Any vegan runners around?

[crummyusername]

I’ve been reading up on nutrition since watching Gamechangers on Netflix and just being more conscious of my diet. I run a few times a week and see people in their vegan runner tops but haven’t struck up conversation, I don’t want to be weird! But I’m very curious about people’s experience of whether / how going vegan has affected their fitness, whether positive or negative or some of both. Any stories out there?

Not running but a mate I cycle with eats a plant based diet without any animal products, he changed after heart problems in his 40s and is fit

iodine... iron... B12. Would need to actively manage.

I’m not a serious runner (I do 40 mins a few times a week for bone density) but am a serious cyclist (race). I’ve followed a plant based diet for the past 18 months. I’ve noticed my ability to recover from training has improved. I get sick less often and when I do get ill it’s a lot more mild and I recover quicker - quite something since 3 year old DS has a perpetual cold. I sleep better. I have more energy. It’s worth noting I was vegetarian prior to going plant based but had pretty much eliminated processed food and cooked everything from scratch. So going plant based basically involved swapping cow milk for soy milk, dairy yogurt for soy yogurt (I have the sugar/ unflavoured stuff) and ditching cheese. I’ve been fascinated by nutrition since I started racing 7 years ago, so had been eating to fuel training/ recovery already.

I’ll also add I’ve never taken an iron supplement and never needed to - I don’t specifically monitor iron intake either (not needed to) BUT my diet is varied and rich in pulses and leafy greens which I’ll have with something with vitamin c to help absorption. I do take the veg1 from the vegan society but that contains b12 and selenium.

a vitamin c rich food

Just checking replies and saw yours @noodlmcdoodl - super interesting thanks. I’ve been cutting down on dairy lately and noticed a spike up in energy. Then when I have some dairy I feel heavy. I’m not bad with veg but need to get more of the green leafy stuff, I’ve been anaemic on and off so I do take iron. I’m reading up more and finding it fascinating.

Yep. Me. I feel like I have so much more energy In general and like my body moves easier.