I’m training to run a marathon, this will be my 12th full marathon! I love traveling to different locations, not only to run a marathon but to explore the area. Seeing a place on foot for 26.2 miles is great for my soul! I’ve run near the ocean, in Bar Harbor Maine, Long Branch NJ, and Cape May NJ; on flatlands in Columbus OH; through cities like Nashville, TN; winding up and down across stunning Vermont farmlands and becoming soaked in the misty but beautiful backcountry of Alaska. A few have been at higher elevations from where I live and train, such as the desert highlands of Red Rock Canyon in Nevada and the most amazing of all, the Lake Tahoe Marathon.
Lake Tahoe was my absolute favorite marathon, even though the higher elevation resulted in my body not adjusting well to the altitude. This occurred in the last miles of my race. After reaching the highest point at 6800 ft+ around mile 20, then running along the crest then down the side of the mountain, enjoying the breathtaking view of Emerald Bay as I’m approaching Inspiration Point, my breath was then seemingly taken!
Look at me, sooooo happy!! It was BEAUTIFUL!! Still able to breathe here.
It wasn’t the usual out-of-breath feeling I had experienced from running 20 miles at about an 8 min/mile pace, this was different. The lower oxygen at this altitude was taxing my body. I could feel it in my legs and my muscles, I was feeling dizzy and couldn’t catch my breath. My gasps were not long and deep, but were becoming so short, I was searching for any oxygen I could find and sucking it in quickly. Luckily, the sickness didn’t hit me too hard; I closed my eyes, was able to calm myself down, slowly taking in breaths. I regrouped and recovered as I walked, then jogged back down the mountain. I felt better toward mile 24 and finished the race at a time of 4:56. The experience is always in my mind with hopes I don’t go through it again.
As I train for the Jackson Hole Marathon, I have it in my mind during every run that this marathon will be at 6000 ft+. I live and therefore train at an elevation of 500ft. I’m always looking for ways to help my body become stronger and more efficient. I found articles online with some great suggestions; running harder and faster than I usually would in my long runs, doing more uphills (but no downhills… so go up but don’t come down). I also found some fueling food that could help with not only getting me able to run stronger, but also my blood flow! With this, I am summoning my inner stamina… Beet Juice! Beet Juice! Beet Juice!
I said BEET JUICE!
That’s right, beet juice! There are theories that by drinking beet juice before a workout, it will enhance performance! From this article in active.com, scientist and doctors conducted a study on the effects of drinking beet juice and the endurance performance of the cyclist: Beet Juice and Cycling Endurance It begins with why beet juice sets itself apart from other vegetables as a performance enhancer…
Beet juice and nitrates have been gaining more and more attention for their ability to improve athletic performance and reduce blood pressure. It’s been well documented for some time now that a diet rich in vegetables can improve cardiovascular health, due to high nitrate content. While all vegetables contain some nitrates, they are more abundant in beets, leafy greens, spinach, celery, endives, fennel, arugula (rocket or rucola), leeks and parsley.
And towards the bottom of the first page you’ll find their results…
The beet juice group was able to cycle an average of 16 percent longer. The men also had lower resting blood pressure after consuming the beet juice compared to the currant juice. The author, Professor Andy Jones, noted: “Our study is the first to show that nitrate-rich food can increase exercise endurance. We were amazed by the effect of beet juice on oxygen uptake because these effects cannot be achieved by any other known means, including training.
Page 2, the most important quote from the entire article in regards to me running at a higher altitude:
While it’s not totally clear how it works, the authors suspect that when dietary nitrate turns into nitric oxide in the body, it reduces the amount of oxygen required to perform exercise.
Hot damn that’s what I want to read! Impressive! Beet Juice can reduce the amount of oxygen required to perform exercise! This had me hooked! Lower amounts of oxygen at higher elevations means there’s not as much available and thus perhaps by drinking beet juice, my body won’t require as much oxygen. Here’s another regarding running Beet Juice Enhancing Running:
The amount of oxygen required to maintain a given level of moderate exercise decreased after taking beet juice; in other words, it took less energy to cycle at the same pace. The best results came from the highest dose, which decreased oxygen consumption by about 3%. They did the tests 2.5 hours after ingesting the beet juice, since that seems to be the peak nitrite level.
Although above they state the best results did come from the highest dose, they do explain taking a lower amount would be sufficient, and they even have a few graphs to show the results. Below is one with the explanation of how to read it:
The dark bar is how long they lasted with a placebo drink (nitrate removed), and the light bar is how long they lasted with proper beet juice. In this case the middle dosage produced the best result, for reasons that aren’t entirely obvious. Given that beet juice is anecdotally reported to be associated with port-a-potty stops, there’s a pretty high incentive to use the lowest dose that produces good results —
So a bit of health information here which brings it all full circle; beets help build our blood which carries oxygen in our body!
I’ve loved beets in salad and I’ve posted a yummy recipe for roasted beets, so I’m no newbie to beets. But as for beet juice, this would be the first. I imagined it might not taste too great, so as I called upon my inner stamina and endurance, I grabbed some organic red beets along with a few strawberries, juices squeezed from an orange and a lemon, parsley and half an apple! Beet Juice! It was good!
I used the entire beet, the red fruit all the way up to the leafy green! I read that beet greens are packed with vitamins and nutrients and are high in iron. Iron is essential in transporting oxygen in the blood as well as myoglobin in our muscles!! I posted a little more info on beet greens in my roasted beet recipe!
Blend it all together…
Drink, enjoy, it was seriously delicious! No need to think if you’re having beet juice you have to “choke this down”. Great flavor with the orange, lemon and strawberry!
Go ahead! Give it a try! Taste it!
I did my own experiment. Below is my seven (7) mile Sunday run before beet juice. I have to say, to quote my coach, I “fell asleep” in the middle of this run. I settled in and just felt comfortable at 7:56/mile pace.
After drinking beet juice about every other day for a week, as well as two hours prior to my seven (7) mile Sunday run a week later, my pace improved from 7:56 to 7:33. I felt great! I feel I could have run faster!
My results look good. I ran a solid, seven miles at around 7 to 7:30 pace. The two miles at 7:51 and 7:50 was when I had to stop due to traffic and didn’t pause my workout clock, gotta remember to do that but making sure I don’t get hit by a speeding car and die is top priority. I know there are other factors that come into play in regards to feeling good while running and having a solid pace. I’m also a firm believer of the positive-placebo-effect, so when I believe something is working, it works! ; ) Keeping at it! With my beet juice and running, I’m super-nutritiously well-fed, becoming so much more well-fit and that’s definitely my well-defined part of life!
| Prep Time | 5-10 minutes |
| Servings |
person
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- 2 red beets small to medium, sliced and diced
- 2-3 strawberries cut
- 1 orange squeeze 1/2 orange juice
- 1 lemon squeeze entire or just 1/2 of juice
- 1/4 bunch parsley fresh bunch, about 4-5 leaves for added nutrients
Ingredients
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- Blend of together in blender, add ice or water to adjust to your liquid and temperature preference, drink and enjoy!