What I'm Learning Now

Delay Gratification

I've noticed that I have a tendency to go to extremes.  When I find a good book, I fill my days with reading it.  Unfortunately, this leads to a lot of angst trying to find the necessary free time. After a while I reach a point of saturation and become bored. I've seen the same thing happen with surfing ESPN.com, listening to podcasts, exploring recipes, and searching for new training techniques. With ESPN, I've purposely set boundaries to only visit the website during my third meal of the day.  As a result, I have something to look forward to and it maintains it's pleasure. I'm starting to do the same with my Podcasts and books.

Set Boundaries on Email and Social Media

I recently read a blog by Eric Baker on the daily activities of highly successful people. His number one tip is to stop checking email in the morning. He says checking email sets you up to react and gives your best hours to someone else’s goals. Your objectives become hijacked by others. Mr Baker referenced research that email: stresses you out, can turn you into a jerk, is more addictive than alcohol and tobacco, and checking email frequently may drop your IQ by 10 points. His suggestion is to wait one or two hours before viewing your email. For the past week, I've been delaying email until 4-7 pm and it's worked. I'm more focused on my priorities and not get distracted by others.

Recharge In The Evening Without TV or Internet

According to the American Psychological Association, the most effective stress-relief strategies are exercising or playing sports, praying or attending a religious service, reading, listening to music, spending time with friends or family, getting a massage, going outside for a walk, meditating or doing yoga, and spending time with a creative hobby. The least effective strategies are gambling, shopping, smoking, drinking, eating, playing video games, surfing the Internet, and watching TV or movies for more than two hours. Recently, I've stopped watching TV in the evening, which has opened up more time to read. No more flipping through channels trying to find something that is halfway decent to watch. Now I have more time for things that I want to do and are guaranteed to be rewarding.

Believe

All accomplishments start with a belief. A thought that it would be really cool to _____.  From there it's just a matter of trusting yourself and taking a step forward.

I recently decided to do the 100 mile Hallucination run in 2016. Over the years, I have dreamed about participating in Badwater or the Hawaii Ultraman to test my limits. However, they never seemed realistic because they required multiple prerequisites to even enter their lottery systems. Fortunately, I had the pleasure of speaking to a few athletes that have finished a local 100 mile race. It rekindled my passion for the challenge and helped me to see it as a real possibility.

In 2006, I finished my first IM and was overcome with a profound sense of accomplishment.  Life became easier. Achieving that goal shifted my overall mentality from one of hope to anticipated success. Challenges once deemed impossible now seem doable and within reach.

The same phenomena occurred after Roger Bannister became the first person to run the mile in under four minutes. Soon after, several other top runners were also breaking the four-minute mark. Prior to Bannister's achievement, the four-minute barrier was unthinkable. When one believes, possibilities morph into inevitabilities.

No one will ever accomplish everything they set out to do. Which is actually a good thing because it teaches us to be gracious in defeat, resilient, and an example for others. When we witnessing others bounce back from defeat, it helps us realize that not achieving a goal is something everyone can confront and overcome. Michael Phelps failed to win 8 gold medals in 2004. He bounced back and accomplished the goal in 2008. I wonder how many people saw his accomplishment and found the necessary encouragement to initiate actions towards their own dreams. I know I did.

Can You Be Successful?
Yes. Some of us may have never learned or may have simply forgotten the process. Others may have lost their confidence to succeed. Fortunately, it is an easy skill that anyone can learn to master. It's simply a mater of patience and moving one foot forward. It is the completion of specific tasks within an overall plan. If you want to run a 5k or marathon, don't focus on the future race. Divert your attention to the present moment.  Focus on your 3 mile run today or if that's too overwhelming, focus on tying your shoes. When fear or doubt present themselves, make the steps smaller.  Focus on pulling the sheets back, focus on dressing, or focus on opening the front door. Success is a skill that, when practiced diligently, becomes second nature. It will consistently produce outcomes, creating a productive, vital, and passionate life. It all starts and grows with smalls step.

Success Is Possible
Can you imagine someone saying to his wife 'Hey, honey, I'm going to go to bed early tonight so I'll have plenty of energy to go out and fail tomorrow.' Countless people reenact this 'failure mentality' day after day in their lives. Many people, if not most, have more confidence in their capacity to fail than to succeed. Accept this moment and take a small step.  Don't expect to be a great artist if you haven't practiced.  Don't expect to be a fast runner if you haven't trained. Don't expect to be fluent in Spanish if you're not repeatedly using Duolingo.

Recognize that you are already a success and are doing the best you can at any given moment.  This is the most vital resource available. It will break the hidden chains of shame and help us become the best we can be. Believing in ourselves enables us to build and capitalize on our current skills. Do you believe?

Thoughts on Sodium and Fluids

Recently, there has been a lot of discussions challenging the traditional advice on fluid and electrolyte consumption. Tim Noakes, Paul Laursen #1 #2, Loren Cordain, and Inside Triathlon say, "Drink to thirst and do not worry about replacing electrolytes."

They say that fluid, electrolytes, cramps, and dehydration are not well understood and no one knows exactly what causes muscles to cramp. Furthermore, controlled research studies have not found any significant differences in fluid or electrolyte profiles between athletes that cramp and those that do not. Researchers point out that the only muscles that cramp are the ones that are being exercised. If it was just a matter of dehydration or electrolyte imbalance, the entire body would cramp.

Lorain Cordain says that normal body sodium levels are 140 mmol/L. During exercise, if 1 liter of fluid and 60 mmol of sodium is excreted (typical amounts for "salty" sweaters) then the new sodium concentration is 142 mmol/L. Which is actually a rise in sodium concentration. He goes on to say that the best way to fix a cramp is to stretch it, not consume a sports drink. Therefore he reasons that dehydration and electrolytes are not the real cause of cramps. When examining actual race results, the American College of Sports Medicine may suggest limiting body weight loses to 2%, but many athletes continue to perform at very high levels with body-weight losses of 3% or even greater. In fact, it is often the most dehydrated athletes in a race that typically finish first.

Haile Gebrselassie and Alberto Salazar are two perfect examples of athletes who have high sweat rates yet performed extremely well. Some argue that having a high sweat rate is actually a benefit. During races, "heavy sweaters" are better able to cool their body. There is also the issue of the source of fluid losses. Some of the losses occur as a result of water being released during the utilization of glycogen while the rest of the losses come from extracellular fluid. Intracellular fluid, however remains the same.

So What Causes Cramps

• Poor posture or inefficient biomechanics affects the "strain gauges" in muscles. 
• Cramps result from the breakdown of protein for fuel when carbohydrates are not readily available. 
• Engaging in an activity or with an intensity or duration that one is not prepared for.

What To Do

• Cordain suggests to reduce your intensity, stretch, and consume some carbohydrates. 
• Dr Noakes suggests placing salt on the tongue to reduce cramps. It tricks the brain and the cramps go away. The same phenomena has been shown with placing carbohydrates in the mouth and receiving a short term boost of energy. It's not so much the physiological benefits of these substances, but how much the brain dictates performance. 
• See your high sweat/salt rate as a positive. Tell yourself you're better equipped at cooling your body. 
• Don't rely on the thirst mechanism, consume 20-40 oz per hr. I believe we're too distracted and ignore signs of thirst during a race. We do need fluid to digest the calories we consume. Also, if you find yourself belching, drink water to help with digestion.
• Consume 400-800 mg sodium per hour when racing over 4 hours. From what I have read and experienced, it will not harm performance and it may enhance nutrient absorption. I also believe that we need some sodium to balance out the large amount of fluid we consume during long races. For athletes, such as my wife, who drink a ton of water it may also help minimize the risk of hyponatremia.
• As always practice, to train your body as well as find out what works best for you.

Daily Sodium Intake

• If you are following a low carb high fat diet, you may need to increase your daily sodium intake to compensate for a reduction in blood pressure. 
• Research has revealed that increasing fruit and vegetable consumption can completely offset the negative effects of dietary sodium. The positive benefits seem to be from the high potassium levels in fruits and vegetables that leads to a better sodium/potassium ratio.