tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91426869811774728312024-03-05T10:07:46.958-05:00Running in the StreamYou create yourself with every thought and action.Dave Vausehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13078063688028197241noreply@blogger.comBlogger223125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9142686981177472831.post-69272724765851251032020-09-10T10:46:00.002-04:002020-09-10T10:46:23.491-04:00Running Links<p> Some running links:<br />https://strengthrunning.com/2017/03/hill-workouts/<br /></p>Dave Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224701787067213344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9142686981177472831.post-38648931922706285212020-08-30T15:08:00.002-04:002020-08-30T15:08:54.700-04:00Longer Run<p> 12.0 today. Went into this run tired, still, probably from Thursday. It is the first run of the season without oppressive heat: 65F roughly 65% humidity. The breeze almost felt cool. Legs held up well; last mile was the fastest.</p><p>Funny thing about this point in my training. No matter how tired I am or not, I can just flick a switch and my body starts running. On a bad day, the first 7 or 8 miles are easy, then I start to tire. If I'm fresh, I'll never feel the run.</p><p>My running profile for the year has been pretty ragged. Had a bit of tiredness in my arches earlier in the summer and backed off quite a bit. In reality, I hadn't stopped doing the miles; I just walked them. But I don't log the walks. At one point, I was walking almost 9 miles a day.</p><p>In any event, I'm probably looking at a down week next week.<br /><br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_6It6gyQJvs3uCdCPK4ej28CLXvrOG6DHxPV5jgwyz9Td0vEFhEpI8hy7vWsF01QaGPh1HgLfjE0DlJgf1zFG672nL9t70WLCT7FiKLlwmZ6bDFLJau1cURyd9xSMXScK0Ndqcok5we0/s2431/2020-running.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1193" data-original-width="2431" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_6It6gyQJvs3uCdCPK4ej28CLXvrOG6DHxPV5jgwyz9Td0vEFhEpI8hy7vWsF01QaGPh1HgLfjE0DlJgf1zFG672nL9t70WLCT7FiKLlwmZ6bDFLJau1cURyd9xSMXScK0Ndqcok5we0/w512-h251/2020-running.PNG" width="512" /></a></div><br />Dave Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224701787067213344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9142686981177472831.post-63958747493688822952020-08-29T16:17:00.002-04:002020-08-29T16:17:29.394-04:00Recovery II<p> Denise and I ran 3.0 today. I took it really slowly. Tried to eat more carbs today. Still a bit low from that Thursday run in the heat plus gardening day. </p><p>It was mid-70 under a gentle rain. People cheat themselves when they don't go out in this. The rain is actually peaceful and refreshing. You have to remember your roots: we are all hunter-gatherers. Humans do not melt in the rain, it cools us. <br /></p>Dave Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224701787067213344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9142686981177472831.post-91436708305017273392020-08-28T09:43:00.001-04:002020-08-28T09:43:13.244-04:00Recovery<p> Thought I'd run today and cut back tomorrow. Did 4 miles, beating the heat today. It was 82F, with a heat index of 86F. Near the end of the run, the direct sun did start having an affect on me.</p><p>I was surprised to find my energy levels still low from yesterday. The heat took more from me than I realized. Legs were fine, it was just whole body energy levels. </p><p>Going to focus on really healthy eating today to hopefully bounce back tomorrow.</p>Dave Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224701787067213344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9142686981177472831.post-67829363641076587552020-08-27T07:07:00.001-04:002020-08-28T07:13:38.247-04:00HeatI got to a late start this morning which was unfortunate. It was 74F and 99% humidity when I started. My run went easy, legs were fine. As the sun rose, it took an increasing toll on my energy levels. But run completion, the heat index was 95F. This is actually much hotter that anything of which I have been capable of since returning to running in 2004. Additionally, my pace did not collapse. I was really gratified.<div><br /></div><div>However, I had some butterfly plants that just had to be put in the ground, so I did that next. By the time I was done with this, the sun and heat had pretty much sapped so much of my strength that a full body barbell push routine in the afternoon was not possible. </div><div><br /></div><div>At least the butterflies and bees will be happy. 😊</div>Dave Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224701787067213344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9142686981177472831.post-35476544189795249892020-08-26T15:52:00.013-04:002020-08-26T16:03:59.230-04:00Doubles<p>Ran 3 with Denise, then 4 more this morning. Easy running, ~12:30 mpm. Planning for ~33 miles this week, so trying for easy miles. We started at 6 AM, at first daylight, thirty minutes before sunrise. It was another bats to birds run. It was also a delightful 68 F, with a light breeze. While moisture was still at 99% the air was the most refreshing in weeks.</p>
<p>I did a full body barbell pull routine in the PM. Really focusing on holding a pause at the full contraction point for each rep of each set of each exercise. This helps eliminate cheating and slows the movement. It also cuts my ability to do reps. But my goal here is to stress the muscle, not do more reps or sets.</p>Dave Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224701787067213344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9142686981177472831.post-35128465159161238692020-08-22T14:53:00.004-04:002020-08-23T15:43:28.963-04:00Double Run<p> Ran 3 with Denise, then four more on my own. 71 F with 99% humidity.</p><p>Deliberately kept the pace slow wanting to save my legs for a longer run tomorrow. Roughly 12:30 for first 3 solo miles, then 12:00 for the last mile.</p><p>This morning was a classic bats to birds transition. In the first mile, I enjoyed seeing bats dart in and out of the woods chasing their final meal of the night. As the cloudy morning gained light, they gave ground to birds, so much more subdued than in the spring. </p><p>My goal for next Sunday is 12.<br /></p>Dave Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224701787067213344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9142686981177472831.post-58849995538857106232020-08-22T14:48:00.004-04:002020-08-22T14:56:16.098-04:00A drink, anyone? More?<p> A 5 oz. glass of wine contains about 0.6 oz of ethanol. <span style="font-size: x-small;">(1) </span><span>This quantity of wine thus has 14 gr. of ethanol.<span style="font-size: x-small;">(3)</span> This is 0.21 gr/kg for a 150 lb person.</span></p><p><span>Alcohol consumption affects hormone production significantly. This effect tends to be strongest with cortisol, which shows a spike after ethanol has been ingested. Ingesting enough wine to raise serum ethanol to over 1.25 gr/kg in a 150 lb person (six glasses of wine) the spike becomes five fold. <span style="font-size: x-small;">(2) </span></span></p><p><span>The effects of ethanol on testosterone is more nuanced. At low levels, red wine may have positive effects on both oxidative stress and testosterone production, but this is strictly limited to low does.</span><br /></p><p>(1) <a href="https://www.nclnet.org/alcohol_how_it_all_adds_up">https://www.nclnet.org/alcohol_how_it_all_adds_up</a></p><p>(2) <a href="https://nutritionandmetabolism.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1743-7075-11-26">https://nutritionandmetabolism.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1743-7075-11-26</a></p><p>(3) <a href="https://www.nutritionheart.com/alcohol-drinks-grams-of-alcohol/">https://www.nutritionheart.com/alcohol-drinks-grams-of-alcohol/</a></p>Dave Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224701787067213344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9142686981177472831.post-20447706354814114402018-11-08T18:12:00.000-05:002018-11-08T18:12:24.447-05:00InvitationThe master gunny I work with invited me to his unit's run tomorrow, in celebration of the Marine Corps Birthday. I haven't run with a Marine unit in nearly 40 years. Of course, it's not just a 3 miler. At each mile, they will stop to do pull ups or push ups or mountain climbers or some other such Marine self-entertainment. They will complete at the Commanding Officer's residence where they will stop and sing all three stanzas of the Marine Hymn. I don't remember all three stanzas.<br />
<br />
I begged out for this year, citing my slowly healing plantar fascia.<br />
<br />
He promised to keep me posted for next year. 52 weeks from now, I should be recovering from my 6th Marine Corps Marathon.<br />
<br />
64: Be all you once were.Dave Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224701787067213344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9142686981177472831.post-29197766711807716552018-11-08T04:01:00.000-05:002018-11-08T06:20:04.527-05:0011/8/201853 F, 50 F wind chill out there. I love early morning runs like this one. The gentle breeze caresses as we labor through our run. Yes, I say labor. We've de-conditioned a bit over the many months. But it's just good to be out here.<br />
<br />
Before, though, Ares demands his tribute. I missed doing arms yesterday. The ritual of devotion is simple. Dumbbell curl supersetted with dumbbell triceps extensions. 5 sets. I get depressed thinking about all this running time lost.....Hermes has forsaken me. For my devotion on the other hand, Ares has been very good to me this year.Dave Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224701787067213344noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9142686981177472831.post-31869431222151888372018-10-29T04:56:00.001-04:002018-10-29T05:00:43.093-04:00Gym Thoughts Karma<br />
<br />
"You are the moves you make."<br />
"You are the steps you take."<br />
"You're every move you make." Yes<br />
<br />
"Everything you do, comes back to you."<br />
<br />
Everything you eat.<br />
Everything you study or learn.<br />
Everything you allow yourself to think.<br />
Every lift you perform.<br />
Every mile you run.<br />
Everything you allow yourself to hear.<br />
<br />
Life is totally unforgiving. You are what you repeatedly do. You create your future and everything you've done counts.<br />
<br />Dave Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224701787067213344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9142686981177472831.post-12302212033320587642018-09-19T18:15:00.002-04:002018-09-19T18:15:42.938-04:00The effects of fitness on the aging process.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25157039Dave Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224701787067213344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9142686981177472831.post-15256342163999406122018-09-19T18:05:00.000-04:002018-11-12T15:21:53.227-05:00Plantar Fasciitis Treatments<br />
survey<br />
<a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/John_Gazewood/publication/7426924_Plantar_Fasciitis_Evidence-based_review_of_diagnosis_and_therapy/links/5681683208ae051f9aec4e59.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.researchgate.net/profile/John_Gazewood/publication/7426924_Plantar_Fasciitis_Evidence-based_review_of_diagnosis_and_therapy/links/5681683208ae051f9aec4e59.pdf</a><br />
<br />
<br />
heel raises<br />
<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25145882" target="_blank">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25145882</a><br />
<a href="https://blogs.bmj.com/bjsm/2014/09/15/plantar-fasciitis-important-new-research-by-michael-rathleff/" target="_blank">https://blogs.bmj.com/bjsm/2014/09/15/plantar-fasciitis-important-new-research-by-michael-rathleff/ </a><br />
<a href="https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Plantar-fascia-specific-stretching-exercise-in-with-Digiovanni-Nawoczenski/96b18627ee770de36631fbb8944771ba259d2832" target="_blank">https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Plantar-fascia-specific-stretching-exercise-in-with-Digiovanni-Nawoczenski/96b18627ee770de36631fbb8944771ba259d2832</a><br />
<a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/sms.12313" target="_blank">https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/sms.12313</a><br />
<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5962984/" target="_blank">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5962984/</a><br />
<br />
stretching<br />
<a href="https://journals.lww.com/jbjsjournal/Abstract/2006/08000/Plantar_Fascia_Specific_Stretching_Exercise.13.aspx" target="_blank">https://journals.lww.com/jbjsjournal/Abstract/2006/08000/Plantar_Fascia_Specific_Stretching_Exercise.13.aspx</a>Dave Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224701787067213344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9142686981177472831.post-63739179358963688672018-09-19T18:00:00.000-04:002018-09-19T18:00:15.134-04:00Challenge<div class="_5pbx userContent _3576" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="js_4e8">
I
have been many things in my life, philosopher, student of zoology and
science, engineer, coward, hero, leader. In old age, what resonates most
loudly are the lessons I learned in the crucible that is most alien to
all of us in comfort-land America. It is pervaded by an ethos that,
among other things, teaches the implacable will to accomplish what you
think you cannot do. You can hear the ethos in Major Misty Posey's
laconic prose as she mentors and guides: <a data-ft="{"tn":"-U"}" data-lynx-mode="async" data-lynx-uri="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.marines.mil%2FPortals%2F59%2FDocs%2FSecretToPullupsHowToGoFrom0To20.pdf&h=AT1XEg7X-lrJXt8t6vfjW_Ts8TZ80NbpXOSds35GQqDjxw5NMxLcg8i84eGYXXJi6evZiHiU8gAEihR8Pqtk3qsz2zDUVtOLVr_3V3GwkwVfi-fHXAh3tMj_qlZ-bKihKwVB8qft3KH4dWfBrcBXZU-7FGsA4gIckuQ1HXRTOzt5_5Q8a7F9mmZWlwc4OuyGRY7w7YPIcd0mQ0C94Q7hQcLoMSnquiZgwU9xIb390TEs9UL05wzUZn5rvWHYGxFyYOz_CvL3PRFP9lkLwnjtXkqLRm_5CZmQomymOoU3fESUyD5B0ib6T2nYHSaoZ9vpj-1tI-V1sz_-HG1LbZIqzvT5XX3eUJaVyWlDoh29FYwLw98quGMPTXD9Mstiej2u4sDVjXvQ8m-VMTFVyIPoDAoK6XXA" href="https://www.marines.mil/Portals/59/Docs/SecretToPullupsHowToGoFrom0To20.pdf" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.marines.mil/…/SecretToPullupsHowToGoFrom0To20.p…</a>. It is that absolute absence of doubt. <a data-ft="{"tn":"-U"}" data-lynx-mode="async" data-lynx-uri="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.marines.mil%2FNews%2FNews-Display%2FArticle%2F673308%2Fzero-to-twenty-plus-marine-develops-program-to-improve-pull-ups%2F&h=AT2FOrjzC-b1J-WHeyYdhh-PsWoD85RQ1HWXVFGbwbxy_iIrYGXnnR_SZN7YWEjPwAIEPMmD2IMlgWY9bvJkbWwg3GYT1f5upUzOSDdbFeyIyOZVBfpfw6NPncyksQUNf3RCkSPJnO90-6jlr114YBujHrSI-GFcPyQv1E8rsIzoRwLQZu7tRgltnz0aDLGxOrxph57B1wqMrMN1czl44QCHWiLx12_PzExsoN6MpTS5BhBttP-0TRKjIy0PI_A7eXujGVlnsmzRoW4HTIy2D65zkPKLuV5DnL-lPSqNPVXYdBHPQ7xB4BpLrjZjkw3tssM5ggWe3Y_kizDqUdI2eLp3_x9hm6bcKmKiXDkJ0-0DXqdwLwesR5bVBZ317MMvT1KJYiXuetVeMEwq-G2atkrZXjrn" href="https://www.marines.mil/News/News-Display/Article/673308/zero-to-twenty-plus-marine-develops-program-to-improve-pull-ups/" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.marines.mil/…/zero-to-twenty-plus-marine-devel…/</a><br />
<br />
We accept mediocrity in ourselves, enervate our minds and bodies, and
ultimately undermine our health in our quest to be comfortable,
professionally, physically, intellectually, spiritually. To be
comfortable is to be dying.</div>
Dave Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224701787067213344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9142686981177472831.post-60061488657566845162018-09-19T17:56:00.003-04:002018-09-19T17:56:54.432-04:00Freedom is just another word....<div class="_5pbx userContent _3ds9 _3576" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="js_3k4">
Thought
from one of my last runs, months ago. The silly bumper stickers are
wrong: Freedom really is free. Freedom is a state of mind. I'm always
hearing that we're the Land of the Free, as we sink deeper and deeper
into debt and addiction. Despite all our declarations of freedom, we're
not free.<br />
What isn't free.....is often very expensive....is Justice.</div>
Dave Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224701787067213344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9142686981177472831.post-44869708294746286912018-09-19T17:54:00.000-04:002018-09-19T17:54:13.007-04:00Walking.....better than nothinghttps://www.outsideonline.com/2342346/walking-might-be-best-exercise-there?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=facebookpostDave Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224701787067213344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9142686981177472831.post-23414956753946102262018-09-19T17:50:00.000-04:002018-09-19T17:50:26.071-04:00Single Sets<div class="_5pbx userContent _3576" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" id="js_11y">
Interesting
results. Size does not equate to strength. Strength can be achieved by
single sets, size comes from multiple sets. I've been spending much more
time lifting since i can't run and I think it's showing. But the really
important message is that real strength gains can be achieved in single
sets.....provided you go to failure.<br />
Of course, the body-building community has had it right for over half a century: you need volume for size.<br />
<br />
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/12/well/move/in-a-hurry-try-express-weight-training.html</div>
Dave Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224701787067213344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9142686981177472831.post-81817778148995539762018-09-19T17:47:00.000-04:002018-09-19T17:47:45.049-04:00Preventing Muscle Loss as We AgeA good pairing with the previous post: Muscle loss and its associated
loss of strength, is entirely avoidable. One set per major body part, 3
times per week.....that's 15 minutes, 3 times a week. So avoidable....if
you step beyond the myths about old age.<br />
<br />
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/03/well/live/preventing-muscle-loss-among-the-elderly.htmlDave Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224701787067213344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9142686981177472831.post-19251852374601159682018-08-04T05:38:00.000-04:002018-08-04T05:38:04.125-04:00Strength Cardio DialecticMy plantar fasciitis has quietened my lift/run dialectic. It has removed the choice. Over the months, my mental barriers to lifting have completely melted away.<br />
<br />
I realized this morning: in the weekends, I have the time to do 5 sets vice my weekday 3 sets.Dave Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224701787067213344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9142686981177472831.post-57890038620715277972018-06-19T04:37:00.001-04:002018-06-19T04:37:10.613-04:00Run....Walk.....CrawlStill having so many problems with my plantar fascia.......Saturday morning, rather than canceling my run, I decided to walk for an hour. That went well. So, Denise and I walked for two hours on Sunday.<br />
<br />
Compared to sitting in a recliner, you get 85% of the health benefit of running by merely walking. I can easily walk two hours. Running gave me that ability. When I can't run, my mind and body demand that I walk.<br />
<br />
So, Denise and I have devised this scheme. What is 8 hours of relentless forward progress? Does it matter if it is walked or it is run?<br />
<br />
I have 63 year old colleagues who can barely walk to the restroom from their desks. Not walking takes me a step towards the place where they are. Walking takes me a step along the path of relentless forward progress. A first 50K is cobbled together with whatever you have.<br />
<br />
50K is not such an insane idea: 31.1 miles. It's just a bit further than a marathon. A normal, healthy person should be able to attain it in 8 hours. That's a 15:46 minute pace. It's walking.<br />
<br />
Running, walking, crawling is being alive. Reclining is being dead.<br />
Dave Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224701787067213344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9142686981177472831.post-2276214189896129952018-05-17T05:36:00.001-04:002018-05-17T05:36:07.434-04:00Is It Mind or Body?As I start what I hope will be my marathon training, time forces me to transition from split strength training to full body workouts on just 3 days per week. I ran a 5 day week last week, but for shorter runs. This week my ambition is 4 or more miles on weekdays. 360 compass points of lightening necessitated canceling my Tuesday run. Wednesday, I ran 5 miles. Today, I'm doing my first full body workout: 5 compound exercises of 4 sets each. This is taking me over an hour to do...probably 75 minutes.<br />
<br />
Fifty minutes into it, while under the barbell press, I realize that the weight feels really heavy. I wonder, is my mind tiring under the heavy work? By comparison my separate push and pull days seemed so much easier. Undeniably, this is more stress on my body at one time, so I could be tiring. I am unable to tell.<br />
<br />
Body and mind adjust. "Where the mind goes, the body follows." I have no doubt that my perception of stress, whether body or mind, will decrease.<br />
<br />
There is a wonderful moment in an old movie about another time when men could still be heroes. Omar Sharif exclaims with absolute, fundamentalist certainly, "The Nefuud cannot be crossed." Peter O'Toole, ever defiant child of the Enlightenment, points across the impenetrable desert expanse and replies, "Aqaba is over there. It is just a matter of going."Dave Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224701787067213344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9142686981177472831.post-42985563945261377162018-05-12T09:22:00.002-04:002018-05-12T09:26:40.917-04:00Heat: 91 F TodayHeat is the ultimate test for the distance runner. The Marathon du Sable events, <a href="http://www.marathondessables.com/" target="_blank">Morocco</a> and <a href="http://www.marathondessables.com/en/marathon-des-sables-peru" target="_blank">Peru</a>, come to mind. I will never be up to such feats, but, coming from Florida, I know well the feeling of that merciless burning hammer in the sky pounding me relentlessly like a hammer until I'm a sweaty, greasy, salty, incoherent mess barely staggering forward on a run.<br />
<br />
In the animal kingdom, for Homo sapiens, heat is the great equalizer. Many species can run faster than us. A few can trot farther. But no species can run as far or as fast in the heat. This became obvious to me in my vertebrate zoology class decades ago: humans have sparse and sweat glands covering the body. We share with horses, another great endurance species, the ability to dissipate large amounts of heat through perspiration. Nomadic desert humans have been known to hunt antelopes and gazelles by running them into heat exhaustion. Research in the subsequent decades went on to confirm my hunch, documenting a dozen or so adaptations that make us great distance animals. If the distance is great enough, we can even beat horses. Running, particularly in the heat, was our killer advantage.<br />
<br />
This year, I want to re-embrace that human trait. Rather than racing the sun as it rises on hot summer mornings to finish early, I will celebrate its rise and accept the heat. I will look up at the sun and realize that it is my creator. Running in the heat is its own form of mental and physical purification. It is a statement of being human and acknowledging what forged us in prehistoric times. <br />
<br />
Change your paradigm: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-e4bOLAuXg" target="_blank">Badwater 135</a>.Dave Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224701787067213344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9142686981177472831.post-643256855394632582018-05-11T05:45:00.002-04:002018-05-11T05:51:19.338-04:00148.2 WillI often pick Denise up after work right in front of her building. I stand beside our car, watching as her co-workers stream out. With uncomfortable frequency, someone will come out and struggle descending the eight steps in front of the building, having gotten so fat that he or she is no longer able to manage his/her weight and movement on the way down. These individuals are in their 50's, 40's, or even younger. I watch and cannot but help thinking, "My god, what are you doing with your body? And health?"<br />
<br />
When I was 17, my love of belle lettres, philosophy, and biology led everyone, including me, to presume that my future lay in literature and/or the biological sciences, perhaps both. While I was adequate in all my studies, nothing presaged any skill in mathematics. Also, no one at the time could envision any serious level of athleticism in my physique. I was painfully out of touch with my body.<br />
<br />
My studies of human evolution brought my interest in running. Additionally, I discovered, it freed my mind. As I ran across the hot, humid, sub-tropical savanna that was the University of Florida in the 1970's, I discovered at that early date that humans really were "born to run". The Marines brought strength training. Strength made my days easier. As I gained rank, I learned that to lead Marines, you needed to look like a leader of Marines. Additionally, you had better be able to do whatever you told your Marines to do. When I returned to Florida ten years later, I found my chosen major, electrical engineering, was under restricted admissions: 3.5 GPA in mathematics and physics just to be accepted. I willed those A's in calculus and differential equations into existence by blunt force hard, focused studying.<br />
<br />
I watched a pudgy old man amble out the doors of Denise's place of work. He was yelling to another old man approaching across the parking lot: "What are you still doing here? I thought you'd be retired by now." They stopped and amicably chatted. Then I heard the first remark: "I'm 62 now. I'd retire if I had a life!" Oh my god, I thought: that's 62? They parted ways and the first made his way across the parking lot in the growing heat with an ungainly gait.<br />
<br />
I have a visceral, negative reaction when somebody refers to my fitness, or even my career in engineering, as being a result of some, natural, genetic, predisposition. I am not the way I am because of disposing genetics: I am this way because even though this morning I woke up for a quarter of an hour at 2:45 AM, when my alarm rang at 3:30 AM, I got up, ran my 3 miles and worked out. I remain uninjured not because my bones and cartilage are somehow more resilient. I remain healthy because I back off when my body tells me to. And I always come back.<br />
<br />
In running shoes, under the barbell, in the books, what most determines outcome is strength of will.....and patience. Dave Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224701787067213344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9142686981177472831.post-89535563928858342272018-05-08T05:55:00.000-04:002018-05-08T05:56:27.909-04:00149.4: 2 Miles - Not SelfThe moon was just under half full at run start time. This week, I continue to lift while I experiment with 2 mile weekday runs. I think if my heels hold up on 3 consecutive outings of 2 miles, I'll be pretty much on a solid path to recovery.<br />
<br />
Beyond 2 miles and I will have to drop my 6 day lifting. I'll do this regret. The regimen has enabled me to raise my working weights on just about all my movements. I will drop to lifting 3 days per week.<br />
<br />
Running calls. When I lift, I strongly feel the element of self in my mind. Lifting is about self and power and domination of mind over iron, mind over body, mind over mind. Running is about not-self. I lose myself in the phases of the moon, in the procession of the stars and seasons, in the cycles of life and death that I inevitably witness when spending many hours as close to nature as possible. The goal of running is to pass quickly and silently across the landscape, first observing it, then becoming part of it. Gradually the wind no longer buffets me, it passes though me. My goal in running is to no longer be there.Dave Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224701787067213344noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9142686981177472831.post-48466164362070148532018-05-07T05:36:00.000-04:002018-05-07T05:39:39.809-04:00149.2 Totally Own the MovementThe first two of five sets of slow pull ups to the sound of Van Halen's Eruption followed by Ain't Talking 'Bout Love at 4:30 AM is a great way to wake the body up. To better feel the movement in all my pulling muscles, I do it slowly, under full control, and holding for a full "one one-thousand" rep count at the top, under full contraction. I have adopted this approach in all movements where it's applicable. Full control and full contraction at maximum flexion truly imprints the movement into muscle memory. This allows me to feel my muscles flush with blood as my body fuels the effort. It seems as if I can feel every muscle, small and large, every tendon, and every ligament strain with the effort, then gasp for more air and energy in the rest period between sets.<br />
<br />
This early in the morning, my mind rebels against the effort the really big compound movements in my routine: the pull up and the deadlift. I tell myself that these slow movements train me to totally own the movement, totally dominate it. Slow movement builds an intimate familiarity with the effort. But in this familiarity, I realize that I am wrong. These movements are about training the mind: by testing control, ownership, and domination of the weight, I train my mind to will this action into being. In the end, it is about owning the mind.<br />
<br />
When you own your mind, you own the movement. The great Schwarzenegger, "where the mind goes, the body follows". This is true in academia, in all realms of effort.<br />
<br />
It's Monday, just under 25 weeks to the MCM. Good morning.Dave Vhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00224701787067213344noreply@blogger.com0