About Me

Hi there, I’m Becca! Welcome to The Rabbit Food Runner!  I’m glad you’ve stumbled upon my page.

 

I love to run!  It’s a source of self-confidence, a stress outlet, and gigantic part of my social life.  Initially, I was impartial to running; I joined my high school cross-country team only as a way of staying in shape for soccer.  Once I got to college and no longer played competitive team sports, I turned to races to feed my competitive nature. I ran my first race in 2008 (a half marathon) and was hooked!

 

first race

 

I’ve learned a lot since that first race (race in a cotton t-shirt = TERRIBLE idea), and have participated in well over 50 races now, from the 5k to the 50 mile!  I’m currently am working on the goal of running a marathon in all 50 states.  So far (as of 2017) I’ve run 12 marathons in 9 states.  I also am trying to run all of the World Majors.  I’ve run Chicago (2x), New York, Boston (2x), and Tokyo!  My goal for 2017 is to venture into the ultramarathon world.

 

About Rabbit Food Runner
Coming through the NP aid station at mile 10

 

I am also a vegan athlete, or “rabbit food runner” as I fondly call it.  I started to adopt the vegetarian lifestyle in October 2013 after completing my first marathon.  Following the same training regimen, I trained for another marathon in April 2014, the only change was my diet.  My time improved by 15 minutes and I was able to qualify for Boston- only through diet changes!

 

It took my until April 2015 to completely switch to a plant-based diet.   While the shift to a complete vegan diet was slow, the results were immediate. 2016, my first entire year of being 100% plant-based, I ran a PR in every distance I raced, from the 5k to the marathon. Now in 2017, I am increasing my distance to the 50 miler, again with success.

 

Running Resume

 

While many people believe that following a plant-based diet is limiting, it’s opened up a whole new world for me.  Food has always been an issue for me; since my teenage years I’ve struggled with an eating disorder.  With a whole food, plant-based diet, I’ve felt comfortable enough to explore recipes and spend time in the kitchen; to learn how to nourish my body and not restrict.  Now, I view food as a way to fuel my training; I’ve even created homemade recipes to eat during my long ultra training runs.  This blog and the positive response I’ve gotten from my recipes has certainly helped.

 

Chowing down on some VEGAN deep dish pizza, courtesy of the delicious Kitchen 17
Chowing down on some VEGAN deep dish pizza, courtesy of the delicious Kitchen 17

Besides running, I am a huge bookworm, word nerd, and trivia enthusiast.  My passion lies in teaching.  I was a bilingual elementary school teacher for 4 years before entering the non-profit world as a Spanish Teacher coach.  I also work as a running coach to help other athletes reach their goals.

 

studentsBoston
My students made me good luck signs before running Boston in 2015

 

My goal for this blog is to provide readers with information on running, recipes, and my ramblings on life’s twists and turns. Hopefully you’ll find motivation, inspiration or humor along the way! Whatever the reason you’re here I hope you enjoy what you read!

 

Happy running,

Coach Becca