No One Cares; Work Harder

Where truly no one cares

Reflecting

I ran from our hotel on Lake Geneva to CrossFit without giving myself quite enough time.  The estimate I was given for the route seemed laughable even with 900’ of elevation gain until I started running and kept hitting stairs.

Arrived with a minute to spare for burpees and squat snatches.  The class was all in French.  There’s a great CrossFit motto “no one cares; work harder” and no one cares less than a French-speaking coach.  I could understand him just fine but my language skills were insufficient to the task of explanations / rationalizations / complaints.  I’m recovering from an ultra…  I just ran from the lake…  I have a few owies.  No one cares.  And as I threw myself into the workout of the day, I stopped caring about my problems too. 

Training

50 unbroken push-ups when I woke up.  Getting ready for a 28 mile / 4k’ of up and down bike ride later today.

Next run:

Fueling

I managed to drink zero alcohol abroad, which is a struggle when there’s free minibars and coupons for free drinks at various hotels.  Held the line.  I wasn’t fussy about all of the details but stuck with the important stuff: protein first and don’t drink calories.  It is hard to stay hydrated traveling, but I hit the water hard to and from Switzerland.  Arriving home to an empty fridge, my first shopping priorities for getting back to my regular nutrition routine are eggs and Greek yogurt.  I didn’t listen to too many podcasts this past week, but this conversation with Stan Efferding on nutrition had a lot of practical reminders.

Supplementing

I skipped virtually all supplements for the past week and felt no discernable difference.

Measuring

I feel really good running the first hilly 20-25 miles.  Looking for a next adventure in about that distance, maybe Cat’s Tail. 

Recovering

Swiss Air is very Swiss.  It is neutral in both meanings: inoffensive and beige.  Perfect for sleep to and from when the priority is recovery.  The food is fine, the service is good, but most importantly the beds are flat and wide enough that I can actually turn over without waking up (The Amateur Investor in background). 

Closing

Customs officer: “Were you traveling for pleasure?”

Me: “Pleasure and pain.”

Border guard: (Decided to not ask… just stared and stamped passport).