Stronger than Yesterday

Weaker than tomorrow

Reflecting

What do you do in your free time?

The question implies I have unfree time.  I don’t.  I just choose how to split my priority between making money, lifting weights, running miles, and pursuing adventures.  Life is too short to cede any of its freedom.  All time is free time.

Travel forces prioritization.  You can’t take everything with you (and if you needed to, you might as well stay home).  The first priority is the destination.  For new destinations, a good group helps.  For adults, I like UTMB for ultras, Albatros for marathons, and both Tusker and Elite Expeditions for mountains.  For kids, I like Moondance and Overland. 

Don’t risk travel problems hurting your adventures.  Keep whatever you really need on you.  I wear my trail shoes on the plane and try to avoid ever checking bags.  The GR3 is the biggest pack you can carry on.  When you want a workout on the road, you can fill it with water bottles for a rucking workout of push-ups, squats, and (if you can find a bar) pull ups.  Packs are always better than suitcases for keeping your hands free to fuel and hydrate on the move.  For the same reason, I far prefer headlamps to flashlights; this is the best one.  The only things that require checking is a S&W500 for runs or hikes in polar or grizzly bear country and, strangely enough, my foldable poles.

As far as nutrition on the road, my CrossFit coach reminds me to not major in the minors.  I don’t weight my food or badger waiters.  Instead I stick to just the key points:

• Protein first

• Drink water

• Eat slowly

• Don’t snack

Some of these are easier on the road.  I can generally find a pile of eggs to start the day, I just keep asking for a water whenever offered a drink, have less time pressure so can avoid gulping down meals, and the days are too filled with activities to wander to a fridge out of boredom. Where are you traveling this summer?  Comment with any stories or plans!  Adventure awaits…

Training

I did a bunch of trail running/clearing this morning with my new Japanese saw; it is small enough to fit on my back running but able to cut through thick logs.  At just over one pound, it is ideal for trail clearing on long runs. 

This morning’s white board:

Partner workout of the day –

4 Rounds

• 200 meter farmer’s carry with 2x 70 lbs. kettlebells

• 50 calories on the bike

• 30 toes to bar

 *5 Synchro Goblet Squats each break (in FC)

Next 5 AM run:

Fueling

After some unavoidable compromises abroad, I’m trying to really dial it in at home starting with the bodybuilding staples of chicken and broccoli.  I just got a Ninja air fryer to crisp both (“fryer” isn’t really a fair description as I use just a tiny bit of olive oil to crisp the outsides).  It is quick, easy, and healthy.          

Supplementing

I’m beta testing a new formula for Maximus’ testosterone protocol.  The current one has been quite effective for me so eager to see what the tweaks do.   

Measuring

Just broke 37k followers for StW (work) and heading towards 1k for VT (play):

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Recovering

When dealing with time zone changes, try to round up your sleep.  I tend to go hard from 3:30 AM through mid-afternoon but have a bit of a lull after my mid-day caffeine cut off in early afternoon.  But on the day after travel, I slept a bit extra between the plane and my bed and felt energized from early morning until night.  Don’t spend $0.01 on any recovery gimmick until you’re first consistently getting eight hours and the same eight hours of sleep each night.  They’re free.  They’re better than anything else for preparing you for what comes next.

Closing

This morning’s trail run was a fun homecoming.  Since I was last home, my group of friends and family have been running or hiking in Canada, Scotland, Switzerland with me, France, Greece, Spain, Iceland, Italy, and Nepal.  So I’ve been trying to make sure that I remember to ask everyone else about their own adventures.  I’m always worried that I get too excited about mountains and bore my friends without asking enough about them. 

Shortly after becoming the first person to complete the seven summits, Dick Bass was flying across the country regaling the nice man seated next to him with story after story of McKinley and Everest.  As the plane touched down, Bass put out his hand and introduced himself, saying that after all this he hadn’t even mentioned his name.  They shook hands and the man finally got four words in,

Hi, I’m Neil Armstrong.