly to do with it. It could also have had to do with the fact that I was riding my bike daily around my town, which is full of hills.



I sympathize, though! I'm at a healthy weight now and I still can't run very fast, no matter what. It takes me at least 10 minutes to run a mile, going all out. I think it's just because I'm out of shape, though...

Just a note, too, vegan hottie - it sounds like you are on a track team? So I'd have expected them to teach you techniques for getting faster, but maybe not. There are specific techniques - to run faster, you don't just "try to run faster". There is a component of this, but there is also tempo running, and running long slow distance (which it is debated whether LSD makes you any faster, but I have to say it is the ONLY thing which has made me faster). What's the longest distance you run? I was amazed that after running regularly 5+ miles a day (5-6 days a week), my shorter distances got downright zippy. Don't ramp it up too fast of course, if you're not running so many miles a week now...

I don't think that diet has that much to do with how fast you run. I am vegan and am one of the slowest runners of my track team, which is to my knowledge all omni's. Like Artichoke47

said, I think it is athletic ability. Or maybe you have future world record setters on your team.

also, you may just want to look into various training techniques. My husband was a cross country and track freak in high school, and he was overtrained and underfed. He'd have a great early season, peak in the first week or two, and then crap out for the rest of the season.



a more balanced training scenario, higher caloric intake (including higher fat intake), would have greatly improved his performance. Not every body is the same, not every body should train the same. Different times of day for training, different milages, different speed work, etc work for different people. So, it's actually hard to train a "team" when running is such an individual sport.



similarly, if you're anywhere between ages 13 and 25, you need more calories than average to both grow (including sexually develop!) and play competitive sports.

I think it has a lot to do with one's drive/motivation to be the best.



It could be something to do with diet if you find that you're training the same as usual (not extremely upping anything) but have more muscle soreness. Of course streching works wonders for that, but more protein will help repair muscle tissue, and carbs help with glycogen storage so your endurance can get better. What specifically are you working on?