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What a vegan elite runner eats in a day

How Phil Parrot-Migas fuels cross-country and half-marathon training

Phil Parrot-Migas is an elite road racer who also happens to be vegan. He ran his first half-marathon over the weekend at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, where he finished in 1:05:46 for second place.

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Through the “what I eat in a day” series we’ve brought insights into how elite athletes fuel. With a growing interest in veganism, here’s how one athlete does it. Parrot-Migas is currently preparing for the Athletics Ontario and Athletics Canada cross-country championships. He’s been vegetarian since 2016 and vegan since January 2019. Here’s what a typical day of training and fueling looks like for him.

Breakfast (8:30 a.m.)

Parrot-Migas works for Race Roster, an online registration company based out of London, Ont. He lives about 4K from his office and works 8:30 to 4:30 Monday-Friday. “Every day I wake up and bike to work. Once I’m there I’ll have coffee with oat milk and fruit for breakfast. Fruit is usually a banana or an apple with some oatmeal.”

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Snack (10 a.m.)

“We have office smoothies everyday. These are dairy-free to accommodate dietary restrictions. The ingredients are always changing.”

Lunch and run (noon)

Parrot-Migas works in an office that encourages exercise, so most days he goes on a 10K lunch run with his co-workers. “I eat after our lunch run. Lunch is usually leftovers from the previous night, or an avocado sandwich with tomato.”

The runner says his leftovers would be either quinoa or couscous salad. “For example, in the quinoa salad I’d have nutritional yeast, sautéed vegetables, corn and fried kale. Sometimes I add fried tofu or lentils to bump up the protein content.”

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Workout (6 p.m.)

Parrot-Migas will meet Connor Black and Jack Sheffar (both former U Sports champions) for a workout at 6 p.m.

Dinner (8 p.m.)

The runner has a few dinner staples. “I like curried tofu, falafel wraps, homemade pizzas and pasta. Those are my go-to dinners. I’m also a big fan of making my own veggie burgers with quinoa and lentils. If you add all of the typical toppings, they taste so similar to the meat version.” Parrot-Migas is also a big IPA fan and usually has a craft beer with dinner.

Photo: Maxine Gravina

Snacks throughout the day

If Parrot-Migas is hungry throughout the day, he’ll have hummus and crackers. He also loves BBQ chips, but tries not to make those a dietary staple.

Dessert (9 p.m.)

“If I’m having dessert, I like apple crumble. It’s super easy to make and it’s easy to do dairy-free.”

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