Not all Pain is Significant

Reflections on discomfort

Reflecting

Not all pain is significant.

- Scott Jurek

If you don’t have any discomfort in your life, how do you know when you feel good?

- Lazarus Lake

Suffer quietly and don't bleed on the rug.

- Col. Donald Shultis

I rotate these three in my mind when my body is giving out.  I listened to Jurek’s terrific North during a rucking marathon and found it quite inspiring.  I can only wonder at what he could achieve if he ate a steak once in a while.  Lazarus Lake is a fixture of the ultra community; I recommend The Barkley Marathons: The Race That Eats Its Young for an intro to him.  It enticed me to run several backyard ultras.  Finally, Donald Shultis was my grandfather.  It is a bit of a family motto.  The derivation preceded me but the version I was told was that my grandmother had a little dog that she loved and loved her but she (the dog) wasn’t nice to others and one day in the living room bit my uncle’s foot without any provocation.  He screamed and may have been about to turn on the dog when my grandfather (probably reading a Louis L’Amour cowboy novel in his chair) said the above quote, which stuck.  So now whenever anyone is being dramatic and self-pitying, we get that advice; of course it is so irritating that it discourages complaining and drama.        

Training

God left one commandment out of the Bible. Perhaps the Almighty delivered this commandment to Moses but Moses forgot to bring it down from the mountain. That commandment is Number Eleven: Be strong.

- David Ben-Gurion

Great trail run at sunrise then this morning’s partner workout of the day –

100 Cal Ski
...then...

• 50-40-30-20-10 Cals on the Row

• 20 Strict Pullups per round

Then some striking and grappling with my Muay Thai / BJJ coach.

Fueling

I’m back into meal prep.  Full disclosure – long-suffering wife made a pile of eggs, Canadian bacon, and coffee before sunrise this morning so should credit her with that.  But I made monster mash for lunch – today’s: Hawaiian venison, garlic, onion, and bacon.  It was perfect and a wonderful break from chicken. 

Measuring

My resting, fasted blood glucose is well under 100 mg/dL but that spikes briefly when I eat and when I exercise.  Protein heavy meals seem to spike less and eating slowly helps a bit too.  I was already doing almost everything possible to keep glucose low and steady, so I’m not sure how much my new continual glucose monitor will impact behavior, but it is reassuring to get this data.

Colon cancer is one of the most preventable diagnoses if caught early.  This is a great early warning system – cheap, easy, and not that gross.  The results were unambiguous (negative; yeah) which offers peace of mind; worth testing annually.   

Supplementing

The best and most surprising thing I’ve read this year on weight management is this white paper about a Moro blood orange extract called Morosil that led to a significant decrease in BMI, fat mass, visceral fat, abdominal fat, and waist and hip circumference after six months.  It was a well-designed study with statistically significant results.  Given how benign it appears to be, I’m going to try it for the next six months at the dose in this study.  Little downside; results TBD. 

Planning

Other than previously mentioned runs, I have this on the calendar:

Parting

A parting thought – absolutely none of this is authoritative; it is merely where I am on a journey.  My struggles might save you some time with yours.  You can learn from some of my mistakes along the way instead of having to learn from your own.  Some things probably apply to almost everyone – train more intensely, eat more protein, drink more water, then get more sleep.  Other ideas are ones that I’ll pick up for a while then discard; when I do, I’ll report back, hopefully saving you some time and expense.  I’m generally not a fan of hard and fast rules (except for those from Maj. Robert Rogers “Don't never take a chance you don't have to” and Drill Sgt Joe Frick “Anything worth shooting is worth shooting twice”).  I can offer at most, some rules of thumb – if not rules to live by, at least some to try out.