Ultra Records Smashed

New champs around the world

Reflecting

Congratulations to Phil Gore for running 425 miles in the Dead Cow Gully Backyard Ultra, securing the world record.  And congratulations to Courtney Dauwalter for shattering the Western States 100 record by over an hour.  I am in awe.  At the same time, these staggering feats leave me recommitting myself to a more hybrid form of training.  Running is great.  But… there are so many other things you can do with your body.  There is at least a little cult-like behavior whenever someone claims that you need to ignore everything else and focus on just one thing.  Runners can err in that direction.  We evolved to run but also to be strong.  I ran hard yesterday and felt great resting my legs and working on my bench press this morning.  More running isn’t always the answer. If I’ve tried to run away from a threat for 100 miles (let alone 425!) and they’re still chasing me, then I think I’ll just turn around and fight.    

Training

This morning’s white board –

6 Rounds:

• 1 Pause Back Squat + 3 Back Squats as heavy as possible

• 100ft Suitcase Carry

• 16 Deficit Sumo deadlifts with kettlebell

Then my next run:

Fueling

I’m living the bachelor life for a few weeks with my wife and kids not only out of the house but out of cell phone range (hiking and riding in rural Wyoming).  On my own for food prep, I’m mostly eating burgers from Fossil Farms.  They offer bison, camel, elk, kangaroo, venison, ostrich, wild boar, yak, and others.  All are great.  The leaner ones are worth combining with a bit of bacon. 

Sugar kills.  Sweet sugar substitutes might not be that much better for either weight loss or longevity.  I’m quite skeptical of both.  My favorite sugar substitute is to go in some other flavor direction than sweetness – from ajika to tajin.

Supplementing

Over 25% body fat?  Weight loss should be your #1 priority.  No luck at losing weight with behavior modification alone?  Then semaglutide injections might help.  But a lot of people with under 25% body fat are taking Wegovy and other semaglutides.  I’m concerned that appetite suppression makes it harder to get adequate protein and therefore harder to get adequate muscle growth.  Additionally, some significant amount of the reported weight loss is from lean muscle mass and even bone density.  Not great.  My favorite supplement for fat loss is Morosil; it will take longer than semaglutide but will shed weight in a healthier way.

Measuring

Do you know your systolic and diastolic blood pressure?  Hemoglobin?  The easiest way to track is to participate in American Red Cross blood drives every eight weeks and get your bloodwork data sent straight to your phone on their app.  This month, they’re giving a $10 e-gift card too.  I get $10, free blood work, dump blood, and help others.  Win/win/win/win.

Recovering

CrossFit metcon (metabolic conditioning) workouts are fun, competitive, and efficient.  If you have just one hour, then they’re great.  But they aren’t the best way to push through strength plateaus.  Rests are either non-existent or short.  For maximizing hypertrophy, you need to rest a minute or two between sets.  For maximizing strength development, you need to rest three or four minutes, which feels like an unnaturally long time to rest.  But if you want to improve, you need to recovery and that means some of your best gains will come outside of CrossFit wods. 

Closing

Summer has been benign until this past weekend which was objectively humid and buggy.  But it was still worth getting out on the trails and getting into the gym.  The key is to be with people who never complain and to do stuff that is worth doing even when the weather is uncooperative. 

Retracting

Jamal’s lie?  That you can eat anything you want as long as you work out.  His two truths?  You get results when you put in the work and if you set goals at the beginning you are more likely to achieve them.