Train Hard. Fight Easy.

True for MMA and everything else.

What is difficult in training will become easy in a battle.

- Alexander Suvorov

Reflecting

This Suvorov quote has been widely simplified and adopted by many including my boxing coach as,

Train Hard.  Fight Easy.

Its relevance to fighting is obvious but the same idea applies to all fitness efforts.  I just signed up for a half marathon team with a bunch of friends, some of whom are running one for the first time.  We have just a month to get ready so it will be a bit of a rushed effort, but my focus will just be to get them time on their feet running as much as they’ll tolerate over the next few weeks.  I can’t make them do anything but the harder we push now, the more fun we’ll have on race day.  Running almost 5x that long the following weekend, so the same holds even more true for long runs. 

Training

Wild thunder and lightning shook my truck driving to the park at 4:30 this morning.  It was slow going because it was hard to tell how deep the flooding was in parts.  But by 5, the storm passed and skies started to brighten.  One more example of how it is rarely worth worrying about weather.  I ran for three hours, felt great, and by the time I was done the day was sunny and beautiful.  Feet soaked and legs muddy up to my knees but worth it.

Whiteboard:

EMOM 25

1. 20 Cal Row

2. 20 Sit-ups

3. 20 DB Snatch

4. 4 Turkish get-ups

5. (Not nearly enough ^&#%^@) Rest

If I ever find the CrossFit Norwalk’s suggestion box, I will have some words to say about 20 calories in a minute.  Fine for the first three rounds, but not a lot of time left to get to the next evolution in the fourth and fifth. 

Next run:

Also signed up for a 1/2 with friends next month.  Not too excited about the distance or being on roads, but it was the first time I heard any interest in CrossFit friends running, so decided to say “yes”.  Mixed feelings as I was otherwise going to climb and run at Mohonk Mountain House that weekend, but ya can’t do everything and I like just blindly accepting any and all running invites.  Want to run 13.1 miles with me in Greenwich on September 17^th?  Sign up here.  I’ll be tapering for UTMB’s Grindstone Trail Running Festival the following weekend, so will be taking it relatively easy.

Fueling

Cutting weight a bit, I’ve cut my eggs down from 6/day to 3/day and made up the volume with greens.  Eggs, Canadian bacon, sprouts, onion, Tajín, and sour cream:

My stomach and sleep have both improved on intermittent fasting.  I am keeping my meals in a six hour window from noon to six PM.  Before then I stick to mineral water and black coffee.  No snacks.  One or two big meals and a protein shake between midday and early evening is the easiest way for me to keep my overall macros inline and maintain a mild calorie deficit.  Once I get down to the weight and body fat I want, I’ll reverse course and start a mild calorie surplus.   

Supplementing

The jury is still out on a scientific validation of transdermal magnesium absorption, but it is almost certainly harmless and might work, so experimenting with this, this, and this.  We’ve leached magnesium from the earth with modern farming and almost everyone is deficient so I’m willing to test a few ways to get it back.

Measuring

Down to 11 lbs. or 6% body fat on 181 pounds of weight.  Feels about right; guessing I’ll bottom out around 175 or so.

Recovering

Scrapping the bottom of the barrel in recovery gimmicks, I’m trying acupuncture, reflexology, and cupping this week.  Highly skeptical.  But I’ve tried nearly everything else so want to check these off.  Will report back.  Expect to report back being slightly poorer and just as sore.

Closing

Last peek at these apex humans at the 2023 Games before everyone starts from scratch for next year: