I have done some digging and seemingly, there is no good resource out there for Paleo marathon training. If you stumbled across this hoping it would be it, well, sorry, this is day 1, of what is going to be a 12 month study into the best way to train for a Marathon, to do well, and do it whilst following Paleo principles as best as possible.
I myself am not running the marathon, my wife is, so, she is my better looking Rocky and I am her Micky and she will eat lightnin’ and crap thunder by the time this 12 months is out!
General Goals
My general goals are as follows:
- Only safe Paleo carbs (sweet potatoes, yams, plantains + fruit & veg)
- Baseline 100 grams of carbs a day + 100 grams for every hour trained
- Carbs primarily after training
- Get a sub 3 hours 30 minutes time
- Keep inflammation as low as possible due to an autoimmune disorder
- Stay strong and avoid injury
How & What?
Well, that’s exactly the question, how do I do this and with what? I am at the very beginning of this journey but my general, rough draft ideas are something like this:
- Become a fat adjusted runner
- Some fasted training to push the wall back as far as possible
- Some cross fit type endurance training
- Plyometrics
- Various sprint workouts
- Some basic strength and body weight work
- and obviously, some running, but hopefully, not too much
Day 1
Well, this is it, day 1 and I am giving myself a few weeks to get a plan together but I would love to hear from any Paleo or Primal folks that have ran a marathon whilst avoiding the usual grain heavy carb loading or anyone who has any Paleo endurance work under their belt.
Hi, from what I’ve researched fats are a better source of energy for us when exercising than carbs. Have you heard of Barry Groves? He has a website though cant remember the name. Very interesting views, based on Weston Price. Kind of similar to what your saying, especially about grains and legumes being bad for us. Although I’ve recently got into fermenting and soaking food to increse digestibility and vitamin and mineral absorption.
He reckons animal fat is more important than veg based carbs
A good book I’d recommend is nourishing traditions, and trick and treat.
I’m def interested in the paleo diet though, will read more of your blog. Thanks
Have a look for Joe Friel’s books, he’s a Paleo advocate and a world class triathlete, and has written books on the topics of training and diet for Ironman triathlons!