Serenity Through Sweat

Alternative Facts

Thanks for joining me for another edition of the SerenityThroughSweat blog. We have officially crossed the one year mark, and I’m grateful for all of you who have followed along. I especially appreciate your readership because I know sometimes I can get lost in the woods or have a wonky perspective. With that in mind I want to talk about alternative facts.

The phrase coined in 2017 during Trump administration, alternative facts, are a fancy way of rebranding a falsehood. But I will use the phrase in a different and I think more appropriate way.

I have been searching through running world archives for one of my favorite running stories, and have been unable to find the article so forgive me for paraphrasing and not citing. The story goes something like this:

A husband and wife are competing in the same ultra distance trail running event. At the end of the event each of them is interviewed. In the husband’s interview he recalls memories from his time on the trail, winning the race, helping his wife cross a creek that was too deep for her, and his wife eventually coming in dead last. In the wife’s interview she recalls memories from her time on the trail, being the first female finisher, and her husband finishing next to last.

The husband and wife were the only two people racing. So while both interviews were factual, the tell two very different stories. Now this could be called perception, or connotation, but I think alternative facts is actually a great descriptor.

The husband won the race, that is a fact. He also finished next to last, that is an alternative fact. They are both real and true and describe the same event. The order of which is the “fact” and which is the “alternative fact”, is interchangeable depending on the message you are trying to communicate.

I read this story a few years back and it stuck with me. It stuck with me because of: how zany ultra runners, especially when married to each other are, the fun and interesting ways we can present the same information, and how we choose to present the same facts, especially when we are motivated by competition.

Switching gears to my work peers, (feel free to skip ahead three paragraphs if this doesn’t apply to you) I think we find ourselves in a similar situation looking at the current LOA vote. I am not nearly smart enough to find all the easter eggs and “what if’s” in this deal, but the main issue seams to be the TLV reduction.

The TLV reduction, just like the ultra runners, is either a quality of life win, or a concession to the company, depending on where you sit and what your message is. They are both true concurrently, and our individual competitive need to be right, further fueled by being “fact” (or alternative fact) based, is why we are seeing the high level of division within our ranks.

El Duderino digging in to some Deer Poop (chocolate covered raisins)

It is important to remember that like the runners, we are married to each other and running the race together. We each have a vote, and it is not in the scope of this publication nor is it my personal desire to sway you one way or the other. I would seek only to remind us all that we are on the same team, and the “alternative facts” of the LOA based on your perception, should not diminish our enjoyment for this race we embark upon together.

When forming an argument, the facts are obviously important and essential, but the message, intent and tone, take a close second. In cases where “alternative facts” are present those secondary factors are further amplified.

A couple good runs since the arrival of friendlier Florida temps

Being a zany endurance althete, and a competitor by nature, I often find myself alternating between “fact” and “alternative fact” as it suits my message and desire to win an argument. It is a bad habit that results in compromised communication and added angst in my relationships.

As we move through a contentious election season, a potentially dividing LOA, and a tumultuous 2020, I ask that we all consider the facts, and the alternative facts, and then engage each other as colleagues, peers, and friends.

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

Flying Solo

Thanks for joining me for another edition of the SerenityThroughSweat blog. This week my wife got away for her much needed escape which left me home with both boys flying solo.

This was the first time I had been alone with both boys for an overnight, and with the knowledge that no reinforcements would be coming.

Please fasten your seatbelts in case we encounter unexpected rough air

I decided to go to consult the operations manual to see what kind of helpful procedures would get me through. Much to my chagrin, there was no ops manual, (despite how many times I’ve told my wife that each child should have been birthed with one). In lieu of a manual, I decided to lean on my only other area of formal training, aviation, to help me through.

Thorough preflight: ensuring your craft is airworthy before heading up is a must. I tried to get my house in order, so to speak, before my wife left. This meant plans for activities, meal prepping dinners for El Duderino and I, and having bottles locked and loaded for Speedy, (especially in the case that he woke up in the wee hours of the morning)

Homemade crab cakes meal prepped for the duration of mommy’s excursion

Expanding your team: often times as pilots we can’t know all the information or have all of the expertise to complete the mission by ourselves. We need to rely on those around us and their expertise to arrive safely. Chic-Fil-A was a welcome part of the team and a much needed distraction for all of us. My wife also provided the idea of feeding Speedy in the car seat for a more mobile, one handed meal operation.

I’m very lucky that both boys were well behaved and (other than a quick one hour hiccup the first night) slept well. El Duderino played very well with Speedy, and was very understanding when his brother needed a little but more of my attention.

Workload Management: inevitably, some parts of the flight have significantly higher workload than others. Any work that can be done ahead of time during the low workload periods should be accomplished at those times. This meant washing and prepping bottles, rinsing diapers and doing other laundry, and even sneaking a workout and my mobility routine in was relegated to when one or both boys were sleeping.

Kids and Kettlebells, Speedy checking my simple and sinister form from the baby gates in the background

Known Threats/Expectation Bias: before every flight we try to identify potential threats to the operation. Some are internal, some are external, and some are made of our own biases. Expectation Bias is the idea that you expect something to happen and are likely to react a certain way even if the situation doesn’t happen or presents itself differently. I figured that Speedy would give me a hard time eating from a bottle since it is not the norm for him. That was what I expected to happen and when we was fussy I reacted according to that bias. So it took me a few tries to figure out that his fussiness over the bottle was really about something else.

Debrief: after the plane has landed and another day’s mission is done it is common to debrief the ups and downs normally over a beverage or two. This is a chance to learn, fix, unwind, and tell stories and it is just as important as any of the stick and rudder work. The same is true as parents, at the end of the day what worked, what didn’t, what was crazy, and what made you laugh, (and a beverage or two never hurt)

Venison neck roast tacos on the Z grill with everyone home for the debrief.

All in all the boys and I had a wonderful few days flying solo. There was no blood, minimal tears, and lots of laughs. It was a humbling experience to see what my incredible wife does everytime I go out on a trip, and I’m glad that I could facilitate some time away for her. Even without the ops manual, we managed just fine, and I found out coordinating a 3 year old and a 7 months old’s schedule is trickier than any crosswind landing.

Highlights from my wife’s well earned trip

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

Escape

Thanks for joining me for another edition of the SerenityThroughSweat blog. I spent the last few days in a tree stand in the woods behind my dad’s house. With all of the craziness of election day I was very glad to have an escape.

This was my first real experience hunting. I think I had followed along as a youngster but never actively participated. The idea of sharing a meal with my family from an animal I harvested has been increasingly appealing to me. Not only as a more reliable means of obtaining and knowing where my food comes from, but also as a connection with our most base self and a new challenge.

Like a lot of things discussed in this blog, (endurance events and parenting) the romanticized idea is much easier to digest than the actual event itself. My ideas of parenting before hand was helping with homework, or teaching the boys to wrestle. A lot of my parenting time is really spent keeping El Duderino from reaching things on the counter and washing out Speedy’s cloth diapers. Hunting followed very much along the same lines.

There is a lot of ground to cover between suiting up and walking to the tree stand and pulling that tenderloin of the grill. The romanticized ideas ask to often omitt the grind, but there is beauty to be found in that grind.

There is a very distinct beauty to sitting still and silent anywhere, but especially out in nature. Appreciating that beauty is not automatic, but rather requires mindfulness. The requirement for mindfulness is only accentuated by those things that would otherwise distract you; cold weather and wind, restlessness, first world problems communicated by an electronic device in your pocket.

My experience hunting in the woods was magical. One of the things I’m most appreciative of when it comes to my fitness and well-being routine, is the place those activities take me to. I can get out of my head and out of my own way finding a place of serenity, if only for the briefest of moments. Sitting in a tree stand watching the sun rise, the multicolor leaves fall, and the animals of the woods come alive took me to a very similar place.

Helping my dad drag his deer up a ravine and back to the house, cleaning, butchering and eating it all in the same night was a very powerful and fortunate experience. I felt transported to that same place of serenity I so often seek, but also felt a sense that others have been there before.

Running, grappling, and triathlon are largely solo pursuits, and while there is surely serenity to be found, it is largely a lonely endeavor. Hunting, cleaning, butchering, and learning from my father, who learned from his father, gave me the same escape but with a greater sense of all those others who seek serenity through that path.

Speedy’s first taste of meat, and El Duderino days go get some more

I couldn’t have asked for a better hunt, or hunting partner. I will be forever grateful for the knowledge passed on, as well as the experience and the escape it provided. I hope that you reader, can find your own much needed escape in this chaotic time, and the serenity that comes with it.

Thanks for joining me, stay safe, (warm if you are in the stand), and stay sweaty my friends.

Managed to get 3 runs in this week too with the travel and the hunting

Demons

Happy Halloween! Thanks for joining me for another edition of the SerenityThroughSweat blog. I’m writing this after a nice 10 mile sunrise run while enjoying my first beer in a month. Halloween, sober October, and my post run afterglow have me thinking about demons.

Cheers to the final workout and Sober October celebration

This October I abstained from alcohol and sugar as well as completed the 10,000 kettlebell swing challenge. This proved to be a interesting combination in regards to how I typically quell my inner demons.

I am very fortunate to lead a life where most if not all of my demons are personal and internal. I’m not struggling to eat or find shelter, my family and I are healthy and secure. Most of my demons are the result of my own weaknesses; insecurity, jealousy, self doubt, self pity. SerenityThroughSweat is in large part, my journey of exorcising demons through exercise.

My personal weaknesses often lead to the creation of mountains out of molehills in otherwise benign human interactions. These have only been amplified by reduced social contact and the other stresses that come with Covid.

For me, alcohol often becomes a crutch to either dull, avoid, or replace addressing those personal inadequacies and interactions. Some demons are more or less benign and good to let go of, in college I was fond of the phrase ” nothing a shower beer can’t fix”. Others are more insidious, especially when left to fester when covered up with alcohol.

another sunrise smoke on the Z grill, brisket pork butt sweet potatoes broccoli and corn

Physical exertion and later on formal exercise has always been a tool I’ve used to exorcise those same personal demons. I remember one particular instance when I was probably around 10 years old. I have no recollection of what I was mad at my step brother about, but I remember that my solution was putting on my snow gear, and marching circles in the snow around the cabin we were staying in for hours.

I’m not advocating for exercise as an alternative to dealing with your problems. Rather, literally running from them (and then back) can be a means to clear your head and face them with a fresh perspective.

This month’s challenge was particularly interesting because neither of those options were available. Without alcohol those small things that I would otherwise shirk off with a beer at the end of the night were nagging until they were attended to. The kettlebell swing workouts, despite their intensity and benefits, coming in most days at just over 30 minutes failed to squash my more stubborn personal demons the way endurance cardio sessions have.

I didn’t realize how much I had been holding on to until finishing my run and then later sitting down to write with a beer (and a doughnut). This month was less a challenge of abstaining and swinging, and more a challenge of managing stress without my favorite tools. I have never lacked for discipline and perseverance in the face of a challenge, but I struggle constantly with my inherent character flaws.

15 in the final cluster on the way to 10,000

Sweating, in all of its various forms, and then being able to analyze and share my thoughts has been and continues to be extremely therapeutic. This platform has been a tool I can use to hold myself accountable and exorcise my demons, and for that I’m a grateful to you my reader. I’m also very happy to be done with Sober October and the 10,000 kettlebell swing challenge, so that I have my full arsenal of tools available to exorcise my demons.

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

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.