Marathon Roadmap Meal Plan, Day 1

I'm running my third marathon — the St. Jude Marathon in Memphis — in two weeks! I've been training for 16 weeks (plus a few weeks of pre-training), and I'm ready to take on the distance again. My last marathon was back in early March, so it's been awhile. Before I started training, I downloaded the No Meat Athlete Marathon Roadmap — a training plan with tips on how best to eat when preparing for your race.

The plan includes a sample two-week meal plan and recipes, so I decided I'd implement that meal plan two weeks prior to my race. Of course, Thanksgiving falls during that two weeks so I'll be deviating a bit. But I'm sticking to it as best I can. The plan calls for a smoothie for breakfast every day, a hearty morning snack, whole foods-based lunches and dinners, and a snack salad in the afternoon. I've noticed it's pretty carb-heavy, which totally makes sense pre-race.

Sunday was the first day of that meal plan, and of course, it fell on the same day as our annual Vegan Thanksgiving potluck with all of my friends! So I stuck to the plan until dinner and then I tried to eat mindfully (without gorging) at the potluck. The day started strong with a Strawberry Banana Spirulina Smoothie with flax, kale powder, almond-cashew milk, and agave.

I nibbled on my morning snack of an Orange, Walnuts, and Almonds while I cleaned the house.

Lunch was a simple meal of Brown Rice with Soy Sauce, Lime, & Avocado. I planned to use a half of an avocado in this, but my avo was spotty and brown. Sigh. So I just used a quarter of it. I also added some turmeric because it's awesome. I love simple meals like this!

I was supposed to have a salad as my afternoon snack, but our potluck started at 4 pm, so I skipped my snack. We arrived at the potluck — hosted by Nicole and Vaughan — and there was SO MUCH FOOD.

And most of it was really healthy stuff! Lots of whole grains, greens, salads, and casseroles made with veggies. I brought a big batch of the dinner I was supposed to eat on the meal plan — Orzo with Citrus "Cooked" Veggies. This is a carb-heavy salad with a garlicky-citrus vinaigrette, cherry tomato, shallot, and avocado.

Here's my plate! This was "going light" for me. I typically pile on way more food and go back for seconds at any potluck. Restraint is a huge challenge for me when delicious food is around.

Don and Kenzie showed up late, but Don brought the most amazing Biscuits with Carrot Bacon & Cashew Cheddar. I found room for that!

There weren't many desserts, which was actually a good thing for me as this plan is mostly free of added sugars. I did have a small raw brownie, a bit of homemade dark chocolate, and a small slice of Shay's perfect Chocolate Chip Banana Bread.

Plus, I indulged in a couple glasses of wine. I will have some booze on this plan, but I'm hoping to limit that to special occasions and weekends. And I'll be sticking to beer most of the time because carbs!

I'll catch y'all up on days 2 and 3 tomorrow.