But we are like children, thinking our toys will make us happy and the whole world is our nursery. Something must drive us out of that nursery and into the lives of others, and that something is suffering.
- C. S. Lewis
Reflecting
I loved the gym and took rest hours instead of rest days. It was good to go there. But ultimately, a peg board is for becoming a stronger climber. The ski erg is for becoming a stronger snow skier. The rower is for becoming a stronger rower on the water. The assault bike is fine but sooner or later you must cycle somewhere or the whole thing is circular and pointless.
So where to? My sister and I loved competing in the Iceland Volcano Marathon; I’m eager to participate in their other eight races. I generally recoil from groupy tours, but I love Albatros Adventure Marathons. The group instantly clicks together out of suffering-formed camaraderie. They are all healthy, energetic, interesting people who are fun to travel with. Want to go further? UTMB! I 100% endorse Eiger but they have many other great races, too. Further? Racing the Planet offers week long adventure ultras around the world. Still… further? Want a hot, sandy, long, largely self-supported suckfest? Marathon Des Sables! Want it weird? Rat Race offers all kinds of mixed-media races with bikes / kayaks, etc. in addition to running (I’m one of their “test pilots” for testing out new routes and concepts).
Thinking of something higher? If you saw 14 Peaks, then you’ve heard of Elite Exped:
They will get you anywhere and (usually) back down.
Training
Depending upon how my recovery goes, I’ll be back in the mountains by next summer getting ready for Pico de Orizaba, Izztacihuatl & La Malinche. Looking for something colder? Hire ALE to show you Antarctica; you can start arctic training today with the Ski Last Degree fitness program. But wherever you go: go. My last month has been largely sedentary, alone, and indoors due to a health crisis. It was hell. Insane that anyone would choose to live even a day that way without being forced to by physical incapacity. Wherever you go, go with enough insurance to get you home without inordinate costs; the best travel insurance for adventurers (and everyone else) is from Global Rescue.
Train for fun. Train for performance. But also train for longevity. According to Dr. Howard Luks,
Compared to those in the top 5% of VO2 max, those in the lower 25% are 5 times more likely to die in 10 years.
And more lean muscle mass is correlated with less cancer and less all-cause mortality.
Fueling
One of the ways that the standard American diet has gone the most off course has been replacing animal fat with seed oils.
Seed oils are practically unavoidable in ultra processed foods:
The only way to keep them out of your diet is to eat unprocessed, whole foods.
Supplementing
As soon as I can get approval from my hematologist, my first post-injury supplement priority is to go back on 800 mgs/day of testosterone, which should help reconditioning. High testosterone is associated with less fat and more fitness.
Measuring
$1,375 raised by Vale Tudo readers for Watsi so far this Christmas season. Thanks to each of the 22 donors who gave here!
Recovering
Had a good meeting with my vascular surgeon. My latest sonogram is an improvement over the last one in terms of the scarring and inflammation in my veins. He is going to use the images of my veins for upcoming events with his peers. Today is follow up with my orthopedic surgeon. Couldn’t be more ravenous to get back into fitness. Lost ground and wasted time to make up.
Closing
Need a health/fitness Christmas present idea? Click on each of the headings above to see my favorite stuff in each category. This year, I’m getting people Tribewod hammers from 70 down to 15 lbs based on the recipients size. They have some other cool things. I like their dark elf dumbbells for shadowboxing and their keg for clean & pressing and tossing. Cool company for fitness toys; worth checking out.
Chris you may find the links below interesting. The studies suggest testosterone therapy is associated with potential increased risk for blood clotting. The nejm.org study is from the New England Journal of Medicine and is from trial study released this year.
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2754091
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10204507/
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2215025
It looks like a small risk but maybe worth taking into consideration if you have genetics that also make you more susceptible.
Take care,
SIncerely,
Ryan
Chris is 800mg/day a typo? From the little I know about TRT it sounds like a very high dose