When I did ultra-marathons, never hit the 100 miler maker, my body could tolerate less meat, filling it up with carbs. Switching to powerlifting 4 - 5 years ago, my body demands more meat. Demanding in the sense that I can feel a difference when I go without meat i.e., it is stronger when I consume meat. Granted I also went from 160lbs ultra-running to 230lbs powerlifting, so I am sure there is difference in caloric intake due to weight and muscle mass.
Do I need to do either? No, but I feel better eating meat and lifting compared to when I don't.
-- When I did run ultras, I picked up Scott's book with recipes and tried following it, I felt quite hungry.
Aha, as I suspected! ("Eh? Plenty of runners get by on a vegan diet. Now, power lifters or some such...") I can't speak to that, I'm still a scrawny runner. I mean, I suspect one could still get results with a proper (read: PITA) diet, but then I'd be talking out my arse. Enjoy your steak.
I suspect you are correct though it would be a lot of eating/chewing. At 4,500 calories a day, I am tired of eating as it is.
I looked up the PITA diet as I was unfamiliar, it recommends to eat less spicy foods which is tough as a Cajun, but then states to add more chicory which we add to our coffee. Maybe there is a balance!
By "PITA" I meant "pain in the ass" because you'll probably have to track down the special hoo-ha bean (I made that up) that can give you the extra protein you need, though you can probably get by with garbanzo beans but they make you fart, and yeah, calories will probably involve some high-calories food that you'll quickly tire of. That's what I meant by PITA.
Do I need to do either? No, but I feel better eating meat and lifting compared to when I don't.
-- When I did run ultras, I picked up Scott's book with recipes and tried following it, I felt quite hungry.