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5 days to go!

Peregrin H.
Peregrin H. wrote on 22-09-2015

They say you're not supposed to try anything new in the week before the race - just in case you have some weird reaction and feel unwell. You should follow the normal routine and eat normal food, with perhaps an extra emphasis on carbohydrates. Unfortunately though two things have happened: my wife has caught a bad cold just in time to pass it on to me (thanks honey - I mean, get well soon) AND I've been lucky enough to receive some extra support from my Pilates studio Remedy Berlin who have teamed up with a local juice place called the Juicery. So I get free use of an awesome infra-red sauna which rocks and a bonus card of free drinks from the Juicery - both of which help protect me from catching a cold. The owner Seydi even developed a special smoothie for runners, just for me, packed full of protein and antioxidents and superfoods galore. Now I'm naturally suspicious of the over-use of superlatives so anything that's got 'super' in the name raises my eyebrows. Superfood? Then why do my avocados always go bad? That's not very super.

Anyway Seydi mixed me up his special recipe and we chatted a little about running and the  'Born to Run' book about ultra-runners in Mexico. I actually haven't read it but I hear good things... but I have read "Eat & Run" by one of the American athletes that compete against the 'Hidden Tribe'and features in the book. Scott Jurek wrote Eat & Run as a kind of autobiography meets running guide meets... cook book? Yes! Because Scott Jurek, one of the world's most successful ultra-runners (anything more than a marathon) is vegan and shares a lot of his favourite recipes in the book. I am not a vegan although I am vegetarian so I can claim to be a 'no meat athlete'.

So anyway, here I am in don't-try-anything-new week and I'm dabbling with off-menu smoothies with exotic ingredients ('maca' anyone?)... and it was the most delicious thing I have ever tried. And it pumped me up with energy. I felt I could run two marathons.
Now every time I go back Seydi's not there so I try something else from the menu. Yesterday I went for the 'Braveheart' which was luckily (sadly?) not a Scottish inspired liquid deep-fried-Mars bar but full of stuff good for the heart including a hefty dose of turmeric. That gave it a distinctive strong earthy tone that some wouldn't like but I know that nothing beats turmeric for reducing inflamation and all the other great ingredients were extremely tasty and healthy. Day two of try-nothing-new-week I popped in to the vegan café next door (the awesome Fast Rabbit) for a wrap and salad and then picked up a 'Red Boost' smoothie: raspberry, strawberry, goji berry, beetroot, ginger, date, avocado and lemonbalm. Nyum nyum nyum.
I heartily recommend The Juicery if you're in Berlin around the fabulous Mauerpark and want to atone for a long night out in Berghain or something!