I have been a poor eater for most of my adult life – often missing meals and not eating enough food (especially healthy food). I first heard about Sarah’s wonderful eat2run program when she spoke to our running clinic at Peninsula Runner in Spring 2013. At that time, I appreciated her comments about certain foods and their relationship with running, and also knew that I needed to change my habits to run better and injury free. However, I was hesitant to sign up for nutritional coaching because I doubted my own ability and motivation to adhere to any type of nutritional plan. Since I am a highly selective eater (picky my husband would say), I was worried that the nutritional plan would included a number of foods I simply would not eat (for example, I don’t eat very much meat or fish). Thus I felt I would not carry through with the program.
It was only after my dismal performance in Eugene that I knew I needed help. While I still had my doubts about my ability to follow a plan (I now had the motivation), I contacted Sarah. Once I started, I was so very pleasantly surprised. Not only was the nutritional plan tailored to my specific tastes and preferences, the food was delicious, especially the fruit smoothie (which I drink nearly every morning). It took some time to organize and shop for the ingredients for the various recipes, however, the meals were easy to prepare. My schedule for daily meals and snacks was all laid out for me and thus the program was easy for me to follow. I was particularly pleased that the recipes called for pure and wholesome ingredients. I was also pleased that my plan was specific to my needs and tastes – another running friend who also contacted Sarah had a very different nutritional plan than mine. I never felt hungry on this program and ate more than I normally did.
A couple weeks after I started with my nutritional running program, I started to notice the results. I was feeling better – I felt healthier, had fewer headaches and slept better. Eventually, I lost the 5-8 pounds I was trying so hard to lose. I noticed that I had more energy during my runs and recovered more quickly after long runs. Even after a 24 mile run, I felt great and did not need any extra down time. I credit the Peninsula Runners training program and Sarah’s Eat2Run coaching with my ability to run the London Royal Parks half marathon (with a good finishing time) only one week after completing the Berlin marathon.
I would highly recommend (and have recommended) Sarah’s nutritional coaching to other runners. For me, this has been more than just a nutritional program during my training – it has been a positive lifestyle change which I intend to continue into the future.
Satinder Sidhu, Surrey BC
UPDATE from Satinder, 10 months later:
Hi Sarah:
Newport was a lovely marathon – although it was hard with the wind and the camber on the road was awful. However – I ran the whole marathon without a single leg cramp 🙂 and finished in a better time than Berlin. I was just happy to run cramp free.
I’m still pretty much on the eat2run plan although I do cheat on the weekends a bit. I feel so much better when I eat according to my plan so I have continued.
Take care,
Satinder
