3 amazing vegan blogs

Every now and then I discover a vegan blog that really grabs me. The kind of vegan blog that sings and sizzles everything vegan, with delicious recipes, new approaches to vegan activism, and vegan lifestyle tips. The 3 vegan blogs I love the most these days are:

The Friendly Fig – Can’t really beat this blog when it comes to content. Not only do they have some of the best vegan recipes out there, they live up to their names. Lots of friendly Italian recipes, because 1/2 of the Friendly Fig is Italian, and if there is one cuisine I can’t live without it is Italian. Check out their Very Vegan Lasagna recipe. Also has health tips, travel tips, and some fantastic photos. Did I mention that they are friendly?

Greek Veganista – Finally an awesome Greek vegan blog! Sure there are other Greek vegan blogs(I’m not sure if mine counts), but this is arguably the best. Not only does it have a lot of helpful information for animal activists, and interesting travel posts, it also has many mouth-watering, delicious classic Greek recipes, all totally veganized! I often wish my blog could be more like Greek Veganista’s, but I’m not that great of a cook or that great of a designer.

Italian Vegan Way of Life – That I love Italian food is an understatement. Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve always loved pasta, tomatoes, eggplant, garlic, mushrooms, basil, and even broccoli. While there are plenty of other Italian vegan blogs out there, this one is in a class by itself, due to all it’s incredible, nutritious recipes. It’s in Italian and English, so I learn a little bit of Italian every time I visit. Everything from main meals to deserts and appetizers can be found in this Italian vegan paradise. Also has occasional travel posts.

 

New World Record for Joggling a Half Marathon

Just as I predicted, Michal Kapral set a new world record for joggling a half marathon in 1 hour 20 minutes and 40 seconds. That’s blazingly fast even for someone who isn’t juggling while running! Congratulations, Michal! It’s great that you’re using your extraordinary talent to help AIDS orphans! Congratulations also to Korir for winning the Toronto Waterfront Marathon!

I hope Kapral’s example inspires a whole new generation of jogglers. Our sport usually doesn’t get that much exposure. I believe a lot of the people who say they could never joggle could do it if they trained enough; I know this because I was once one of them.

The Bloggling Joggler

Michal Kapral Joggling for AIDS Orphans

He’s back! Michal Kapral, the man who amazed the world by juggling while running a marathon in 2:50, the official world record, is aiming to set another record, this time with the half-marathon. And to top it off, he’s doing it to help raise money for AIDS orphans: Michal Kapral Joggling for AIDS Orphans at Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon Races

You really can’t get more inspiring than this. I wish Michal well with this endeavor, which takes place on the 19th of this month in Toronto. I’m sure this joggling world record will hold for a long time, maybe even forever. Michal Kapral was one of the first jogglers I ever heard about, and he has inspired me to this day.

Great interview with Michal Kapral by writer/runner/adventurer Noel Paine: Joggling Boggles My Mind

To support his charity, go to: 2014 Scotiabank Charity Challenge

Marathon recovery for jogglers

The beanbags I juggled for 26.2 miles. Gballz makes very durable juggling balls. The beanbags are made from ultra-leather, which is vegan.

It’s been 10 days since the epic Yonkers Marathon, and about 99% of the soreness is gone. This doesn’t mean I am 99% recovered. It may take a little while longer(maybe another week) to recover 100% so I can run 20+ miles again. What little soreness I still feel is mainly in the hips, and this is probably due to how hilly the Yonkers Marathon was.

Because I’m a marathon joggler, I get a lot of questions both about training for a marathon and recovering from one. Occasionally, I get questions about my sanity. Overall, it really isn’t that different, except that besides doing a lot of juggling and joggling, you need to do just a little bit of upper body strength training to be able to juggle for so many miles. Push-ups, curls, and the bicycle maneuver about twice a week is about all I do, and it normally takes about 5 minutes.

Recovering from joggling a marathon is practically the same as recovering from running one(at least I think it is). It’s the legs that feel stiff and very sore afterwards, while the arms are just a little tired, at least in my case. My arms felt better the next day, while my legs were so sore and weak I couldn’t run for 2 days after the race. So I juggled instead on those rest days. I’ve also been doing a lot of walking, which started the day of the marathon. After a long nap and lunch, I walked 2 miles a few hours after the marathon. I’ve been mostly doing short runs these days, though I managed to run 10 miles(8:50 pace) 3 days ago, exactly 1 week since the marathon. I’m not back to running 5 to 6 days a week like I was before the race.

I didn’t do anything special after the marathon when it comes to diet, nor did I get a massage afterwards, except for some self-massage. I didn’t take an ice bath either, just a cool shower. In case you have forgotten, I never stretch. I just relaxed a little more than usual after walks, or runs, or juggle chi. Lots of powerful music too, can’t forget to listen to powerful music to refuel the soul.

The main thing I would do differently in training for my next marathon is to do more hill-training, and possibly even longer long runs. I think I may even be ready for my next marathon within a few weeks, though I haven’t signed up for anything yet. Will keep everyone posted.

Did you just run a marathon or half-marathon? If so, please tell us how you did and how your recovery is going.