Interview with a Runner – Matt Frazier of No Meat Athlete
Today, I’m thrilled to post an interview with Matt from No Meat Athlete. NMA is one of my favorite blogs, since it focuses on two things very important to me – endurance running and vegetarianism. Not only that, but Matt will be sponsoring Step 1 Runner on his blog throughout the month of June.For long training runs and the few ultras I’ve done recently, I’ve been bringing along pitas or bagels with hummus or peanut butter. Carbs, fat, and a little protein. Some people say starch isn’t ideal because it’s hard to digest, but that’s what I crave, and I think there’s something to be said for listening to your body.
Yeah, chocolate soy milk is a good one. Although as I hear more about soy protein being tough to break down, I don’t have that every time anymore.
Refined grains like rice and breads are something I’m always in the mood for after a run, and I’ve read that after a workout is the one time of day when those processed white-flour foods are pretty good for you, since they get into your system quickly. So I’ll say #1 is a big loaf of bread dipped in olive oil, and an orange, banana, or some fruit juice as soon as I can get it. Plus a beer or two later on.
One of my very favorite, most useful blog posts is about recovery food. It’s not easy to follow all the rules every time, but I try to stick to as many as I can.
Brett: In terms of athletic nutrition, do you focus the actual numbers or rely more on feel and intuition when it comes to calories, carbs, protein, etc?
Definitely more intuition. I used to worry about numbers and then I realized it was just too hard and took the fun out of eating. I’m familiar with the 4:1 or 5:1 carb-to-protein ratios that are said to be ideal, but to me that means “a lot of carbs, a little protein.” So that’s what I try to do, rather than worrying about precise numbers. And as I said above, if I’m craving something during or after a run, I’ll almost always allow myself to have it.
Brett: How do you balance running with working on a Ph.D., having a new baby, and all the other smaller time commitments of daily life with training for an ultramarathon? What has been the biggest challenge for you in that regard?
Matt: It’s funny that you ask that, because I was just thinking to myself, “Wow, I need to change something; I literally have no free time most days once I’ve done all the things I have planned.” But those are all things that I choose to do because I like them, so they’re all a form of relaxation and regeneration in some way.
I’m fascinated by the idea of needing less sleep. One of the motivating factors for me to eat well and skip the morning coffee is the idea that the better I eat, the less sleep I’ll need, because my body won’t have to expend as much energy with digestion. Going vegetarian definitely reduced the amount of sleep I needed, so I’m sure I wouldn’t be able to do as much if I still ate meat. I’m still working on eliminating that coffee entirely; that’s been tougher than I imagined because I enjoy it so much!
The biggest challenge has been that I tend to let little things go as a result of doing so much stuff that’s important to me, and that doesn’t work so well when you don’t live by yourself. My car is a disaster 90% of the time because cleaning it seems so trivial compared to whatever the alternative is. Or take yardwork. My poor wife ends up doing most of that and I always feel bad about it! 
Brett: Since you’ve qualified for Boston and are preparing to run a 50-mile ultramarathon, what goals have you set for yourself for your future running?
Matt: The 50 has been the big thing on my horizon for a while, so I haven’t thought too much about what’s next. I know I’ll do another 50 in the fall, and really, how can you stop there? I’m sure I’ll start thinking about a 100-miler. Unless I go out there and this 50-miler is the worst day of my life, which is entirely possible. A sub-three-hour marathon would be really cool too, one day, if I can get myself back to that kind of training after all this relaxing, slow, trail running.
Brett: Do you have any pre-race traditions or superstitions?
Matt: Definitely no superstitions, but a few habits or traditions. I almost never drink coffee or caffeine before a race like so many other people do. It gets me all excited and makes my mind race, which is why it’s so much fun to drink it otherwise, but on the day of a race I want to be able to zone out and do as little thinking as possible.
The only other thing I can think of is that my wife is always there for me on race day (she’s often running, too). She pins my number on in the morning because I can never get it straight, and she helps to make sure I’m not forgetting anything since she’s so much more organized than I am. I guess it sounds sappy, but I like that.
If they’re not willing to do that, then I’d just say go easy on the sugar during long runs. Sugar is great for fueling your powerful anaerobic system, but that’s not what you should be using for most of your long runs. You want to relax and spend a lot of time out there at a comfortable pace when you’re new. Sugar won’t help with that much, and it might even give you the urge to run too fast and tire yourself out too quickly.
2 Responses to “Interview with a Runner – Matt Frazier of No Meat Athlete”
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Great interview with Matt!
Being that I am back on the vegetarian kick and that I am a big time runner, Matt's experiences and advice are helping a ton already.
Plus, I am jealous of all of his running accomplishments. So, I might as well copy what successful people have done.
David Damron
RunningSomewhere