Joe Rogan did a podcast with Zach Bitter, who ran 100 miles
at 7 min and 1 sec per mile. That pace was amazing, of
course, but I really liked to try his fat-rich diet.
Scott Jurek, the seven-time Western States 100 Miles winner
and author of "Eat And Run," and Rich Roll, the tri-athloner
and author of "Finding Ultra," were both vegans. I tried to
immitate Jurek's diet during my 2nd running wave (between
age 40 and 42). But I was cooking for Tim, too, and he
didn't share my taste for chili with no meat. In the end, I
felt going vegan or even vegetarian was too much. Later, I
stopped both running and trying his diet.
Recently, I have been cutting carbs and eating more beef for
muscle growth. My weight-lifting program, Simple and
Sinister, improves general physical condition, but is not a
body-building protocol. I am more concerned about losing
muscle as I age.
Bitter gave one more reason to try a fat-based diet. The
theory (he worked with scientists, too) simply was that fat
beat carbs as the better fuel (easier to metabolize or
oxidize, they said). Better for Bitter and running, that
was. The science was promising, but I wouldn't know whether
the diet will work for me and BJJ without trying.
This podcast seemed to be a serendipity. My plantar
fasciitas has greatly improved over the past three years and
recent runs felt great. It might be time to start the 3rd
wave.
(Michael Pollan, famous for his "Eat Food, Not too Much,
Mostly Plants" rules, might be disappointed. Nassim Taleb,
however, would say "Metabolize, shmetabolize, oxidize,
shmoxidize. Forget the scientific mumbo-jumbo. Go ahead and
feel it.")
