Scott Jurek: How to Run, How to Eat.

so what are some basic tips both mentally you know from a hokey elephant point of view and from a just practical body point of view yeah I think you know tips for me so when I'm not everybody asks you know what what what do you do when things are hurting so bad or you're just in a bad spot in a rake so I'm like seventy miles into race feels like I want to quit you know I have those same feelings just like somebody who's out for their you know three mile run and look at Mile 1 and like - this isn't has more like me so uh for me what helps is - I try to focus on things that will kind of bring me into the present moment because of 50 miles into a race that's 150 miles long if I'm thinking like I have a hundred miles to grow it's like game over so I'm getting back to the present moment things that help our breath and I try not to get complicated like some people try to focus on take you know three inhale counts and you know seven exhale counts things like that sometimes when you're running it's just too much to focus on so I just all do - just breathe yeah all you can do is focus on breathing and I tell people just focus on that focus on taking air in um sometimes breathing in through the nose out through the mouth is helpful um cuz naturally use your diaphragm and I thought that really hard I've tried that yeah when you're working hard up a hill it's hard - everybody wants to turn into a mouth grater which is perfectly fine but um sometimes when you're in that mode where you're like I'm just kind of in a rut here I'm you're not moving fast you just kind of like okay like you know I'm moving again that's just a different yeah you're usually you're able to breathe through your nose but even just focusing on your breath and try not to think of anything else I mean I think that's where meditation comes in that's a lot of meditation has focused on breath because it's one simple way they like get into the present moment you know if you find your mind drifting so if you find your mind drifting like in the run and you're thinking I've still the hundred miles to go just focusing on that the breath can be key I focus on movement - and technique so you can get really complicated of like oh yeah you know something so you do something with your leg that you know has been picked apart before say physical therapist or a running buddy has told you hey you shouldn't be doing your leg like that try to focus on that move or if you're somebody has perfect form biking up which I'm not even think right able to do up but if you I have I'm yourself I have pretty much perfect okay so if you have perfect form I would say you just focus on you know make that even more perfect you know for a lot of people we all tend to adopt the postures throughout the day like we tend to just hang on our body so we round the shoulders head goes forward and basically round the back and so we end up in this kind of position because that's how we sit in front of steering wheels computers so I'm three like this exactly everybody thinks like Gollum you know really struggling we kind of get into that mode so really what you want to do is open up mention you've got somebody pulling you up from the head you know by a string and lengthening the body and just getting out of that position of you know rounded shouldered also relaxed right yeah you don't want to be extra you want to be like really tight so you want to learn how to be able to relax but think of being tall versus hanging on your body and you also went through there's the opposite tendency like the chairs chairs the fire yeah you can overcorrect you know much like you know this is incorrect you know this is over correcting and being a really stiff and really arched so you really want to think you know this is another simple thing everybody can do even you know those at perfect form is you know running is basically controlled falling so you just want to essentially think of your pelvis where most of our weight this is where our center of mass is basically our pelvis lower torso basically thighs that area is where we have most of our weight think of that kind of just falling yeah you know on the trail you know running is controlled falling so we do whether you're on the trail on the road I'm try not to fight the movement again we were just talking about that just you know let things kind of flow and just let the body you know fall down but that's sort of rev I mean I know it's sort of popular among runners and a lot of runners will already know of us maybe but you know the way we all were taught to run basically was like have really comfortable sneakers we basically were all heel strikers right sure which like the you know some people would taught me natural running we're like basically you're like pushing yourself back or breaking with every step sadly it's hard on your knees right f initely so you do that like good posture but leaning falling forward yep falling apart didn't bring bring your body with you so like you know as far as the feet um your feet really should just be landing underneath your center of mass so that's why you don't wanna you don't wanna you know heel strike except if you're on steep downhill much like you don't be way up on your toes and again it's balance it's like finding that middle point yeah and if you are upright and if you're falling with your body naturally your legs are going to want to catch you and that's where you know running everybody thinks it's hard on your knees when the muscles are working properly and you're landing not too far out or not pushing too far behind you're just spinning underneath your center of mass you know basically yeah or so so yeah really again I think that's helpful for a lot of people just think of your legs kind of spinning underneath you yeah it's kind of kept telling you the cars repelling yeah exactly Road run stop so I found the knots or anything really helped me in it you know I just kind of fell forward had good posture you know is tried to be present breath like all of it you know I'm not a good runner so it's painful for my lungs but you know it was all pretty easy the one thing I run into a lot I don't know if others do maybe because I never run really is my calf muscles with a natural running kind of explode I think they like triple in size and they are painful yeah I think maybe because I'm putting a lot of you almost maybe too far forward on that the the foot and that's where a lot of people you know read the stuff with its T running natural running you know Feldenkrais method the Alexander Technique they all have their plates but a lot of times people over exaggerate yeah you know all the way up on the bulb but and really I was trying does what I'm doing people think about more knit foot because you're right the further forward you land the more stressful it is I think I'm going on the ball myself yeah so if you kind of maybe bring it back a little bit again it's finding that myth not too far forward on the heel not too I'm sorry far back on the heel right forward cool so I'm here with Scott Jurek super famous ultra marathoner champion and plant-based vegan style guy so we are going to go over some basic tips for enjoying running first of all you regard food food as fuel you talk a lot about that so what take us through like your daily diet and what we can learn from that I think because a lot of people assume that you know being vegan and like eating this way takes a lot of wear I mean some people say house guy you must you know cook a lot night I do spend a lot of time in the kitchen I love being involved in that process maybe it's having a home acting as a mom well on your grill inventing and group hunting and fishing and like you know basically doing all that stuff but you don't have to do that in fact lately I've been trying not to like when I travel I don't pack all my leg you know also food and stuff like that I actually try to like be a modern you know hunter and gatherer like in the airports and because I want to see like if it's possible other people are going to have the same issues like if they're not going to cook you know can they really do it so the biggest thing I would recommend is on the protein front because usually carbohydrate and fat it's not hard to find good sources of fat and basically carbohydrate you know fruits and vegetables obviously you know getting your starches whether it's coming from grains bread potatoes things like that pretty easy to find I've you need a steakhouse in a pinch where it was somewhere where that that was the only option so it's like you get the data yeah you get it you get the baked potato you get the vegetables the protein is the big issue so this is where you know definitely packing some protein powder is really key so if you're like traveling or you're somebody who's lazy who's never going to cook a meal at home you got a you got to think about you know whether it's having the beans and the grains you've got to have that combination or you got to have the soy product like have some tofu tempeh or protein powder and my go-to is brown rice and pea protein so combining those two and then nuts and seeds have a lesser amount of protein and there are some foods you know like some vegetables have some protein but you really got to think about where are you getting the most density of protein and walnuts have good oil you have to think about oil is a bit - yeah like essential fatty acids or something like if you're eating you know heavily processed food you're probably getting the oils and fats that aren't is good for you you know definitely want to avoid lots of polyunsaturated oils but of course the hydrogenated oils which are the worst but you know for me olive oil almond butter nut butters of any type for the most part some peanut butter but Justin's nut butter yeah so I prefer more yeah yeah the almond butter sunflower seed butter I've been may experiment but you know that's think to is almonds amazing yeah like opening your eyes for me that's the thing about going vegan was like wow there's all these other foods that I haven't been incorporating so you just have to start expanding the horizons I tell people think about integration rather than elimination so many times people go somewhere like okay I can't eat X Y & Z if drugged I try to look at as like I can eat a B and C so think about the things that you can eat more focus on that because you know if you go to a salad bar and think you're going to get enough protein unless they have some garbanzo beans or some figs and anything that's good yeah it's usually pretty good so you just got to seek those sources so I think the protein you know healthy fats are key healthy carbohydrates are key but if you're combining fruits and vegetables and then it really comes down to like the protein issue of like finding it but it's easy to get 60 70 grams of protein on a vegan diet a day and I mean I'm definitely living testament to that I'm not like withering away and there are power sport athletes out there who are doing it so it's really tough and though you're not like a weight lifter is use you've said you're tearing apart your mouth you're you you need more protein than oh yeah I mean I'm doing long extended endurance activities you know it's and downhill so yeah so yeah I didn't know we were going to do something that accessible if it's super not cooking or anything like that like I'm kind of an expert in being a vegan non cook so basically all you have to do is eat vegan nachos all the time good I love spicy food there's beans yeah I mean it's it's not as hard as people think but if you're gonna go and try and eat and then go ethnic to I mean when especially when I'm traveling especially in Boulder you've got it you got to definitely go you got to hit the go for the burrito making sure you get the beans and electrically is awesome yeah just simply as we go Mexican it's definitely a good option like you can always find a burrito um other thing too is going Asian you know whether it's Japanese Chinese you can usually find good options that have soy so you're getting your protein and then of course you're getting plenty of you know carbohydrate as well as hopefully healthy fats they're using oil just don't go North Korean so yeah just walk us very simply and succinctly through breakfast lunch and dinner in the Jurek household so usually morning I'm a big lake greens fan in the morning either I have some type of barley grass juice drink our combination of mix have been using scoop lately a game which is a real cool combination so that usually is something I start my morning off with then it's usually a smoothie so I'm incorporating everything from you know fruit to ivon greens so I throw some kale in there a big Vitamix fan so right blend that all I know healthy people the outside stuff but let me ask a dumb question yeah why do you blend it all up instead of just eating it so from an athlete standpoint for me it's maximizing like calories so if I have to chew and I get you know basically I'm burning more calories than what I might Americans tend maybe maximizing calories isn't a great thing yeah well that's the balance like I'm trying to sometimes pack in 5,000 calories you know trying to replace what I lost say on Big Weekend runs so for me on that smoothie obviously I'm gonna have a bigger glass and a denser smoothie I'm going to pour in you know the judo's oil and you know coconut kind of flakes of coconut maybe some boys would an average person your size be eating if they were oh if they weren't running as much and just averaging 2500 calories you know it's like half searing a lot so eating a lot so like a smoothie just is a way for me to kind of combine you know some people aren't some people it was just rather those slice up and I definitely do a few pieces of fruit without you know blending them I usually like some type of grain so whether it's no like an oatmeal or a grain porridge also I like to do sprouted grain bread so again high protein great to put some almond butter on there get some healthy fats the sprouted is good because of what well releases basically releases the enzymes and starts that kind of German germination process and what's higher higher protein more German yeah and that's that's that's key as far as just getting again carbohydrate getting the healthy fats getting the protein on the smoothie also as a vehicle for getting my protein so I use a protein powder a beat brown rice or it's combination brown rice and pea protein Wow so that that's kind of like breakfast and then lunch is usually some type of big green salad so whether it's like a dark leafy green like kale or arugula throwing some healthy fats olives avocados olive oil and of course and lots of veggies from Tomatoes usually a protein source like tofu or tempeh or if I go you know maybe I'm making some type of Mexican South border type cuisine doing some type of burrito again grains or corn tortillas so like you're getting that combination of amino acids or doing like a tempeh or tofu type thing and that's the same thing with dinner I mean really dinner and lunch aren't too much different in that lunch might be leftovers from the night before cuz I think that's key a lot of people don't for some reason I think people are used to eating something different every day and in my household we always ate a lot of leftovers because my mom would make something really big yeah and we'd eat that for a few days one of the lunches people always think cooking takes so much time but if you make big bulk like chili or something you're good for a while exactly and those are lunches so that's kind of where you know the dinner from the previous day becomes kind of lunch so really lunch and dinner are quite similar in that it usually centers around some protein or a combination or stomach is literally rumbling it's lunchtime a great team getting hugger yes Scott Jarek thank you so much oh thanks her she has been a pleasure yeah five thousand calorie man no I loved that I was doing the intros perfect I love it no I didn't know that was gonna say no no I was we're going to take a day so we're gonna we're fine you you did fine on the intro I'll just say like I'll just start with like I like all that I feel like in this no idea

Channel: Elephant Journal

Views: 316,659

Rating: 4.8554444 out of 5

Keywords: #elephantjournal, #ElephantJournal, #waylonlewis, #WaylonLewis, #walkyourtalk, #walkthetalkshow, #scottjurek, #ultramarathon, #running, #ultrarunning, #vegan, #diet, #boulder, Veganism (Diet), Diet (Industry), Cooking, Food

Id: Kdl6fK5k8jE

Length: 16min 48sec (1008 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 23 2014

Reddit Comments

[u/rantifarian]

The tip about letting your hips come forwards, or controlled falling, is one I find really beneficial as I start to fatigue.

[u/iGoalie]

Ok Scott was interesting, but the interviewer was a bit off, and his jokes missed almost every time... not a smooth interview, also, I need those gold shorts he had on!

[u/apathetic_revolution]

I'm meeting Scott at his book launch for North in Chicago tonight and I'm pretty excited about it. What are the odds he's already heard the joke "as a vegan and a runner, which do you have to bring up at dinner parties first", how are those odds over 100%, and why am I asking this anyway?

[u/Spoddly]

Scott just seems like one of those guys you could talk for hours with and learn so much. It’s a shame the interviewer makes himself look uninterested and awkward.

(I get it’s probably a bit/character he’s doing, but it’s definitely off putting)

[u/johnboy2978]

The higher cadence you can maintain, the easier and more efficient running becomes. Hard to be a heel striker or have your feet too far out in front of you or overstride if you're maintaining a 180-200 cadence.

[u/manamal]

There are some great tips here, but I don't like that they are perpetuating the myth that minimalist running reduces your risk for injury. It's hyperextending and more impact from vertical oscillation that increases risk of injury. It's better to work with your biomechanics than to force yourself into a stride that isn't working for you.

[u/NyQuilneatwaterback]

This is so cool. I was just thinking today on my run how you wanna try to get a like roadrunner spin thing going.

[u/Chicago_Blackhawks]

awesome video

[u/rationaltortoise]

He's a legend.