howyouwork-blog

[howyouwork-blog]

What’s it Take: Ironman Santa Cruz 70.3

Prerace: Hard to beat the price of free

For better or worse, Santa Cruz is like a small piece of Americana that has been preserved since the 1980's. It can be a fun place to visit if you have a soft spot for an earlier era. This nostalgia factor also applies to the Santa Cruz parking meters. Be aware that if you are not staying in a beachfront hotel, then a giant roll of quarters is required for the majority of the parking in the area. On the positive side the boardwalk can be a great place for the family; the arcade is the perfect place for kids to spend the day when athletes are going through the check-in process.

Last year was the first time I had received a DNF in an Ironman 70.3 race. A race official pulled me out at T1 for a reason that I felt was illegitimate. After contacting the online Ironman support they agreed that the move to terminate my race was incorrect and gave me a free entry into the 2017 race. Thus, Ironman Santa Cruz 70.3 again was put on my race calendar.

There have been persistent heat waves along the entire west coast for the last few months. Temperatures on race day very agreeable, a low of 60 and a high of 77, but the prior heat played havoc with the swim conditions. An alert was sent out the day before the race stating that dangerously high levels of E. coli were measured in the waters at the swim location. The water was a preternaturally warm 68 degrees, well above the 56-60 degrees expected in the area. As such, race management reserved the right to heavily modify the swim if necessary for the safety and wellbeing of the athletes. Due to various circumstances we ended up with an "abbreviated swim" about half the anticipated 1.2 mile distance.

They always say you should never do anything new on race day. I opted to completely ignore this advice and rented a bike instead of dealing with the logistics and expense of flying with my own. Technically, race day was not the first time I had ever ridden a Trek Domane because I spent a good 15 minutes riding up and down the boardwalk to make adjustments to the seat.

The check-in process was as smooth and organized as you would expect from an Ironman event. There were no holdups, and I was able to drop off my bike without much hassle. Three bags were provided for racers, a bike transition bag, a run transition bag, and a morning clothes bag. The bike and run bags did not serve an explicit purpose since transition setup was done at your bike on race morning. The bags seemed to be only to keep you organized if you wanted. The "morning clothes" bag was any clothing that you wanted to keep with you, such as a jacket or sandals, until the moment you got in the starting corral. At that point, you could bag up your extra gear and drop it off at the starting line to pick up after the race. This can be extremely handy for any solo racers since the starting line was a non-trivial distance from the transition area, and the wait can be long and cold.

Hard to find parking around the race venue, bring lots of change for parking meters

Ironman reserved the right to heavily modify the swim, but were quite intent on getting athletes in the water

Renting a bike makes air travel much easier, but at the risk of riding a bike you are not familiar with

Race morning: Holy s*** Batman, it's foggy!

For the last few months I have been using exogenous ketone supplements in place of ordinary coffee. They are really effective for a quick mental boost when you need to concentrate on a task at hand but do not want the full effects of caffeine. As per usual, I spent several days before the race dialing back my caffeine intake to make sure I was extremely sensitized to it for race day. The specific brand I used was KetoOS orange crème flavored because the combination of ketones and MCTs is extremely potent. It helped get my mind in gear to get to the starting line without burning too much energy before the race even started.

My nutrition plan was to stick to my usual slow carb strategy for most of the race, then switch to energy gels for the latter portion of the run. My diet has not been on point for the last year which has certain affected my metabolic efficiency, but I still wanted to avoid fast sugars early on to spare glycogen until the run. My rental bike had room for two bottles so I used four sachets of Generation UCAN for an extra thick drink in one bottle to be the majority of my calories, and one sachet of Vega Sports Hydrator in the second bottle for hydration and electrolytes. The UCAN was raspberry flavored which has some added xanthan gum to increase its viscosity and improve mixability. However, making a super concentrated mix ended up being troublesome. I ended up having to water it down slightly to make it even drinkable. In retrospect I should have used unflavored UCAN Superstarch with some of my own added flavoring to it.

I also put two Generation UCAN snack bars and two Vivarin caffeine tablets in my bike bento, plus planned on carrying a high-caffeine Clif gel in my jersey pocket in case of bonk. For the run I loaded the pouch on my handheld water bottle with two Clif gels, two sachets of Vega, and one Vivarin to have plenty of options depending on how I felt at that point in the race.

Recalling the previous year I wanted to make use of swim booties for several reasons. Some notes from my 2016 race:

My age group was the last wave to start so I ended up pacing around barefoot on the beach and pier for over an hour before even starting; it was cold and there was lots of stuff the step on.

The water was cold. Really cold. The long wait on the cold dock and the cold water certainly contributed to my DNF last year.

The transition area was more than a quarter mile of seashell laden sand and rough pavement from where swimmers exit the water. Some foot protection would have been nice.

The transition area was open from 5:00am until 6:30am ahead of the 7:00am start time for age group athletes. At the starting line the race management announced that the water temperature was 68 degrees which was warm enough that swim booties were not allowed. They also announced that the swim entrance and exit would be moved about 100 yards to avoid the bacteria laden water near the pier the initial swim course was supposed to circumnavigate.

They also announced the starting time would be delayed by 15 minutes due to extremely thick fog. The start time was moved back twice more before it was announced that the swim would simply be moved to a very tight loop on one side of the pier so water personnel would have a smaller area to cover. I chatted with about a dozen people during the hour long wait and every single one of them agreed that it was a good idea to make the swim as short as necessary for safety. For reference, one individual heard I had done the swim in 2016 and asked how swimmers navigated under the waters underneath "the bridge"; the pier was obscured to the point where it was impossible to see more than a small portion of it from shore so it appear to simply disappear into the horizon like a bridge

The slow carb approach to fueling made the delays much easier to manage. If I had taken the advice of every manufacturer of energy gels and swallowed one 15 minutes before the anticipated start time the sugar rush would have subsided and been replaced by a sugar crash long before we even entered the water. Even if you don't subscribe to the metabolic efficiency mode of training it is a good idea to keep this in mind if there is any possibility of a delay before a race.

Swim booties, good for cold water and good for protecting your feet getting into and out of the water

Sometimes s*** happens, figuratively or literally, and stressing too much about what you cannot control will not help anyone

Do not preemptively take prerace nutrition; sugar + standing around leads to a sugar crash

Exogenous ketones are expensive, but a useful and effective tool to have

Swim: An abbreviated experience

Unlike any triathlon I have participated in before the swim start was a self-seeded rolling start. Swimmers were to line up with other swimmers of like ability based on anticipated swim times. The fastest swimmers jumped in first and the slower swimmers started later. Since age group awards and championship spots are allocated based on chip time, instead of gun time, the usual process of grouping by age has never made sense to me. It always resulted in needing to swim around slower athletes in front of me and getting run over by speedier, more aggressive swimmers from behind. It would be great to see more triathlons adopt this method of self-seeded starts.

The "rolling start" simply meant that athletes would be allowed to enter the water one at a time at approximately 1-second intervals instead of in larger groups. Again, this makes a lot of sense to avoid the crowding and pummeling that you usually get with wave starts. The self-seeding and rolling start also meant that you would be in the water at more or less the same time as a handful of other swimmers moving at about the same speed which is great for drafting. This is all to say I want more of this and less of the somewhat arbitrary grouping by age and gender.

Since the announcement about the water temperature was not made until we were all one the beach already I had my booties on and transition had closed before finding that we would not be allowed to use them. A lot of people stashed a pair of sandals or shoes near the swim exit to protect their feet for the jog up to T1 so I simply tossed my booties right before the getting into the water.

The pro men's race started ten minutes before the age groupers, and they were out of the water before our starting gun even went off. Without a proper warm-up the 68 degree water was somewhat chilly at first, but it was no problem even for someone as sensitive to the cold as I am.

The combination of the rolling start, the warm water, and the self-seeding process made the swim very easy. The thick fog severely limited visibility so it was good to have the buoys in such close proximity to each other. It seemed like the water was packed with race personnel keeping an eye on swimmers. Sighting would have been impossible with the full 1.2 mile distance due to the fog; once in the water it was clear (no pun intended) that the race officials made the right choice in shortening the swim. Aside from the limited visibility, a full 1.2 miles it would have been very easy with the warm water and organized start. With the abbreviated swim the distance ended up being roughly 1,000 yards.

Swim time: 14 minutes

Self-seeding by swim speed makes for a safer and more enjoyable start to a race

Rolling starts are also great if you don't like cramped swimming spaces

Sometimes s*** happens, sometimes fog happens, and sometimes you just have to make the best of a bad situation

T1 and Bike: Never try anything new on race day, except when you want to

Once out of the water I was able to scavenge my swim booties. The ground was rough enough that I was certain taking the time to put them on allowed me to save time by running more quickly to the transition area which was over a quarter mile from where we exited the water. T1 is always a reminder for me that I do not take, and never have taken, triathlon too seriously. With only a few exceptions, it has been a test of my own fitness instead of attempting to beat the competition so I always take my time in transition to make sure I have the best bike and run possible.

This is all to say I took the time to dry off; put on a jersey, socks, and gloves; apply sunscreen; the whole nine yards. One deviation I made from my usual routine was to forego taking in any nutrition in T1. The swim was short enough that I could still feel my prerace nutrition settling in my stomach. Plans are great, but they should only be followed until they no longer make sense. One mistake I made was to put my jersey on before applying sunscreen. That should have been done while I was wearing as little clothing as possible, after removing my wetsuit and drying off while in just my jammers. Instead, I ended up with some odd sunburn patterns around the edges of my jersey where the sunscreen did not cover as well.

Since I was anticipating colder temperatures I included some arm warmers in my transition gear and planned to use full fingered cycling gloves. The arm sleeves were clearly unnecessary so they got left behind. Sticking with the theme of trying new things it was the first time I had ever ridden with full fingered gloves. This seemed like a benign departure from using my usual fingerless gloves. The first time I went for a drink I found my grip was severely compromised and nearly dropped my water bottle. It was more of a surprise than a hazard, but a good reason to remember to test all of your gear before race day.

On the bike course my nutrition plan was to periodically drink a mouthful from my UCAN bottle and periodically take a drink from my Vega bottle. There were only three aid stations on the bike course so there would not be many chances to get on-course nutrition or water. If my energy started to wane, then I would increase the Superstarch I was drinking. If I started to lose focus or get moody, then I would take half a Vivarin (roughly one or two cups of coffee worth of caffeine). If I started to get hungry, then I would open a UCAN snack bar. Responding to how I feel has always worked in the past so I wanted to keep it simple.

At first I was continuously passing riders while being passed at a somewhat lower rate. After an hour that trend started to reverse. I realized I was having trouble focusing on maintaining good form so I swallowed half a Vivarin. The boost from the caffeine helped me focus and I started passing people again. I started getting the same feeling again around the 45-mile mark and alleviated it with the other half of that Vivarin.

By the end of the ride I had used a single Vivarin, drained most of my UCAN Superstarch, only eaten half of a UCAN snack bar, and drank about 60 ounces of non-calorie drinks from Vega and water from the aid stations.

The bike course goes along Highway 1 north of Santa Cruz and mainly hugs the coast. There is virtually no flat road on the course; it was perpetual rolling hills. Without aero bars I spent a lot of time out of the saddle on climbs and slipped off the front of my saddle to sit low on the top tube on a few of the longer descents (do an image search of Peter Sagan or Chris Froome descending to see what I mean). The roads were slightly rough getting out of town, and quite choppy near the 28-mile turnaround point. However, the majority of the roads were smooth and easy to ride. Despite being next to the sea, I did not notice any crosswinds at all.

The drawbacks of riding an unfamiliar rented bike caught up to me by the end of the ride. At first, the differences in the fit were completely unnoticeable. By the halfway mark it was clear the seat was slightly too low and the handlebars were rotated slightly higher than what I am used to. This would not have been a problem on a 25 mile ride, but after two hours it was impossible to keep up the effort without severely compromising my run. I had to back off the effort for the last 15 or 20 miles, and still ended up with a non-trivial pain in my lower back and right knee.

 Time on the bike: 2:56

If I practiced my transitions I could probably shave 5+ minutes off my overall race time

Maximize the efficacy of sunscreen (if you use it) by applying it when the maximum amount of skin is exposed before putting on any of you bike gear

Minimalism: Every piece of gear and nutrition should have a purpose, otherwise, leave it behind

The whole course was rolling hills, mostly smooth roads with a few patches of rough

Aid stations are sparse so this was almost like a self-supported ride

Rentals bikes make life before the race easier, but make sure you have a good fit before race day

T2 and Run: I am not as fit as I used to be

Change of shoes, race belt on, grab the handheld water bottle, and get running. It is also a good idea to make sure your bike helmet is off before leaving transition. The handheld bottle was empty so it could be filled with cold-ish water from the first aid station along with a sachet of Vega instead of letting its contents bake in the sun while I'm on the bike. The run is the time to empty the tank instead of worrying about metering your glycogen for later so I switched from the UCAN Superstarch to Clif gels.

On the way out of transition I decided to sacrifice time for the sake of keeping my shorts clean and stopped at a port-o-potty. It was my first pit stop since 90 minutes before the swim (remember, we were shuffling around on the beach while the race was busy being delayed) and I had been drinking plenty of liquids on the bike. I spent (some might say "wasted") three entire minutes emptying my bladder. That might be a new record for me. It felt great. I have no regrets for deciding to make that stop.

My energy levels felt good and, aside from my knee, my legs didn't feel too torn up from the bike ride. My previous Ironman 70.3 (Lake Stevens 2014 [wow, it has been a while]) included a run split of 1:29 so I optimistically thought a 7:00/mile pace might be doable. I passed the 4-mile marker a few seconds after 28 minutes, but the thrashing my right knee and fatigue in my low back from the bike started to take a toll. Any time I noticed my run form start to deteriorate or my pace begin to slow I simply tried to concentrate on running smoothly and minimizing my vertical bounce. It seemed to help keep a brisk pace. A caffeinated gel at the 30-minute mark hit my stomach like a boulder; it took several minutes and a few gulps of water before it settled, but ended up causing no more trouble.

Around that time I passed another participant, a larger man who was clearly struggling to walk up one of the few hills on the course. I do my best to maintain an even effort instead of an even pace so my speed had dropped quite a bit and I slowly ambled around him. He glanced sheepishly in my direction and apologized. As in saying the words, "I'm sorry".

Perhaps it is a pet peeve of mine, but hearing someone reactively apologize without cause tends to irritate me. It was a wide path and he was not in anyone's way. It was simply a knee-jerk reaction, as though he was sorry for simply existing. I almost wanted to smack some sense into him and remind him that he should be proud to have already made it 60+ miles into a major athletic event and that he should have confidence to be able to get to the finish line with plenty of time to spare.

I will absolutely never accept apologies in these circumstances because they are completely unwarranted. Instead of hitting him with this rant I just gave him a toothy grin and let him know there was no reason to be sorry. I was glad to see he had enough energy to return his own punch-drunk smile and a wave. It would be great if people saved apologies for things like accidentally jostling others while passing, and people can expect I will save my own for those kinds of situations.

Back to the race, the first five miles of the lollipop route was on paved roads and an urban running trail. The trail was very narrow and had two way traffic so dodging around people was hazardous. The next three miles were on a hard packed dirt trail that overlooked some sea cliffs. The cool sea breeze was refreshing, but the terrain was slightly more difficult to manage. The last five miles followed the first five miles in the opposite direction.

Around mile six there was a very noticeable drop in my energy levels. The data from my GPS indicates my miles splits had dropped from low 7's to high 7's and low 8's. I sucked down half a gel and decided to start picking up Gatorade at aid stations since my stomach was clearly done with anything but liquids.

The second half of the run was a complete grind. Maintaining a decent pace was becoming increasingly difficult and the rate at which I was passing others decreased. Around mile 9 simply breathing became difficult. It was clear my body was shutting down and wanted to quit moving.

The final quarter mile of the run course was net downhill so my pace naturally increased to something around 6:00/mile. I was surprised to pass a few runners who decided to put on the brakes instead of letting gravity help them to the finish line. It usually is not my style to snipe people in the finishing chute, but it would have taken more effort to slow down than simply let me legs spastically flail while run-falling down to the finish line.

Run time: 1:40 (1:37 moving time plus a 3-minute pit stop I learned was on the run course instead of in the transition area)

Mostly flat course, ~10 miles of pavement with ~3 miles of non-technical dirt trail

Eating on the run is more difficult than eating on the bike

Do not apologize if there is nothing to apologize about. You are an Ironman! Have confidence in yourself!

Post-race

Despite passing plenty of runners, perhaps on the order of 100, and being passed by none my experience on the run was a reality check that my triathlon fitness is not what it used to be. My overall finish time was quite unspectacular, but it was gratifying to come back and cross the finish line in Santa Cruz. I couldn't say whether it was a lack of run fitness, riding a less-than-ideal bike, poor dietary habits in the last few months, or some combination of everything that can be blamed for a degradation of my fitness.

Immediately after the race I gathered my gear and headed out to avoid heavy traffic and get my rental bike back to the bike shop before it closed. In the following days I found that my joints and muscles did not have the usual stiffness or wear and tear that I have come to expect from triathlon. This is likely due to an increase in resistance training and power lifting instead of simple cardio exercise. Aside from my back and knee my body seems to have held up very well. My throat and lungs hurt more from than my legs from trying to breath so hard for so long. The limiting factor for me was energy output. I would not say that I bonked or hit the wall; my "zone 2" pace simply wasn't fast enough to finish with a better time.

You can't expect to excel at triathlon after taking a lot of time off, even with other training

Road bikes will hurt your run performance

Race day nutrition is important, but so is your diet in everyday life

Can I say that this race was my Ironman 69.6 PR?

[howyouwork-blog]

What Does it Take: Seattle Hurricane Heat 24 Hour 2017

My back aches. My knees and hips are stiff. My quads are sore. My throat is sore. It must have been a Hurricane Heat. In this case, the one and only 24 hour edition. AKA Hurricane Heat 24 Hour. AKA HH24HR. What happened? Here's the quick timeline of events:

Saturday 4:00pm - Arrive at race venue with 2.5 gallon jug of water and rucksack with ~45lb of gear

Saturday 4:30pm - Disembark to begin our 24 hour journey

Saturday 5:00pm - "Warmup" with SISU 1,000 inspired workout

Saturday 7:00pm - Hauling bleachers

Saturday 9:00pm - Sandbags with gear mandatory

Saturday 11:00pm - Water collection

Sunday 1:00am - Sandbag redux with gear optional

Sunday 3:00am - Campfire!

Sunday 4:00am - Synchronized burpees

Sunday 6:00am - Stretchers full of sandbags

Sunday 9:00am - Learn to walk, use a compass, and grid with Coach Kyoul

Sunday 10:00am - Application of compass, walking, and gridding skills

Sunday 12:00pm - Building a house (out of sandbags, of course)

Sunday 2:30pm - Synchronized burpees, piecemeal

Sunday 3:00pm - Making a bridge and water burpees

Sunday 4:30pm - Get rolling, literally

Sunday 5:00pm - Quitting time

The following is purely my recollection after the event had completed. Although I was wearing a timepiece throughout the event I did not make any efforts to record it along the way so there is a good chance I missed something or mixed up the order of events or gotten some timing incorrect.

What can I say? Spending 24+ hours awake performing physically demanding tasks in adverse conditions can have a negative effect on memory retention.

You may be wondering what a Hurricane Heat actually is. If this accurately describes you, then understand that you are in exactly the same position I was in before this event. Even afterward, I am not sure I could concisely and accurately describe what a Hurricane Heat is. Seeing a group of people completing various tasks only reveals a small portion of the story. Everyone approaches these events with different motivations, and everyone will leave with a different story to tell. My expectations were as follows:

1.

In other words, I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

Preparations

This story begins a little before April 22nd, 2017. I was going into this event completely humble and naïve. In contrast to a competitive Spartan Race during which you have a pretty good idea of what obstacles you will face and how to train to overcome them the nature of a Hurricane Heat is such that you never know what it will entail until you arrive. I did not even have the luxury of previous Hurricane Heat experience.

How does someone train for jumping into the unknown? That is a good question. I made some assumptions about the type of physical fitness that would be needed. Instead of focusing on specific skills I made the decision early on not to overthink it and just work on overall fitness and stamina. There were only a few specific areas of strength work that I thought would be useful. Here are a few staples of my training in the months leading up to the event:

Aerobic cardio and lots of it, mainly running. One thing I was sure of was that this would not be a sprint. I wanted to get used to being on the move for extended periods of time and get used to continuing moving while fatigued. Luckily, long sessions in the pool, on the bike, and running are my bread and butter so I stuck with them.

Staying on my feet. Even when I wasn't running, I wanted to get used to being on my feet for extended periods of time. My work generally keeps me seated in front of a desk, but I piled up books under my PC monitor and keyboard to turn it into a standing workstation. Wearing a low profile weight vest under my shirt while at work helped get used to being bearing a load while on my feet.

Work the hands. Whether it is carrying a heavy load or hanging off of monkey bars, it would be hard to imagine any Spartan event that did not test grip strength in some way. One to two times a week my workouts revolved around dead hangs with weight belts and simply holding the heaviest weights I could manage to test my grip. Improving grip strength was also the primary reason I have never used hand wraps when deadlifting.

Overall strength. Deadlifts, squats, and other large compound movements became staples as well. I occasionally worked isolated muscles, but focused most on those larger compound movements that build overall strength and proprioception.

Core strength. Are there any downsides to having a strong core? Leg lifts help in getting over those cargo nets, planks build that stability to maintain your form on your 100th burpee, and back extensions put the ease in lifting from the knees. Core work is like broccoli; it is not the most fun exercise, but we can all use a little more of it.

When it comes to Spartan events strength and fitness are necessary, but those alone are not sufficient to guarantee success. The fabled gear lists for Hurricane Heats usually contain some odd ball items that leave people wondering how they will be used. When the list was revealed for our event I was a little surprised at how mundane it was. It was, for the most part, a list of items you might carry while backpacking or camping. I won't go into all the details, but here are a few things I made sure to bring with me:

Food. My plan was to stick to slow burning carbohydrate and avoid anything too hard to digest. I packed several Generation UCAN snack bars and a few Larabars for the majority of my calories. I also packed a few energy gels as insurance in case I got desperate miles away from base camp.

Electrolytes. Sometimes it is a good idea to split calories, hydration, and electrolytes. For this event I packed several sachets of Generation UCAN electrolytes and Vega Sport Hydrator with the intention of simply opening and pouring them directly into my mouth instead of mixing them in water.

Supplements. One of my biggest concerns in this event was dealing with sleep deprivation. I stashed caffeine tablets in every conceivable place to make sure some was always at hand; two in each pocket of my ruck, two in my jacket pocket, two in my cargo pants.

I also packed a bottle of essential amino acid capsules in lieu of protein. Digesting protein is slow and energy intensive, and that is energy that can be better used lifting sandbags. The aminos stave off protein cravings and prevent too much muscle catabolism.

Light. Another essential for late night expeditions in rural areas. This was the only piece of gear from the gear list that I doubled up on by packing two headlamps and extra batteries.

Timepiece. I was going back and forth on whether to carry a watch. Some people will fixat on the time, others would utilize the information. The tipping point for me was having the ability to measure distances with a GPS watch and decided to wear my Garmin.

Gloves. An eternal debate in OCR is whether to go bare handed or protect them. I brought two pairs; a pair of Under Armour tacky gloves for general use and a pair of insulated running gloves because I am a sissy and hate cold hands. Whether or not you use gloves, bring them. They don't add much weight and they are better to have and not need than to need and not have.

Knee pads. No brainer. Just don't be a chucklehead like me and wear them for the first time the day of the event.

Mind your feet. A Hurricane Heat isn't a race so it simply doesn't make sense to bring light racing shoes. I wanted high ankle support, water proof, and ruggedness in my footwear. My choice was a pair of heavy Asolo hiking boots that had been treated for water proofing with thick wool socks. Protection and cushioning trumped speed and flexibility.

Physical training and the right gear are sufficient to get your through most races and events. A Hurricane Heat goes beyond the physical challenges you'd expect to encounter in just any obstacle course race (OCR). The longer an event is, the more it becomes a test of psychological toughness on top of the physical challenges. My final preparations were meant to put me in the right place mentally.

Be humble. It would be unlikely to be the most fit, prepared person there. It is likely that every person will be at the back of the pack. Knowing when to ask for help or extra direction is of primary importance for team events. I promised not to let my pride prevent me from speaking up when I felt overwhelmed.

Handling sleep deprivation. It bears repeating: One of my biggest concerns was dealing with a lack of sleep. There have been a few recent sleep studies that banking extra sleep in preparation for being awake for an extended period will blunt some of the negative cognitive effects of sleep deprivation.

Abstaining from caffeine a few days prior increases its effectiveness when it is needed most. Plus, skipping that afternoon pick-me-up helps make deposits in the sleep bank. Refer to the previous section for my attitude about caffeine; I was expecting to rely on it more than any other single piece of gear or nutrition.

Single minded. Some things need to get done regardless of how much the process sucks. High emotions can often hinder these efforts. I spent a few days prior putting myself into a mental place of conscientiously setting aside my emotions as much as possible, letting the analytical, mechanical part of my mind take over.

Acceptance. This was going to be a harrowing, difficult experience. Things don't always work out like you want them to. Giving 100% of yourself is all you can do, and sometimes that just is not enough. Walking away without my dog tag and T-shirt would not be a failure as much as it would be an opportunity to see just how far I could push myself.

(Spoiler alert: I'm wearing my finisher's T-shirt as I'm writing this)

Introducing the Team

The official start of the Hurricane Heat 24 Hour (HH24HR) event was 5:00pm April 22nd. It is my general modus operandi to show up an hour or two early for events, and I'm usually one of the first to arrive. For a change, most of the group was already present and ready to go at 4:00pm. To my surprise, I was greeted by my old team mate Special K. She seemed cordial, politely suggesting I get in line and try to relax. Along with K, our primary coach or instructor or overlord or whichever-title-they-prefer Cookie was also calmly assessing everyone.

For simplicity, I will refer to Cookie, BJ, Special K, and anyone else who was working the event as the "crew".

I'll admit to being extremely wary of them at this point. I had assumed they would be like drill sergeants relentlessly pushing us to go faster, push harder, and do better as soon as 5:00pm rolled around. Hopefully, K would have some pity on me since this would be my first foray into the world of Spartan Hurricane Heat.

When we disembarked it was the first chance to get to know how the team and Cookie would operate. Each individual was hauling a rucksack with 40 or 50 pounds of gear and a 2.5 gallon jug of water (20lb) past a vertical cargo net setup for the race happening that weekend. Instead of walking around, Cookie let the team know we would be going over the net along with all of our gear. He also mentioned there was a time limit, but left out exactly what the time limit was. Climbing with all that gear was simply impossible. It took a few minutes for the team to organize a few haul lines to get our water over the nets before each individual climbed over.

With everyone on the far side of the cargo net we all looked to Cookie for confirmation of what to do next. "Alright then," He said, "That was too slow. Back over. You have half the time." There was no anger, no disappointment or admonition. It was a simple statement of fact. Grass is green. Birds fly. And we would be going back over the net. Luckily, the group was prepared this time. We hauled the water back over, then stronger individuals assisted some of the slower climbers get over the top and back down.

"That was better." Thanks, Cookie.

It was a revealing process. Clearly, we would not have orders barked at us or belittled for failing, nor would we get a pat on the head for getting it right. Cookie went as far as insisting on being addressed by his nickname, Cookie, instead of "sir" or any other honorific to enforce the idea that he was not above the rest of us in any way. We were simply given a task, sometimes with a few specific guidelines, a time limit we would not know until it had run out, and we would have to figure out the rest ourselves. Luckily, everyone was motivated to accomplish our tasks. Once we had a good idea of a strategy everyone organically fell into line where they felt they would be most effective.

It was a relief to see that Cookie, Special K, and BJ, Cookie's other assistant, would not be abrasive. Presumably, the challenges ahead would be intrinsically challenging enough. They would be helping make the experience marginally less awful instead of making it as torturous as possible. All of this information about the crew and the participants to file away.

It Begins

With introductions behind us we set up base camp. Our camp was more or less a glorified pile of all our stuff in the corner of a field. After a quick inspection of our gear the group engaged in some "easy" exercise to warm up. This was a SISU 1000 inspired workout consisting of 1,000 body weight movements like air squats, pushups, and bicycle crunches. Once again, I took this opportunity to find out more about my team.

A volunteer was asked to step up and lead each exercise. Two individuals stood out as exceptional leaders; Rachel, a cheerleader with a powerful build and booming voice (she also had a fabulous sparkling bow in her hair and a fabulous bedazzled ruck); and Nick who clearly had a military background and became our de facto leader anytime someone needed to step up to demonstrate or lead a workout. The latter may not seem substantial, but anytime we engaged in simple exercises the entire team, all 33 of us, needed to execute every movement in perfect synchrony. This required someone who could easily demonstrate each movement, then perform every rep while belting out commands for everyone else to follow.

Imagine doing 20 air squats. Easy enough. Imagine doing them while yelling "Down..! Up..!" in perfect rhythm. Again, fairly simple for a fit individual. I was most impressed with Nick during one movement called "monkey f&%*ers" in which he was able to maintain a strong voice while his torso was completely collapsed. There is no way I would have been able to duplicate his effort with more than a whisper.

Side note: whenever I hear of a new exercise I usually stick it into an internet search engine to see what it looks like. I would strongly discourage doing this with "monkey f&%*ers". I can't guarantee it would even work with SafeSearch enabled. Suffice to say it is a bit like an air squat while you're doubled over.

Our "warmup" also gave a good idea of everyone's relative level of fitness. I was able to complete each movement with ease. This was true of only a handful of others. A majority of individuals were clearly under duress at some point. Short jogs between each movement reinforced this with a few people sweating and breathing hard.

I'm not saying this out of surprise or to disparage the ability of anyone else; seriously, you try doing fifty squats and fifty pushups, then see how easily you can cover 200 yards while wearing heavy boots. It isn't easy for anyone. It was simply more information about the group to bear in mind for helping others out during subsequent tasks.

Once everyone was warmed up (who calls 60 minutes of body weight exercises a warmup, you might ask? People who intend on moving continuously for 24 hours, of course) it was on to the bleachers and our first introduction to the fire road. The task was simple. The fire road was 1.7 miles of undulating muddy track barely wide enough for a vehicle to pass through. It was the kind of surface that guaranteed rolled ankles and thick mud that promised to swallow shoes if they weren't properly tied.

The task was simple. The bleachers were at the edge of the field near our base camp. Our task was to get them to carry them to the other end of the fire road. Then, we had to bring them back. All while carrying our bulging ruck sacks. This is a perfect example of how something can be simple, but still excruciatingly difficult. It was no small effort for eight people to heft a set of bleachers onto their shoulders and simply stand with straight backs. Getting eight people to walk in a synchronized fashion in a straight line under such duress seemed insurmountable.

Hauling those bleachers was the perfect way to combine strenuous work with the need for constant mental acuity and group coordination. One careless step could send someone sprawling in the mud and suddenly slam others with an overbearing weight. As a group we eventually found a rhythm with individuals jumping under the bleachers to take the place of those who were tiring. Despite the continuous rotation of bodies, the weight that was bearing down during the time I spent carrying left me with massive bruising and abrasions on both shoulders.

It would be impossible to accurately estimate how long we had been on the trail, but the sun was well below the horizon by the time we had returned to base camp. We were battered, physically and mentally tired, but triumphant. The group pulled together and succeeded as one in a way that would have been utterly impossible if a single individual had been any less than 100% determined to succeed.

Into the Darkness

We were given just enough time to set our rucks down before Cookie announced the next task: Fill two sandbags at a gravel quarry and return with them. Of course, the quarry was at the far end of the fire road 1.7 miles away. And, of course, we were required to bring our full rucks with us. This time there was no team aspect, no grouping or coordination required. Each person was free to pursue the goal at their own pass.

The group set off into the dark, an eerie parade of bouncing headlamps and glow sticks stretching into the inky night. Sightlessness was only the most obvious hurdle introduced by the setting sun. When surrounded by darkness our bodies interpret that as a signal that it is time to wind down and go to sleep. Body temperature drops, cortisol production slows, overall metabolism becomes sluggish. This results in the same tasks feeling more difficult, and can provoke dower moods and even mild depression. This would be a psychological feat just as much as it was a physical one.

As previously stated, it was already clear that I was one of the fittest individuals, if not the most fit individual, in our group. I also do a majority of my training before sunrise so dealing with the oppressing darkness was something I am familiar with and could manage. However, this task revealed my primary weakness which was, well, being kind of weak. I had cruised to the quarry with most everyone else and filled two sandbags up with 50 or 60 pounds of gravel (the ladies in the group were allowed to fill up bags with less weight because …. [indistinct mumbling]). Some people simply threw their bags onto their shoulders and trundled off. Others lashed sandbags to their rucks with duct tape before waddling away. No matter how I tried to situate those bags it was simply too much weight for me to bear. The ruck plus the two sandbags added up to roughly my entire body weight and I could only manage a few awkward steps at a time before collapsing in a miserable heap. I simply was not strong enough.

I watched the ghostly parade of lights filter away in front of me while trying to devise some method of moving all that mass. It was clearly impossible to carry everything with me. By the time I had decided it wasn't even worth trying there were only a handful of lights left behind me. Who was I kidding? I was too weak, unprepared, inexperienced to succeed at this. Clearly, the quickest way for me to get everything back to base camp on the far side of 1.7 miles of muddy road would be to make multiple trips. Making a time cutoff with two trips seemed impossible, but the only alternative was a single, infinitely slower trip a few steps at a time.

The decision had already been made. It was not about beating some arbitrary time or proving that I was better than anyone else. It was about doing the best I could. I had already decided that. The quickest way I would be able to accomplish this task was hauling bags one at a time. Twice the distance, half the burden. I dropped one of my sandbags on the side of the road. My headlamp happened to have blinky (a red light that blinks periodically meant to be highly visible to others as opposed to providing illumination for me to see) that could be detached. I left that on top of the sandbag I'd be leaving behind and tottered off with my ruck on my back and a sandbag hugged to my chest. It was a long, depressing walk back. The entire way I had come to a peace with the fact that I would miss the cutoff time. Clearly, it was impossible, but I would still do my best.

At some point Cookie must have asked others who had already completed their rounds to get back on the trail to assist others. About 100 yards from camp someone came out of the darkness and offered to carry my ruck and lone sandbag back to camp. It was a metaphorical and literal weight off my shoulders to receive help. After a quick thanks I turned and ran as fast as I could manage back to the quarry where my other sandbag still lay on the ground. It is hard to convey how great it felt to be free of the extra weight and move with relative agility and speed along the fire road. It didn't matter than I had already failed, I still wanted to get it done as fast as possible.

Without the ruck on my shoulders the second traverse with a lonely sandbag was much quicker. I was surprised to even pass a few people still on the trail. It looked like a few had fallen with twisted knees and ankles; they would be pulled from the event due to injury. "At least I'm not failing alone," I thought as I trotted into camp. As I dropped my sandbag in resignation I expected to hear how many minutes (hours?) had passed since the time cutoff. Instead, Cookie informed me that my mysterious helper was the fabulous cheerleader Rachel and suggested I thank her for making sure I got back on time.

Despite promising myself to put my emotions into a proverbial box for those 24 hours it was impossible not to feel incredible relief as I wrapped my arms around Rachel's neck mumbling incoherently about how she had clearly saved me. I was sure of my place as the fittest weak guy, or maybe the weakest fit guy, at the event. The incident also reinforced that no single individual could expect to last all 24 hours on their own grit and determination.

We had about 20 minutes to recuperate before embarking on our next task. I sat next to a campfire the crew had started and used a breathing technique to try to calm my nerves. Hauling a cumbersome set of bleachers and two excruciatingly heavy sandbags across that trail had filled my system with adrenalin and cortisol. In other words, it was extremely stressful. That might be good for a sprint, but not for the long haul. Taking in short breaths and exhaling very slowly (think of a meditating monk taking a deep breath and chanting "ohmm", except I forewent any mantra and stayed silent) a few times helps clear cortisol from the system abating stress. It was a technique I returned to any time I had a few minutes at base camp to grab a drink and something to eat.

I am convinced that our next objective was meant to be a reprieve more than anything else. Once again, we were tasked with traveling to the far end of the fire road. This time we were to fill cooking pots with water from a specific mud puddle and return with as much liquid as possible. It was a gift to learn we were allowed to leave our rucks at base camp. Continuing with the opaque limits, we had an unknown time limit to gather an unknown amount of water. I believe this task was meant to challenge us in a different way, but I found it a nice chance to relax and get to better know my teammates.

The reprieve was short lived. Shortly after my third trip to deposit water into the bucket Cookie announced we had succeeded in his low key manner I had grown to expect. Next up was another pair of sandbags from the quarry. Cookie announced the rucks could stay at base camp. And repeated that carrying rucks was optional. And reiterated that we were free to do whatever we wanted with our rucks. Just to make sure no one missed the hint he mentioned he was hinting at something.

A few people took off immediately with only their headlamps and cooking pots which they used to fill their sandbags. Given the difficult time I had previously with the sandbags I took a moment to strategize. Instead of trying to muscle my way through I emptied out the main compartment of my ruck, then took off at a run as fast as I felt I could comfortably maintain. Even though I had been one of the last to leave base camp I ended up being the second person to reach the quarry. Did I mention I was the fittest weak guy there? I wanted to make up time where I could since the trip back was sure to be much slower.

As mentioned, others employed their water-carrying pots to fill sandbags, but I found simply sweeping gravel in with my arms was fairly efficient. To each their own. After filling my sandbags I wrestled one into my ruck, firmly locked the other sandbag in a bear hug and began the long waddle back to camp. I was astounded to find that I was the third person to arrive with more than an hour to spare. That was even enough time to take a nap by the fire! Wow! It turned out having a little room to strategize could make a lot of difference.

So I snoozed. People started strolling in taking seats around the fire. It was really pleasant. What a change. It turns out that even Hurricane Heats aren't entirely punishment. One thing to remember is that every Hurricane Heat is a team event regardless of how individual the challenges are. As the time cut off approached Cookie and Special K asked everyone who was feeling up to it to head back out onto the trail to assist the stragglers. Of course. Why not? I was rested. I like helping people. A few of us jogged off into the darkness.

A few of us jogged down the fire road looking for the four people still struggling in the dark. The official cutoff time had already elapsed so we were simply trying to make sure everyone arrived safely back to camp. A few hundred yards down the road I turned a corner and spotted a bobbing headlamp headed my way. "Oy, this guy is not going to like the news I have," I thought as I approached. My jaw dropped when I saw who it was walking my way; it was one of the last people I expected to see still on the trail after the cutoff.

Since that walk back to camp is his story more than my own I won't go into too many details here. I offered to help carry some weight and mentioned the elapsed time, but it was clear that it was his weight to bear. He was getting himself and his weight back to camp under his own power. It was clear the only help I could truly give was to offer my ears to listen on the long, dark walk back to camp. This was a real lesson in differentiating between doing everything I could to help and providing the most effective help to those in need. Sometimes trying to do more only makes things worse. Of every task we undertook in those 24 hours simply walking, listening, and not insisting on doing any more was one of the most challenging parts of the day.

Back at camp we found that five individuals had missed the official cutoff, but would be allowed to continue if they wished to be unofficial finishers. They got the chance to experience all the burpees, all the sandbags, all the mud and cold, and they'd receive none of the finisher's medals or shirts. I could not say with confidence what I would have done in their shoes, but every one of them decided to stick it out to the end. Ever need a good example of showing real grit? Look no further than those guys.

Luckily, it was time to relax next to the fire. Our next task was to boil some water and eat dehydrated meals we had brought with us. Yet another example of comradery and kinship present in a Hurricane Heat. The dark mood immediately lightened as we did our best to arrange 28 pots of water on our campfire. It does not matter who you are, gathering around a warm campfire on a dark night simply makes you feel warm and cozy inside.

Before this event Cookie had mentioned we should think about what we might be doing with dehydrated meals and strategically choose what to bring. We would be eating them, of course, and we would be very active so it makes sense to get as many calories in as possible. Right? Right..? Since we also brought our own nutrition on the side I was not buying it. Instead, I opted to find a smaller, lighter meal that wouldn't sit too heavily in my stomach. When our next activity was announced I was very glad to have avoided anything too heavy or calorie dense.

What is the first thing you think of when you think of Spartan Race? What is the currency of Spartan Race? Burpees, of course! We had been at it for almost 12 hours and had yet to do a single burpee and that was about to change. The plan was to spend the next 75 minutes doing burpees in perfect synchronization. In a rare show of compassion Cookie had pity on us and awarded our alacrity with the previous challenges by reducing it to 30 minutes. I also suspect the coaches anticipated watching us wriggle and bounce around for over an hour would be horribly boring for them.

Nick stepped up to keep everyone synchronized while we all counted off our progress. Despite the relatively light meal I had at our campfire the bouncing up and down still caused me to belch up some of the contents of my stomach. Oddly, I was not feeling particularly fatigued or out of breath or under much physical duress. Feeling the contents of my stomach in the back of my throat was a complete surprise. Despite the minimalist nutrition plan I may have eaten too much immediately beforehand. I am glad to say I was able to keep everything in.

Dawn and a Change of Pace

After our burpees interlude Cookie threw yet another curve ball of a challenge. Our task was to break up into groups of four and find several suitable sticks of certain dimensions. The sun had fully risen and we could hear distant music booming from the race festival area as they were winding up for the elite race at 7:30am. It was around this time that it occurred to me that I would have already been done if I had signed up for the HH12HR, but we would continue gallivanting around this equestrian park for the entire duration of the Spartan Race that was just beginning. Once again, I simply put any emotions, positive or negative, into my proverbial lockbox for the time being.

Instead of worrying about the time of day we split up into teams of four to find adequate sticks. It was only after we had returned that we found we would be constructing makeshift stretchers. As expected, the purpose of the stretchers remained mysterious. Being kept in the dark about the future was a blessing and a curse; on one hand it could create a sense of anxiety like I had experienced in believing I had failed the first sandbag carrying event, but it also allowed us to give 100% of our focus on what we were doing at that very moment without giving any brain-time to what we would be tackling next.

My group was doing our best to create a functional stretcher, but we were clearly out of our element. We were meant to lash four sticks together to create a roughly 2' x 6' litter with a cross-hatched net constructed of paracord. No one was terribly confident in our knot tying abilities so we asked for some oversight from another team that had finished more quickly. One of our group, Tessa, had some extra cordage and rubber straps that we were able to utilize to improve the structural integrity of our stretcher. Once finished we carried our stretchers to, where else, the quarry at the far end of the fire road.

Along the way it was clear that Tessa was running on empty. At the time there was not much the other three of us could do to lighten the load, but she stuck it out until we arrived at the pile of gravel. It did not take a psychic to know what was coming next; we each filled up two more sandbags, loaded them on the stretchers, turned around, and headed back to base camp.

It is important to note that we had been awake and pursuing strenuous activity for about 15 hours at this point. We were physically, mentally, and emotionally spent. No one was feeling up for the equivalent of bearing the weight of two more sandbags, plus our full rucks, all the way back to camp. Frankly, we were surprised that our ramshackle stretcher was even able to stay together when loaded with 200-250 pounds of sandbags. We were only able to make it a few steps before Tessa cried uncle and we dropped the stretcher on the ground. I am a little ashamed to admit that I was glad someone else had insisted we stop before me.

While the team convened and strategized I took a moment to wrap the corners of our stretcher, where each stick crossed another, with several turns of duct tape. It turns out duct tape doesn't stick to wood at all, but wrapping it entirely around the corners seemed to help because the tape could stick to itself. We also discussed our carrying strategy. Our weak point was our hands; holding onto something so heavy is strenuous enough, but the awkward grip of the tree bark made it exponentially worse. We contemplated different strategies while agreeing to carry the stretcher 10-20 yards at a time simply to ensure we were make some progress. After a few efforts we decided to try hoisting the stretcher over our heads to carry it on our shoulders. It was awkward and difficult, but we managed to lift it over our heads and we rested the cross-sticks on our shoulders. There was no question it was easier to carry, but it took a Herculean effort get it situated on our shoulders. There was only one team slower than us previously, but we were suddenly leading the entire pack!

We were all still incredibly tired. Hoisting the stretcher onto our shoulders was extremely awkward, extremely difficult. I wasn't sure we would be able to do it again, and we were clearly only going to be able to make it about 100 yards at a stretch. Despite our determination the team needed to stop for a rest. Tessa looked ready to quit, completely and absolutely. Not just with the stretcher, but with the whole ordeal. Our other two team mates expressed similar sentiments. Despite my spirit to continue, my body was broken and too tired to continue. We agreed we needed to stop to catch our breath and perhaps break for a good cry.

The hardest part of our strategy was getting the stretcher up onto our shoulders. Or so we thought. It turned out to be even more difficult to get it off our shoulders without haphazardly dropping it. We were all struggling and wriggling and straining to get our handles over our heads. I glanced over my shoulder at Tessa to see if she needed a hand, but she simply turned around and her corner of the stretcher fell into her hands. "Holy smokes!" I thought, "We just need to pick it up facing the wrong way, then each of us rotate in place to get our handles on our shoulders! We don't even need to hoist it over our heads." Despite physically being the weakest of the four of us, Tessa ended up being the hero of our group. The extra lashing material and accidentally stumbling upon the best way to pick up and carry the load made her invaluable. It just goes to show that no one should ever be discounted on a team.

It was still absurdly heavy. It turned out too many teams were having too much trouble, and some stretchers had even collapsed with the load. Word came up the line that we were to empty half our sandbags to lighten the load. It came as great news since we had only managed to travel about 200 yards in 20 minutes. With the newly lightened load, our unusual carrying method, and a great deal of grit and determination we slogged our way back toward camp. Our destination ended up being a few hundred yards away from camp where we ditched our stretchers and made a pile of our sandbags. I started to wonder what we would be doing with all those sandbags we had lovingly filled with ballast.

As everyone trickled into camp we gathered around the campfire to await our next instruction. One aspect of this HH24HR I had taken for granted up to this point was Cookie's stoicism. He had remained matter-of-fact and implacable despite managing 28 of the 33 individuals we began with. Now he looked as haggard as I felt. We all gathered around and when Cookie finally raised his head to address the group he simply nodded to someone behind us. We all turned and were introduced to Kyoul.

Introducing Kyoul and Learning to Walk

Kyoul had lead the HH12HR which had recently finished and would be taking over for Cookie. I'm not one to make assumptions, except when I do, so I assumed Cookie was spent and needed some time to recuperate. Along with whatever challenge Kyoul was bringing to the table we would need to learn to work with a new leader.

Before heading out I asked Special K about Kyoul in case there was anything to be wary of. Calm, rigorous, just like Cookie, but he wouldn't hesitate to let his disappointment be known if anyone failed to accomplish a task up to his standards. Right, file that away for future consideration, and thanks Special K for the heads up.

Kyoul introduced himself as a hotshot, a member of a fire crew specializing in suppressing wilderness fires. He would be teaching us to use a compass for basic navigation and how to grid out as a group to search an area. Step one was to learn to walk in a consistent manner in order to accurately measure one chain (66 feet) of distance. I made a joke to one of my comrades about how I was an expert at measuring distance with steps already since I had seven years of marching band experience from middle and high school, thus instantly earning my nickname "marching band". Fair enough, I've been called worse.

After getting a primer on distancing, finding true north (as opposed to magnetic north) with a compass, and gridding we set out as a group to find a series of markers hidden around the area. At each marker we were given a bearing and distance to follow to get to the next marker. It would be easy to say that this was an easier task than previous ones, but sleep deprivation and exhaustion were catching up with us. My mind was in a fog; it took intense concentration to try to spot the telltale orange tape representing each new marker.

One marker took us by the spear throw on the race course, and what would a Spartan event be without hurling at least one spear? Each individual took a turn at the spear with a promise of 30 burpees for everyone for each person that missed. That meant that if a single person missed we would all be doing 30 burpees. There was a collective groan as spear after spear failed to hit its mark. When I stepped up I mumbled my usual pre-spear mantra ("guaranteed burpees"), reached as far back as possible, carefully aimed wildly high and to the right, and flung my whole body forward to get as much force behind the spear as possible. My technique would look more appropriate for throwing a javelin, but I have never claimed to be particularly good at the spear throw. That is why it was such a surprise when the spear landed solidly in the lower left-hand corner of the hay bale. After the obligatory celebration dance I took my place back in line. By the time it was done I estimated we all owed Kyoul roughly 450 burpees. "Worry about burpees later. Worry about navigation now," I thought to myself. Kyoul had yelled for "marching band" to take the lead so I needed to concentrate on calculating declinations and counting footfalls.

Out of all the challenges, I felt like learning to use a compass may have been the most practical bit of experience I took away from the HH24HR. Compasses are almost ubiquitous, but few know how to use them to differentiate between true north and magnetic north. There was more to it than I had previously assumed. Wandering around looking for markers was not nearly as physically punishing as most of our previous challenges, nor would I put it in the "funishment" category most people use to describe Hurricane Heat events. It was just plain fun, like a scavenger hunt you would have at a picnic or group camping trip. For that reason, the two hours we spent with Kyoul turned out to be a great time, even if we received a haranguing for missing our final marker and a promise of more burpees than anyone cared to do.

After the navigation exercise, we reconnoitered back at camp to learn what would be done with the gigantic pile of sandbags we had accumulated. Some of the HH12HR finishers also met us there with a load of donuts. No tricks, nothing clever, just donuts for everyone. Most of the group rushed in to grab one or two, but I decided to stick with the slow carbs and UCAN bars. We may have been nearing the end of our 24 hours, but there was still enough time left that I didn't want to risk a sugar high and sugar crash. So far the minimalist nutrition approach had kept my stomach feeling great, my energy levels steady, and my hunger at bay (occasionally swallowing ~20 amino acid capsules may have helped with the latter) so there was no need to change anything up.

What about the sandbags? There were certainly plenty of sandbags. The crew made sure they wouldn't go to waste. Instead of some oddball challenge, it turned out the plan was to construct a hut using the sandbags as walls and our makeshift stretchers as roofing material. The idea was to make a shelter that would become part of the natural surroundings and could be used by wildlife.

At that point I was beginning to feel extremely drowsy and the idea of cramming more caffeine into my system intuitively felt like a bad idea. Falling asleep on my feet also seemed like a bad idea so I forced myself to swallow my 6th caffeine tablet of the day. My body was screaming at me that it needed real sleep. The jolt of caffeine was not welcome; a half hour after taking it my heart was racing and I started feeling extremely spaced out. Special K noticed and asked if it was an anxiety attack. In retrospect, that was exactly what it felt like, but this was self-induced and passed before too long. Give how my body reacted to the caffeine I made a pact with myself that it would be the last I would take before getting some actual sleep.

Even in the depths of a Hurricane Heat it was great to take time to do something with a tangible benefit instead of being difficult for the sake of being difficult. Once our small building was complete we covered it with moss, sticks, and other forest refuse so it would eventually meld into the surrounding scenery. We were all proud of our makeshift hovel. There was a feeling of companionship among everyone as we recognized our time as a team would be coming to an end before too long.

However, it was not over yet. Kyoul reminded us we owed him a truck load of burpees. How could we forget? Except, as mentioned previously, doing burpees would be exceedingly simple for us and horribly boring for the crew to watch. Our sentence was reduced to a series of perfectly synchronized exercises based on each part of the burpee (e.g. a set of squats, then a series of movements from a squat to a plank position, then a set of pushups, and so forth). Besides, it we attempted to completes hundreds of burpees I expect it would have soaked up the remaining time and Cookie would not get to have his final bit of fun with us.

Cookie's Final Task

With Kyoul appeased we lined up and disembarked across the field. This time there were no obstacles. I was curious where we were headed. A few Hurricane Heat veterans had already guessed. Cookie mentioned that the group had yet to get soaking wet and we had little time to change that. I grimaced when I saw the running river and surmised what was coming next.

"Into the water. Everyone out to the island," Cookie announced in his mild-mannered way indicating an island in the middle of the river. We waded through waist deep water, the stronger team members keeping an eye on some of those who looked more worn down to make sure no one was swept away from the current. When the water hit my skin a thermometer appeared in my imagination jumping between 55 and 59 degrees. Quantifying the suck is one of the coping mechanisms I have developed from my experience with open water swimming. For those who have never experienced open water consider that heated pools, the ones that feel chilly when you first jump in, are heated between 80 and 84 degrees. Water that is in the mid-50's feel significantly colder than air of the same temperature because heat leaves the body much more rapidly through a liquid medium (i.e. water) than a gaseous medium (i.e. air). The same principle applies to heating things like cooking; this is why it takes about six minutes to deep fry chicken in liquid oil, but 45 minutes to bake in the oven.

This is all to say that 55 degree water is unpleasant. Extremely unpleasant. Like a slap in the face or putting your hand on a hot stove kind of unpleasant.

With everyone sufficiently freezing, our next task was to move a fallen tree that was waterlogged between the island and the edge of the river. I assume Cookie did not want the next person who wanted to get to the island to get wet. I am not sure if that was kind of him to think of others or cruel of him to induce hypothermia in all of us.

In either case, once the log was in place Cookie got us in a grid formation in some shallows for, what else, burpees in the water. At this point my hands and feet had gone completely numb. The blood had drained from my fingers and I could feel the paralysis of my muscles traveling up my forearms. Raynaud's phenomenon. Put that in your internet search engine. It would be difficult to describe how it feels to become so completely helpless this close to the end of the journey. I would not have had the strength to grasp a door handle let alone carry a sandbag at that point.

Luckily, burpees require absolutely no manual dexterity. My hands could remain useless, flapping paddles at the end of my arms. "24 for 24 hours," Cookie announced.

Nick took his place in front of the class one last time and shouted "Down!" to signal the start of the first repetition. There was a collective shout of pain and horror as everyone plunged their torso and faces into the freezing water. A few managed to return a weak "One!" to keep track of our reps.

"Down!" Once more we dropped to the river bed. There was a tightness in my chest as the last part of my body that was somewhat dry was enveloped in the cold. I gritted my teeth and remained silent as we plunged into the water a third, fourth, fifth time. There's something to be said for understanding and anticipating pain. I have received three DNF's ("did not finish") in my race career and each time was caused by exposure to cold water in triathlons. My experience does not make cold water any less painful. It simply means managing the suck is a little easier. We kept moving inexorably toward our goal.

"One more! For twenty-four hours! For all the pain and suffering! For the glory! Down!" One last burpee. Perhaps Nick was being a little melodramatic at that point, but I can't blame him. Those in the group that had level enough heads to keep count jumped up and shouted "24!" in triumph. That was it. We crawled up the river bank knowing we had beaten the HH24HR.

Except we weren't done yet. The only benefit of jumping in the river was that it cleared away most of the mud and dirt from our clothes. Cookie was not about the let us off that easily. He stopped us on our march back to base camp and ordered everyone to lay in the grass field that had served as a parking lot for the race venue. The same grass field that had been torn up and turned into a giant mud pit by countless sets of car tires.

"Start rolling." There was no specified destination, just a direction. My mind was a fog, similar to feeling drunk. My body was shutting down from the cold and exhaustion. I was not shivering. All of this added up to moderate or severe hypothermia. A few minutes of rolling made me glad to have skipped the donuts. That was the first and only time in the 24-hour event I pulled out an energy gel I was keeping in my pocket for an emergency and sucked it down. Those fast acting sugars and carbs forced some energy into my failing limbs and cleared my head just enough to focus on which way to keep moving.

"How long will we keep this up?" I wondered to myself. Moments later Cookie called to everyone to stand up. He announced we were done. For real this time. After all the false finishes and with my compromised state of mind it felt almost anticlimactic.

We formed a line and drunkenly staggered in the direction of base camp. Cookie asked the group if there was anyone who wasn't familiar with the warrior's ethos. It would not do to forego humility at this point so I raised my hand while staring fixedly at the ground in front of my toes. Seriously, the ground would not stop moving around so staying upright required a great deal of concentration. It also meant that I did not notice that my hand was the only one that was in the air.

"Perhaps someone could fill in the one with his hand up as to what the warrior's ethos is," Cookie announced. There were a few chuckles and I grinned at the slight. It might have been the kind of incident I would have been embarrassed about earlier in my life, but humbly admitting ignorance is no longer the kind of thing I would be ashamed us. Besides, lightening the mood of others makes me feel good, even if it is at my expense.

We gathered back at camp to receive our finisher's medals and t-shirts. The weight of what we had accomplished started to settle in as Cookie said a few heartfelt words to the group. Kyoul, Special K, and another crew member named BJ who had been present the entire time stood in front of the group offering their congratulations. There were hugs and shaking hands and tears of joy from some. I was mainly concerned with getting back to the campfire as soon as possible to try to raise my body temperature back to a decent range.

Reflections and Aftermath

Everyone who was present received a dog tag, t-shirt, a small metal wedge, and a patch to sew onto a garment. After a harrowing event like the HH24HR the minimalist awards seemed appropriate. It was much more about the experience than what we received afterward. Cookie and Kyoul decided that even the handful of individuals that had missed the cutoff during the second sandbag haul would be considered official finishers. Someone out there may believe doing so would diminish the accomplishment for everyone else, but no one who participated in the HH24HR, either as a participant or as part of the crew, felt that was the case. Every single person accomplished something great that day, and every person deserved to be recognized for it.

Was it the most difficult thing I have ever done? No. It was difficult. I am sure some others would say it was the most difficult thing they had ever accomplished. It is certainly up there, but there are a handful of previous ordeals that still rank a little higher.

Would I do it again? No. Maybe. With the right motivation I might. As of the writing of this it does not matter since it appears that the Seattle HH24HR will be the only 24 hour Hurricane Heat event Spartan hosts. The pain and suffering from an event tends to fade faster than the feelings of glory and accomplishment. Ask me again in a year and my answer will likely change.

What would I have done differently? My training for this event closely mirrored training for a Spartan race, except that there was a heavier emphasis on aerobic training and less emphasis on strength training. One aspect of strength that I have never trained is an overhead press. This would have been extremely useful for the bleacher carry, the stretcher exercise, and hoisting sandbags onto my shoulders.

There was much more heavy carrying involved than I had anticipated. Despite the time I spent wearing weighted vests I would have benefitted from practicing farmer's walks with large weights. Combining a farmer's walk with awkward weights like sandbells would have helped with grip strength and staying upright with awkwardly encumbered as well.

What went right? For any event lasting longer than 90 minutes I will continue to espouse the benefit of slower carbohydrate based fueling over fast acting sugar and carbs. Spiking blood sugar may feel good at the moment, but it is taking a loan that the body will have to repay eventually. When you are moving for 10 hours or 24 hours or multiple days it is better to maintain even energy instead of riding the highs and lows of fluctuating blood sugar.

I also made use of my favorite brand of base layer, GHUnders, to great effect. The only chaffing I had on my upper body was on my shoulders from the huge weight of those bleachers. Likewise, the only chafing on my legs was a small part of my thighs in the gap between my GHUnders shorts and my knee pads.

Dehydration post event was the most pronounced physical toll I had taken. It took several days of carrying around a gallon jug of water and filling up on electrolytes before I started to feel normal again. Muscle fatigue and DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) were not as bad as one might expect. My hips and quads got the worst of it, but even then it was comparable to a day of heavy squatting at the gym. It took almost a week before my shoulders started feeling normal again, but this was due more to acute blunt trauma from the bleachers than anything else.

The Spartan Hurricane Heat 24 Hour was unlike any other event or race I have ever participated in. It required a unique combination of physical strength, mental toughness, interpersonal awareness, and determination. Completing on one's own strength, physically and otherwise, would have been impossible. Each individual needed to be strong, but also rely on those around them for support.

For each person it was certainly a different experience. Even our leaders, Cookie and Kyoul, showed amazing perseverance that day. BJ was a frequent companion to anyone who needed an extra bit of encouragement and I like to think Special K had kept an eye on me to make sure I did not mess up too badly at any point. Nick demonstrated being a leader and a peer at the same time. Adam and Tessa showed true grit when the going was tough and stuck with the challenge long after others would have thrown in the towel. Jazmin, Dave, and Zane made it looks easy. Rachel was awesome, and determined to look sparkly and fabulous the entire day. I would list every person that was part of the event, but there simply is not room in my head to keep track of them all.

Every person came to the event with their own story, their own motivation for being there. Some simply wanted to add another feather to their cap. Others wanted to prove to themselves that they were greater than a simple list of adjectives and attributes. I saw this as an opportunity to push myself to a new limit in a way that I had never experienced before. I have accomplished great physical feats (have you heard of this company called Ironman?), but this was a different experience altogether. It would be difficult to imagine taking such a task with a better, more driven group of individuals, each of whom are great in their own unique way.

[howyouwork-blog]

Out of Rhythm: Changing Your Circadian Rhythm in this Trying Time

It's that time of year where people the world over give a great big middle finger to their circadian rhythms. That is right, its daylight savings time when we all shift our digital clocks forward an hour and hope our internal clocks don't baulk too much.

First, a little history on daylight savings time. The reason we shifted our clocks forward an hour on March 12, 2017 is because we did it the previous year. The reason we did so in 2016 was because we did it in 2015. And so on. You might ask when the first daylight savings shift occurred or why it was implemented, and I say, "Why examine the past when it's the future that will determine how we live the rest of our lives?" Something tells me we will continue to observe daylight savings time because we have not stopped yet. After all, history is a good indicator of the future.

Facing the fact that March 12th is a 23-hour day, what are some ways to handle the loss of an hour in a day? Since we, as a society, don't really rely on the sun as an indicator for time to a great extent (this is exacerbated by the lack of a sun in the sky in my hometown in the ever-overcast Pacific Northwest) I like to think of daylight savings as being similar to traveling one time zone to the east. Here are a few things I like to do to reset my internal clock when it's needed.

1.       Time your meals.

Do you usually eat breakfast at a specific time? How about lunch or dinner? Even if it is just a cup of coffee, keep up the routine with the new 1-hour time shift. Your circadian rhythm is strongly influenced by the schedule with which you eat your meals. You may not be hungry at the new time, but forcing yourself to eat, even a small amount, will help shift your internal clock.

2.       Wake earlier, sleep earlier.

That morning first day or two may be brutal. Do your best to wake up at the new time. It may take an extra shot added to your morning Starbucks order, but waking up when your clock reads the same time as your usual wakeup time is one of the most effective ways to adjust to the new time. Likewise, getting to bed earlier than usual will also help. Inevitably, attempting to go to bed earlier will feel unnatural and you are unlikely to be tired an hour earlier than usual. Which leads me to my next point…

3.       Use light to your advantage.

I get it, you really like watching TV right before bed, or maybe it is surfing the web, checking e-mail on your phone, or reading that e-book on your e-reader. For once, follow the advice you've heard hundreds of times before and just turn it all off an hour before you want to go to sleep (or eight hours before you want to wake up). Receptors in your eyes register light in the blue wavelength spectrum as indicating that the sun is still high in the sky and suppresses the activation of melatonin in your system. If possible, use red or amber lights later in the day, or grab a pair of snazzy blue-light-blocking glasses. Speaking of melatonin…

4.       Try a natural melatonin-based sleep aid.

Melatonin is a natural hormone produced in the pineal gland that signals it is nearly time to sleep. Do not take it immediately before jumping into bed because it has an immediate small stimulant effect. Instead, take it 30-60 minutes before you want to fall asleep. As mentioned above, avoid bright lights after taking it because it those receptor in your eyes will prevent melatonin from working even if you have taken a mega dose of it.

5.       DO NOT use other sleep aids or alcohol to assist with sleep.

It is tempting to toss back an Advil PM or an extra glass of red wine to help get to sleep. However, alcohol and the substances in OTC sleep aid disrupt your natural sleep cycles. Some may call these "Band-Aid solutions", but it would be more accurate to say this is similar to sticking a Band-Aid over the gas gauge of your car so you do not see that the needle is on "empty". Although these substances will prevent you from being awake, the "sleep" they induce is more similar to being unconscious or in a coma than to normal restorative sleep. You would be just as energized the next morning if you sat in a chair staring at a wall all night.

Despite the number of attempts in the past to do away with daylight savings time, it is most likely here to stay. We can all hope that our hour will not be taken away from us at some future date, but it is best to prepare for the worst: Being somewhat groggy for a few days while we adjust. I hope these tips help marginally ease the pain. Good night and God speed.

[howyouwork-blog]

Perseverance

My race was over. It was done. Finish line? No chance. Laughable. Implausible, impossible, unthinkable. My neck was stiff, my shoulders sore, and my legs lacked any sensation at all. I stared slack-jawed and glassy eyed at the ground between my feet. One of my shoes was laced up; I was holding the other loosely in my hand. The finish line was 26.2 miles away, an entire marathon, and I wasn't sure I'd be able to take the first step.

Completing a marathon is a herculean effort undertaken by hundreds of thousands of Americans every year. To many, the idea of running one miles is a challenge, 10 miles is a huge challenge, and the mere thought of traveling 26.2 miles by foot can be overwhelming. The marathon in front of me was that it was preceded by a 2.4 miles swim and a 112 miles bike ride. This was Ironman.

I was sitting in T2, the transition area after the 112-mile bike ride and before the, entirely theoretical, 26.2-mile run. Despite the long hours of training, the idea of running after a ride was foreign to my body. I hadn't completed a single "brick" workout, a popular triathlon training session of a hard bike ride followed immediately by a run to prepare for the psychologically and physiologically jarring transition between the two disciplines.

For even the most seasoned athlete, signing up for an Ironman is a show of brash over confidence. It is nearly impossible to train to compete at the distance, and I was hampered by multiple stress fractures in my heel four months before the event. Most Ironman training schedules call for 16-24 weeks of preparation; I was on the shorter end of that spectrum and had the added burden of being unable to walk, let alone run or peddle a bike.

Any training regimen I planned to prepare for this event was completely derailed by my injury. Instead of ramping up my running and cycling volume and throwing in as much intensity as my office job would allow, I was relegated to prepare in whatever manner I possibly could. This meant spending endless hours in a pool, six or seven days a week, trying to build any stamina I possibly could and hoping my legs did not atrophy too much in the interim.

I was supposed to run further that afternoon than I had run in the preceding four months combined. Nevertheless, I knew it was impossible. That was the plan the entire time. Swim for my life, bike my heart out, then…. That was where the plan ended.

I stood up on wobbly legs. Light headed and slightly dizzy, I gingerly walked to the start of the run trying to remain upright. There was no way I would be able to run 26.2 miles. It was not about getting to the finish line anymore. I just wanted to see how far I could go. I had more than nine hours before the cutoff so there was no reason to quit now. I looked back down at the earth between my shoes (both now laced up after no small amount of mental effort), brought my hands up in the familiar runners' pose, and slowly started moving my feet forward. First the left, then the right, rinse and repeat.

After a few weeks of training in the pool I was able to spin the peddles on a recumbent bike. I would hobble up the stairs at my local gym on my crutches and sit on any stationary bike for as long as I could stand. Although I originally planned to use higher intensity sessions to bolster my cardiovascular system. In my broken state, anything more vigorous than a pedestrian pace would send shooting pain through my foot and leg. When intensity is not possible, you make up for it with volume.

Did all that training, as ineffectual as it was, pay off? I planned to see just what I could do with it. Slowly. With a shambling gait. A few people jostled me as they jogged past, and I sauntered around a few more along the way. I eventually came to the first turn a few hundred feet away from the "start". Why not try to get to the first aid station? It was probably less than a mile away, and I wanted to thank the volunteers for their efforts in enabling my sisyphean task. Moreover, they might have pretzels. That would make me feel better. I was not going to get a finisher's medal, but at least I could get some pretzels.

There it was. A group of eager, cheering volunteers standing by a table set up in the middle of the road. Everyone seemed so happy, so excited to see me. It was all I could do to muster the energy to smile at them and thank them for their efforts. I could not bear the thought of stopping and letting them down, or showing the other racers around me that it was okay to quit. Besides, I was still moving. I could keep going a little further.

When things go awry and plans are derailed, the best way forward is to evaluate where you are and determine the path that will lead to the best outcome. Or the least worst outcome. In this case, I spent weeks and weeks putting in as many hours at extremely low intensities as I could. At peak training, I was putting in 200-300 miles a week on a bike (eventually able to ride outdoors without too much danger) and 12,000-15,000 yards a week in the pool. It was only a few weeks before the race before I was able to run a single step. In total, I completed 4 training runs in preparation for this Ironman. To say I was underprepared, or simply unprepared, would be an extreme understatement.

At this race, the run course was a 9-mile loop to circumnavigate 3 times. I realized the best place to stop would be back at the transition area at the beginning of the loop nearest to the finish line and transition area. With my head hanging, I kept shuffling along making an effort to lift my feet, though I do not think I was very successful. Every so often, I would see a mile marker, 12 miles, 24 miles, 8 miles; they did not make much sense since the distances for all three loops were placed along the way. There was nothing I wanted to focus on other than seeing the racks of bikes again. So I kept moving.

Near the end of the loop, I passed a turn off to the finish line. I was still able to stand, still able to move my feet. It took more effort than I imagined it should have, but I realized how absurd it was to pick this point where I should finish. Besides, it was not about getting to the finish line anymore; it was just about seeing how far I could go. There was no way I would be able to keep it up for 17 more miles, but I could take at least one more step.

I kept shuffled along expecting my legs to seize or my hips to collapse, or maybe my vision to fade. However, it did not happen. I had slowly been shifting my left foot to the front, then my right foot, over and over for more than two hours when I realized there was only 13.1 miles to the finish line. I had shuffled an entire half marathon. I was at the farthest point from the transition area (having completed 1.5 of the required 3 loops). Besides, some of the people at the first aid station recognized me and joked about my oversized aviator sunglasses. I wanted to see them one more time. Maybe they'd be surprised to see me again. Or happy. I like making other people happy, even if it meant shuffling my feet back and forth for another two hours.

And their pretzels made me happy. There was that, too.

By the time I had completed the second loop the sun was dipping near the horizon and the temperature was falling. In my depleted state, the nominal evening temperatures felt cold, and I knew it would not get any better. The only reprieve was knowing I could stop any time. At least I knew I could handle the chill for a little while longer and take a few more steps.

Except that the finish line didn't seem impossible anymore. I could ignore the single digit mile markers. I only had another 6.2 miles to go. The idea of running a marathon in my condition, or the condition I was in after completing that bike ride, was completely bonkers. What about a 10K? I could do a 10K at the worst of times. This was certainly the worst of times. My legs hurt and would not move correctly anymore, but they were still ambulating in the right general direction. So why not keep going?

So I kept going. Everything from my eyebrows down hurt. Moving each joint in my body took conscious effort. The pain and discomfort didn't abate when I paused at aid station, but that just meant there was no reason to stop. Eventually, I saw the turn off from the main loop to the finish line. I could hear cheering crowds that lined the finishing chute. They were cheering for me. Alright, they were cheering for everyone, but I like to think they were cheering for me as I ambled toward the finish line. And crossed it.

I was finished. I had finished. I was done. There was no way I could have run a marathon, but there was no point when I wasn't able to take at least one more step. It wasn't until the very end that crossing the finish line was even plausible. Until I crossed that finish line, it was only about seeing if my body would allow me to take one more step. Eventually, I found that all I needed to take was one more to earn that finisher's medal.

[howyouwork-blog]

Addiction and Depression: Problem or Solution?

"Alcoholism is a sickness"

"Depression is a serious condition"

"Drug dependence can destroy your life"

Do these sentiments ring any bells? Do they sound familiar? You've probably heard something along those lines in the context of substance abuse, addiction, or depression. These conditions are often seen as horrible afflictions that need to be fixed as soon as possible.

But are they really problems? Close examination, and an open mind, might reveal something surprising. Don't worry, I'm not about to try to convince you that depression or drug abuse are good traits that we should all adopt. Keep reading to find out exactly what I mean.

First, a parable. That's a fancy word for a "story" in case you're wondering. Once upon a time, there was a fisherman who was out to sea when his boat sprung a leak. He didn't notice it until there were already a few inches of water in his vessel. Surprised, the fisherman started bailing water out in an effort to salvage the situation. After a while almost all the water was out of his boat so he continued fishing. To his surprise, the water returned a few minutes later! "What is happening?!" he exclaimed, and started bailing water again. Once more he managed to get the water level down and continued fishing. This repeated over and over until the fisherman was eventually overcome by fatigue and… had to return to shore? Or maybe he drowned? You can go decide what his fate was depending on how morbid you're feeling.

Was the problem all the water filling his boat? Do you think so? Really? I'd say the real problem was the leak in his boat. The water was just the natural result of the problem, the leak.

What does this have to do with depression, addiction, etc.? Those afflictions aren't usually isolated, primary conditions. Very few individuals become dependent on mind altering substances or depressed without some underlying reason. These conditions are like the water in the story. There's a cause at the root of these conditions. Quite often, drug abuse or alcoholism is an attempt to escape, or enhance, some aspect of life. In this way they are more often a response to the real problem, not the problem itself. One might even say it's a solution, however twisted and destructive, to the real problem (the leaky boat and water allegory kind of breaks here, but stick with me). If life was always rainbows and unicorns without any tribulation would anyone turn to heroine or alcohol to numb the pain?

Okay, some people might. I think most of us like a glass of wine or two on special occasions. But I'd expect the incidences of clinical substance abuse would be drastically reduced if all of life was just roses. In my own experience with depressive episodes, it's often difficult to tell why I've lost my drive in life in the moment, but reflection after recovering a healthy emotional state has always uncovered some event or stray thought that triggered the depressive episode.

Just like the water in the tale, attempting to tackle depression or substance abuse head on almost always produces transient results. Lasting healing only comes in finding and addressing the root problem. In order for our fisherman to avoid his fate he would have had to fix the leak in his boat. Only then he would have been able to continue his wonderful and fulfilling life of catching fish. Instead, he was spending all his time managing the water in his boat.

Does that mean we should never tackle these afflictions head on? If our fisherman was keen and noticed the leak immediately, this might be possible. For example, an alcoholic might notice the feelings that precede a relapse and call someone to keep them accountable. He might be able to get ahead of the problem before it becomes, well, a problem.

In most cases, though, it's unreasonable to think you'd be able to fix a problem immediately. Most of us who struggle will have to face the problem head on just to keep from drowning. At least at first. Eventually, the root cause needs to be addressed unless spending all of one's life relapsing and springing back sounds like fun. Managing depression, alcoholism, addiction, any other affliction may be the simplest option. It may seem to be the only option. And it may even be necessary sometimes. Occasionally bailing the water out of our proverbial boats help keep us afloat to address the real causes of our woes.

Back to the original question, is depression, addiction, substance abuse, alcoholism a problem? Most often than not, it's an unconscious solution to the real problem. Only in addressing those problems can these twisted "solutions" be eliminated. Do I know how to fix this? No. Unfortunately, I don't. Every person is different, and every relapse and incident is unique. This is just another way to think about a very complicated problem (or solution) that will affect most of us at some point in this adventure we call life.

If you're a fan of Rich Roll this may sound familiar. In fact, this is inspired by some of his admissions in his ongoing battle with alcoholism. If you're not familiar with Rich, he's an incredibly inspiring individual who's overcome his own demons (or at least manages them) to do amazing things. Check out his story, his books, and his podcast at http://www.richroll.com.

[howyouwork-blog]

Weight Loss Plateaus: What Causes Them and Why You Should be Thrilled When They Happen

The plateau! That dreaded plateau!

If you've ever been on a weight loss diet for more than a few days, then you know about it. You decided to lose some weight. You go on a diet. You dedicate yourself to a new workout regimen. You're diligent. And it works! In three days you're already down four pounds! After a week, you've lost another four pounds! Amazing!

Then it happens.

You hit the weight loss plateau. Instead of continuing a steady decline every day, sometimes that scale is a little higher, sometimes it's a little lower. After just two weeks the momentum slows to a crawl.

What's the deal? Why the sudden slow down? Why can't this stupid body lose a pound a day like it was doing when you first started on this new lifestyle? Read on and find out why the "plateau" is actually good and even something to celebrate. The questions to answer are:

What does it mean to lose weight?

Why does the weight drop off so fast at first, then slow down?

What to do about the plateau, and why is it something to celebrate?

What is the goal of a weight loss diet? To lose weight, obviously! Okay, there's a little more to it than that. Most commonly, the goal is to reduce body fat instead of simply seeing lower numbers on the bathroom scale. Regardless of the specific diet and/or regimen used, the way to get rid of that excess fat is to ensure your body is expending more calories than is being consumed. Maintaining this calorie deficit forces the body to tap into its own energy stores.

One pound of body fat stores roughly 3,500 calories of energy so if you run a 1,000 calorie deficit every day for a week you'd lose two pounds. Theoretically. Simple. Right?

But wait. If it takes a 3,500 calorie deficit to lose one pound of fat, then what's with the sudden drop of several pounds in a few days? Surely, it'd be extremely difficult (not to mention horribly unhealthy) to have a 14,000 calorie deficit over a few days that'd be required to lose four pounds of fat in a few days.

The complication comes from that fact that your body utilizes fuel from multiple stored sources, not just body fat. If you have much experience with exercise, then you may know that the human body prefers to burn sugar over fat. That's why you feel so energetic (for a while) when you eat a sweet, sugary snack. The human body loves burning sugar so much is stores up to 500 grams of it to use for energy in this stuff called glycogen.

If you've read some of my previous posts, you might know that glycogen and sugar stores four calories of energy per gram. That means when your glycogen stores are topped up, it can store as much as 2,000 calories of quick burning energy. Glycogen is also bound to water in a 3:1 ratio when it's stored in the body. So even though you have only 500 grams of glycogen, it's also carrying 1,500 grams of water for a total of two kilograms or about 4.4 pounds.

So you have just over four pounds of this sugar/water stuff that your body loves to use for energy. That means if you maintain a 1,000 calorie deficit for a few days you'll be burning through that heavy-weight glycogen in no time. Once its burned the water it was stored with is also excreted. It also gets refilled relatively quickly, but if you're consistent with that energy deficit you'll consistently be relatively low on glycogen accounting for the sudden drop in weight.

Dumping your glycogen drops your weight by about four pounds. Sound familiar? That's right. You just lost a few pounds of water.

So now that you're all out of glycogen your body is forced to use all that fat. Right? No, sorry, that isn't the case. Your body can do this cool trick called gluconeogenesis, meaning "creating new sugar", which takes protein and makes glucose out of it. The process is inefficient, energy intensive, and creates a lot of dirty biproducts in the form of nitrogen waste. If you're like 99% of people in the modern western world you've grown up on a diet of carbs, sugar, starch, and grains. This conditions the body to prefer burning sugar over burning fat to such a degree that it'd rather turn the protein on your body into sugar and using that. This may sound unbelievable, but it has to do with the mitochondrial pathways and how glucose and triglycerides are turned into energy through unique pathways and how your cells get rid of their "fat" mitochondria if they don't get used and…. It's probably more complicated than you care about so suffice to say if you spend all your life burning sugar, then your body likes to burn sugar.

Instead of burning fat, your body starts burning protein. Stored protein. How does your body store protein? That's right, in your muscles. The process of turning your muscles into energy is generally referred to as "catabolism". Although this term is actually refers to more general tearing down of any body tissue (like body fat), it is most commonly used to refer to eating away at your muscles.

Just like sugar, protein provides four calories of energy per gram. Unlike glycogen, it's packed more tightly without excess water. So if you're out of glycogen and your body is in need of some sugar, it'll get pulled from your muscles as long as you're maintaining that energy deficit. Your body would prefer to get energy straight from sugar, but it adapts to get better and better at burning fat when you're depleted of glycogen. In the meantime, it makes due with what it's got and that's muscle catabolism.

Okay, so you're getting 1,000 calories of energy from muscle. Some of it is coming from fat, but a nontrivial amount of that energy deficit is compensated by eating muscle. Note that gluconeogenesis uses some of that energy so you don't get exactly four calories from one gram of muscle, but it's something pretty close to that. Energy from muscle protein and fat aren't bound with water so making up that 1,000 calorie deficit results in significantly less weight loss. However, one gram of protein provides less energy than one gram of fat (four calories versus nine calories from fat) meaning that more muscle mass is needed to generate the same amount of energy. This accounts for losing more weight than the one pound per 3,500 calories predicted by the fat loss formula.

This catabolism of your muscle mass is an unfortunate but necessary step for those looking to get rid of excess fat. Don't worry, once your body adapts and gets better at burning fat you'll stop eating up all that precious muscle! And this is where the dreaded plateau comes. Remember, body fat weighs in at nine calories of energy per gram. A bit of math and we get the original 3,500 calorie deficit necessary to burn one pound of fat. Instead of losing two pounds (of glycogen) per day, or one pound (of muscle) every two days, it takes three and a half days of a 1,000 calorie deficit.

This drastic slowdown in weight loss can be very discouraging, but consider what it means. If you're losing weight really quickly it means you aren't burning much fat at all. You're likely blowing through glycogen, or worse, catabolizing muscle. If you're losing weight really slowly, that means you're likely burning through those excess fat stores! Rejoice! And that's why the weight loss plateau is a good thing and you should embrace it.

Don't be discouraged when you hit that plateau and see your weight loss suddenly slow down. Remember, this is the part of the process when your body has already eaten through a lot of muscle and is just making the transition to eating away at that spare tire or carving out that thigh gap. Seeing the numbers on the scale get stuck is often the point where motivation dwindles and diets end. This can lead to yo-yo dieting which is incredibly detrimental to your long term health. It results in catabolizing mostly muscle mass, then regaining that weight in mostly fat mass. The net result may be the same on the bathroom scale, but it leaves the body with a higher percentage of body weight made up of fat than before. The next time a yo-yo dieter decides to lose weight they just dig themselves into an even bigger, fatter hole.

So if you're on a diet and you hit a weight loss plateau, rejoice! It means you're doing it right!

[howyouwork-blog]

The One Piece of Advice I'd Give to Anyone

Are you looking to improve your life? How about getting in shape or improving your health? Do you feel like you're stuck in a rut and looking for a new adventure in life? Are you ready accelerate your career?

Do I have great news for you! The first thing you need to do is go to www.Bing.com and type in whatever it is you want to accomplish preceded by "how do I"! Like a garbage truck returning home, the internet will bestow upon you a great big pile of… advice.

A simple search of "how to lose 10 pounds" resulted in 107,000,000 results. There's a good chance some of those results are irrelevant, some are bad, and some are really good. Okay, there are a lot of good results. In fact, there may be too many good results. To make matters worse, the sources of advice you'll come across, whether it's on the internet, from a magazine, or provided from a helpful friend, usually don't agree. Sometimes, they will outright contradict each other. So what gives? Who should you be listening to? Who's right?

I'd argue that they're all right. Well, most of them. There will always be those trying to convince you that the mole people are the source of all your woes or that you need to fight the contrails. I'll assume you're up to the task of filtering out the woo and garbage to get to the good(ish) stuff.

How can all this great advice be correct? It is all correct for someone, just maybe not you. The real problem is finding the right advice for you and your situation. This can be a tough problem to solve, but it's important for overcoming confirmation bias or simply following the path of least resistance. Instead, find the path which provides the greatest benefit.

A nice example of someone following the wrong advice might be a novice runner scrounging for tips on really nailing their first half marathon. Our intrepid runner does some online research and finds that marathon and ultra runners prepare by carbo-loading, or eating a great deal of sugary or starchy food, the day before a race. Those are like half marathons on steroids so that advice should be great, right? Extra helpings of pasta for a prerace dinner. Check. Our runner also finds that a lot of participants in long distance running event will carry their own hydration packs and energy gels to maintain blood sugar while running. Alright, fill up that CamelBak and grab a few GUs for the race. Almost every running site tells of the necessity of a good breakfast immediately upon waking up on race day. Despite feeling bloated from that huge spaghetti dinner, two bowls of Lucky Charms should do the trick. And according to the special interest column on a news site, a prerace snack is the best way to get started. So with a banana in hand, our runner waddles to the starting line. Everyone knows that it's important to stay ahead on nutrition; if you feel hungry or thirsty, then it's already too late. With that in mind, our runner has manages to drink two liters of water and knock back four gels over their 13.1 mile journey. Who hasn't heard about the importance of kicking off post-race recovery with an immediate protein-packed snack? It's only about halfway through the ready-to-drink protein shake offered by a volunteer at the finish line that our runner's stomach decides that enough is enough. What follows is a technicolor fountain of breakfast cereal, sports drinks, and anything else left in their stomach.

What happened? The problem came when our intrepid runner decided that good advice for a slow, steady marathon would work for their faster, shorter half marathon. In fact, following any single piece of advice might have really helped. Carbo loading the night beforehand probably wasn't necessary for such a short race (or perhaps "short" would be a better way to describe it). Going out of the way to cram more calories than usual in the morning is only a good idea for all day, lower intensity events which allow you to digest food on the go, like a long hike or a 12+ hour Ironman triathlon. Was it necessary to carry all that stuff into the race? Probably not. Most events provide plenty of water and appropriate food along the way. Utilizing one or two of these pieces of advice wouldn't have had such disastrous results, and the day certainly would have ended better if our runner had stopped to think about the context for everything they researched.

That example was a little out there, but hopefully you get the idea. Most of us have enough life experience to tell when we’ve gone too far off the deep end. Right? Well, if every decision in life were black and white there'd be a whole lot less silly shenanigans. For a more concrete example, let's talk about food. Everyone likes food. Don't you like it? Have you heard the latest news about butter and grass fed beef? It's the new #1 awesome healthy superfood! And that's according to science*!

*Not actually according to science. I just read the headline of some news article while scrolling through my Facebook timeline and inferred the rest. But it was super legit, I promise.

"But wait," you say, "what about that study that shows eating red meat leads to cancer[1]? And doesn't eating animals lead to heart disease[2][3]? What gives!?" Emphasis with an interrobang! All of that is true. There's a clear correlation between that butter you're slathering on your paleo-friendly starches (e.g. sweet potatoes) and the deterioration of your arteries. So should we all eschew cow-juice and pig-flesh? No, not everyone should give up their juicy meat stuffs and dairy fats, nor should we all be running to the store to stock up on them.

This is the part of the article where I'm supposed to start talking about "moderation" and "taking the middle road". Unfortunately, I don't buy that brand of bologna. Instead of only considering the facts, why not include yourself into this calculus? Are you someone who comes from a family with a history of heart disease and cancer? Then giving up that beef burger and adopting a taste for beans and rice may extend your health and longevity by many years.

No heart disease? What about a history of metabolic disorders, allergies, or auto-immune disorders? Those legumes may be the source of your woes. Giving them up for a weekly dose of calves liver mixed with intermittent fasting might be the ticket to improving your quality of life.

In the end, who was right? Was red meat and dairy fat poisoning us all? Or was it the savior we were all waiting for? They were both right, but only for a subset of people. The only ones who were wrong were the absurd click-bait news articles making leaps of the imagination that Evil Knievel would have trouble bridging. Seriously, how can a title like "Processed meats do cause cancer - WHO"[4] be anything except click-bait? In this case, the actual article is much more mundane and moderate than the title implies.

The internet is full of "helpful" people, and even some well-meaning individuals causing more harm than good, eager to offer you advice in exchange for your click and your eyes on their advertising creatives. Instead of trying to add to the pile (and if you look at the rest of this site you'll notice I've already added my share) I'd rather step back, metaphorically, and bring attention to all the contradictory advice that’s out there. It sounds obvious, but consider the last time you went looking for something in the Wild West of the internet and stopped after the first click or, worse yet, stopped after you found the advice that confirmed your biases.

Have you heard of the health benefits of red wine? Antioxidants, resveratrol, phytonutrients, how can you go wrong? Although I'll be the first to point out that the benefits are most likely exaggerated by the media (and let's face it, we're mostly getting this info from journalistic outlets and not from reading scientific research papers), but the benefits are undeniable. It can lower blood pressure, improve anxiety, promote longevity, and it's fun to drink to boot!

Are you one of the millions of Americans worrying about your waistline? It turns out there's a devious ingredient in wine that slows metabolism, blocks glycolysis and lipolysis (e.g. burning energy stored in the body in glycogen and fat), promotes fatty liver disease, and has been shown to be incredibly addictive. You probably know what this demon is: alcohol.

This can cause some real confusion when deciding whether to stock up on red wine. Is it good? Is it bad? Is it something in between? Why not ask yourself if you're trying to lose or manage weight. If summer is turning to fall and it's time to trade those short shorts for sweat pants, then a glass of wine with dinner sounds great! When April rolls around and your mind is filled with images of that two piece swimsuit or washboard abs, or you just want to lose a few pounds, then perhaps switching to mint tea is the way to go.

Bringing it full circle, the one piece of advice I'd give anyone would be to consider the target audience of the advice you receive. Most of the what's out there is really great… for someone… sometimes. Consider whether the gem you've found in the rough is the best for you. Not only are you unique among the larger community known as the human race, who you are today is different from who you were yesterday. Make sure you're doing what's best for you. Today.

[1] http://www.iarc.fr/en/media-centre/pr/2015/pdfs/pr240_E.pdf

[2] http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/70/3/516s.full

[3] http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/70/3/525s.full

[4] http://www.bbc.com/news/health-34615621

[howyouwork-blog]

Success is not Guaranteed: My First Triathlon and My First DNF

A little over six years ago I entered the wonderful world of time management, over training, and overpriced equipment known as triathlon. The athlete I am now bears only a passing resemblance to that younger version of myself. Some people take a look at what I've accomplished and assume I have some genetic gift to be a great athlete. The tale that follows is my proof of just how much hooey that idea is.

The greatest athletes of our time had to learn to walk before they could become great. Even the most seasoned, decorated competitors started with a single race or event. And even though I like to think of myself as one of the "fast guys", I am far from the best around. In fact, my first foray into swimming, biking, and running in quick succession ended in disaster. Here's the story of my first DNF.

The year was 2010. I had recently discovered that I enjoyed running, but relying solely on it for exercise led to my discovery of how much it can beat up the body. After running my first half marathon (and the first time I ran 13.1 miles) I was unable to run again for almost two months. In the intervening time, I spent a lot of time relying on a stationary bike at the gym to stay fit. Stationary bikes are boring. Really boring. One thing they're great for is spending a lot of time with your nose buried in a book. My literary choice at the time was "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running" by Haruki Murakami, a memoir of an aging marathon runner who turned to triathlon when his body could no longer take the continuous pounding of running.

It seemed Mr. Murakami and I were in similar positions. Clearly I could run. I was already on a bike. My swimming experience wasn't expansive, but I was a certified lifeguard and could handle myself in the water. That means I could do a triathlon, right? That was enough to get me interested in giving it a try.

My search for a suitable triathlon in the not-too-distant future landed me on the homepage of the Onionman Triathlon in Walla Walla on Memorial Day weekend. I trained to make sure I'd be able to cover the prescribed distances, 1,500 meters of nonstop swimming, 40Km on a bike, and 10Km of running. In my research, I found that most triathletes opted to wear wetsuits during the swim and change out of it in the swim-to-bike transition known as T1. The swim was to be held in a reservoir outside of town which was in the mid-60s in previous years.

It was decision time: Drop some $$$ on a band new wetsuit I might use only once, or rely on my resilience to handle the swim on my own awesomeness? I carefully weighed the pros and cons of each option. On the one hand, mid-60s sounded awfully cold for the 30 minutes I expected it'd take me to swim the distance. On the other hand, a wetsuit would have been the largest purchase for the event since I already owned a bike and all the cycling and running gear I'd need.

Of course, I was a poor college student at the time so the idea of dropping a few hundred dollars on a piece of gear I wasn't sure I'd use more than once seemed outlandish. Besides, those temps didn't seem too horrendously bad. I decided a wetsuit could wait until I found out if I really like triathlon.

On the morning of the race, I arrived to set up my transition zone and proceeded to meander around waiting for the start. At first, the crowd of other participants appeared to be a normal looking group of individuals. Then I noticed a few that appeared to resemble stretched out penguins in their sleek, black wetsuits. I expected to see a lot of those special suits. As more time passed I started to think I'd be the only one without a wetsuit. Was I the only one without special swim gear? Would I stick out like the complete novice I was? Surely, there had to be a few others going sans rubber skin.

Indeed, there were! Out of the two hundred (give or take) racers, there were four others without wetsuits so I wasn't completely alone. One of the four requested the announcer inquire if anyone had an extra suit over the PA system. Along with the inquiry, the announcer also mentioned the water was a bone chilling 56 degrees Fahrenheit. Upon hearing that number, my nervousness turned into terror and anger at my frugality.

By the way, those other three without suits weighed in at around 250 pounds and resembled polar bears. Plus, they actually knew what they were doing. I wouldn't want to give anyone the impression that I knew what I was doing or anything.

A few minutes before the starting gun I was standing at the edge of the water when a woman walking by slapped my shoulder and commented that I must have balls of steel to be swimming without a wetsuit. I managed a weak, "Yeah," and hoped she didn't realize how terrified I was. The crowd surged through the shallow water with the final countdown. I planted myself squarely in the middle of the crowd wading toward what I could only assume was my doom.

The water felt like a combination of freezing and burning as it rose higher around me. Once it had risen to my waist, I dove in head first to begin 1,500 meters of the crawl stroke I had spent so long getting the hang of. The decision to put my face into that chilling, dark mass was met with immediate regret. I've learned that triathlon is much more than a physical feat. It's equally a mind game. Those long hours of training had taught me a few tricks to deal with various kinds of suck for exactly this type of situation.

There's no sensation that's inherently good or bad. Some are widely considered to be one or the other, but there are always exceptions. It certainly wasn't conceivable to believe the cold water induced ice cream headache was a particularly pleasant experience, but at least I could mute the negativity in my mind.

"This water certainly makes me feel differently than I usually feel. Well, isn't this an interesting sensation."

"This may seem unpleasant right now, but the first minute or two in the pool is always a bit rough. Just keep moving. Who knows what this'll feel like in the next minute?"

"If the water was warmer, then you'd rotate your arms to move forward. If the water was colder, then you'd rotate your arms to move forward. Why does the temperature matter? It's just mechanical. Just move your arms."

I hung with a group of swimmers making a turn around the first buoy. 250 meters down, five more buoys and 1,250 meters to go. No problem. It was unpleasant, but it was also finite. Nothing to worry about. I would take about a dozen normal strokes breathing to the side, then pop my head straight up and take a mental picture of what I saw. If the buoy was too far to my left or right I'd adjust my heading as appropriate. By the time the third buoy and 750 meters had passed I would have sworn I had been in the water for at least three hours. There's no way open water swimming should have felt that difficult. The accumulated fatigue I felt all over was similar to what I'd felt after 2-3K in the pool. It was around this time I knew something was clearly wrong. Which, of course, meant I needed to swim faster to get it over with more quickly.

Around the fourth buoy, I had lost all feeling in my arms and my inner voice was starting to become incoherent. Concentrating on more than the simplest ideas was impossible. "Arms, forward and back. Legs, up and down. Go," was all I could muster. My inner world was collapsing in on itself as my thoughts regressed to the simplest form. By the fifth buoy I had nearly forgotten which way I was supposed to turn. I'd have to sight every few strokes because I wasn't able to hold that mental image of my surroundings for more than a few moments. My form had degenerated to the swimming equivalent of limping along. My arms were going every direction and my legs dragged ineffectually behind me.

Then I saw the sixth and final buoy to my right. That was it. I was finished. I had completed the trial and could stand on sweet earth where I belonged. All I needed to do was stand up in the shallow water and emerge victorious from-

My next clear memory after seeing that buoy was the outline of the door into the ambulance in the parking lot. I was hoisted like a ragdoll through the portal by two men in uniforms. The cold water still dripped off of me. My shins and knees were bloody from being dragged across the parking lot. Someone dried me off with my towel and wrapped my fleece jacket around me. It was only later that a few flashes of memory would return.

I vaguely remember trying to stand in the water, but falling onto my hands and knees; someone grabbing my shoulder as I crawled toward the shore and I tried to shake them off; being led to my transition area which contained my belongings, my towel and jacket.

The next hour was spent in the super-heated ambulance trying to warm up. One of the EMTs threw a thermometer in my mouth as my mind and body started working again. I was clear headed enough to see my temperature was 86 degrees. One of the symptoms of deep hypothermia is that you don't actually feel too cold. This is indeed the case. It was only after warming up a bit that my body seemed to have completed its reboot and I started shivering. This wasn't the usual chattering teeth and goosebumps and slight trembling. This was violent, uncontrollable shaking more similar to seizing. Afterward, my jaw and temples were aching from being clenched so tightly for over half an hour. What was the most profound aspect was that I had noticed there were two EMTs and another triathlete, a women wearing a wetsuit who had presumably dropped out of the race, in the ambulance. However, it took me roughly 45 minutes to realize that I was also sitting in the ambulance. Up until that point, I was aware (sort of) of my surroundings, but didn't realize how I had fit into the whole picture.

The feeling was reminiscent of descriptions I've read of Cotard's delusion. Cotard's is an interesting psychological phenomenon, but this article isn't really the place to go into it. Perhaps it'd be a good subject for another time.

From time to time, someone will put a positive spin on a race that doesn't go as planned by saying it's an opportunity for learning and growth. While that may be true, it would have been easier (and cheaper) to take the advice I read and buy a wetsuit. An ambulance ride and hospital visit, which amounted to sitting on a bed and sipping a cup of hot chocolate, cost me $900. Well, lesson learned. It also put a chip on my shoulder. I bought a wetsuit, the cheapest I could find, and successfully completed my first triathlon a few weeks later.

It's been over six years since my first attempt at triathlon. I know more than a few people who would take that first experience as a sign that triathlon wasn't for them. Instead, I realized that everyone was an amateur at first. I have since completed around twenty triathlons, including three full distance (aka "Ironman") triathlons. I've carried trophies away from some. I've barely limped away from others. I racked up my second DNF due to cold water a few years later. I've learned. I've grown. I have become who I am today. And it all started with that first failure. I wouldn't trade that experience for anything.

By the way, DNF stands for "did not finish". In case you were wondering.

[howyouwork-blog]

The Sense of Taste: Why New Foods are Always Bad and Why You Should Still Eat Them

Do you enjoy any foods that you used to absolutely hate? Perhaps a certain hoppy drink? Or, have you ever enjoyed the taste of something more than usual? What about a tall glass of water after a long, hot day? Have you ever had a decadent dessert that loses its allure after the first few bites?

Believe it or not, the flavor of these foods don't change over time. If you remember the last time you experienced any of these phenomena, you might notice they still taste the same. So why is it that the enjoyment of certain tastes seem to change over time? Read on and you'll find out more than you'd ever thought possible about your sense of taste! Topics include:

What role does your sense of taste play in eating?

How can the same food taste good or bad at different times?

Why new foods tend to taste bad, and why you should still eat them

Like usual, it's a good idea to start with the fundamentals before getting into the nitty-gritty, and more interesting, details. It turns out the tongue plays a greater role than simply making lunchtime more enjoyable.

Humans are omnivores. Unlike most herbivores or carnivores this means that we can eat almost anything and our bodies will find some way to make use of it. Almost anything. There are still some things out there masquerading as tasty looking morsels that are harmful. I'm not talking about the long term health effects of cheeseburgers. It's things like rotten meat, mold, or poisonous mushrooms that fall under this "do not eat, ever" category. The sense of taste is the first line of defense for avoiding foods like this. If something tastes overly bitter (ash or burnt meat) or too earthy (bad fungus or mold), then the first instinct is to spit it out. The sense of taste of omnivores tend to be much more sensitive than those of other animals to account for the greater variety of foods we may be eating.

The tongue works by examining the chemicals in foods in the mouth. Different parts of the tongue are "activated" by different chemicals, and all edibles are comprised of different chemicals. These are taste buds, and send signals to the brain when activated by their chemical counterparts to send messages about incoming food. Some send messages to the brain when activated by salty foods, others send messages when activated by bitter foods, and so on. This goes beyond the common vitamins and minerals we're all familiar with. This is why it's very easy to distinguish between a strawberry and an orange, or pork tenderloin and a chicken wing even though these food pairings are nutritionally similar. As we live and grow, and eat, we're inadvertently training our brains to associate tastes with certain nutrients. For example, if you taste something sweet, the rest of your body reacts in preparation for getting a dump of sugar since you've trained your brain your entire life when eating sweet things.

Over time, our minds make a great catalog of what nutrients are associated with certain tastes. Eat enough citrus fruit and your body learns that "tart" means "incoming vitamin C". Slurp down enough cola and "sweet + bubbly" yields "dump energy into the blood". Given enough time and input (e.g. eating enough varieties of foods) and things like "sweet" and "tart" gets boiled down to "good" and "bad" depending on what your body needs at any particular moment.

It turns out the human body is an open system. That means it's constantly in motion. The needs for optimal operation are constantly changing. This is where the nuances of taste and pleasure come into play. If your body is in need of a certain vitamin, mineral, macronutrient, or nutrient, then those needs make their way to your brain. As mentioned before, your brain has spent its entire life making this catalog of what foods contain which nutrients. In this case, your brain does a reverse lookup (e.g. what nutrients come from which foods) and you'll stat craving those foods. If you've been exercising and sweating out all your sodium, then your images of your favorite salty foods will flash in your mind. Throw back some pretzels and you're rewarded with instant feedback that good things are happening. Need salt --> pretzels in mouth --> winning at life!

A quick note on cravings: humans evolved this feedback mechanism in an environment where some foods, and thus some nutrients, were very rare. If caveman Jane or Joe came across one of these rare gems, their brains would immediately start yelling about how great it would be to eat eat eat! Bakeries, fast food joints, and other food acquisition establishments take advantage of this by reminding you of these types of foods even though they're no longer rare. How do you feel about [cheesecake|nachos|french fries|ice cream|your favorite food]? How did you feel before reading that sentence? Chances are, if you're like most people, just being reminded that such foods exist is enough to start craving them. This kind of primal, good-anytime-anywhere type of craving is not really the focus of this article so I'll stick with the "nutritional need" <-> "tastiness" association.

Going back to the fact that the human body is an open system, requirements change all the time. Once you've eaten some pretzels and replenished your sodium stores, those pretzels tend to lose their luster. Eat enough and the idea of consuming any more salt can become downright repulsive! You've experienced this if the first few bites of a big restaurant dish are great, but you end up with leftovers to take home. It's also why you may occasionally crave foods you might otherwise not look forward to. Some people crave the tart flavor of lemons or oranges when they come down with a cold. This is because citrus fruits get their tart flavor from citric acid, a common form of the immune system boosting nutrient vitamin C.

If you've made it this far, you might have noticed a gaping hole in this logic. Different people around the world crave different foods. A lot of people find unfamiliar foods quite repulsive even if they contain nutrients your body needs at the time. This goes back to the whole "humans are omnivores and eat everything" idea. It turns out that attempting to eat everything was dangerous for our cave(wo)men Joe and Jane. There were lots of unfamiliar things that weren't in their taste-nutrient catalogs. Trying something new and nutritious yields a small benefit, a new entry into their catalog or reinforcing and existing entry. If something happens to be new and poisonous, though, it may result in illness or death. Given the high stakes, it makes sense that "new" equals "bad" in this context. We still have this instinct even though its value is severely diminished in our modern world where, allergies aside, dire consequences from new foods are few and far between. As long as we aren't dumpster diving for our next meal, the worst that can happen is having a new entry penciled into our catalog.

People with adventurous palates who try new things have overridden this instinct. However, there's a time in all of our lives where this instinct simply didn't exist. Everyone begins their lives with an empty taste-nutrient catalog and learning about new foods is extremely valuable. That's right, everyone is a natural born explorer. Pickiness is only later adopted after the requisite period of blessed open mindedness.

Overriding this instinct doesn't always end with a new entry in the catalog of a nutritious food. The results may occasionally be a great new thing to always avoid. What is constant is the novelty of the experience. It's this idea of experiencing new things that's inherently pleasurable for adventurous people. That's right, some people enjoy new things simply because they are new. That's tautology at its finest.

 This creates a virtuous circle wherein some individuals' taste-nutrient catalog grows with more entries every year than some people will accrue in their entire lives. These entries aren't set in stone at the outset. The first time someone eats a pickle might not be a particularly pleasant experience if their sodium needs are met at the moment. The next time the new pickle-eater is depleted of salt it will most likely be some other, more familiar salty food that is the object of craving. Being open to trying that pickle a few times will reinforce the entry of "pickle = salt" and may eventually even supplant previous salty foods as the newest craving when in need of sodium. Contrary to popular belief, this kind of repeated exposure is easiest with children, especially when they have little control over their own dinner plates. However, this idea should ring true with anyone who is familiar with the idea of an acquired taste.

There are some individuals to whom the idea of trying something new is absolutely repulsive. "Why try something new when I know I've already had the best in the world?" Indeed, this argument holds some validity in that their "best" comes from a limited catalog that may have stopped growing after they discovered macaroni and cheese. Like we've seen, this inherent aversion to new things was once valuable, but it no longer has a role to play in modern first-world societies. The term "neophobia", or a fear of new things, describes these people fairly well. It's a moniker I'd personally like to avoid, and with a little effort the idea of stagnation becomes as repulsive as neophobia. It turns out those people who act like they enjoy kale salads or wheat grass juice aren't acting. It turns out, in fact, they've taken the first step to try something new and reinforced it enough times to allow their bodies to figure out that tons of nutrients can be found in those kinds of foods.

So, "why try something new?" Instead, I'd ask, "why not?" We can all make excuses about the dangers of the unknown or that one time you tried something new and it turned out poorly. However, I'd expect the potential for enjoying life a little more and avoiding stagnation outweighs any risk of something bad happening. Uncertainty and neophobia may have been legitimate causes for concern when we, as a race, were foraging for dinner and living out of caves, but in this day and age it might be time for an evolution in our thinking on the subject.

[howyouwork-blog]

Objective Strength - Measuring Key Performance Metrics

Every so often, I'm accused of being a fast runner. Sometimes, I even catch myself believing it's true. Some of my friends are actually fast, but I can just do a decent impression of a competitive athlete. Still, it's nice to dream…

Ah, how nice it would be to… Wait, where was I? Right, have you ever wondered what makes a world class athlete exceptional? When it comes to the guys and gals like Micheal Phelps or Ryan Hall there's certainly a genetic component. There's more to it than that, though. Here's a look at a few of the ways top athletes measure their performance, and what they do to improve their fitness.

Perfect Your Mid Distance Racing with VO2Max

What is it? This alphabet soup is a measurement of how quickly a person is able to process oxygen. It's your "max volume of O2". It's usually measured as liters of oxygen per minute. Since this measurement is often used by cyclists, who are known for being particularly small, you will also see this measured as milliliters per minute per kilogram of body weight. Higher numbers are better, and those numbers will go up if you become better at sucking oxygen or losing weight.

Why does it matter? Races that last longer than about a minute long depend heavily on the aerobic energy system. Put your bio-chemist hat on for a moment: An "aerobic" chemical reaction is defines as one that requires oxygen. The more oxygen you're able to suck down, the more quickly your body will be able to perform aerobic chemical reactions. The chemical of concern here is adenosine triphosphate, AKA ATP or "energy". For a runner or cyclist, this translates directly to speed.

Elite cyclists and runners who specialize in four to sixty minutes tend to have an extremely high VO2Max. Shorter efforts, like a 100 meter sprint, tend to utilize mainly anaerobic energy systems (those that don't use oxygen). Performance for longer efforts, like marathons, tend to be limited by another parameter. If you'd like to set a new PR in the mile or 5,000m, then this is the metric to look at.

How do you improve it? A person's VO2Max is mostly fixed at birth. That doesn't mean you shouldn't work at it, though! Most amateur athletes aren't used to maximizing their oxygen flow so don't even know what it feels like to sustain that kind of effort. To practice, engage in your cardio activity of choice, like running or cycling, as hard as possible for four minutes at a time. You should feel the effort after one minute, really want to quit after two minutes, be unsure of whether you'll be able to continue after three, and after four minutes you should be on the edge of passing out. Repeat these four minute efforts 4-6 times with a few minutes rest between each effort. Keep yourself honest by bumping up your speed by a small degree with every effort to try to hit that max speed you can maintain. This kind of workout should only be done once every week or two.

The first time you hit this workout correctly, your throat and lungs will likely hurt quite a bit when breathing deeply afterward. Your lungs aren't used to expanding that much and processing that much air! Don't worry, though, this is one that gets much easier and much less painful after just one workout.

Metabolic Efficiency for Going the Distance

There has been a trend in recent years of long distance athletes training on low carb diets. To what end? You guessed it! In order to improve their metabolic efficiency! What does this mean? It's a bit like the miles-per-gallon measurement you see on new cars, but for your body. We all know that carbs and sugar are the body's preferred fuel for high intensity exercise and racing. However, every human has a limited supply of glycogen, the body's sugar based energy stores. Even after the obligatory pre-marathon carbo loading, a runner will only have enough glycogen to run about 20 miles or exercise for about three hours at a moderately high intensity.

Marathons are 26.2 miles long. There are some races that are 50 or 100 miles long. Some are even longer. These are running races. Where people run. For 100+ miles. Nonstop. It doesn't take a mathematician to realize 100 miles is longer than that 20 mile limit.

Luckily, even the leanest people have enough fat stored on their body to run thousands of miles (theoretically). Metabolic efficiency is a measurement of the proportion of fat to carbohydrate that's being burned at any given intensity. Higher intensity efforts will burn more carbs and less fat. Improving metabolic efficiency allows an athlete to burn more fat at higher intensities, thus sparing their precious glycogen stores for when it's really needed.

This is a relatively new measurement of performance, but you can generally find labs in major cities that are equipped to determine your metabolic efficiency. This is done by examining the gas that you exhale while exercising using big, scary looking masks while running on a treadmill or riding on a stationary bike. Comparing the carbon dioxide levels and comparing it to the amount that'd be expected when burning pure sugar for any level of energy output allows people in scientific lab coats to tell you what percentage of energy you're generating is coming from fat. It's a little more complicated than that, but it's kind of an unpleasant and expensive test so I wouldn't expect anyone other than the most type-A athletes to get actual numbers for their metabolic efficiency.

If you've ever "hit the wall" in a marathon, or would rather not ever experience it, or are planning on jumping into ultra-distance racing, then it'd be a good idea to improve your metabolic efficiency. It'll help. I promise. This is done by eschewing the usual high carb, high sugar advice for endurance training. Your body tends to burn the energy you feed it so eating less carbohydrate and more fat shifts the natural tendency of the body to burn more fat. Some athletes will take this to the extreme and engage in fasted workouts by going for long runs and bike rides immediately after waking without eating any breakfast. That's usually 12 hours after their last meal. If you plan on doing fasted workouts, proceed with caution. This can result in some serious damage if done willy-nilly. Fasted exercise should be done at a relatively moderate intensity, and not engaged in too frequently. If fasting isn't something you're interested in, try trading the morning fruit and oatmeal for something with fat, like bullet proof coffee or an avocado. Switch the sports drink and energy gels for water when working out to kick the reliance on that sugar rush.

I've gone in depth on this subject in previous articles, and there are lots of good resources across the internet for more advice on improving metabolic efficiency. Bonus: You'll get better at burning fat so getting lean is a nice side effect.

Body Composition and the Unexpected News on Fat

A person's body composition is a measurement of their body fat as a percentage of their total body weight. Despite what you might expect, lower is not always particularly better. Unlike other measurements, there are very large differences between men and women. The absolute minimum body composition of men is about 3% compared to about 10% for women. This is generally known as essential fat. The only way to reduce body composition below these levels is generally attainable by dying. So I'd discourage shooting for levels that low.

Since the majority of us don't want to look like living, walking skeletons, let's stick with the more common levels. Athletic men tend to have between 6% and 12% body fat, and women fall between 14% and 20%. Your average, fairly fit man will be in the 12-18% range, and women will be in the 21-24% range. Non-athletic men may have a body composition up to 24%, while average women are up to 31%. Higher levels of body composition are usually only seen in obese individuals.

Elite athletes tend to be, well, in the "athletic" range found above. Contrary to what you might expect, they aren't all at the very bottom end of that spectrum. Marathon runners are generally the leanest at the bottom of the spectrum or even going into the "essential" category. Cyclists and triathletes are the next leanest, usually near the bottom or middle of the "athletic" category. Elite swimmers and skiers are near the top of the "athletic" range as some of the least lean athletes. It's likely that Michael Phelps is leaner than most people will ever be. However, something tells me that not just anyone would be reading this, so keep in mind that getting leaner may not actually be the best thing for your athletic performance.

Why is this all important? I'd like to see this measurement replace more common methods for determining health and wellness. Hopefully, we all know by now that BMI is almost worthless, but simple body-weight is also a pretty poor measurement. Very lean, muscular athletes, particularly smaller football players (American handegg, not real football) are sometimes categorized as "obese" despite having waists that are narrower than their shoulders. Likewise, gaining weight isn't always bad as long as body composition remains steady. This could imply an individual is gaining muscle mass, or simply temporarily retaining water for some reason. All of this is the long way of saying that you shouldn't put too much credence into the numbers you see on your average bathroom scale.

There are a few ways to measure body composition, each with pros and cons. The lowest tech method is with the use of calipers in the hands of a skilled nutritionist. Measurements of skin folds in various areas of the body are taken, then this is compared with height and weight to determine a body fat percentage. Despite how low tech this method sounds, it can be very accurate when done by an experienced and knowledgeable individual.

If you'd rather go the high tech route, there's bio impedance. This works by measuring the electrical resistance between two point of the body, usually between your feet with a fancy scale or the hands with a handheld device. These are notoriously inaccurate, but not altogether useless. Despite being inaccurate, their inaccuracy is very consistent. They're useful for tracking upward or downward trends in your body composition even if your exact body composition isn't known at any particular time. The main advantage of these devices is their convenience; you don't need any expensive tests or procedures to simply step on the bathroom scale. The efficacy of these devices tend to be directly correlated with their price, so don’t expect much from the cheapest device you can find on your online marketplace of choice.

The gold standard for accuracy is called hydrostatic weighing. This method uses water displacement to very accurately measure your bodily volume which can be compared to your weight to approximate your body composition. This process requires a lab test and can become pricey if you want to test multiple times. If you're interested in knowing, though, a single test tends to run a fairly reasonable $30 - $60. The actual test can be a bit unpleasant since it involves submerging yourself in water, then exhaling all of the air in your lungs; a process that feels a little like drowning, especially for anyone uncomfortable in water. Still, a cool way to get a very accurate measurement.

The last, common option is a DEXA scan. This is a great option for those who love quantifying everything about themselves and have plenty of money to burn. DEXA scans are more commonly known used for measuring bone density, but can also provide detailed information on body composition. Depending on the lab you visit (and you will need to visit a lab for this one) you may be able to see the composition of different parts of your body. Want to know what percentage of your left arm is adipose tissue? This is for you! Unfortunately, this kind of scan will likely cost $100-$200 for a single scan. Those who use DEXA scans tend to go for one or two scans a year.

So there's a few things to keep in mind if you want to quantify your athletic ability. Keep in mind:

VO2Max measures how much oxygen you can use. Improving it can help with your top end efforts in races.

Metabolic efficiency measures your ability to burn fat. Do some research if you want to go for the long-long-long distance events.

Body composition, a better measurement than weight or BMI.

For those Type-A athletes among us, have fun with these numbers.

[howyouwork-blog]

What’s it Take: Seattle Super Spartan - Elite Edition

It's been over six years since running my first race, a half marathon on a cold autumn day in Seattle. Within a year, I had added triathlon and mud runs to the list of events I had completed. Most recently, I competed in the Seattle Super Spartan as a member of the Beasts OCR team on April 23rd. Since doing the same old thing gets boring, this was my first experience taking part in the elite wave at a Spartan race.

When it comes to racing, there's a common feeling about days that don't end up as hoped. Even if you don't meet your goals and expectations, you can at least take away lessons to improve later performances. Upon reflection, I can safely say that day had plenty of opportunity for learning. Here are the subjects I hit in this article:

Who was I racing against and why did I think I could keep up with them?

What was the course and how should I have been preparing myself?

Which pieces of gear were helpful and what did I leave behind?

Unlike events I've done in the past, those who participate as elite athletes are segregated by more than just an earlier starting time. What makes elite Spartan racers different? It'd be great to say that we're a step above, or that we train more rigorously, or needed to qualify in some way to prove our worth. That'd be a lie. The only difference is that I clicked the button for the earliest time slot when signing up. Sure, most of the people I raced with that day were in great shape, and the sheer number of abs at the starting line was reminiscent of Zack Snyder's "300". The only thing that I can safely say was common among all of us was an extraordinary sense of self confidence in our physical fitness. There were even some people there who deserved to feel such confidence.

Let me take a moment to describe the first few minutes of obstacle course races and mud runs I've done in the past. I usually line up behind the front line of participants at the start. Everyone psyches themselves up with the requisite peacocking or macho displays. Then, they at a dead sprint at the signal of the start. I generally go at a comfortable 5K or 10K race pace (hard, but not so hard I can't speak a few words at a time) while people bolt past, and those in front get further ahead. Within 20 seconds, usually half of those who sprinted off the front have slowed to huffing crawl. Most of the remaining keep it up for about a minute more before I stroll by, leaving them red faced and gasping like a fish out of water. All but one or two are usually well in my rear view mirror by the first mile and the actual race for first place begins.

Sounds great, right? Well, the first 20 seconds went exactly as I expected. Instead of slowing down after that, the people in front of me kept up running. And some kept getting faster. Indeed, it turns out a lot of those people who I assumed to be overconfident were just confident. After holding down the afterburners for 10 minutes I realized that I was likely to be the one that would fade and need to slow down.

The lesson learned? These guys are fast. When it comes to the local 5K mud run I feel like a big fish in a small pond, but that's clearly not the case with Spartan races. Spartan is an international brand that attracts the best of the best. When a non-trivial number of your competitors are booking air travel to get to the venue, it's safe to assume you'll be up against some serious athletes. I am faster, stronger, more agile, and better at what I do than most people, but there are still plenty of racers faster than me. That's unlikely to change at a lot of the races I do this season. This lesson is best served with a heaping helping of humble pie.

Alright, so these dudes are fast. Oh, and plenty of fast ladies. I'm not ashamed of being beaten by four or five of those Amazonian wonders. Let's face if gentlemen, there's no shame in getting chicked as long as they're better athletes.

Anyway, what about the course? If you've ever seen or participated in an obstacle course race, then you'll be familiar with the format. There's lots of running punctuated by playground equipment for grownups. These "obstacles" are the 'O' in OCR (which stands for "Obstacle Course Race" if you're unfamiliar with the new trendiness). It turns out there are a few differences in the obstacles for elite racers at a Spartan event. Most importantly, we're all competing against each other unlike the "competitive" or "open" waves in which participants are encouraged to work together. That means it is inadmissible to receive or render assistance at any obstacle in an elite wave. Sorry, no teamwork here.

The first obstacle I knew would be trouble was the 8' wall. It is as simple as it sounds: Eight feet of vertical, featureless wood, and it's your job to get over it. As I approached this obstacle I started having flashbacks of my previous Spartan race.

(Flashback)

There I was in Temecula, throwing myself at the wall over and over again, my fingers barely reaching the top only to be flung away in my weak grip… and my only salvation was being pulled over by a girl sitting on top of the wall. The humiliation of needing help! The travesty of showing my weakness in front of everyone! The… comradery of using teamwork to accomplish your goals!

(End flashback)

But no! I practiced jumping! And I practiced grabbing stuff! This would be different! Right?

As it turned out, yes. I was able to vault high enough to wrap the tips of my fingers around the top of the wall on my first try. To give you an idea of how close it was, I firmly believe I would have failed if it were 8'1" tall. My first instinct was that it wouldn't be enough, but all those hours at the climbing gym and picking up friggin' heavy stuff to strengthen my grip paid off. I was hanging by three finger tips which was enough to haul myself up and over the wall. Barely enough. I'll be adding exercises to improve my vertical leap and grip for the rest of the summer.

Another unpleasant surprise came in the form of the sandbag carry. Yet another extremely simple obstacle: Pick up a sandbag from a pile of sandbags and carry it in a loop before depositing the sandbag right back where you got it. This is one I usually look forward since hauling a 40lb sandbag is a bit of a reprieve compared to running up and down hills. Unfortunately, I was waved off from my nice, familiar 40lb bags and pointed toward an unmarked bag. I didn't give it much thought as I reached for this unfamiliar black bag and attempted to walk away only got as far as my outstretched arms until I came to a violent stop. The bag appeared to be frozen in place, stuck to the top of the pile and clearly immovable. No, it turns out I'm just weaker than I had hoped. It took a concerted effort to heave the sandbag onto my shoulder without toppling over. That only lasted a few seconds before I had to resort to hugging the sandbag to my chest to avoid falling over. Instead of being a relaxing jaunt around the woods, this was an excruciating few minutes during which my ballast seemed to be getting heavier. By the end of the loop, I assumed the 60lb bag had somehow inflated to a good half ton. My wrists and forearms were completely drained by the time I was able to shuffle close enough to drop off the bag.

Lesson: Farmer's walk, more distance. And heavier. And do stuff to make my grip strength better. You can never have strong enough hands for a Spartan race.

I wanted to wrap up this section on a bit of a high note and talk about a pleasant surprise. The memory wall. Or the lack of one. That's right, us in the elite heat can't be counted on to have both strong bodies and minds. Thus, we were allowed to run right past the memorization obstacle and hurry along our merry way to the next physical challenge that we could mindlessly crash through with brute force.

Honorable mentions for other obstacles include the mud cliffs, the Hercules hoist, and the log crawl. The cliff was a new obstacle I'd not encountered in previous races and consisted of near vertical mud and dirt walls with ropes hanging down. They were kind enough to have massive foot divots dug into the wall and posed little challenge to an experienced rock climber like myself. It was a ton of fun to scale.

My relatively small size helped on the cliffs, but it was a hindrance on the Hercules hoist. It seemed to take several minutes of straining to move those weights a few inches at a time before copmleting. Luckily, all that grip training paid off and I was able to get through without any penalty burpees. My forearms were once again completely burnt, but it was a success. Mini-lesson here: Grip! Are you seeing a theme here?

Lastly, the log crawl was an obstacle revealed in the maps circulated online before the race. However, there was no mention of it in the Spartan guide, nor could I find anything about it from previous races. It remained a mystery of what a "log crawl" was until I approached it. It turns out the log crawl was simply a barbed while crawl crossed with babysitting, if your baby was a piece of wood. Not a huge struggle, but a slow one to get through.

Lastly, let's talk gear. Everyone has different goals and expectations from a Spartan race so there isn't a single perfect gear list that will apply to all participants out there. On the other hand, the right clothes and accessories can make the difference between a disaster and a really great experience regardless of what level of athlete you are.

One of the greatest parts of being on a team are the connections you get. GHUnders is a company in Washington that specializes in base layers for outdoorsy types, and I'm lucky enough to be sponsored by these guys. Their gear is premium stuff so if you're looking to pinch pennies, their stuff might be something to ask Santa Claus to deliver. At the elite level, though, I've been incredibly impressed with their gear in the few races I've used it in. If you're looking for the best, it's worth the investment. My setup at the Seattle Super Spartan included a pair of their shorts, cleat guards, and arm sleeves. I ditched the shirt at the last minute since the weather ended up being warmer than expected. Also, I was in the men's elite wave where shirts may as well be taboo. I won't comment on the shirt/shirtless policies for the women's elite heat.

Having comfortable feet is critical. Their cleat/guards covers meant for soccer players do a great job doubling as gaiters and calf sleeves. If you've ever been stuck with a rock in your shoe you know how terrible that can be. Stopping to pull a pebble out of a shoe is a major time sync so avoiding it in the first place is absolutely crucial. The covers wrapped around my shoes keeping everything out. Without the protection, debris in the shoes would have been inevitable with the rough terrain we were crossing. Additionally, the coverage of the ankles and calves are a boon for any race that includes a tyrolean traverse. Sliding a rope along your Achilles tendon can get painful if you don't have calf sleeves or tall socks. This race included a tyrolean and I was happy to test them out. This piece of gear has made its way onto my "must-have" list.

The arm sleeves are another great addition with a number of uses. First, there's the additional insulation if it's cold, and they can easily be rolled down to your wrists if you get overheated. Second, the provide protection for obstacles like the barbed wire crawl or Atlas Carry which can tear up your arms. Lastly, they make a great place to stow energy gels if you're like me and don't want to get weighed down with a hydration pack or, Heaven forbid, a fanny pack. At this race, I slipped one energy gel under the sleeve at my wrist for easy access.

I have a lot of experience with long distance running, triathlon, and cycling. This brings me to a touchy subject. One aspect of those sports that doesn't get much air time is how a little rub between the legs can result in the need to walk bow-legged for days afterward. I'm talking about chafing. Those shorts that GHUnders provided were invaluable for my future generations. I believe they treat the material for their clothes with the perfect proportion of science and magic, or something along those lines. The result is a cloth that pulls moisture away from the skin keeping you dry. This is one of the greatest, and most unique, aspects of the gear. No moisture, no chafing, no problem! This isn't to be confused with moisture wicking material that simply spread the wetness around so you get chafed slightly less over a larger area of skin.

Science! It's an amazing thing! If I've convinced you about how great this stuff is, I strongly encourage heading over the www.GHUnders.com and checking out what they have.

Moving on, I also wore some gloves for the race, the brand of which I will not be disclosing. "To glove, or not to glove," that's a frequent question in the OCR community. Well, I glove. There are the obvious benefits of hand protection and textured gripping material. The biggest downside is that they generally become useless and even burdensome after getting wet. Indeed, I came to the monkey bars during the race with muddy gloves and attempted to jump onto the first bar. To my dismay, the water-logged gloves made it like trying to hang onto a rigid eel. However, I took them off and it was like my hands were magnetic! I'll add "keeping your hands dry" to the list of reasons to use gloves in a race.

And that's about it. Notably missing was any hydration or nutrition besides the energy gel I had slipped in my sleeve. It was a push to get through the race in about 90 minutes with no more to drink than what was on the course. If you aren't completely performance oriented, then it's completely understandable to carry a handheld water bottle or hydration pack. However, it can slow you down or get in the way when trying to fly through some obstacles, like rolling under barbed wire or flipping over and sliding down cargo nets.

Some people might argue about performance degradation that comes with dehydration. It's certainly true that being chronically undernourished or dehydrated is bad news for your body. It turns out that proper hydration during exercise is more impactful for how you feel the next day than performance at that exact moment. If you don't believe me, take a look at how much elite marathon runners drink during the next Olympic games. Or scan the elite heat at your next Spartan race to see how many are carrying their own drinks. At this race, my performance that day was my primary concern so digging myself into a water deficit hole wasn't a concern. Sure, it meant I wouldn't be feeling great later that day, but my schedule in the following 24 hours allowed for plenty of guzzling various liquids.

That's the long way of saying I did not carry water onto the course. 90 minutes of hard racing, whether triathlon, OCR, or running, is about as long as I'd go without my own water. Anything longer and I tend to bring my own watering solution.

In case any of that has already left your memory, here's a quick recap of my day:

This was my first experience in a Spartan elite heat, and what an experience it was!

For elites, obstacles are hard and teamwork is verboten :(

Grip! It's important! Mine is great and I still want it to be better! More rock climbing, dead lifts, and walking around carrying heavy stuff.

GHUnders, a great sponsor and amazing clothes if you want the best, most comfortable stuff for racing. Or hiking or mountaineering or, well, pretty much anything outdoors that requires physical exertion.

Gloves. Take 'em or leave 'em. I'll be racing with them.

Hydration? Nah. I'm good. Feeling a little thirsty won't hold me back. Today, anyway. Tomorrow's a different story.

There's my story. Lots of lessons learned, and a result that I can be proud of. Well, kind of proud. There were still 22 guys faster than me, which is 22 too many in my opinion. There's always room for improvement, especially for someone as green to OCR as I am. Now, get out there and do something amazing.

[howyouwork-blog]

Energy Management - The Three Energy Pathways in the Human Body

"The energy systems are like gears in a car"

"Your body is a temple"

"The pain you feel today is the strength you'll feel tomorrow"

Wouldn't it be great if the human body could be boiled down to a few words in a quote? It turns out it's a little more complicated than that. Okay, a lot more complicated. Turning that chicken sandwich into energy to fuel your workout takes a lot of twists and turns. It's a labyrinth of pathways. Or maybe more like a tree with lots of branches. Or a super highway of…. You know what, similes and metaphors aren't really working here. I'll stick to the facts.

There are three main pathways through which the human body generates energy. This energy is used by your cells in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). That's a great term to have in your back pocket if you play Scrabble. "ATP" is a lot less of a mouthful than "uh-den-oh-zine try-foss-fate" which is the more common way it's referred to. The system that is used is determined by the intensity of the activity you're engaged in at any time. These energy systems are known as:

ATP-CP - High intensity, power movements lasting a second, or a few seconds at most

Glycolytic - High intensity activity that lasts at least 10 second, up to a few minutes

Aerobic - Moderate and lower intensity activity that's sustainable for longer periods of time

The first alphabet soup of an energy system, known as the ATP-CP system, is used by the human body for very short bursts of high power movements that do not last more than a moment or two. We already know what "ATP" stands for,; it's the chemical that's used to fire cells and make movement. The "CP" stand for creatine-phosphate. It's stored in the muscles and is sapped at a very high rate when called upon. This would be used if you were throwing a punch, executing a bench press, or doing box jumps, for example. Your creatine stores only last about 10 seconds at most. They're also replenished at a high rate. A good rule of thumb is that you'll need about 10 seconds of recovery for every 1 second of time expending energy through the ATP-CP system. This process doesn't require any oxygen to function so it falls under the "anaerobic" category.

Note: The terms "aerobic" simply refers to any chemical reaction that uses oxygen. "Anaerobic" refers to any reaction that, well, doesn't require oxygen. In terms of your energy systems, that means you can create anaerobic energy without the need for increasing your breathe rate. You should probably keep breathing even though that air won't be used for the 10 seconds you're burning up your creatine.

Second down the line is glycolysis. This energy system is commonly called the anaerobic system. It is indeed anaerobic, but it is distinct from the ATP-CP system, which also falls under the anaerobic category. First, let's look at that word: glycolysis. The root of that word, "glyc-", means sweet, like sugar. It's also used in "glycogen" which is the form of carbohydrate stored in the liver and muscles to be turned into energy. So glycolysis creates energy from glycogen which is how glucose, the body's preferred sugar, is stored in the body. Sweet.

How does this work? When you call on your body to work hard and need to sustain that effort for more than just a few seconds you'll be calling on the glycolytic energy system. This mobilizes the glycogen stored in your muscles and liver to generate ATP. This process generates energy rapidly, but the process is relatively inefficient compared to aerobic pathways. Sustaining glycolytic efforts for a few minutes results in the buildup of lactate in the muscles (aka lactic acid [aka "feel the burn"]). Despite the bad rep that lactate gets, this is actually a good thing. It's recycled and turned into even more ATP when needed. The burn felt in overworked muscles occurs when lactate is created faster than it can be recycled. The buildup can be uncomfortable, but it's harmless as long as you don't sustain that kind of effort for hours. And that probably won't happen unless you're training to ride the Tour de France.

Working out in this way, sprinting for a minute or two, will burn 100% sugar in the form of dietary carbohydrate and glycogen. Attempting to sustain that effort longer than a few minutes will \transition from 100% glycolytic to a mix of glycolytic and aerobically derived energy. Since the aerobic system doesn't convert energy as fast as the glycolytic system maintaining the intensity will require more effort until you will need to slow down.

"Wait, why do people even have an aerobic energy system if it isn't as fast as the other ones?" you might ask. That's a good question! It may not be as fast, but it's almost 20 times as efficient at generating ATP as your glycolytic energy system. That's a good statistic to know if anyone wants to know whether humans are natural sprinters or distance runners. The aerobic system is one of the main reasons humans can literally run animals to death. Do an internet search of "persistence hunting" if you want to know more about that. If you aren't a fan of chasing antelope until they dies from exhaustion, you can also employ your aerobic system for running a marathon, or sitting through a Netflix marathon of House of Cards.

Remember how "aerobic" means reactions that require oxygen? This is why aerobic exercise makes you breathe hard. It requires more oxygen! It's also the reason humans have to breathe more or less constantly throughout the day: you're constantly generating aerobic energy even when not exercising, albeit at a slower rate. The aerobic energy pathways in the human body utilize both carbohydrate and fat to generate ATP. The lower the intensity, the greater the proportion will come from fat. There's a tipping point in most people at which point the amount of carbohydrate being utilized drastically increases. Generally, exercising at a lower heart rate still derives almost all energy from fat. This is why it's called the "fat burning zone".

Speaking of which, heart rate happens to be a great way to quantify your effort when working out. Having constant feedback of what your heart rate is while exercising is the gold standard used by coaches and athletes to measure fitness. If you're able to perform a workout at some average heart rate, then perform it again later in a training cycle with a lower heart rate that means you're becoming more fit! Well, probably. The exact details of heart rate might be a god topic for another article. Anyway, it's a useful tool when trying to train a specific energy pathway.

Dr. Phil Maffetone coached a number of long distance athletes, including the legendary Ironman champion Mark Allen. Maffetone would perform various tests to find the maximum intensity his athletes could perform while remaining aerobic. Although his methods were very thorough and required a great deal of testing, he developed a simple formula that seemed to apply to nearly everyone using their heart rate. Simply subtract your age from 180, and exercise in such a way to maintain a heart rate as close to that number as possible for as long as possible. Maffetone dubbed this the "maximum aerobic function" or MAF.

For example, if I am 30 years old and wanted to become a great long distance runner, then I would train by running with my heart rate as close to 150 beats per minute (180 - 30 = 150) instead of training by maintaining some preset pace or speed. For some people, this means running extremely slowly, and even walking up the slightest incline at first. However, over time the body becomes more adept at generating energy aerobically. As maximum aerobic function improves, I'd be able to run faster while maintaining a heart rate of 150bpm. This would allow me to run faster while burning more fat and relying less on glycogen. No reliance on glycogen, no hitting the wall.

Don’t want to run a marathon? If not that's alright, I understand. It isn't for everyone. Instead of training to be able to move all day, why not train to go faster? This would apply to the kinds of events that would work your glycolytic energy system. If you're a runner, this might be anything from 800m up to 3,000m, or half-mile to two miles, max effort. You can use the MAF formula as a reference for where your heart rate should be for glycolytic training. As long as you're above the MAF heart rate you'll be tapping into your glycolytic system.

Just using your glycolytic system isn't enough to train your top-end speed. Try exercising in intervals that are one minute to four minutes in length at a max effort with a good amount of recovery time between each effort. Sometimes it's hard to determine what "max effort" actually is with longer intervals. Try a progression workout to find what intensity you can sustain. In terms of running, this might mean running for two minutes at a time on a treadmill with one or two minutes of walking or slow jogging in between. Ramp up the speed by a small amount, 0.2mph for example, with each faster interval until you're unable to maintain a good form. That speed is a good speed to work for two minute intervals. This progression should be redone from time to time to reevaluate whether you should kick up the intensity in your workouts. Net result: you're able to run all-out for longer, and able to maintain a higher speed over a set distance.

Lastly, there's the ATP CP energy system. Running, or any other form of cardio, breaks down as a poor example here. It's quite tough to force the body into requiring the break down creatine for energy if there's plenty of glycogen and fat available. What to do? Explosive movements like box jumps, punching a boxing bag, or high power weight lifting will work your ATP CP energy system. There isn't much of a need to train this energy system since the limiter tends to be muscular strength instead of available energy for these movements.

Instead of training, the best way to improve this energy pathway is through maximizing your creatine intake. Creatine supplements can be purchased relatively cheaply, and taking about 5 grams a day has been shown to have a number of benefits, including improved cognitive health in aging individuals. Creatine supplementation also improves ATP-CP endurance. That, too. Probably more relevant to this article. Supplementing doesn't improve the maximum amount of weight you'd be able to push or pull during exercise, but it would increase the number of reps you'd be able to perform before muscular exhaustion. In essence, it increases the amount of available creatine so you can rely on it for a longer period of time.

And that's a quick (relatively speaking) primer on the energy systems used by the human body. Here's the (actually) quick recap:

Your ATP-CP (creatine phosphate) system uses protein (e.g. creatine) for energy, and is used for power moves that last less than 10 seconds

Do power moves like box jumps and power lifting to work this energy system, and supplement with creatine if you want to work slightly longer on these moves (or hold off cognitive decline due to aging)

Your glycolytic energy system kicks in for slightly longer efforts, up to a few minutes in length, and uses glycogen and carbohydrate

Sprint intervals between one and four minutes at max efforts will train this energy system

Your aerobic energy system is your "go all day" system, and uses both carbohydrate and fat. It is the only energy system that requires oxygen to operate.

Train your aerobic energy system by determining your max aerobic function (MAF) heart rate and try to keep your heart rate as close to that as possible

I'd love to be able to wrap this up into one concise quote that could go on a motivational poster for you. I'm not a poet, though, so you'll have to settle for the long-form explanation. Until then, keep your engines revving. Or your juices flowing. Or, uh, your ATP metabolizing? Maybe I should stick with the technical writing and away from the metaphors.

[howyouwork-blog]

What if I Want to Gain Weight?

When you Bing the term "weight management" I'd wager the majority of the 66 million hits are links to web pages with info on losing weight or preventing weight gain. If your goal is to learn how to lose weight there are plenty of resources on this grand interconnected network that are eager for your attention. That includes some of my own past writing.

What about the other side of "weight management"? There's significantly less information for those who want to gain weight. To make matters worse, the content that's available generally amounts to bodybuilders or power lifters using demeaning language on forums insisting that the answer is to be less of a daffodil and eat more meat. Preferably with lots of protein. And fat. And toaster pastries (that don't often pop and aren't particularly tart which I'd call false advertising).

Gee. Profound. To gain weight you must eat more food. If this is news to you then you can go ahead and skip the rest of this article. Problem solved. Eat more and get epic gainz.

If, however, this is not news then feel free to read on for a few tips on gaining weight in a healthful manner that doesn't leave you feeling bloated and sick. In this article I'll cover:

Disclaimer! Because I'm not a doctor and don't kill yourself!

How to increase appetite

Exercise for weight gain

Before anything else, I feel like it'd be a good idea to remind anyone reading this that I'm no doctor or a dietician. Anything I write here is my own personal experience or research with some ten-dollar words thrown in to make it sounds more sciencey (science-like? Science-esque?). Anything here should be taken as a starting point for your own research or topics of conversation to have with your own doc, diet-guru, or exercise coach. Take this all with a grain of salt. No pun intended.

That being said, the tips in this article are pretty safe. I'll stick to OTC supplements and eating strategies in favor of suggesting exogenous growth hormones or anything that'd get you banned from the Tour de France.

Let's get straight to the root of the problem, eating more food to gain weight. Hopefully, it doesn't come as a surprise that increasing body weight requires consuming more calories. I could list off a series of meal replacement powders or high glycemic foods, or a link to the Cheesecake Factory, and let you figure out the rest. However, it's usually finding the motivation to eat more food that's the problem instead of getting the food itself.

To most people, the idea of eating more doesn't sound difficult at all. However, consider a study that was done some time ago on the effects of a sustained hypercaloric diet on metabolism and weight. The study in question required a group of healthy college students or normal(ish) weight to consume 9,000 calories a day while avoiding any unnecessary physical activity. That's right, eat more and exercise less. Although the results of the study were fairly interesting on how a healthy individual can adapt to such a dietary change, what's more relevant to this subject is how the subjects felt during the study. Most of the individuals participating began with expectations that it'd be a breeze to sit around, drink more beer, and eat more ice cream for a few weeks. Without exception the subjects quickly learned that eating becomes a lot less fun after hunger subsides. Imagine someone complaining about needing to drink another milkshake before turning in for the night. First world problems at their best.

Unsurprisingly, people lost their motivation to eat too far beyond their daily energy requirements. There are some exogenous supplements that can be used to help stimulate appetite, such as marijuana. That's right: pot, weed, MJ. Whatever you want to call it, the stereotypical pothead with the munchies isn't too far off. If, for some reason, you'd rather avoid marijuana, like if it's illegal in your state, then there are alternatives. Perhaps you happen to live in Colorado, but it's cost prohibitive. Or maybe you just don't want to get high. I won't judge. A good, comparable substitute is Echinacea, an herbal supplement that shouldn't ruffle any feathers, moral or legal.

Echinacea has been identified as a class of cannabinomimetic, which means it looks and acts like cannabis at a molecular level in some respects. It won't get you high and it isn't illegal anywhere in these United States, but the cannabinoid structures in the alkylamides of Echinacea can help stimulate appetite in much the same way that puffing the magic dragon might.

Plum extract is another little known supplement that'll help stoke appetite. I've only found anecdotal evidence for its efficacy, but taking a dose of it 30 minutes before a meal appears to cause most individuals to consume more calories during that meal. This may also be true for cinnamon. I'm a little dubious about the latter since there is also evidence that cinnamon may suppress appetite, too. You can experiment with it and see if it helps. None of these supplements are terribly expensive and the worst thing that can happen is you end up with a bottle of some supplement that never gets used.

Now that your appetite is nice and stimulated, it's a good idea to prepare your body to be able to actually be able to handle the extra food. If you've ever eaten more than your fill (e.g. if you're an American and celebrate Thanksgiving), then you know the feeling I'm talking about. All that food sloshing in your stomach makes you feel bloated and heavy and sluggish and… bleck. Just thinking about it makes me want to go on a water fast.

The human digestive system has a limited capacity for processing incoming food. The rate at which stomach acid is produced is the first limiter. When a little bit of food enters the stomach, a little bit of stomach acid is secreted to take care of it. Eat a little more and a little more stomach acid is released. Eat even more and, you know where this is going, no more stomach acid is produced! Wait, that's the opposite of what's supposed to happen. Instead of producing more stomach acid, it just takes longer to digest if too much food is consumed at one time. I'd like to say this is to guard the bod against acid reflux or ulcers or something, but I think it's just the body being unable to handle too much food. This is more commonly known as "indigestion". To make matter worse, the body's ability to handle large amounts of food decreases as we age. But wait! There's a supplement for that, too!

If you plan on going above and beyond your stomach capacity there are a few remedies to help out. One of the easiest, cheapest ways to do so is to start your meal with a shot of something acidic, like lemon juice or vinegar. This starts the acid production process getting your tummy ready for an incoming truck load of food.

If you'd prefer paying for a targeted solution, or just don't like to thought of knocking back a shot of lemon juice, there's betaine HCL. This stuff can be found most places where you can buy supplements or vitamins. It's often packaged with pepsin, another supplement that can help with digestion. Generally, users will start with a low dose. Then, they'll progressively increase it before meals until they experience mild heart burn. Backing off that amount a bit is the max effective dose that someone should use. Isolated incidences of heart burn aren't damaging, but having it recur often can lead to damage in the esophagus. The takeaway there is to avoid taking betaine HCL in isolation; it should always be taken with food.

The second tool for helping the digestive process that I've found very effective is  a digestive enzyme supplement. Enzymes are molecules that accelerate all kinds of chemical reactions. From a chemical perspective there isn't anything particularly magical about digestion; it's simply a giant chemical reaction that turns chicken nuggets into nutrients and other molecules your body can actually use. Okay, it's a little more complex than that, but the important part is that it involves the use of enzymes to help out. Digestive enzymes, to be exact. I'd strongly discourage swallowing any old enzyme in the hopes that it'll help your digestive process. Stick to supplementing the ones your body already makes instead of those found in a chemistry lab and you'll be all good.

Digestive enzymes come in different forms depending on the types of chemicals they're meant to break down. For example, the lipase enzyme in your mouth helps break down fat (the "li-" prefix is the same as the prefix for "lipids", the term used for dietary fats). Likewise, protease enzymes break down protein and amylase enzymes break down carbohydrate.

Fun fact: lactose intolerance is caused by one's inability to produce "lactase" which is the enzyme that breaks down the sugar in milk, lactose. In my opinion, this information is some of the most valuable out there. If I were to ever become lactose intolerant I'd rather swallow lactase enzyme supplements than give up my ice cream addiction.

Fun fact #2: there are ongoing efforts to find effective "glutenase" enzymes. One day, those who suffer from celiac disease may be able to enjoy bread, pasta, and beer with the aid of a simple pill!

Supplementing with extra digestive enzymes is one of the most effective ways I've found to turn my stomach into a veritable black hole. It seems like no matter how much food I eat, I'll be hungry two hours later if I've taken some enzymes. It's a sure fire way to avoid feeling too bloated from overeating, and it almost guarantees you'll gain weight as long as you have an unlimited grocery budget.

Most digestive enzyme supplements are complexes, which means they'll provide a wide array of enzymes for all different types of food. This is good if you want to eat more in general. They're also available with individual types if you want to target specific macro nutrients. For example, a protease enzyme supplement will allow you to eat and digest more protein without the usual side effects of overeating.

Now that you're able to eat truckloads of food, and you're constantly hungry, what should you do with all this extra energy? Exercising is a great option! For the purposes of gaining weight, I'm assuming most people out there don't want to just add layers of body fat. It's important to send the right signals to the body through your physical activity to make sure all that building material is going to the right place.

Instead of getting too specific with individual exercises or training regimens, I'll stick to a broader, high level view. If it's your intention to simply see the numbers on the scale go up and you don't care too much about body composition (e.g. how much of that weight is water weight, muscle mass, or adipose tissue), then there isn't much need to worry about this bit. Just get out there and move in ways that you like. As long as you're eating, and digesting, more calories than your burning the mass will start to build up.

First, let's talk about picking up heavy things. This is what I like to call anything that falls under the categories of "power lifting", "strength training", or "resistance training". This puts a lot of stress directly on the muscles and ligaments in the body. Working with less weight and higher reps (in the range of 15 reps per set of an exercise) does a great job of tearing up muscles so they can be rebuilt even bigger. This is known as "hypertrophy". Despite how bad "tearing up muscles" sounds, this is a good thing. Lower rep, higher weight work (around 2-4 reps per set) is better for increasing strength without particularly increasing muscular size or mass, but release a lot of growth hormone. Compound exercises, like weighted squats, with lots of weight are especially potent for producing the hormones that send signals in your body to bulk up. Combining the two styles of weight lifting is a powerful combo for gaining muscle mass.

When it comes to lifting heavy things, it's common for women to express a distaste for getting too ripped or bulky. There are several versions, but it generally follows something along the lines of "I don't want to look like those weird body builders with their bulgy veins and big muscles and so forth." Trust me when I say this isn't something to worry about. Extreme vascularity and huge guns aren't something that'll suddenly happen to you all of a sudden. If, somehow, you're getting too big there's always the option of taking it easy with the exercise. However, as long as you aren't pounding testosterone and steroid supplements there's no need to fear becoming a gigantic, green monster. There may be other reasons for avoiding weight lifting, but the idea that you'll get too huge or too ripped simply isn't one of them.

If you're planning on starting a weight training regimen, it's important to do so carefully. It can take several days for muscles to fully recover from a tough weight lifting session. Moreover, ligaments will get worn down and are repaired more slowly than muscles. This means that a weekly routine that works for the first few weeks may lead to injury in the long term if it doesn't allow for proper ligament recovery. In general, don't lift heavy more than a few times a week, and listen to your body and take a rest day if something feels off. This type of training isn't something that should be done on a daily basis.

And get an expert to give you better advice on the specifics! This is a starting point, not an exhaustive guide, and I am no expert when it comes to picking up heavy objects.

On the other side of the coin is cardio. I'm referring to any exercise that stresses your energy systems more than the muscles themselves. Activities like running, swimming, or biking would fall into this category. A moderate regimen of cardio several times a week is one of the most common prescriptions from health professionals for improving health. However, the low- and moderate-intensity commonly they encourage isn't great when trying to gain weight. Over time, these energy draining exercises that don't push the upper limit of physical abilities teach the body that energy is a precious commodity. If you're consuming more calories than you're expending this will result in building up of long term energy stores instead of muscles. And by "long term energy stores" I'm referring to your muffin top. That's right, too much cardio can make you fat.

This doesn't meant that cardio should be avoided altogether. On the contrary, high intensity cardio training, such as HIIT or Tabata sets, are great for maintaining or improving health and physical fitness. As an added bonus, high intensity intervals are another way to promote the release of those growth hormones that encourage muscle growth. Just avoid engaging in those long, slow efforts too often to avoid training the body to store extra calories as body fat.

Unlike weight training, you can engage in most cardio exercise on a daily basis as long as you're healthy and don't experience any acute injuries. Overuse injuries tend to only occur when engaging in very high volumes of cardio, like training for a marathon. It's a good idea to work with an expert who can provide customized advice specific to your circumstance if you're unsure of where you're going with your exercise regimen.

In a previous post, I talked about how the timing of a recovery meal after working out is much less significant that mainstream media would have you believe. If it's your goal to gain weight, then hitting that post exercise snack in that 30-120 minute window is a good way to maximize the benefits of those endogenous growth hormones. This is especially true of anything that releases insulin, like a source of high glycemic carbohydrates. It turns out that cupcake immediately after working out can be a good thing! That insulin response combined with a quick absorbing source of protein will help stimulate muscle growth and shut down the natural tendency of the body to catabolize tissue for energy.

And there you have it! A quick guide to gaining weight without giving yourself diabesity! Here's the quick-list of stuff for reference:

Gaining weight requires eating more food. Duh!

Increase appetite with things like cinnamon, plum extract, or Echinacea.

Prep for big meals with betaine HCL for stomach acid production and digestive enzymes to make sure all that extra food is getting digested. Enzymes will also increase the amount of food you can eat in one sitting before feeling full, too.

Lift heavy things to promote endogenous growth hormones and make sure those extra calories aren't all going to get stored as fat.

Do high rep/low weight work some days, and low rep/high weight other days for a good combo of building muscle and building strength.

Stick to shorter, high intensity cardio exercises to improve the health of your cardio vascular system (heart, lungs, and blood tubes).

Insulin! It isn't always a villain! It helps shuttle calories to energy stores and stops the body from pulling energy from its own tissue.

Finding good information on gaining weight healthfully can be a tricky task if you don't know where to look. The demographic for whom weight gain is relevant is certainly limited in modern western society, especially when compared to those wanting to lose or maintain weight. Whether you're too light to donate blood (110lb if you're 5'6"), you'd like to pack on some mass to show off during the summer, or have some other motivation, there are healthy ways to make those numbers go up.

[howyouwork-blog]

Nutrition Myths in Fitness

Food is great! Eating is fun! It logically follows that food would be a popular topic of conversation, blogs, magazine advice columns, and TV show salesmen of questionable merit who share a name with a wizard who isn't in Kansas. Their claims can be outlandish, so how much of what they say is based in reality? All too often, one small fact or piece of a study is turned into a click bait headline to grab your attention and, well, get clicks.

Here's a look at some of the most pervasive pieces of advice I've seen when it comes to food and nutrition. In order to keep this list from being as long as a phone book I'll stick to sports nutrition and fitness related pieces of advice. In no particular order…

1 - Small, frequent meals are good for weight loss because they stimulate metabolism

At first glance, this seems like a logical piece of advice. You usually feel energetic and good after a meal as long as it wasn't too big. It follows that if one were to eat something small every hour or two then the metabolism would constantly be burning and churning regardless of how small the meal is. There's even research to back that this is true!

The problem with those studies is a bad control. That means the test group (the people eating small, frequent meals) were compared to a control group that doesn't represent anything useful. In this case, the control group were people that ate nothing. Those scientific studies that showed how your metabolism burns like a furnace with a snack every 90 minutes were being compared to people who were starving.

In this case, yes, eating small, frequent meals is better than nothing. Literally, nothing at all. Instead of comparing the test group to fasting monks, it'd be more interesting to look at people who eat regularly. Or who eat at all.

Several studies have shown that eating a reasonable amount of food (e.g. not Thanksgiving) over the course of a day results in roughly the same metabolic activity or postprandial thermal effect regardless of how frequent those meals are. Simply put, it doesn't matter if you eat 300 calories 7 times a day or 700 calories 3 times a day, the metabolic effect is going to be about the same.

In one example, 12 athletic individuals were either eating 3 or 14 times a day. The basal metabolic rate of the low frequency eaters (LF) was about 2030 calories per day, compared to about 1910 calories from the high frequency (HF) eaters. The daily energy intake of each group was roughly the same. The total energy expenditure in the HF group was about 2890 calories per day, and 2940 calories per day for the LF group.[1] That's right, the low frequency eaters had a slightly elevated caloric burn! The difference is very small so I wouldn't put too much weight on it either way. No pun intended since, you know, a difference of 50 calories is about 6 grams of body weight.

The bottom line is that eating frequently or infrequently is less important than eating healthfully. Choose the right foods and a sane, active lifestyle for the best results.

2 - Protein as a steady source of energy

After searching and digging and Bing!ing until my Bing! searcher was sore revealed very little about the origins of this myth. My best guess is that it came about as a result of the recent trend in blaming sugar and carbohydrate for all out health problems combined with the fat-phobia instilled in us from the previous century. This leaves us with only one macronutrient from which we can get energy: Protein.

Well, this isn't technically true since humans can get energy from alcohol. Even though consuming 1 gram of alcohol will yield 7 calories of energy (compared to 4 cal/gram from protein or carbs and 9 cal/gram from fat) I'd advise against using it as your main source of calories.

Back to protein, and the big, shocking statement. Animals derive no energy from protein. None. Energy doesn't come from protein. Full stop. Period. Sorry guys. It doesn't happen.

"But hold on," you might say, "you just said that protein gives you 4 calories per gram! What gives!?" That's… kind of true in a roundabout sort of way. It is true that humans, and other animals, cannot derive energy directly from protein like they can from fat or glucose. After protein is broken down into individual amino acids through digestion, then they can be utilized for all sorts of stuff. If there's a need for those amino acids in repairing structures in the body, like nerve, brain, or muscle tissue, that's what they'll be used for.

However, if there's too much protein present, or there's no need for it, then those amino acids are broken down once again. If you've read some of my previous articles you may be aware that carbohydrates are molecules made up of hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen in a 2:1:1 ratio respectively (it's a little more complicated than that, but bear with me). Amino acids are very similar with some extra nitrogen attached to the side. Your body turns amino acid molecules that go unused into glucose by stripping that nitrogen away. This is a process known as gluconeogensis. After that nice, roundabout process, it can finally be metabolized for energy.

Side note: That's a gross over simplification. If you happen to be a biochemist reading this, please don't hunt me down and dope-slap me for making things really, really simple.

So, does protein provide a long, slow burn of energy? Yes, it does, because the body can only get about 40 calories of energy per hour from protein, compared to 80 cal/hour from fat or 240-360 cal/hour from carbs. On top of that, the nitrogen that's skimmed off turns into ammonia which needs to be filtered by your kidneys and disposed of. If you've ever been on a high protein diet and noticed your urine starting to smell like death, that's the ammonia being disposed of. It also slows digestion down to a snail's pace causing things to get quite backed up.

Here's the bottom line: Given the long process, and the waste, protein comes in a close second to worst for high energy activities like working out or racing. The only energy source that's worse is alcohol. And maybe coal. I don't think the human body is very good at turning coal into energy. It also turns out a low carb, high protein diet is just a high ammonia, high constipation diet. Yum! I think I'll stick to carbs and fat for energy, and save the protein for post workout recovery. Speaking of which…

3 - You need to eat 30-120 minutes after a workout

If you've set foot in a gym or opened a fitness magazine in the last decade, then you're likely familiar with this adage. There are many version of it, like needing to eat within 30 minutes of finishing a race or workout, or eating within a 20-60 minute window. How true is it?

Like previous myths, this one began with results from a study that were taken out of context. The study in question examined a group of athletes to see how timing a recovery beverage after exercise affected their ability to recover. First, they participated in a standardized workout to induce some level of fatigue in everyone. Then, they were split into different groups; some received a recovery beverage immediately, and others were given their beverage after 30, 120, and 240 minutes. Finally, they performed another bout of exercise to exhaustion after a requisite recovery period to see which groups performed the best. Sounds pretty legit, right? What were the results? They found that the groups who consumed their drink 30 and 120 minutes after the first bout of exercise performed better in the second bout of exercise than those who received their drink immediately or waited 4 hours.

So, what's the problem? It is common for the subjects in studies like these to fast prior to testing in order for everyone to be in the same initial state. That means they were forbidden from eating for the prior 12 hours.

Right, just in case you happen to put yourself in a state of starvation, the engage in exhausting, hard exercise this studies shows it's probably a good idea to eat something. Groundbreaking.

What's the truth? If you're a normal person who eats regularly and doesn't engage in fasted workouts too often, then the benefit of refueling immediately after working out is diminished. With regular meals, amino acids and other nutrients needed for recovery will be present in the blood stream even after a hard workout. Assuming this is true (e.g. assuming you usually eat like a normal person), there's little benefit in getting your recovery drink or protein bar 30 minutes after a workout when compared to 240 minutes afterward. In other words, as long as you're not starving, you should be fine waiting up to 4 hours before getting a good meal after exercising.

Let's dig into this a little more because there is some credence to eating right after exercise, and some circumstances where it's actually better to wait a while before consuming something. The body is more sensitive to insulin after hard exercise which means that eating something is more likely to shuttle carbohydrate into glycogen stores instead of body fat. This is great if you are likely to be put under physical duress again within a few hours. This is a useful tip if you're participating in an event like a Ragnar relay race. Sorry, physical activities like hauling laundry and going grocery shopping do not count as "physical duress" in this case. It's also handy if you happen to use cupcakes or chocolate milk as your recovery food; that sugar is more likely to get shoved into glycogen stores than get packed onto your thighs.

That all sounds good. Clearly, there are some advantages to immediately consuming something after working out. However, "there are advantages" is different from "it's better". In fact, there are fat loss advantages with spending a few hours fasting after working out. If you're less concerned with being able to exercise twice a day, and looking to burn some fat, then waiting a bit before refilling those glycogen stores after 30-60 minutes of cardio will promote fat metabolism. Occasionally working out in a fasted state also helps train the body to burn fat preferentially over burning sugar or glycogen. There's an emphasis on doing this occasionally. Putting one's self in a starvation state for an extended period of time, or too frequently, puts the body under extreme stress. However, doing so occasionally has its advantages.

I've also come across some anecdotal evidence that immediately refueling after a workout can blunt the effects of growth hormones. This means that you'll be refilling glycogen stores, but muscle growth will be somewhat diminished. It turns out that waiting a bit before knocking back that protein shake after a weight lifting session will actually increase your potential muscle growth.

The bottom line: If you want to get lean, or better at burning fat for the glycogen sparing effects, going without food before or after a workout from time to time will help out. If you eat at least twice a day, and don't plan on running a marathon in the morning and the afternoon, then there's no need to stress too much about cramming a protein bar in your mouth right after working out. Finally, if you do happen to be participating in a Ragnar event it might be a good idea to take advantage of that two hour window.

That two hour window is also handy if you just want to blunt the effects of that cupcake or chocolate milk.

 [1] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3374835/

[howyouwork-blog]

What a Marathon Does to a Runner’s Body

The marathon. It's the quintessential feat endurance in sports. It is the apex of an odyssey that begins weeks before the starting gun fires. It is a word that's on many bucket lists. 26.2 miles of promise. Promise of a journey, of excitement, of pain, or lows and highs, and of triumph.

The marathon is the chance for any runner to push themselves to their limit, go to the edge of what they believe is possible and take a peek at what's on the other side. It will break down even the most seasoned athletes. Despite all of the investment required and promise of suffering, millions of runners undergo that journey every year.

After all the training, strengthening of the body and mind, what does a marathon do to the body? Instead of the usual bullet point list of topics, that single question where we will start, it will comprise the body of this article, and it will be the word. For the purposes of this article, I'll stick to the average runner using a typical training strategy (e.g. mid or high mileage of moderate intensity) and fueling strategies (e.g. bananas, energy bars and gels, sports drinks, and so forth).

For the average runner, preparing for a marathon requires anywhere from twelve to twenty weeks of training. During that time, a runner will spend hours on their feet every week clocking miles of training runs. This is all in an effort to test clothes and outfits, try different types of fuel for before and during a run, and, of course, improve overall fitness. Preparations go beyond just the legs. It trains the stomach to process food on the run, the lungs to suck more air than they're used to, and teaches patience and mindfulness to focus on the task at hand for two, three, four hours or more.

Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?

There's a saying that the healthiest thing a marathon runner can do is train in the weeks before the race, then skip the race itself. Road racing breaks the body down. There's a reason professional marathon runners only compete once or twice a year. It is expected that the actual event will break down the body in a way that is much more severe than a typical training run. Of course, the pay off and sense of accomplishment makes it all worthwhile. Luckily, the body is pretty good at bouncing back, and even becoming stronger than ever for the effort.

As for the reason for running, after getting to the finish line you'll have just run a marathon. Wouldn't it be awesome to be able to brag about that to your friends? Hell yeah, it would be. So let's start from the beginning by following a typical runner from start to finish on race day.

The training is done, race day has arrived, and our intrepid runner has done all the right preparations. The last week before the race has been an easy week to make sure the body is fully healed and all the training has been absorbed. It has ended with the obligatory carb loading of pasta or rice or cereal or all of the above. It's time to race.

Race morning begins with even more carbohydrate dense foods to make sure those glycogen stores are as topped up as possible.  Glycogen is the form in which the body stores carbohydrate based energy. It plays a pivotal role in racing. Let's say breakfast is a banana, a bowl of oatmeal, and a cup of coffee (a fat free latte with caramel syrup from a common Seattle coffee chain, of course). This is a breakfast practiced many times before the big race day. It should serve many purposes including adding some routine to make a very non-routine day a little less intimidating, get the body woken up and ready to go, and the coffee is, of course, to drop a few pounds of body weight.

Hot coffee, or tea, is an essential part of the morning, and not just for the caffeine. Drinking a hot beverage, and consuming caffeine in any form, provokes peristalsis. This assists with motility of refuse within the GI tract and flushing of unneeded, and unwanted, materials held by the body for nutrition. The purpose of this will be to lighten overall body mass, and avoid the need to undergo the process anytime during the race.

In other words, coffee makes you poop so you don't need to poop during the race.

Now that that's out of the way, our intrepid runner heads to the races. Following the advice of every manufacturer of energy gels or other race fuels on the market, one gel is consumed exactly 15 minutes before the start of the race along with a few glugs of water. The timing of this is more important than is immediately obvious. When a sugary food is ingested the sweet flavor sends signals to the body that some carbohydrate is coming into the digestive system. That's one of the roles of the taste buds on the tongue and similar sensory organs in the stomach. With all the incoming sugar, glycogen stored in the liver is released into the blood stream making energy more available. This easily accessible energy feels pretty great and makes you want to go burn it off by, for example, running a lot. That's called a sugar rush.

A sugar rush is great as long as our runner starts exerting themselves in short order. If you've read some of my previous articles you might know what happens next. There's too much sugar in the blood! The body responds by releasing insulin. Insulin is a complex hormone that effects a lot of systems in the body. Among them is the long term storage systems in your body where it signals the need to pull sugar out of the blood stream. That means there's less sugar available in the blood for energy and you'll start to feel sluggish. At least, that's what will happen if the insulin stays in the blood stream for longer than, say, 15 minutes or so.

That's called a sugar crash. It's what happens if you smash an energy gel back too early, 45 minutes before the start, for example. Otherwise, the extra boost of blood sugar is used to fuel any activity at the time.

Our intrepid runner knows not to do that. Instead, one energy gel 15 minutes before the start of the race to feel that sugar rush right at the start of the race! One unfortunate side effect of this, though, is that all that insulin also signals to the body that there's no need to worry about using the slow burning stuff, fat. From mile 1, our runner is dipping into glycogen stores even though marathon race pace is relatively slow.

The first few miles of a marathon feel fairly easy for the well trained runner. Like clockwork our runner continues to quaff a gel once every 45 minutes and drinking between 16 and 24 ounces of water and electrolyte beverages every hour. This is in line with the advice of every advice column in Runner's World, not to mention what all the energy food manufacturers advise.

Everything continues running smoothly, no pun intended, until about 90 minutes into the race. The body starts to respond to the continuous effort by looking for alternative energy sources to spare the rapidly depleting glycogen. Despite the tens of thousands of calories of energy stored in adipose tissue, this is not the first place the body will look. Instead, it will supplement what's left of the sugar and glycogen by converting protein to glucose via a process known as gluconeogenesis.

Why does the body go for protein instead of fat? Running is an energy intensive activity. When you run for too long then the body takes measures to get more energy. It also adapts to become more energy efficient. The least energy efficient tissue in the body is muscle, especially muscle that isn't often used. After that 90 minute mark, the body kills two birds with one stone and starts to eat away at the protein in your muscles.

Brutal, but effective. Side effects include urine that smells like rotting meat, dehydration, and looking like, well, an emaciated marathon runner.

Despite how bad this sounds, some muscle atrophy isn't terrible as long as it doesn't happen too often. Muscle can be rebuilt. That's one of those things they do. It's a good idea to stick to one long run every week or two, though. The body's ability to rebuild and repair will be a recurring theme here.

So far, our runner has covered about 12 miles. Since the morning started with sugar, there was sugar at the starting line, and sugar was the fuel handed out at every aid station, our runner's body has had no incentive to save glycogen. With all the sugar coming in, why burn fat? No need, so our runner has been burning roughly 100 calories of glycogen and sugar every mile. The protein entering the equation curbs this by a small amount, but the majority of the energy being used is still carbohydrate.

The miles tick by, and it starts getting tough. Despite starting the race with muscles and a liver full of glycogen, and diligently sucking back 25 grams of sugar every 45 minutes, there's no stopping the inevitable. The body can only hold so much glycogen, and the digestive system can only process incoming sugar so fast. You know what's coming. It happens around mile 20. Within the span of a few steps, our runner goes from a light, agile runner to feeling like the gravitational pull of the earth has been magnified by about 10 times.

It's inevitable. It's unavoidable. It's the dreaded "wall". It's no coincidence that most runners "hit the wall" at around mile 20. The body can only hold about 2,000 calories of glycogen, and it takes about 120 calories of energy to run one mile. There's a small amount of variance depending on the runner, but the weight of the runner effects the energy needed to run a mile much less than one might expect. There's also almost no variance based on the speed of the runner. Regardless of whether it's done in five minutes or twelve, the same amount of energy is used. This is a physiological attribute unique to humans.

How can a runner avoid the wall? There's the idea of continuously eating carbohydrate to try to refill glycogen. Unfortunately, this only delays the inevitable. There's simply no way to consume sugar at the rate it's burned when running. The body is only able to process about one gram of sugar per minute, or 240 calories per hour. A runner will burn between 700 and 1,000 calories per hour running a marathon.

To add insult to injury, consuming all that sugar has been sending all those signals to the body that there's no need to tap into fat stores for energy. That's right, eating sugar may help refill glycogen, but it also amps up the rate at which it's burned when exercising. Now, isn't that a pain.

"Hold on a minute," a runner might say, "body fat is energy stored on for just this purpose. So why doesn't the body just start burning fat?" In fact, that's exactly what it does! Unfortunately, it waits until there's almost no glycogen left. With no more glycogen, and incoming sugar providing only a slow drip of energy, the runner must begin to burn fat. Unfortunately, most runners fuel their workouts with sugary drinks and carbohydrate rich breakfasts. This robs the body of the ability to adapt to burning fat leaving those energy pathways unpaved and unfamiliar. There are methods of training and special dietary changes that help enhance one's ability to burn fat at a higher rate. This is a strategy known as "sparing glycogen". Obtaining energy from fat requires several times as much oxygen as getting it from glycogen. This means even those who have trained to be fat burners still find it easier to burn glycogen; it's a difficult balancing act, but certainly possible to those dedicated to the preparations.

In our runner's case, there was no "fat burning" training happening so the wall was hit with full force. By sheer necessity, our runner's pace slowed to accommodate the slower energy source.

It's a popular misconception that hitting the wall means the body is out of easily available energy for muscles. Instead of our runner's muscles yearning for more sugar, it's the runner's brain that turned down the furnace. Unlike muscles, the human brain demands glucose to continue operating and cannot be sustained by the meager energy produced through gluconeogensis. The brain can run on ketones, a byproduct of fat metabolism, but that's a story for another day.

The overwhelming fatigue felt is almost entirely psychological. A runner who has hit the wall will feel an inexplicable desire to curl up and fall asleep. Cognition is severely impacted and brain fog starts to set in. Proper running mechanics go out the window. Even the simplest decisions are almost impossible to make. It's a little like being drunk, except fewer red cups and lost ping pong balls.

That isn't entirely accurate. Since it's a marathon there are still plenty of red cups strewn everywhere at aid stations.

The previous 20 miles have not been easy. All that distance has taken a toll on the legs, and the last 6.2 miles take the challenge to a whole new level. The deteriorating running mechanics wear down the joints, micro tears in the muscles in the legs start to rupture, and running just isn't fun anymore.

With two miles to go to the finish line, our runner has taken over 30,000 steps on hard pavement in just about three hours. By comparison, the average person working a desk job will take about 5,000 steps in an average day. Any single impact is insignificant, but the cumulative effect of all those small, jarring impacts add up over time. The vibration of each step rattle all the small bones in your feet, legs, and even up the back. The impact of a marathon is often enough to cause minor breaks in joints and bones. Given enough time, even the strongest bones will simply be crushed under the pressure. Luckily, our runner has a strong skeleton so the worst that will happen is some minor joint stiffness in the lower legs and back for the next few days. Nothing a few NSAIDs can't handle.

What started out as micro tears in the quadriceps and calves are starting to cause severe pain. Those small tears, common during regular exercise, are weak points in the muscles that diminish their structural integrity. The eccentric force of remaining upright when striking the ground normally does no damage to the quadricep muscles in the thighs. However, those micro tears from the previous 24 miles grow beyond normal wear and tear. Although no acute injury or irreparable damage is being done it'll be several days before the muscles in our runner's legs will be fully repaired.

This all sounds painful, doesn't it? Luckily, every runner is their own drug dealer. Despite being in significant pain, this runner has made the decision to continue. After some time the pain seems to diminish. Our runner's physical condition isn't improving. After a prolonged period of pain, and with no end in sight, the body releases endorphins to dull those signals so the conscious mind can concentrate on more important things than the pain that our runner is clearly ignoring.

More important things like staying upright, and trying not to look too punch drunk for race photographers.

By this time, our runner is well on the way to a high that's only legal to purchase in a few states. Endorphins and endocannibinoids (yes, like Mary Jane, but made by your body) are just two of the types of chemicals the body will release when the going gets tough. It's no coincidence it's called a "runner's high". I'd say that endocannibinoids act on the same receptors as marijuana, but it'd be more accurate to say that the THC in pot acts on the receptors humans evolved as part of their endocannibinoid system.

Let's break down that word, endocannibinoid, to better understand it. The "endo" portion of the name simply means they come from within the body. The THC found in plants in the cannabis family that helped Doritos stay in business are called "exogenous", which means they are chemicals that come from outside of the body. The only reason THC works like it does is because the body already had the machinery to react to endocannibinoids. Otherwise, smoking pot would have no effect.

But, you know man, that runner's high. It's like, whoa, man. Makes you feel like you're flying, man, like, you know? Sativa? No thanks, I'll go with a 24 mile run. Less hormonal disruption, and way easier on the wallet. Plus, it's legal in all 50 states.

Two more miles pass with our runner gliding along in a state of relative bliss. With less than a quarter mile until the finish line, our runner snaps out of the endorphin induced daydream and gets ready for a sprint finish. It's been a 26 mile journey which included just about every emotion possible. Everything from the highest highs to the lowest lows, feeling invincible on the starting line to being completely broken at mile 20, and the journey is almost over. It turns out this close to the finish line the body has been holding back just a little bit of energy. Perhaps there's enough for one last kick, just enough to sprint triumphantly across the finish line. Our runner doesn't want any spectators thinking this was a difficult task, right? No, of course not, this was a breeze. Or a hurricane. At any rate, the finish line is near. It's hard to tell whether to be glad about this or wish it could last longer.

The runner's mind is just about as broken as the runner's body at this point. Nothing really makes sense. The mere thought of putting one's self through this kind of torment again seems inconceivable at the finish line. Memory is a strange thing, though. After a few days, after the joint inflammation subsides and the muscles are mended, once the brain fog lifts and a regular sleep schedule is possible again, the memory of that suffering fades away. It's the memory of those cheering crowds, the race volunteers at aid stations giving encouraging words, having a medal slung over our runner's neck at the finish line that tend to last longer. The memory of the glory and triumph outlast those of the darker, more difficult moments.

Then it's time to sign up for another marathon. It's another chance to set an event more lofty goal, and run after it with everything you have.

What's the moral of this story? Who knows. Maybe there isn't one. Sometimes it's more about the journey than the destination. Of course, there are a few lessons that can be drawn from it. It turns out the human body can take care of itself pretty well. Sometimes, it's just as effective as a trip to the doctor's office or your local dealer in illicit pharmaceuticals. And it's a whole lot cheaper.

[howyouwork-blog]

Why I’m Obsessed with Burning Fat

If it isn't clear yet, I like talking about burning fat. And eating low carb food. There's a strong correlation between the two, and the same motivation for making those lifestyle choices in my life. When people find out about my diet, they look at me and ask, "why are you trying to lose weight?" Well, since making the change from a high carbohydrate diet to one lower in starches and sugar I've gained ten pounds so if I was trying to lose weight you can consider it a failed attempt. Not only that, I've gone from 5% body fat to 9% body fat, so it isn't about looking good without a shirt on either. A special note about the paleo diet, it really isn't my style either. The machismo of the culture around eating like a caveman, living off of flesh, foregoing the conveniences of modern life and all that doesn’t really hold my interest. Thanks, but I'll stick to basing my diet off of what's healthful and conducive of my goals instead of some good sounding, but ultimately flawed rule about the availability of food to our ancestors. (That last statement may have been inflammatory. I've read Dr. Loren's book and find the basis flawed. If you're interested in doing the research, I'd encourage reading "Paleofantasy" by Marlene Zuk for another perspective. Perhaps an in depth look at exactly what's happening in the human gut will be the subject of a future post.)   Weight loss might be the goal for people who have adopted Atkin's or the South Beach diet or any other flavor of the month trendy diet. For me, it was a little different.

Being a better athlete means being better at endurance sports. That's what I do. So that's what this is about. And when it comes to things like marathons or longer races, the limiting factor for performance becomes how much fuel a person has. The human body likes running on sugar, but everyone has only a small amount available, about 2,000 calories. Even the leanest people have more than 10 times as much energy stored in their fat. Getting at that energy isn't easy, though. So here's the recap of the problem statement:

The human body can run off of fat and sugar. There are other ways to create ATP (energy), but I'm sticking with the two big ones, fat and sugar, for this article.

Given the choice, your body will always prefer to burn sugar over fat, especially when engaged in high intensity activity

Every person has ~2,000 calories of sugar (as long as they’re well fed) on them to burn

Even the leanest person has way more than that to burn in fat stores

Once you run out of sugar, you're done, no more moving for you

By improving my capacity to burn fat instead of sugar when racing I can go further, faster

Let's step back for a moment and look at everything there. Exactly how much more energy does someone generally carry in their long term storage? And by "long term storage" I mean body fat. It takes a little knowledge of nutrition and some rudimentary math to figure out. Don’t worry, not calculus required, just some basic arithmetic and counting.

At my leanest, I weighed about 140lb and was measured at roughly 5% body fat. 5% of 140lb is 7lb, which would be how much fat was on my body. 7lb is 3.1kg, or 3,100 grams, and fat contains 9 calories of energy per gram. That means I had 3,100 x 9 calories stored in my fat, or 27,900 calories. That's almost 14 times as much energy stored in my fat than glycogen (sugar) on my body! The average person weighs more than me, and has a much higher body fat percentage, which means they'd have even more energy, as long as they're able to tap into it. Go through the same numbers for a man who weighs 210lb and has 20% body fat and they'd have a whopping 167,400 calories ready to be burned!

The problem is that it's easier to burn sugar than it is to burn fat. A lot easier. If you're sitting down in front of a computer reading this then it's likely that you're burning calories at a very slow rate, ~90 per hour, and it's all coming from fat. If you increase your metabolism by engaging in some moderate activity, like walking, you might start burning ~300 calories an hour, most of it still coming from fat. However, as your activity increases, jogging, running, or sprinting, then your body needs faster burning fuel and it'll tap into your glycogen. Not only will you start burning sugar, but you'll slow down the rate at which you're burning fat.

In a marathon, I expect to be burning around 800 calories per hour while running. If all of it were coming from sugar then I'd only be able to keep going for 2 1/2 hours before I run out of fuel. Incidentally, that's about how long it takes me to run 20 miles, which is right about where you her of marathon runners "hitting the wall." This is no coincidence. The sudden onset of sluggishness, fatigue, sleepiness, and general suckiness occurs when your body runs out of glycogen and is forced to start burning alternative fuels, like fat and even your own muscle.

You can eat while exercising to try to hold off the dreaded bonk, but that's just delaying the inevitable. Generally, you can't consume more than 60 grams of sugar an hour (240 calories). Even if you pulled out all the stops by using perfectly balanced blends of carbohydrates you'd still be limited to ~90 grams an hour (360 calories). This would limit you to little more than a walking pace if you wanted to keep up with your calorie burn through eating.

And besides, the idea of sucking an energy gel every 30 minutes and washing it down with a bottle of Gatorade while running for an extended period of time sounds like a recipe for technicolor vomit for all but the most hardened of stomachs.

Given that I’d like to avoid a “disaster pants” moment on race day, I'll stick to 240 calories of eating per hour as the absolute max. However, that would only buy me about another hour of running time. That'll probably get me to the end of the marathon by keeping me going for about 3 hours and 40 minutes, but I wouldn't feel too good afterward, and I certainly wouldn't be up for running any ultramarathons. Also, there’d be about a 50% chance I’d cough up the contents of my stomach at the finish line.

Let’s say I improved my fat burning ability so I'm burning half my calories from fat while running. Since I have 27k calories in fat it's unlikely I'll run out of that any time soon. If I was able to get half my energy from fat, I’d be burning ~400 calories per hour and can eat 240 calories per hour. My total (sugar) calorie deficit just went from 560 cal/hour to 160 cal/hour. That means I can keep running for a whopping 12 hours and 30 minutes before running out of my precious glycogen stores! At my marathon pace I'd be able to cover nearly 100 miles by then. If, for some reason, I decided to run for that long I’d probably have other things to worry about, like severe muscle breakdown, joint inflammation, and maybe even sleep deprivation. I'd also be close to breaking a world record for the fastest 100 miles ever run. My point is that it's unlikely I'd be able to keep up that pace even if I had the glycogen to do so.

Hopefully, it's clear why I'd want to improve my ability to burn fat instead of just burning glycogen all day every day. Here’s a quick recap of why being able to burn fat is good for being an athlete:

Run (or swim or bike) aerobically for longer

Increase the pace at which I can run (or swim or bike) aerobically

Reduce dependence on specific food at specific times in racing and general life

Never hit the wall (or bonk or whatever you want to call it)

So how does someone go about improving their ability to metabolize fat when exercising? It's a good idea to start with the baseline where everyone is burning 100% fat. As mentioned previously, if you engage in increasingly intense activity then the energy being utilized increases. Once it reaches a certain threshold then you need to start tapping into glycogen. At high enough intensities the amount of fat being utilized for energy starts to decrease, eventually contributing nearly nothing to the total energy consumption.

There's a threshold in exercise intensity at which the majority of energy comes from sources other than fat. This is commonly known as your Aerobic Threshold (AT). There are ways to train your AT in order to improve fat utilization in general, and certain behaviors that will make an immediate impact.

First, training. One method of training that's particularly effective in improving your aerobic fitness was pioneered by Phil Maffetone. His training method is based on using your heart rate to estimate your AT and training at that heart rate as much as possible. In order to find your heart rate, simply subtract your age from 180. Add 5 if you're very fit, and subtract 5 if you're particularly unfit. When training, after a good warm up, usually 10-20 minutes, train at that heart rate for as long as you feel like doing so.

In general, people find they have to slow down in order to stick to their aerobic heart rate, and even have to slow to a walk instead of running up steeper hills. The training is often quite monotonous. Despite these shortcomings, it can be very effective in the long run. Mark Allen, for example, incorporated Maffetone's training after failing to win the Ironman Championship for almost a decade. Then he won that race 6 times in the following 7 years. Winning the Ironman championship is about as good an example of being a good endurance athlete as there is in (somewhat) mainstream sports.

This is a very quick and simple description of Dr. Maffetone's training methods. He has written several books about his training philosophies. His book, "The Maffetone Method", is a good place to look for more information on how to incorporate this kind of training for long term health and fitness.

The second aspect to examine is general diet in daily life. Your body tends to be better at using the fuels that you provide it. That means if you follow the Standard American Diet (SAD) as recommended by the FDA then you'll be getting about 60% of your calories from carbohydrate, 30% from fat, and 10% from protein. This sets you up for being a sugar and carbohydrate burner. Increasing the amount of fat in your diet trains your body to better utilize fat as a source of energy in daily life and when exercising. This is the basis behind many of the trendy, low carbohydrate diets that come and go.

It should be noted that a lot of "low carb" fad diets have come and gone. Most of them focus far too much on simply counting calories without paying attention to micronutrients, like vitamins and minerals. They often utilize processed, packaged foods with lots of artificial sweeteners and preservatives. I won't go into why these are all bad here since that's a broad subject in and of itself.

Suffice to say, if you want to get better at burning fat then you'll need to eat more fat. It won't make you fat, I promise, as long as your calorie intake remains somewhat sane. Just make sure you're getting all the other stuff your body needs as well.

A common misconception about eating a high fat diet is that it means you should start chowing down on greasy or fried foods. On the contrary, it's important to stick to high quality foods, preferring unprocessed fats whenever possible. A few of my go to foods are coconut, avocado, and nuts or seeds. Cold pressed oils and butter are not whole foods, but they also play a large role in my diet. Unsaturated fats that are heated should be avoided since they aren’t utilized for energy as easily as the ones listed above so they should be avoided. That means fried chicken and bacon are still not a panacea of health.

It's also important to note that the total number of calories consumed should not increase a great deal, or even at all. Eating lots of fat on top of a typical diet will inevitably lead to weight gain and health problems. If you're trying to run a fast marathon, well, gaining 10 pounds isn't going to help. It's difficult to keep the caloric intake the same while shifting to eating more fat because high fat foods are so calorie dense. This means it'll take less food to meet calorie requirements.

A special note should be made about saturated fat and one of my secret weapons, MCT oil. MCT stands for medium-chain triglyceride. It's a type of saturated fat that's very difficult for your body to store so it gets preferentially burned instead of processed for long term storage. More often than not, I start my day with a shot of MCT oil to kick off the fat burning process. It isn't terribly pleasant, and can lead to an adult diaper moment to those new to drinking oil, but it's an effective way to help get yourself off the high carbohydrate bandwagon.

I prefer the term "high fat" when describing the way I eat even though most people would recognize it more readily as "low carb". It is true that my carbohydrate intake is lower than that of most people, but "low carb" diets often put way too much emphasis on eating lots of protein. Protein can also be used as energy, and if you over consume it then that simply trains your body to burn protein for energy. One problem with protein is that it can’t be used by any mammals for energy. It must first be turned into sugar through a process known as gluconeogenesis. It turns out all those “low carb” diets that are high in protein are actually just “middling-kind-of-lowish-but-not-really carb” diets.

To add insult to injury (or perhaps injury to insult), eating lots of protein seems to train the body to optimize this protein-to-carbohydrate energy process. If someone on a high protein diet stops eating protein for some reason (say, they were carb loading for a marathon, for instance), then their body starts to get energy from protein in the body. That’s also known as muscle atrophy. That’s something I’d like to avoid.

There's a broad spectrum of high fat diets out there, including the super hardcore ketogenic diets which suggest you take in 90% of your calories from fat. That's… a lot. A lot more than I think I could manage. When I first made the change in my diet I wanted it done as quickly as possible so I went very high fat, probably 70-80% of my calories from fat, for a few weeks and later ratcheted it back to something more sane. Others find success in making the shift slowly over time instead. Every person is different so it isn't possible to point to any single "best" solution out there. All I know is that the idea of needing to eat tons of sugar and grains and carbs to fuel hard workouts is mostly marketing.

Did you know the Powerade brand is owned by Coca Cola? Or that Gatorade is owned by Pepsi Co? Those aren't exactly the companies I think of when I think of high performance athletic fuels. I'm also skipping protein altogether because, well, that's another huge subject all by itself.

Lastly, everyone always wants to know what the best fuels are for working out and racing. Talking about special food is fun, even if it isn't as important as lifestyle and training for reaching fitness goals. In my experience, race and workout fueling is more about not shooting yourself in the foot than improving performance.

Let's go back to the initial concept. I'm talking about burning fat. Consider a typical prerace or pre-workout food, like an energy gel or sports drink. These give you a burst of energy by dumping quick digesting simple sugar into your system. This is also known as a sugar high. Consuming sugar sends a signal to your body immediately that there's incoming carbohydrate, and the response is to pour glucose into the blood. Feel the rush!

Unfortunately, that hit of sugar primes the body to start burning sugar and effectively shuts down fat burning, even at very low exercise intensities. Since my goal is to increase my ability to burn fat and spare glycogen I'd be better off eating nothing at all before a workout than drinking a typical sports drink. This is true of a lot of "real foods" as well. Things like dried or fresh fruit, grains and cereals, or other high carbohydrate foods send those same signals. The result is feeling very energized, but burning glycogen instead of fat.

Note that I'm not advocating for foregoing all fruit and grains all the time. Fruit is great! It has lots of vitamins and minerals that help build up your immune system and whatnot. Consuming fruit and higher glycemic vegetables are good for optimizing health, but not the best for optimizing this specific aspect of my performance. As such, I generally stick to eating sugary fruit and starchy vegetables soon after working out or with dinner. This is a concept known as carbohydrate backloading. It's an attempt to get all the benefits of training in a carbohydrate depleted state while getting the nutrients from all foods for good health.

It should also be noted that carbohydrate is essential to good health. Failing to meet those requirements puts your body under a great deal of stress, and plays havoc with your thyroid. Getting adequate carbohydrate isn't hard, but hitting that sweet spot of getting enough without overdoing it to sabotage metabolic efficiency and fat burning efforts can be a challenge.

For longer or more difficult workouts, it's good to have food along the way, even if it isn't the typical kind of fuels you're used to. This is where my favorite Superstarch once again comes in handy. Since I've talked about Superstarch before I won't go into great detail. The short of it is that Superstarch, made by Generation UCAN, is a very complex carbohydrate which provides a very slow bleed of energy from carbohydrate. It allows me to fuel for longer efforts without spiking my blood sugar and knocking me out of fat burning mode. It's a slow fuel, but allows me to optimize fat burning while still getting those precious carbohydrates to refill and supplement glycogen when working out.

Some people will suggest eating protein or fat while working out. The idea of eating protein while exercising or racing at high intensity is counterproductive. Protein does provide energy, but it requires a great deal of energy to break down into a form in which it can be used for energy, and the process has a lot of byproduct that needs to get flushed out of your system. This means an increase in water requirement as well as energy being used for digestion when it could be used for running faster. As a result, you’ll feel sluggish and become dehydrated.

Keep protein for post workout and post race recovery.

As for fats, I also don't see a need to consume them during a hard effort. As mentioned before, my body has ~27,000 calories of fat stored on it. There's no need to supplement that with any dietary fat. The best reason to eat during a race is that carbohyrate assists with the absorption of liquids; ask Prof. Bing about “osmolality” if you’re interested in the details here.

There are exceptions to these rules. Sometimes, drinking only Superstarch can get quite monotonous. A piece of beef jerky or a handful of nuts on a long bike ride might be very palatable. If I'm not as concerned with pushing myself to the limit, as may be the case when running with a social group or riding a classic, then I'll diversify what I eat simply because it's more fun to eat different things than rely on the same edible, powdered food like substance all day.

So there you have it. The reasons why I train to burn fat instead of sugar and a few of the steps that I take to make it happen. Here's a quick recap on my methods:

Spend a lot of time training at an aerobic heart rate

Eat lots of fat in my daily life

During workouts, avoid typical carbohydrate based fuels before and during workouts. I occasionally do fasted workouts (e.g. first thing in the morning without breakfast) to supercharge my fat adaptation. Emphasis on occasionally. This is a fast way to bury yourself.

Stick to UCAN Superstarch for races and longer efforts as my fuel of choice

Even though this is a particularly long piece, it's only a brief overview of a bunch of different subjects. If I were to go into detail about everything here it'd be an entire book.

Have you ever heard the saying, "There's more than one way to skin a cat"? It's very applicable here. It's a different way to approach training for marathons or Ironman triathlon. It certainly isn't the only way to do so. With any luck it'll bust the myth that carbs and sugar are the only way to tackle your fitness goals.

[howyouwork-blog]

The ‘D’ Word: Culture and Philosophy of Life and Death

There are some universal truths that transcend culture.  Food is good, propagation and wealth are goals in life, and death should be avoided.

Actually, those rules are a lot looser than you might think.  It turns out some cultural influences instill values that are almost unbelievable. There are some aspects of life and death that would appear to be truisms, but a closer look reveals nuances in philosophies and ideologies.

Like any taboo subject, it can be uncomfortable to talk too deeply about death.  Even though it's something that happens to everyone (and there's the first of many uncomfortable statements in this article), most of us would rather put off too much deep thought about it until the last possible moment.  Well, some philosophers expand their musings beyond the morbid, and sociologists provide insight into unexpected aspects of life. Here are some of the more interesting conversations I've come across in learning about this.

When does life begin?

When does life end?

Is it natural to mourn our dead?

Don't those look like fundamental questions with obvious answers?  How can there be any argument when a life begins or ends?  Like the intro foreshadowed, there are a lot of nuances that aren't immediately obvious.  With any luck, taking a close look, an uncomfortably close look, will expand our understanding beyond our own individual views of life and death.

The Breath of Life

Clearly, you and I are alive.  There's no question, no argument from me.  A better question, and one with a much less clear answer, is when life begins.  Luckily, America has a system of "defining" unclear things like this in a way that's, well, unclear.  It might seem odd, but the American system is one that works in a roundabout kind of way.  If something isn't explicitly made clear then it's open for interpretation. "Life" can literally mean different things to different people when different definitions are most convenient.

Weird, isn't it?  Yeah, I think so, too.  Different definitions for "life" can be useful, and important, for different people.  Has any of this made you feel uncomfortable yet?  Why don't we take a moment to talk about abortion?

Hopefully, we're all in agreement that ending someone's life under almost any circumstance is bad.  There are many different opinions of whether abortion is ethical, or when it is or isn't the right thing to do.  I do not want to start an argument about when, or whether, it is ethical to get an abortion.  All that needs to be acknowledged here is that there are different opinions; each one has its merits and each one has its faults.

Is that enough to convince you I'm a sandbagger who finds it very important to be as inoffensive as possible?

One popular argument is that an abortion should be illegal, and is unethical, after a fetus can be considered its own individual completely separate from the mother.  Another way to put this is when independent life for the fetus actually begins. Is this immediately after conception? Is this after the umbilical cord is cut at birth?  Sometime in between?

How about sometime after all that?  In fact there are some cultures in which a baby is not considered a live being until well after birth.  In one odd case, a child is not considered alive until they've laughed, which usually happens one to three months after the child is born. Laughter apparently signals the arrival of the soul into the baby's empty shell of a body, or something along those lines.

Personally, I think that life begins when… wait, I'm not going there.  Just the facts for today.  Rest assured, I believe life begins, and therefore abortion is unethical, sometime well before a baby's first laugh.

So does life begin when a fetus would be able to survive outside of its mother's body?  Some infants are unable to survive without extreme medical intervention even after coming to full term.  Other the other hand, some are able to survive when born several weeks prematurely. 24 weeks is the generally accepted point at which most pre-term births are viable.  Is this a good point to say life begins?

Or is it at their first heart beat?  Again, it isn't clear when circulation is maintained by the mother's heart and when it's managed by that of the fetus' developing organs.  It isn't even clear when a fetus can be said to have a "heart" as most people would recognize it.

How about considering the beginning of life at conception?  At the moment the fertilizing cell meets with the egg cell?  Even this seemingly simple idea has complications.  According to various sources, the rate at which a fertilized egg fails to attach to the uterine wall is somewhere between 30% and 70%. If this is considered a life then conception should be a horrible tragedy 30-70% of the time.  However, the emotional response to a fertilized egg that fails to grow to a viable fetus is significantly less than the emotional response to an infant that dies in birth, or a miscarriage or still birth.  There's simply no comparison, intuitively or logically.

That brings me to the next subject.  The other end of one's life…

Passing Away, Expired, Moved On

Or, as it's more commonly known, having died. We live in a country of politically correct speech and euphemism, but I'm going to suspend that responsibility for now.  If that makes you feel uncomfortable… Did you read that first portion?  Alright, this is a serious subject so the joking will most likely be kept to a minimum.  As it is right now, simply writing this without apologizing every other sentence is difficult enough.

So.  Death. It's something that happens to everyone eventually.  Just like life, there are some cases which are clear.  I won't argue with you that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson have died and they are still dead (I'm going somewhere with that statement, so hold onto that thought).  I'm also assuming that you, the individual reading this, are currently not dead.

Just like the beginning of life, there is more gray area than there first appears when it comes to declaring someone deceased. The confusion starts with deciding what it is that makes a person that particular individual.  This is usually split into three categories: The mind, the body, and the soul.  Any single one of these may fail while the other two continue to operate so which one should be tied to the declaration of death?  Or should it be some combination of the three?

Consider a person who is in a persistent coma to the point where they're unable to interact with the external world, and does not react to external stimuli.  When someone is in this state it's also known as a "vegetative state".  If this state lasts longer than 4 weeks then it's a "persistent vegetative state".  It is classified as a "permanent vegetative state" if it lasts longer.  The exact time required for the "permanent" classification is different depending on where you are; it's 3 months in the US.

In this state, the mind is more or less useless, but the rest of the body continues to operate to some degree.  A person can remain in this state almost perpetually with minimal medical intervention, like forced feeding and regular cleaning.  Would this person be considered "alive"?  The controversial case of Terri Schiavo is one example.

Surprisingly, the answer to this is cut and dry, though it's a little more complicated than a simple "yes" or "no". It happens to be different depending on which country you happen to be in when you're in a persistent vegetative state.  In the United States, someone may remain on life support and remain alive as long as there's someone there to foot the bill.  Schiavo only perished after her family had run out of the necessary funds to keep up with the medical bills.

In some countries, however, if someone is in a persistent vegetative state or brain dead (two similar, but different states) then that person is considered dead.  This sounds rather heartless at the surface, but take a moment to consider how countries without access to advanced medical equipment would be able to tell the difference between someone in a vegetative state and someone who has died. Measuring vital signs might be outside of the ability or experience of these individuals, a person would be completely unresponsive to even the most severe stimulus, and the very idea of a vegetative state may be outside of their experience.

The conclusion?  Unfortunately, residents of these countries would be considered dead. In one odd case discussed in the popular radio show Radiolab, an unresponsive individual in a hospital in the Vatican was pronounced dead.  That person, or perhaps "corpse" would be more accurate, was simply wheeled to a hospital in Italy.  Poof! They were declared alive once again simply because what constituted death was different in the two separate political states.

Let's return to the case of Terri Schiavo.  At first blush, the idea of halting medical care sounds unconscionable.

Taking a closer look at the case, you'll find Schiavo collapsed in 1990 and emergency medical personnel were unable to resuscitate her.  She remained in a vegetative state for 15 years.  That's 15 years of a beating heart and no reaction to any stimulus. This goes beyond simply being unable to squeeze her husband's hand.  At one point, a CAT scan revealed severe cerebral atrophy, and EEG scans never showed any brain activity at any point.  Without the ability to do more than breath, and no possibility of ever being able to be a part of the world again, the question of whether keeping her heart beating becomes a little more grey.  Even though her heart was beating, was she really alive?  Or was she simply a complex gathering of various chemical reactions?

This is the kind of question that will most likely raise hot emotions in a lot of people.  Despite preceding it with evidence toward the "no, she isn't alive" camp, I'm not presenting it to defend that position.  I simply raise it to show that there are people who believe the answer is "yes", those who would say "no", and those who'd rather not commit to one or the other.  Once again, my answer is to plead the fifth.

What about the other aspects of a person, their body and soul?  This is where the philosophers take over for the doctors.  What defines a "soul" is a little vague so I'm going to use it to refer to the personality that gives a person their identity.  This is the collection of memories, thoughts, emotions, instincts and intuition, and so forth that come together to make up each individual.

The body?  Well, that one's kind of self-explanatory.  It's the part of a person that you can actually touch.  You know, their body.

This gets a little weird when you consider that either one of these may be completely destroyed or replaced almost instantly.  A person with a failing liver may receive another from someone who had a little picture of a heart on their driver's license.  Does this person then become slightly less of themselves?  Are they 95% who they used to be and 5% this other person?  That's an odd way to think about things.

Okay, some organs can be transplanted, but not the really important ones like the brain and heart, right?  Actually, brain transplants have been successfully performed in animals.  Partial transplants have even been performed in humans, such as a case of a stroke victim in 1998 who received brain cells from a donor.

And what about Oscar Pistorius, a runner with two artificial legs; Barbara Walters, a recipient of an artificial heart valve; or Luke Skywalker and Ash Williams with their mechanical hands?  Are these people simply less human since parts of their bodies have been replaced with artificial constructions?  This doesn't even bring up the fact that there are no cells currently in your body that will still be around in 7 years.  Does that mean the "you" of today will be dead, and another "you" will exist once everything has been replaced in less than a decade?

Just a few questions to consider.

Returning to the soul, or personality of a person. In a similar way, it's possible for a person's personality to change in similar ways to how the physical body changes. Okay, the idea of artificially injecting memories and whatnot is unreliable at best even though it's possible (this would be analogous to receiving an artificial limb or organ). However, amnesia results in the loss of a lot of what makes a person who they are (analogous to simply losing a limb or organ).

Even more strange, the idea of receiving someone else's personality is not as farfetched as it first appears.  The first example is the collection of people every year that claim to be Jesus Christ, returned to be the savior of his people.

Side note: there are women who also claim to be the reincarnation of Jesus, but it's far more prevalent for men to make this claim. Just wanted to be clear that I am not being sexist here.  Once again, trying not to be offensive to anyone.

The people who claim to be the reincarnation of Jesus of Nazareth will fall into one of three categories:

People who claim to be Jesus knowing full well they are deceiving people

People who truly believe they are Jesus

One man or woman who actually is Jesus returned to earth who is unfortunately ignored and lumped into either category (1) or (2)

It's difficult to tell what proportion are actively lying about their identity for their own wealth and fame, and who truly believes themselves to be Jesus.  So I'm going to move onto the second example of "replaced personalities" which is a little more cut and dry.

On occasion, people will wake up one day spontaneously believing they're someone completely different.  It isn't small changes, but things like a 40 year old truck driver waking up to believe he is a 90 year old Taiwanese rice farmer.  And a woman.  Or the case of a suburban woman who believed she had lived her whole life as a Canadian lumberjack, complete with replaced memories and all.  The most common complete personality replacement? Napoleon!

Some people swear they're Napoleon.  Others seh zey ah zee tru leedehs oof zee Frensh ah-mee! (By the way, is it okay to make fun of French accents?)  Still others will even prétendent être Napoléon, reportedly without ever taking any measures to actually learn Francais. There doesn't appear to be any financial benefit or personal gain for making such claims so one must come to the conclusion that at least some subset of these people truly believe themselves to be Napoleon.  Or a lumberjack.  Or an elderly farmer.

Would you say that the loss of one's personality means that person no longer exists?  Once again, intuition says this is certainly not the case.  However, firsthand accounts of experiences with these individuals might sway your opinion otherwise.  These people are certainly not "dead" in the literal sense, but the original occupant of their body, for all intents and purposes, no longer exists.  Could you imagine waking up one day to find your significant other doesn't know you? And beyond that, believes they're in a relationship with someone completely different, maybe even non-existent?

Just like the previous questions, the answer may appear to be obvious at first.  However, there is some grey area, and solid reasons for people on both sides of the fence to have their own opinions.  There's a reason philosophers, doctors, and lawyers spend massive amounts of time puzzling over these questions!

The Last Word

Not everyone agrees 100% with the exact moment a person is considered alive, nor is it completely clear when they've died.  Once the latter designation has been made, what about afterward?  Without question, it's a time for those close to the deceased to gather, reflect, and often mourn their loss.  Right?

Yes.  Usually.

For this section, I'm going to turn to anthropologists, among others, for their insights.  Funeral ceremonies of most western societies are largely the same. People will gather to remember the life of the departed, celebrating the chance to know them and mourning the hole left in their place.  Other cultures around the world have their own unique ways of celebrating the dead, but these ceremonies are generally variations on the same theme.

Some African tribes will take measures to remove the individuals spirit from their home by turning pictures of them around and removing their bed from the house.  A vigil is constructed for either the immediate family or the whole village to mourn before the deceased is buried in a way appropriate for their tribe.

One last, rather odd, example is that of Ghana. On one hand, many Ghanaian death ceremonies begin with the family mourning in private, then preparing the deceased for burial (while mourning, of course), then the there's a public mourning period followed by more mourning during the burial, and finally the actual funeral during which there's plenty of mourning.  The funeral may occur as much as 8 days after the burial. Presumably, this is to maximize the mourning period.[1]

Or, you could go the dance party way.  Other Ghanaians plan ahead for their deaths in such a way to have one last party with the whole community invited.  The costs and decadence of these parties is comparable to that of a wedding, but a lot more fun and a lot less uptight.[2]

Since there are unique aspects to different ceremonies it's impossible to ignore cultural influences.  Clearly, upbringing and culture play a major role in how we react to the deaths of loved ones.  On the other hand, it's impossible to ignore the similarities.  Almost every culture, past and present, has some kind of ceremony for their dead.  This should point toward some unifying reason for acknowledgement of the importance of the end of life.  What is that reason?  Is there some evolutionary or historical purpose for it?

Let's go back.  Way back.  Like back to the days of cavemen.  Beyond the sanitary reason, such as making sure a decaying individual doesn't affect nearby water sources, or the aversion of being in close proximity to the dead there doesn't seem to be much solid evidence why we carry out these ceremonies. This is despite their near universality.

Let's take a look at some of the oldest remains of human and homo erectus, one of homo sapiens' (which is a science-y way to say "humans") closest animal relatives.  There are plenty of bones that have been found strewn in the wilderness where they were most likely taken by wild animals or the elements. On the other hand, there have also been remains found in caves along with traces of pollen and plant material. It isn't haphazardly strewn about, either.  These are individuals in caves that are carefully placed on a stone pedestal and encircled with traces of plant material.

Picture that for a moment.  A caveman has died.  They're moved into a cave and placed on a pedestal.  Then, they're surrounded by flowers.  If that doesn't sounds like the remains of a death ceremony, much like a funeral, then I don't know what would.

Clearly, humans of all races, all cultures, for the entirety of recorded history and as much as we can plausibly infer before that, hold their deceased in reverence.  As for reasons why, I simply can't say.  Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of reasons out there.  What I've been unable to do is separate those reasons from culture to find a unifying reason behind them all.  There's something to be said for mistaking correlation for causation.  In this case I'll have to settle for correlation that's so pervasive it might as well be taken for granted as causation.

So.  Where is this going?  It's a little rambling, and kind of a dump of odd information.  If there is any takeaway it would be that everyone has their own way of reacting to the death of a loved one.  Does it always make sense?  Perhaps only to the people affected.  One's own cultural background and perceptions may make the way others react appear incomprehensible.  In fact, our own funerals (assuming everyone reading this is a residence of a western culture) may seem equally foreign in the eyes of others.

On the other side of the coin, if some people seem unfeeling to your own mourning it isn't something to take personally. If you've lost someone close to you I don't need to tell you what an emotional impact it can have.  It isn't a time when you're particularly emotionally resilient so it's certainly understandable to be short with someone who seems unfeeling toward your loss.  However, time heals all wounds.  Despite overwhelmingly powerful emotions, they will subside.  It's time to avoid grudges and, well, live with the living.

If you'd like to hear other perspectives on death, here are a few resources I found particularly intriguing:

Radiolab After Life show: http://www.radiolab.org/story/91680-after-life/

Shelly Kagan's philosophy lectures on Yale open courseware: http://oyc.yale.edu/philosophy/phil-176

The Great Courses series on The Meaning of Life: http://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/meaning-of-life-perspectives-from-the-world-s-great-intellectual-traditions.html (also available on audible.com if you're a member)

It's natural to avoid the very thought of one's own death.  However, recent events have proven to be a poignant example to me that, despite delusions of immortality most people harbor unconsciously, we are all very mortal and may perish at any time.  Despite how unimaginable it may seem, have you considered how you would like those close to you to act at your own funeral?  Unless you're Huckleberry Finn there's a good chance you won't be there to observe the ceremony.  Would you prefer mourners and grand ceremonies from the entire community for more than a week? Or, as was the wish of a friend of mine, would you like to leave the earth in a party that climaxes with your remains being shot out of a cannon into the ocean?  Perhaps the middle road would be better; a time of remembrance and a celebration of life?  Not everything has, or needs, an answer.  If anything, I hope this article has raised some questions in your own head that you can ponder when the time seems right.

Personally, I'd prefer a Ghanaian dance party.  That wouldn't be too bad if all my friends put together a playlist of their favorite dance hits and partied like it was 1999 all over again.

[1] http://content.ghananation.com/articles/Death-and-Funerals.aspx

[2] http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/12/nyregion/12funerals.html?_r=0