A Thought About Injury

Every time I think I have my injury under control or improving, I realize that I don’t. The only thing that seems to genuinely ease the pain is rest, or even just taking it easy on my exercise routine. I realized this recently because I had been feeling really good, but I wasn’t going that hard on my workouts. I was able to take it a little bit lighter, and slower, and less intense, because my day was occupied with getting out house set up, and all the work we were doing was using up my energy that I typically tried to dispel through exercise.

But recently, as we’ve settled into the house, and there’s less work to be done, I’ve been hitting my workouts really hard. Four days per week of strength training. And two days per week of intense cardio. Either tough trail runs with lots of elevation gain, or HIIT style circuits in my garage using a combination of a rower, assault bike, heavy bag, and jump rope. And I’ve noticed in the past few days that my back has been acting up. It doesn’t help that during this time I’ve also been working to level a 10’ x 8’ space in our backyard that is covered in rocks and made up of dense, heavy clay soil.

But over the last couple of months I’ve been in a good morning routine, waking up and working on my pain points every day. I wake up most days in pain and twisted, and so I spend 30 - 40 minutes doing soft tissue work and pressure point releases with my foam roller and massage balls. I thought it had been healing me. Turns out, not so much. Even though it might not have been healing me the way I thought it was, I still think it’s good for maintenance, and I’ve continued to do it.

I think I’ve finally just come to accept hat this injury, initially sustained 5 years ago, that I never treated, is going to be with me for the rest of my life. I hope I’m wrong, and I will never stop working to try and fix it, but at this point it seems like a long shot. But it opens up kind of an interesting question.

If I rest, perhaps it will heal. If I rest, the pain will definitely subside. But if I rest, then what longer term benefits am I losing out on from not training the way I am currently. What will I lose in my strength and muscle mass? My endurance? My VO2 Max? Is it worth taking 1 month, 2 months, 3 months or more, off of training to see what happens?

It might be. But I know I’m not there yet.

Workout Journal August 21, Cardio Day

Workout Journal August 21

Today was a cardio day. I didn’t have the motivation to head out for a trail run, plus truth be told my feet have been killing me with blisters from these Earth Runners I’ve been wearing to run. They’re comfortable and I think they’ve been making me much stronger from the foot up, which is why I continue to wear them running. However, I find that around the 5 mile mark, the rubbing between my toes becomes pretty painful. I’m just not completely used to them yet. When I first put them on 2 years ago, I couldn’t even walk in them without pain. So to run 5 miles of trail without pain is a pretty big improvement. I know it doesn’t sound like it, but I fully endorse these sandals just to be clear.

All that’s to say, I didn’t trail run today like I have been. Instead I did a cardio mix in my garage gym. 

• 20 minutes on the assault bike - 5.5 miles

• 10 minutes on the rower - 2,571 meters

• 3 x 3 minute rounds of my newly acquired heavy bag with 1 minute rest intervals. 

About 40 minutes of total varied work. 

I used to always pick one modality of cardio (ie treadmill) and stick with it for my full session. A couple of years back I heard a fitness person talk about breaking up your 30 minutes into 10 minute sessions on 3 different pieces of equipment. 

It sounds obvious to me now (and maybe it’s obvious to you) but I had never really thought about it like that before. Instead I would dread my 30-40 minute session. Now, I look forward to it. 

10-20 minutes on any one piece of equipment or any one modality is just about the sweet spot where it becomes boring. So, on days when I can’t hit the trail, that’s what I’ve been doing. 30 - 40 minutes of varied work. 

Give it a thought if you’re bored with your routine. 

Breakfast: Eggs and Bacon (Jowl)

2 backyard chicken eggs scrambled with broccoli, avocado, white onion, and salt.

2 pieces of bacon 🥓 jowl 😋.

What you picture food waste to be versus what it really is

I’m not sure what people think of when they think about food waste, but pictured below is just one example. This 8 lb tub of frozen wild sea scallops was part of a whole pallet of these tubs that was rescued by a local food recovery organization. Figuring out how to best distribute 8 lb tubs of sea scallops to those in need is challenging, so most of them have been sitting in the frozen cooler of their warehouse. I was fortunate enough to be volunteering yesterday and was offered one to take home.

I think for most people, thinking about food waste conjures of images of rotting food, or leftovers, or low quality processed products. And to be sure, food waste does include all of those. But, food waste in this country also includes an abundance of high quality and expensive food items. These scallops, which in a market would sell for upwards of $40 per pound, are a prime example of that. But the more I’m involved, the more I see other high quality and healthy items that were on their way to the landfill.

Wild caught frozen fish is a norm at our markets. Organic vegetables is another. Dairy products such as milk and cheese. Endless amounts of canned foods. The list goes on and on.

I think food waste in this country, around the world too I guess, needs a new name. When we’re talking about food waste we are not talking about the little scraps that might be leftover on your plate (although those do count, so make sure to eat everything on your plate!). We’re not talking about rotting food. We’re talking about real food that could satiety and feed real people who need it.

Which is to say nothing about the fact that when food like chicken, beef, pork, and seafood go to waste in a landfill, we’ve wasted a life. An animal was raised on this planet. Used up resources. And gave his life to become food, and still we discard it to the dump like it never mattered.

We’re not doing a good job when it comes to food waste in this country. Getting food waste right, fixing the food system in this country, has the ability to fix so much. Eliminate food insecurity. Improve people’s health, and reducing healthcare costs as a results. Reduce greenhouse gases. Right social injustices. And so much more.

I’m not sure there’s anything more important than solving this issue.

Workout Journal

I’m onto week 3 of my current 4 week strength training program and already I can feel that I’m getting stronger. I did incline dumbbell bench press today and it was the easiest I’ve been able to move the weight. Interestingly, my chest felt sore from the push up challenge I’ve also been doing, but it didn’t impede my workout. It actually helped it.

The past two nights I’ve also finally been able to stay in bed and sleep, aided by 5 mg of edibles before bed. For the past few weeks I’ve been jumping out of bed even though I know I wasn’t rested, but I just couldn’t wait to get up and start my day. But I really needed that extra 90 minutes each morning, and the past two nights I got it.

During my workout today I was thinking about mindset (something I think about so often). I was thinking about how sometimes I get depressed or anxious thinking about the fact that eventually my body is going to breakdown and I’m not going to get the results I’m used to from working out and diet.

But whenever I start to go down that path, I immediately correct it thinking about people who beat those odds. Guys I’ve followed on social media or elsewhere who are well into their 40s, 50s, or 60s and look and perform better than me. Guys on the triathlon course who were 20 years my senior passing me on the bike or the run.

I also think about myself and the fact that in my early 20s I don’t think I would’ve ever pictured looking or feeling as good as I do as I approach 40.

The point, to bring it back to mindset, is that I have a choice. I can think about the pre-programmed inevitability of declining as I age that has been fed to us our whole lives, or, I can think about all the guys and girls who have continued to perform, continued to defy the odds, and in some cases who have actually improved as they’ve gotten older.

I have a choice of what to focus on. And whenever something negative, depressing, or anxiety provoking, works its way into my head, I immediately look for the alternative. The happy, calming, and positive possibilities that exist, and focus on those.

Superset A: Incline dumbbell chest press - TRX bicep curl

Superset B: TRX row - Resistance band tricep extensions - Copenhagen weighted hold

Superset C: 3-pt 1.5 rows - Weighted push up - TRX tucks

Dinner: Chicken, Veggies, and a Side Salad

Early dinner. Chicken thighs. Roasted Brussels. Boiled beet. Red leaf lettuce salad with 🥑, celery, red onion, red cabbage (dressing: olive oil, red wine vinegars, salt).

Workout Journal

Some people decide they can’t before even trying. They decide they don’t like it without even trying. Are you one of those people? Have you ever thought you couldn’t and wouldn’t and then tried and found out you could and did? Remember that the next time you think you can’t, couldn’t, wouldn’t, or don’t like something you know nothing about and have never tried. I bet you’ll surprise yourself. - A thought from the assault bike

I've been on a 4 day per week strength program (Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri). On Wednesdays and Saturdays I work cardio which lately has been a combination of trail running and cardio equipment in my home gym. Today I did a 40 minutes circuit that included my water water, assault bike, and jump rope.

Water rower

20 mins steady state

4,800 meters

1:49 per 500 meter average

Assault bike

15 minutes of intervals

5 x 30 sec on / 30 sec off

5 x 60 sec on / 60 sec off

4.2 miles

Jump rope

5 mins steady state

Lunch Option: Hearty Salad

Mixed greens. Chopped sweet pepper. Red onion. Raw broccoli. Walnuts. Pecans. Brazil nuts. Date. Spicy olives. Baked chicken thigh. Broccoli sprouts for topping. Side of kimchi.

Dressing: olive oil, apple cider vinegar, nutzo keto nut butter, Dijon mustard, salt.

Meat and Taters

Sometimes you just need something hardy. That stick to your ribs meals. We’d been eating super clean. Strict fish and veggies for about two weeks. We broke it with this banger of a meal.

Homemade blue cheese burger patties

Thin sliced roasted potatoes with garlic, onion, and walnuts

Bacon from our local rancher

Man was that good.

Notes and Reminders

Everything in life is a skill. And every skill can be improved through repetition.

This is a concept that has been growing on me the more I try new things around the house. Gardening. Landscaping. Building things. Things I’ve never had the opportunity to do in my life before and therefore have been relegated in my mind as “things I’m not good at.” True, I’m not great at them, but it’s not for lack of ability, but rather for lack of experience. The more I do them, the better I find I become.

Do what you want. But don’t complain about it.

I hear a lot of people complain about their situations. You are in control of your situation. Even if it doesn’t seem like it. Or even if it is hard. You are in control. You determine your world. So do what you want, but don’t complain about it.

Some of the most important changes you’ll make in your life are the ones that no one will notice.

We like to think that change happen in one big sweeping move. But it rarely does. Change happens slowly over time, and it therefore is usually happening when no one is noticing. I’ve realized there are a lot of little things I do differently now. My approach to projects, conversations, relationships, have all changed in recent years. Small things like doing just an hour a day on a project until it’s completed and being satisfied with that, rather than stressing myself to accomplishing it all in one day. Listening more and saving what I want to say for the right time rather than blurting it out because I think it’s important. Accepting other people’s quirks and tendencies instead of trying to advise them how to do things differently. These are just some examples of things that go unnoticed but have had a profound impact on my life.

Breakfast: A mixed bag of food

My girlfriend always says I make whacky dishes. She’s probably right, but to me there’s nothing whacky about them. My goals are flavor and sustenance, and none of my bowls are ever lacking in either department.

Oatmeal, walnuts, almonds, peanut butter, blueberries, eggs, sardines, hot sauce, and salt.

Don’t knock it until you try it.

Forget cereal, it’s trash

My girlfriend sent me this picture this morning of her co-workers breakfast. It’s a bowl of Fruit Loops. Also known as cereal.

I understand the hunkering for cereal, or a big bowl of sugar. I too have those cravings. In fact, I coincidentally (or not) had one of those cravings this morning. I woke up at 6 am and almost imeddiately got to doing yard work. With very minimal breaks to refill my coffee, go to the bathroom, and book a hotel, I worked straight through to 10:30 am and worked up an appetite in the process.

That, in additition to a big dinner of meat and veggies had me craving something fruity and sweet this morning.

So, this is what I ate. A big bowl of sugar, only, my sugar was made up of fruits, which means I also got fiber, and healthy fats from yogurt, walnuts, and chia. Starting your day with a bowl of blueberries, banana, dates, and homemade dried apricrots, is probably not what most nutritionists or dietitians would recommend, BUT, sometimes that’s what my body calls for and its WAY BETTER than Fruit Loops or anything else akin to it.

If you’re craving something sweet grab a nice big bowl of fruit to quench that craving. Cereal, granola, and similar ultra-processed foods are not food and will result in unwanted weight gain and poor health. Maybe not right away, but for sure down the road.

Three exercise circuit

Bent over batwing row — kettlebell push up — elevated single leg bridge

Notes to Self

Maintain, Progress, Maintain, Progress

Sometimes you just have to maintain before you can advance. Sometimes finding ways to maintain is just as important as making progress. Not allowing yourself to fall too far behind, or to fall too far off the wagon, is just as important as improving. You want the gap to be as small as possible for when you’re ready to move forward.

Being annoyed

When I’m annoyed by something or someone, I try to ask myself why am I annoyed. Instead of jut accepting my annoyance, I try to figure out what it is that’s actually annoying me. And then from there I can work on addressing the root cause of my annoyance and therefore not being annoyed.

A lot of times it just comes down to accepting the situation, which requires a shift in mindset. Shifting from “I should be annoyed,” “I’m entitled to being annoyed,” to “what would happen if I accept this and move on?”

There are so many thing that can conjure up the feeling of being annoyed or not wanting to do something (i.e. go to the DMV) immediately upon thinking about them. Simply reframing these things from the “annoyed” bucket, to the “no big deal” bucket, has had a tremendous impact on my mental wellbeing.

Health advice

Most health advice starts with the assumption that you’re sedentary for most of the day. If you can be moderately active for most of the day, then you can eliminate mot of the diet and exercise advice you hear. If you can also eat only real foods, then you almost don’t even need to think about your health. Eliminate drinking and drugs, get adequate sleep, and you’ll be on your way to achieving your goals.

Listening to intuition

Why do I always questions what I want to do? I think it’s weird that instead of being confident in what my intuition tell me, I push the advice aside and seek alternative answers. Your brain wants what’s best for you. You just need to learn how to listen to it.

I hate Amazon

Does it piss anyone else off that any time they click a link to buy a product from a website (say from a DIY blog) that it always goes to Amazon.com? People link products like “hey, this is where I got this.” Like, “no shit, you bought it on Amazon. Strong search skills.” It’s akin to the LMGTFY phenomenon. People are so lazy.

Kale Veggie Soup

Made two batches of homemade broth from veggy scraps and now making soup. Carrot, celery, onion, garlic, tomato, zucchini, kale, lentils, kidney beans, and barley…

Workout Journal

Today was one of the hardest days I’ve ever procrastinated working out. Starting from this morning, but really yesterday, I did not want to workout. So I spent the day finding every excuse and every activity possible that would prevent me from working out.

I spent my morning weeding, from 8:30 - 9:30 am. Then I made three bowls of berries, cocoa, nuts, and cinnamon. I watched some Tour de France. Once the tour ended, I actually watched a UFC fight, something I never normally do during the day. Then I started working on building a shoe rack while I waited for an electrician to come give me an estimate for some work I need done.

He never showed, so at noon I needed to figure out what else I could do. I returned my neighbors ladder and loppers, and chatted him up for a little bit. When I got back, I watered the garden beds and flower beds, and did some minor cleaning and weeding in the backyard. I still didn’t want to workout, so I made lunch.

Then I took my dog for a short walk (it was 100 degrees outside) and then drove to the store to pick up a poster we had framed and then grocery shop.

When I got home, I still didn’t want to workout, so I started working on the shoe rack again. But when it didn’t come together I grew frustrated and threw my hands up in the air and decided it was need to wait for another day. By this time it was close to 4 pm, still no workout and my girlfriend would be coming home soon.

I finally forced myself into the garage (my gym) to start. But instead of starting, I spent the first 10 minutes of my workout typing this up.

The silly part is I know that if I just did my workout first thing in the morning, the first time I told myself I didn’t want to do it, that I’d be done by now, and my day would’ve went a lot smoother. Instead of thinking of things to do to procrastinate my workout, I could’ve focused on doing things I wanted. But my brain was clouded with procastination.

The other silly part though is that although 10 hours later I can say I saw this coming, this morning I thought I’d be able to navigate it. Despite having this same experience numerous times in my life.

But, what can we do? Move on and try to improve. Which means, finally starting my workout. Cheers.

Notes to self

Offended

Some people are always offended. Some people are never offended. Some people see why you might be offended but don’t understand why you’re offended.

You have to be selfish

Selfish doesn’t mean greedy. It doesn’t mean not helping other people. It doesn’t mean you don’t want to help other people. It simply means doing all the things you need to do to be your best self. As your best self you’ll be in a position to help more people and be more helpful than if you didn’t take care of yourself first. 

If you actually did the work you’d realize it’s not that much to take care of yourself first. You’d realize it actually takes very little to get to your best self. That it doesn’t take much and it leaves plenty of room throughout the day to be selfless.

I liken to the advice given on a plane for when the oxygen masks drop. Put on your oxygen mask first before assisting other people. Including children and the elderly. Why? Because if you pass out, you can’t help anyone. 

Thinking

Thinking is the most underrated and underused skill that every single person is born with. I don’t mean it in the way of those people who wear shirts that read “Think, it’s not illegal yet.” I mean thinking for yourself. Thinking to find out what you like and what you don’t like. What you want to do and what you don’t want to do. Who you want to be around and who you don’t want to be around. Thinking about what to do next. 

But since our world is so full of distractions, thinking requires effort. It requires ignoring your phone. Ignoring your email. Ignoring your social media. Ignoring your television. Even ignoring a book. It requires having restraint when it comes to the food you eat. It requires effort to obtain like any skill does, but it is for sure obtainable for every single human being. And it’s one of the most powerful skills you can obtain. The ability to think amidst the allure of distraction. 

Getting off course and consistency

Your goal should not be to never get off course. Your goal should be to get back on course as quickly as possible. Because you will get off course. That’s a guarantee. But positive change. What makes some people better than others. Better performers. Is their ability to course correct faster than everyone else. They spend very little time off course. They identify quickly that they’ve gone off course and they get back on as quickly as possible. That’s real consistency. 

Don’t Fall Asleep

So many people get lulled to sleep. They get lulled into thinking “this is life” and accepting it. So few people go the opposite direction and ask “what else is possible,” “what am I missing?”

Dinner: Jasmine Rice, Wild Cod, and Brussels

Jasmine rice, wild cod, brussels sprouts with sautéed red onion, tofu, walnuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds, raw red onion, and raw chopped garlic.

Finished with olive oil, red wine vinegars, fig balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, and sea salt.

Try this move

Surge goblet lateral lunge

Notes to self

What is possible

A lot of life is learning that you can do that. Learning what is possible. Once you learn something is possible, you understand that it is possible for you.

Spending vs Wasting

People confuse spending with wasting. You can spend money without wasting it. But I think most people waste more money than they realize.

I was talking to the guy running new internet fiber through my property. He grew up in Williamsburg during the crack days and the killing days (as he told it). Late 70s, early 80s. He said that he got out. Moved to Colorado 25 years ago and made a family. He goes back to visit and still sees the same guys running the streets. The same guys he grew up with. Those who aren’t dead or in jail. He said there’s no excuse for not getting out.

Later in the conversation he revealed, unknowingly, how he was able to get out.

His dad steered him away from drugs and violence. He pushed him towards more upstanding ways of making money. Running odd jobs in the neighborhood. He taught him to always look people in the eyes and say yes sir. To look away was disrespect. He said that once crack hit in 79’ a lot of peoples dads went from gainfully employed, to unemployed and addicted to crack. Or worse, a lot of them ended up dead.

The path to better yourself is not an easy or straight forward one. There needs to be some level of guidance. You need to know that there are options. You need to know what is possible.

For many people, what they know is all they know, and there’s no shame in that. For many of us, if we didn’t receive the guidance we have throughout our life, we might not be any better off. People need help. They need to be made to understand that a different existence is possible. And shown through example.

To just think everyone should be able to figure it out reflects a lack of awareness, understanding, and compassion. It also reflects a certain level of ignorance and arrogance. Examples to the contrary might exist, but they are the exception and not the rule.

Sleep

Sleep is the most important thing. Everything you do throughout the day should be done with a good night’s sleep in mind.

Too much

I think that most people take on too much, too soon, and too often, and end up spending their life playing catch up. This is part of the programming we’re all subjected to throughout our lives. Do more. Have more. Is the direction we’re pushed in.