Serenity Through Sweat

Better Humans

Thanks for joining me for another edition of the SerenityThroughSweat blog. As I draw to the close of my Sober October physical challenge, I’m reminded of a pro cyclist interview I read from the 2019 Tour de France.

The article was published here in Business Insider on July 9th, 2019 and is an interview of Canadian professional cyclist Michael Woods. Woods, at the time was competing in his first TDF and is now the only person to have ever completed the race and also have run a sub 4 minute mile.

The point in the article that stuck out to me is the prioritization required to get through the tour. A grueling 21 day event, the tour demands all of your energy and focus.

“When you finish a three-week race, you’re a better bike racer but a worse human being. Over this Tour I’m probably going to walk 5 kilometers over the course of the month — that’s it. And that’s not healthy. That’s not healthy from an impact-adaptation perspective. Humans are meant to walk — they’re meant to move around.”

I’m not trying to imply that swinging a 54lb kettlebell is in anyway the same as riding Le Tour, but I empathize with the singular focus and lack of fitness diversity in this challenge.

There have been a number of benefits to be sure. My core looks and feels stronger, my grip has gotten some much needed and often ignored attention, my posterior chain is firing better and stronger, and my posture seems improved and more natural, rather than something I am fixating on to keep correct.

All of those things are tangible, but my running has definitely suffered, and despite twice daily mobility sessions, there is a tightness that I can’t seem to escape because the challenge presses on in monotony. Beyond that, this challenge has not been particularly stimulating, but rather more of a trudge through the reps.

In addition to the sheer volume of reps, part of the challenge is maintaining focus and determination throughout a task that is mundane and monotonous.

Just as Woods said, and despite the benefits I have experienced, as I approach the end of 4 weeks and 10,000 kettlebell swings, I feel like I’m better at swinging a kettlebell but a worse human. I miss the diversity of jui jitsu, triathlon, archery, and other kettlebell and sandbag lifting. The combination of these activities together serve to be both mentally and physically challenging and invigorating.

I appreciate the 10,000 kettlebell swing challenge and it’s likeness to other monotonous and mundane life tasks, but I am excited to be done and get back to work on being a more diverse and better human.

Thanks for joining me, stay safe and stay sweaty my friends.

Gumption

Thanks for joining me for another edition of the SerenityThroughSweat blog. My wife and I are in the middle of a project that led to some interesting revelations I wanted to share with you.

My wife and I have dreamed about carving out our own getaway oasis for a while now. Something secluded, with some elevation (Florida is drearily flat), where we can escape societal shenanigans, and reacquaint ourselves with nature.

The global pandemic wreaking havoc on my line of work doesn’t provide the greatest backdrop for taking on this endeavor, but still, this is where we find ourselves.

We’ve done the math, put in the research, and all of our due diligence, but still I have a nagging feeling. Is this the right time, is it too much risk, is this a mistake?

I called my father, as I often do, for advice and reassurance. I lean on him to double check my work, present counterpoints I didn’t see, and point out faults in my logic. After helping me with some of the numbers he made a comment that hadn’t previously occurred to me. He said he was proud that I had the gumption to make the deal.

This wasn’t an attribute I had associated with buying a property and renting it out, but I think it is less about the specific action and more about the general situation. The numbers have been run, but there are always risks and unaccounted for variables. To acknowledge those and proceed requires gumption.

So much of what we do as parents, as professionals, as athletes, requires us to take on challenges with uncertain outcomes. Am I making the best decision for my kids, is my business prepared for what may come, will my body and my training hold up through this challenge? Regardless of preparation, there will always be a level of uncertainty, and that uncertainty can be paralyzing.

Having the gumption to face those uncertain outcomes is a trait that can be honed and refined, working from smaller challenges and moving up gradually.

The future is always uncertain, and never to a higher degree than what we are seeing now in 2020. With a little bit of gumption, and SerenityThroughSweat, we can all find our better tomorrow.

Sweat, calluses, and kettlebells. 6,500 in and 3,500 to go.

Thanks for joining me, stay safe and stay sweaty my friends.

Questions

Thanks for joining me for another edition of the SerenityThroughSweat blog. Election season is upon us, my work group is in the middle of a contract amendment vote, and all of us are analyzing how we adjust to COVID-19 measures in our day to day life. To be successful in any of these or many another endeavors requires asking questions, specifically, asking the right questions.

I just finished reading Freakonomics, the book by Stephen Dubner and Steven Levitt. For a book that claims to have no underlying theme, it is really a book about asking the right questions before accepting information that is provided.

The various topics themselves (while interesting) are really the backdrop for the true value in the book, which illuminates why we act the way we do. Most topics start with some assumption of the outcome, and then examine the incentives in place that help shape human behavior. The authors write, “Incentive is a tiny object with astonishing power to change a situation”.

As the book goes on, the questions asked generally challenge the conventional wisdom on a particular topic. After positing a question that challenges a typically held belief, the authors then go in search of data, that is run through unemotional regression analysis to isolate variables that are correlated. The results often clash head on with the conventional wisdom

There are several examples in the book that studied early learning test scores (K-5) and various parenting statistics both active and passive (age before kids were born, education level, spanking, screen time, one parent home between age 0-5). As a parent I was very interested to find out that the most highly correlated factors affecting test scores were either genetic or socio-economic, prior to your child’s birth. In other words, your life prior to becoming a parent has more impact on your child’s early test scores, than any of the at home pre-K educational work you can do. (Not that it hurts at all, it just isn’t statistically significant)

While this information is both fascinating and relieving (my boys aren’t doomed because I travel for work), it is the question that is far more valuable. The question being, what can I do as a parent to help my children be successful?

El Duderino helping out with the post workout shake, “Ma, where’s the protein?”

The answer is well beyond the scope of this blog, (although I believe being a role model for general well-being is a great start). Asking the right questions and searching for answers, not accepting what is thrust forth against the data, is another great place to start.

The same applies to the personal well-being, diet and exercise world. There are plenty of conventional wisdom trends that have recently been upended, from high fat low carb eating, to high intensity interval training, to intermittent fasting and fat adapted endurance athletes, the data show a myriad of possibilities that were shunned just a few years ago. Again, for the scope of this blog the individual programs are less important than the questions, what am I doing to be a better version of myself? Does the data support those decisions/programs?

For all of my colleagues voting on the contract amendment, I urge you to ask yourself, what is my incentive, and have I examined the data, rather than the popular narrative?

For all of us approaching election season I urge you to ask yourself, have I researched the issues and the positions rather than the popular sound bytes?

For your own personal growth are you doing the things you can to be better than you were yesterday? I hope you will join me on the path of asking ourselves the tough questions, and maybe even getting a little sweaty along the way.

Thanks for joining me, start safe and stay sweaty my friends.

Show Up and Put In

Thanks for joining me for another edition of the SerenityThroughSweat blog. Today I want to talk about this year’s Sober October challenge.

I debated at first about my participation in Sober October this year. Eventually I realized that as much as I didn’t want to do it, that all of the reasons I could think of not to participate, were really just as compelling reasons that I needed to.

“Oh Hi there, I’m 6 months old” (*Speedy said as he popped out from his hiding place)

So this year’s Sober October challenge is no alcohol, no added sugar, and 10,000 kettlebell swings.

There are plenty of things written about the 10,000 kettlebell swing program and nothing I can say will add to it, especially before I have even completed it. You can find the original program here.

Kettlebell swings in and of themselves are not especially challenging. As a triathlete and an Ironman, I can certainly find beauty and serenity in suffering through repetitive motion. That said, I’m 3 days and 1,500 swings in and my forearms are shot and my glutes are on fire.

My Garmin watch died and is being replaced, so rocking the 2013 Suunto Ambit for this week’s running in-between kettlebell days.

I think the biggest hurdle when it comes to taking on a challenge of this kind, or any kind for that matter, is first just to show up, and then put in the work.

500 swings a day, 2 days on followed by 1 day off, for the month, until you reach 10,000. The beauty of the challenge is that it is binary, you either show up and put in the work, or you don’t, there isn’t really an in-between.

On day two of the challenge, speedy decided to wake up at 3:50, and El Duderino followed suit some time after 5 am. My wife was in desperate need of catching up on sleep, so it was on me to show up and put in the work as a dad. Not the ideal prelude to my 1:00pm cast iron rendezvous, but again, this month’s challenge is about showing up and putting in the work, regardless of what circumstances might arise.

Often times fatherhood feels eerily similar to these physical, mental, and emotional challenges we are faced with. Suffering through repetitive motion, with beauty and serenity to be found for those who can appreciate the struggle.

Beautiful FL fall day for some smoked picanaha and veggies on the Z grill

After all the excuses and the doubt, what Sober October is really about, is showing up and putting in the work through the repetitive motions of the day. Showing up for your spouse, showing up for your kids, and showing up for yourself. Putting in the work to be a better husband, father, and person, and maybe find some serenity along the way.

Thanks for joining me, stay safe and stay sweaty my friends.

My new best friend for the month, a 54lb cannonball

Galanin to the Rescue

Thanks for joining me for another edition of the SerenityThroughSweat blog. Today I want to talk about galanin, what it is and some of the many ways it helps us.

Galanin is a neuropeptide, which is fancy word for a protein produced by neurons. (don’t worry I had to look it up because it sounded more like one of king arthur’s knights to me). Galanin is found in many different parts of our brain as well as our GI tract.

A recent article in the Journal of Neuroscience, shows an increased galanin level (derived from unfettered access to cardiovascular exercise) was correlated with a conferred resilience to stress in mice.

Two groups of mice were observed after a stressful event (foot shock). The respective galanin levels were measured in each group, with the experimental group having access to a running wheel in their cage and the control group having none. After three weeks there was a correlation between the elevated galanin levels, the amount of time exercising, and the degree of stress resilience, in the group of mice who used the running wheel. (After building in the first week they were averaging 10-16km per day, if you needed some motivation for your own running)

The test then went on to elevate galanin levels in otherwise sedentary mice and the observed the same stress resilience effects. It is obvious but worth stating that people are not mice, but we do have very similar galanin receptors. This experiment shows that repeated cardiovascular exercise increases galanin, and increased galanin helps us deal with stress.

Doing further research on galanin, I found this article in Nature, which shows that increased galanin levels are responsible for regulating aggression toward pups in male mice, and increasing their tendency towards parental behavior.

I’ve always felt that I’m a better father, husband, and overall person after a good sweat session. There are obviously multiple chemicals in play there, but galanin has a big role to play. This is especially true as stress levels have been elevated these past few months, as has time with my sons without daycare.

Increasing galanin levels seems like a great thing to do no matter what, but an especially great thing with all the stresses of Covid life, and the best way to do that is some good old fashioned SerenityThroughSweat.

Thanks for joining me, stay safe and stay sweaty my friends.

The Missing Dollar

Thanks for joining me for another edition of the SerenityThroughSweat blog. One of the things I struggle with the most as a husband, a parent, hell as a human, is communication. I think a lot of communication problems are rooted in perception, specifically different perceptions of the same event.

I remember first hearing the missing dollar problem on a boy scout trip. I think it was a way to quiet us down on the long bus ride between Buffalo and Washington DC. It goes a little something like this:

Three guys are going to share a hotel room that costs $30 and they each give the clerk $10. The clerk realizes an hour later that the room only cost $25 so he gives the bellhop $5 to give back to the three guys. The bellhop can’t figure out how to evenly split it between three guys, so he keeps $2 and gives each of them $1 back. So each guy originally paid $10 and got $1 back for a total of $9, and the bellhop kept $2. $9 x 3=$27 + $2 = $29, but the three guys originally paid $30, where is the missing dollar?

It’s easy to get caught up in the missing dollar. Like many word problems, the information is there, but the presentation matters. 9×3=27 +2=29 makes sense, is good math, is easy to follow and leaves a dollar missing.

But if we follow the money, the clerk has $25, each guy has $1 for a total of $3, and the bellhop has $2 so all $30 is accounted for. The cost of the room ended up being $27, $25 to the clerk with an invoultary and unknown $2 going to the bellhop. Then, each guy gets $1 back so the 25+2=27 for the cost of the room + the $3 refund accounts for all the money. The focal point isn’t the $27, it is deciding whether the bellhop’s $2, or the guy’s $3 was accounted for in that $27 based on the information given.

It’s easy to get sucked in to either interpretation of the numbers (especially the wrong one) based on your perception. Beyond being a fun math problem to stump your friends and relatives, I think that is the point.

Whether it is interacting with your spouse, your kids, your coworkers, or anyone for that matter, it is easy to get caught up in the wrong perception and fixate on “the missing dollar” of that particular situation. In the age of information, it isn’t hard to find facts or math that supports your preconceived ideas or notions. The fixation that results is often a source of the polarization of so many issues we see today.

In our example 9×3=27+2=29 is good math. It is an erroneous argument, but all of the individual components check out, it just has one piece of bad data. But without knowing, understanding, or being able to otherwise rationalize the correct information, the comfort that comes with the known math outweighs the uncertainty of not being able to explain the more reasonable answer (that the dollar is not in fact missing even though the math doesn’t work out)

Projectile therapy, and not too shabby despite time away from the stick

I see this most often in myself when I am resistant to changing my opinion even in the face of new information. The original opinion is almost always based on assumptions, information, experience, and judgement, but if any part of those inputs turns out to be incorrect, the logic putting them together still holds up. That is why it is often so hard to change our minds. There is almost always some element of truth and logic to the way we arrived at our opinion.

The next time you find yourself unable to reconcile an old opinion in the light of new information, try to find the “missing dollar” in your reasoning. You might just find some serenity along the way.

Thanks for joining me, stay safe and stay sweaty my friends.

A pair of runs and some windy rainy miles with Layla

Shut Up Legs

Thanks for joining me for another edition of the SerenityThroughSweat blog. Albeit a little later with all of the craziness that is 2020, this is one of my favorite stretches of the year, Le Tour. Hundreds of riders hammering the pedals across miles of the world’s most spectacular countryside is awe inspiring and motivating in a way that is hard to compare.

One of the color commentators on the broadcast, a former pro cyclist Jen’s Voigt, is famous in the cycling community for his remark Shut Up Legs! It is his brand, the title of his book and the name of his company and website. It is also something that all cyclists at some point or another can relate to.

Music man on our visit to Grammy’s house

SerenityThroughSweat for me has always been about finding peace, in large part through exercise. I think the ability to feel discomfort and then push through it. To realize the discomfort is only temporary and it is superceded by whatever the goal is, is a gift given to us by exercise. It is also what Jens so eloquently states in much fewer words when he says, shut up legs.

Anyone who has found themselves in the saddle, legs burning, and contemplating quitting knows the internal struggle that goes on. There are always an endless number of good reasons why calling it a day is a justifiable decision. Miles already ridden, lack of proper sleep/nutrition/hydration, inclement weather, other obligations at home. Honest self assessment, especially in times of discomfort, is a true virtue.

Getting ready for our upcoming mountain adventure

I try to think about it like Tyler durden would. “These are your burning legs, don’t go to your cave and find your power animal, what you are feeling is premature enlightenment.” Recognize the source of your discomfort, stay with it, not blaming it or hiding from it, and then say shut up legs.

The uncertainty I (and much of my aviation family) face is no different. Our metaphorical legs are burning with the threat of furlough and a long arduous climb of industry recovery looms on the horizon. We can unclip our pedals and call it a day, or we can say shut up legs, and take on the long hard climb ahead.

It doesn’t make the climb ahead any less daunting, or the burning feelings of uncertainty any less scary, but facing it head on saying Shut up legs! and progressing forward is the only sure path I can see for my family.

I hope that all of my brothers and sisters in the industry, as well as anyone else who is facing Covid related job loss, will join me in saying Shut Up Legs, and hammering forward in a way that would put the peloton to shame.

Thanks for joining me, stay safe and stay sweaty my friends. (And Vive Le Tour)

Under Pressure

Thanks for joining me for another edition of the SerenityThroughSweat blog. I’m sitting post run in my hotel room in Asheville on what could be my last layover in a while, and I wanted to share my thoughts with you.

I was drifting in and out of attention on the van ride to the hotel last night. I was on my phone trying to plan out my running route, when I caught the tail end of that familiar Queen and Bowie bass beet over the van radio. The words washed over me knowing this could be me last trip, and expecting a furlough notice any day, “this is our last dance, this is ourselves under pressure”

First off, I love my job, I’m grateful to be here, and I’m even more grateful that I knew this could be my last dance. Back in March, I got in an argument with the captain I flew with right at the end of the last rotation I would fly before lockdown. I didn’t know at the time that I would be out of the cockpit for an uncertain length of time, but I probably could have been a better version of myself if I had known.

Going in to this trip knowing that there is a good chance I don’t fly next month, and a good chance I get furloughed in October (I received my furlough notice along with 1940 other pilots a few minutes ago) I was primed to appreciate all of it (good and bad) with that knowledge ahead of time.

The way I feel hurtling towards the October 1st furlough date

It’s hard to see past the built in endings in anything. I remember crying while hugging my coach and my mother after my last wrestling match, not so much because I was sad, but because there is an emptiness left in the wake of mission completion. I remember the same emotions, crying alone in my hotel room after I finished Ironman FL.

I went on to coach wrestling and started Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and I continue training for and competing in triathlons, so they weren’t true endings, more like page breaks. But, there is still an emptiness especially in the immediate aftermath that is, I believe, unavoidable.

I’m fighting those same emotions and fighting back tears writing this now. I know (or strongly believe anyhow) that as a relatively young man this is not an ending, but just a page break in my career. Objectively, I understand this, but it provides little comfort to my short term feelings of emptiness.

If you’ve followed the blog for any length of time (thank you), I’ve been a preacher (for lack off a better term) of strengthening mental, physical, and emotional well-being, as a way to be better prepared no matter what situations you encounter. I feel blessed that my biggest concern is how much I will miss flying and how it has become a part of me, rather than my ability through flying to fulfill more base needs for my family (ie food on the table, and a roof over head)

Meal prep on the Z Grills pellet grill. Smoked turkey, brussel sprouts, asparagus, sweet potatoes, and beer bread

My family and I will be fine. In the grand scheme of things this will be a story we tell years from now in cockpits and at dinner parties. But in the short term, where page breaks seem like cliffs, emotions can run high, molehills can be turned into mountains.

Whatever may come over the next few months or years, I hope that I have prepared myself and my family to the best of my ability, for the challenges ahead. I hope that new passion and warmth fills in the emptiness that these events leave in their wake. I hope I am able to have the same appreciation throughout my career, as I have for this potential last(for a while anyway) flight. I hope that I can enjoy what may be my last dance, and that my family and I can live well, under pressure.

Morning miles along the French broad river in Asheville

Thanks for joining me, stay safe and stay sweaty my friends.

How Far We’ve Come

Thanks for joining me for another edition of the SerenityThroughSweat blog. I’m sitting post run in Greenville, SC where I wrote the first edition of the blog back in mid November, and thinking of how far we’ve come.

I have an eclectic taste in music, especially for different types of workouts. There is a special dopamine rush when that perfect 90’s alt rock song comes on unexpectedly in a workout. Energy seems to materialize from the ether, and I can go from boarding the struggle bus, back to a spring in my step. Matchbox twenty’s how far we’ve come has always been one of those songs for me.

Sleepy sloth hugs art project from El Duderino

A drum solo start, a punchy guitar line, up tempo beats, Rob Thomas talking about the end of days, it’s got everything I need to sprint out the last few miles home. The lyrics seem deceptively appropriate for where we find ourselves six months into a pandemic and an election year.

“I’m waking up at the start of the end of the world, but it’s feeling just like every other morning before,” “I believe the world is burning to the ground, oh well I guess we’re gonna find out, let’s see how far we’ve come”

El Duderino taking the wheel on the walk with Speedy, while mommy gets in some bike miles

On their own and out of context, the lyrics make it sound like a sad song, one of desperation and defeat. It never struck me that way listening to it, and the music video (I don’t know if those are still a thing anymore, but they were in the 90’s and the 00’s) paints a different picture. It shows scenes of human triumph and progress like the moon landing, Muhammad Ali winning the world heavy weight title, and the Berlin Wall coming down.

There is no denying the pain and suffering that has occurred in the last six months, but look how far we’ve come. Public health and well being is now a priority on a level I’ve certainly never seen before in this country. As a nation we are having productive discussions on race, justice, and policing that are well overdue.

First time cooking in the new Z grills pellet grill. Smoked picanaha and veggies were awesome

On a personal level, I started this blog ten months ago to talk about fitness and parenting. It was as much of a personal indulgence (writing about my own endeavors) as it was a meaningful platform with a message I hope to share with my boys. I can look back over that short time and see how far I’ve come, as a parent, an athlete, and a writer.

I’ve become focused at a level I haven’t been since I was writing my thesis, not just on producing content, but also consuming it. The amount I read, fiction and non fiction, and listen to podcasts has increased tremendously. My intake of instructional posts, blogs, and videos for grappling, fitness, nutrition, and mobility has skyrocketed. Speedy, being born early on in all of this craziness, was a blessing helping me to take stock of things that really matter in my life. It also forced me to evaluate and evolve my parenting with two boys at home with no daycare.

First time on the bike since father’s day. New shoes, new cleats, and a whole lot of dropping the hammer on the last 5 miles

I’ve written before about Serenity as a journey or a series of fleeting moments, more so than a destination. I’m grateful for these post run moments of clarity where even though I’m not there yet, and I may never get there, I can reflect on how far we’ve come.

Thanks for joining me, stay safe and stay sweaty my friends.

Layover miles on the swamp rabbit trail is Greenville

Adaptation

Thanks for joining me for another edition of the serenity through sweat blog. My wife and I are wrapping up our first weekend with El Duderino out of town and just Speedy in the house. I’m struck by the difference two years has made in our parenting and our personalities.

As a new father, even with a significant break from work, I struggled to find a rhythm. I was unsure of myself and the needs of my wife and new baby. I was behind the curve when it came to meeting those needs much less anticipating and proactively fulfilling them.

Two years later, with El Duderino visiting his grandparents for the weekend, was the first time for me to really compare apples to apples as it were. How would my wife and I handle our now 4 month old having already been through it once?

The difference was staggering. We were both amazed at the efficiency at which we could care for Speedy and complete tasks around the house. We were both able to anticipate each other’s as well as Speedy’s needs, and then fulfill them quickly, efficiently, and with a a general sense of normalcy.

Things that would have left us frustrated and exhausted two years ago, seemed like commonplace daily routine, and even a reprieve, when compared to the demands of two children. The repetitive tasks that are required to care for a child led to a change in both my wife and I. The difference is the beauty of human adaptation.

As is often the case taxonomy is important and adaptation (in a biological sense) is an organisms ability to change to become better suited to it’s environment.

My wife and I are not the same people we were two and a half years ago when El Duderino was born. In addition to a familiarity and gained confidence as parents, we adapted to be better suited to our new lives as parents.

Raising children clearly involves a lot repetitive tasks. With repetition comes habit formation, and with habit formation comes adaptation. A good training plan will force you to do the same thing. Your body will adapt to the stresses (running, biking, lifting heavy things, grappling) you put it through if it senses that they are an environmental factor, and not just a singular event. Repetitive stresses will lead to adaptation, and a better suited person for the whatever challenge lies ahead.

We are starting to see this now with COVID as well. There have been repetitive stresses on businesses, services, and events. Some of those organizations have maintained their routine in a “tough it out” approach, and some have adapted. Like a fun uncle who watches the kids now and again, they can get the job done when they need to, but their efficiency and effectiveness will be lacking. The parents who change to better fit their new roles, will ultimately do a better job and be more efficient and effective. It doesn’t take long to see which organizations are adapting, and which are struggling to tough it out.

This run was a special treat. Some early morning miles over the causeway in my old stomping grounds. A lot of sweat, tears, and memories in the pavement here.

Humans have adapted to survive and thrive in every environment they have come across. It requires some trial and error, some repetitive stress, and a whole lot of serenity, but the results are pretty incredible.

When you can’t change your situation, you change yourself. That’s what adaptation is. It’s just a fun coincidence that parenting, fitness, getting through COVID, and finding serenity all require adaptation too.

Thanks for joining me, stay safe and stay sweaty my friends.