Increased protein intake = better training, recovery & energy

I've had a good week so far.

The New York Times has published two different articles this week supporting theories I've had regarding different aspects of my running and training. I'll have more on the second article in a later post but this one was a first-person account from NYT's food writer Mark Bittman.

He's training for the New York City Marathon and, as he increased his weekly mileage, he started experiencing lower energy during runs and general fatigue after. He consulted with a doctor, started keeping a food log and quickly saw great results by simply adding more protein to his diet.

I wrote about this same positive effect in my own running in a May 2007 TJ's Turf column. Again, just as Bittman says, individual results may vary. Only you can determine where your threshold is but for me, I probably doubled the amount of protein I had been getting and felt much better in very short order.

I'd love to hear your stories about protein and running. Comment here or email me: tjdwyer4@earthlink.net.