The Newcomer's Guide to No Meat Athlete
As bloggers have started to publish reviews of my new ebook, Marathon Roadmap, lots of new people are showing up to check out No Meat Athlete.
And even those of you who have been around for a while probably weren’t here at the beginning, and therefore missed the rare gold nugget to be panned in the river of suck that was this blog when it started. (Most blogs aren’t very good when they start, so I’m okay with that.)Â And there’s probably some stuff you didn’t know…like that I still ate fish when I started this site (and even posted a few fish recipes!).
So for those reasons, and because my brain is trans-fat deep-fried right now from doing everything it took to get this book finished and launched, I decided that a little tour was in order.
Enjoy. Take your time with this one.
The ‘In’ Crowd
The posts below are the most popular posts that all the other posts wish they could sleep with. Popularity here is judged by traffic, comments, and social media sharing. (There’s a little bit of a recency bias, since as the site has gotten bigger it’s been easier to get traffic.)
- Tarahumara Pinole and Chia
- Grocery Hacks: 6 Money-Saving Tricks for the Vegetarian Athlete on a Budget
- Becoming Superhuman in 2011
- Interview with Vegan Ultramarathon Legend Scott Jurek
- 27 Things Your Training Partner Won’t Tell You
- Protein—A Primer for Vegetarians
- The Perfect Smoothie Formula
- 10 Best Running Songs Ever
- The Great ‘Moderation’ Hoax
- On Refusing to Settle and the Incredible Power of Denial
- 7 Things that Suck About Being Vegetarian
- Warning: 8 Common Foods You Thought Were Vegetarian
- The Great Veggie Burger Taste Test
- 7 Steps to Eating Less Meat Now
- 75 Ways Going Vegetarian Has Made My Life Better
- Black Bean Brownies
Really Useful Stuff
Lots of “how-to’s” and other practical or list posts. Most of these are about running, but there are a few others mixed in here.
- Get Motivated! 11 Ideas That Really Work
- How to Burn Fat Instead of Sugar and Never Bonk Again
- 6 Little Known Factors that Could Affect Your Energy Levels
- How to Follow the Paleo Diet Without Eating a Single Piece of Meat
- How YOU Can Run an Ultramarathon (and Still Have a Life)
- 63 Ways to Shake Up Your Running Routine
- What Every Runner Should Know Before Becoming a Triathlete
- The World’s Most Perfect Vegetarian Meal: A Grain, a Green, and a Bean
- The Vegetarian Athlete Diet
- 15 Sneaky Sodium Foods that Sabotage Your Healthy Diet
- 10 Vegetarian Lunches You Can Make at Work
- The Indoorsman’s Guide to Trail Running
- 3 Track Workouts Guaranteed to Kick Your Ass
- The Least You Need to Know About Fueling Your Run
- The 7 Secrets of Post-Workout Recovery
- 5 Keys to the Pre-Workout Meal Everyone Should Know
- You Know You Make Me Wanna Sprout
- How to Avoid Shin Splints and Stress Fractures
- Qualifying for Boston: How I Did It
- What to Eat the Week Before A Marathon or Half
- First Marathon Survival Guide
- Finally—Perfect Vegan Bacon You Can Make At Home (and Without Any Soy)
Resource Pages
For posts that fit nicely together and make up a series, I’ve grouped them on individual pages. Qualifying for Boston was an obsession of mine back when I started this site; check out that one first if you’ve ever thought about it for yourself.
- Qualify for Boston
- Running Fuel Recipes and Guidelines
- Vegetarian Recipes for Athletes
- How to Go Vegetarian
- Get Inspired
Race Recaps
I try not to write too many race recaps, mainly because they’re boring unless the writer is great or the race is really interesting. Since this writer ain’t yet great, I’ve included only the recaps of races and distances that you might find cool or inspiring.
- The Astonishing Power of Determination, Ibuprofen, and/or Coca-Cola
- Anyone Can Do an Ironman
- Running 50 Miles: Not Just For Superheroes
- Embracing the Suck: My First Ultra
- Down to the Last Four Miles (Boston-qualifying marathon)
Experiments and Crazy Stuff I’ve Done
By nature, I am a skeptic. Especially about things related to health. But one thing I’m proud of is that before I make up my mind about whether something controversial is terrible or dumb or awesome, I try it myself. Here are a few posts about things like that, plus an April Fool’s joke that didn’t fit in anywhere else.
- My Big Screw-Up: Why (and How) I’m Training for a 50-Miler in Only 4 Weeks
- My Vegan Month, and Why (for Now) I’m Happy Just Being a Vegetarian
- My Randomized Plan to Quit Coffee
- 7 Days of Water, Green Vegetable Juice, and Urine Testing: Does It Get Any Better?
- Juice Feast, Take 2
Motivational Crap and Personal Stuff from the Early Days
Remember those elusive gold nuggets I talked about? Well, here are a few of them, along with some fool’s gold mixed in. Most of this is from 2009, when I had no clue what I was doing. But in the same way that a monkey banging on a typewriter for all eternity will eventually produce Hamlet, so I produced some not completely terrible blog posts.
- I Can’t Quit You, Coffee
- No More Fishing?
- Just the (Nutrition) Facts, Ma’am
- Junk Food Isn’t Healthy; Health Food Isn’t Healthy
- Acquired Tastes
- Times, They Are A-Changin’
- I Am Not (Really) a Runner
- You Have to Believe
- Excuses are Like Booties
- What We Mortals Can Learn From the 4-Minute Mile
- The Belief that Will Take Your Training to the Next Level
- From Lamb Ragout to Spring Veggie Whole-Wheat Pasta (the first post)
Hope this has helped you get acquainted with the site! For more, check out the About page, and don’t forget to subscribe to get post updates and to the email newsletter.  See you around!
