Training on a Paleo Diet
This is my first blog that will track how I do training for a Marathon on a Paleo diet. I consider this my first real week (psychologically speaking) of training. I am going to do this blog because I can't find much at all on training for a Marathon on a Paleo diet. I guess one of the reasons for that is that it's not really Paleo to run a Marathon - it's not like our ancestors ran marathons - maybe walked and walked for days, but certainly not run long distances. So most Paleo folks, I think, are more inclined to do cross fit type of stuff or things like that. Of course, I don't fit into the community of runners either - as the pre-race day party for my training group includes the traditional "carbo" loading event full of pasta, which I will not be partaking in - zucchini noodles for me, thanks!
One of my goals with this
marathon is to blog about what it’s like to train for a Marathon on a Paleo
diet – no pre race carb loading with pasta and other stuff like that…. Nope. So I’ll tell you what I do instead…and how I fuel my long runs. Of course the main goal is to raise money for Taller de Jose (read below).
This week my menu included:
Breakfast:
Nopalitos con Huevo
Broiled Grapefruit
Lunch:
Basically either breakfast or dinner leftovers
Sardine Salad
Dinner:
Zucchini Noodles with Marinara Sauce and Lean Ground Beef
White Chicken Chili
Snacks:
This week, my training was not too different than my normal routine and the diet questions and changes in carbs won't come up much until I really start to increase my mileage. I will keep you posted on how that goes. However, while I am open to including rice or other gluten free grains in my diet if needed, I'm going to really try to give this a go with a fairly strict Paleo diet (which does include things like potatoes, sweet potatoes, yucca, and plantains for me). It's not accurate to say that a Paleo diet does not include carbs - it just does not include the highly processed or inflammatory grains.
This is the message I sent to my friends about my decision to run the Marathon:
I never thought I would run a Marathon - but have really
enjoyed running - as a “late bloomer” - I started running in my 40's and have
been running now for about 4 years. I remember my very first run, it
probably lasted a whole 7 minutes with my son Atzin pushing me from behind
saying “You can do it Mom!” Running has become a true pleasure and meditative
practice for me. I have now run two half marathons and countless 5K’s,
8K’s, and 10’Ks.
Oh, I digress, back to the Marathon.... So I said to myself,
if I ever run a Marathon, I would have to do it for a cause that I really
believe in . . . and have always had in the back of my mind that I would run
for Taller de Jose, an organization that serves as a resource center offering
services of accompaniment. They help
people connect to services and services to people - that sounds simple, but
they do so much more than that! I became acquainted with Taller de Jose
through my students at the Graduate School of Social Work, Dominican
University. I had a student in my class
who was doing an internship there and what she was doing sounded amazing. I made an appointment to visit the agency,
and have since been partnering with them on various projects, and we have had
many students do their internships there.
So
what’s the big deal about accompaniment and Taller de Jose?
Well Taller de Jose offers all of their services for free – they do not charge a penny for
their services. That’s the first thing
to get out of the way, in terms of why there is such a need for donations and
fundraising. Because their services are
free, it means they serve many of the undocumented folks in Little Village,
Cicero, and other areas in the Chicago/Chicago Metropolitan area that
otherwise, would have nowhere else to turn.
My goal is to raise $1,500 dollars for them.
Second and more importantly is the way that Taller de Jose
transforms lives. I have been in social
work for over 20 years and I know that there are so many barriers for the
Latinx community to access services and I also know that they are not always
welcomed. Let me share some of the
quotes from service users who have had experiences at Taller de Jose that I
collected during my focus groups (one of the projects I did with them was to
help them identify their model):
“Oh without a doubt, TDJ helps so
much. When I came here, I came with my
head down and oh, they lift your spirit (begins to cry) because at other
places, I had been stepped on, treated like zero. I am documented, and it’s the same thing,
because of language or because of your skin color. They just look at you and make assumptions.”
“My compañera is an interpreter, she helps me, she goes with me to
court, she helps me fill out papers, she is with me. She has been with me
from 8 am until we get out at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. “
“I felt, I felt like I was being saved
actually. I was like, you know because
I’ve called millions of people you know throughout my situation to see who can
help me and my children and my mom and no one has taken the time to listen, and
when she took the time to listen that made me feel wonderful. I felt like I was being saved like someone
actually cared.”
So you can see by these quotes that the website just doesn’t
capture the depth of what their services provide. It’s not just about the tangible, connecting
people with resources, but it’s the way they do it and what happens when a
human being feels respected and heard.
So what is accompaniment? Here is the definition I came up with:
“Accompaniment in
this context is defined as a relationship between the service user and the
compañera/o grounded in values of dignity, unity, mutuality, love, and respect
that uses interdisciplinary knowledge to navigate mainstream institutions,
build capacity, and create more accessible and responsive systems.”
So if you would
like to support my efforts and donate to Taller de Jose, here is my donation
page:
If you want to
learn more about Taller de Jose, here is their webpage:
Taller de Jose Facts
and Stats Page:
I will keep you
all posted on my journey! I can’t say I’m
not kind of nervous about both the fundraising AND running a marathon! I’m
still sitting here as I write, thinking “I can’t believe I’m really doing this!
In peace and
love,
Leticia
