Sober October – Serenity Through Sweat

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.

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

Redefine the relationship

With New year’s right around the corner I’m thinking about New year’s resolutions. Most perennial gym members hate this time of year. The gym is full of fresh faces that often lack gym knowledge and/or etiquette and will most likely be short lived members. And while this is a real source of frustration, I would urge you to use this time to redefine your relationship, not just with your gym, but across many areas of your life.

The idea of redefining the relationship came to me earlier this year while participating with Joe Rogan and his buddies in Sober October. If you aren’t familiar with that tradition, basically abstain from booze for the month of October and then generally make better choices about your health and well being. The idea being at the end of the month you can look back and redefine your relationship with booze, food, fitness, etc…

For my sober October I decided to refrain from drinking but also anything with added sugar for the month. I then called off the month with a 24 hour fasting period.

For me it’s not uncommon to have a beer with dinner and another while winding down after my son goes to bed. It’s also not uncommon to have a small piece of chocolate or a mini Klondike bar for dessert (I know they are garbage calories but they are so good, and as the saying goes there is a long list of things I would do for a Klondike bar). The first 10 days or so without beer or sugar I felt somewhat grumpy and irritable at night. Like I was entitled to something for making it through the day and now it was being taken away.

The beer I would normally have wile winding down after my son went to bed I replaced with hot tea, this gave me something of a nightly ritual and something to look forward to, instead of just removing items I was replacing them. I also noticed I was sleeping better, and my resting heart rate was about 2-4 beats per minute lower on average over the course of the month.

October came and went (the 24 hour fast was not a great idea but more on that later) but at the end of the month I no longer felt like I was owed a couple of beers and dessert every night for successfully adulting through the day. I still enjoy craft beer, and my wonderful wife made me an advent craft beer calendar, but celebrating and counting down to Christmas feels different than popping a top because I finished a day. I still enjoy dessert (probably more often then I ought too especially during the holidays), but it feels like my relationship with both has changed after taking some time away from them.

Back to New year’s resolutions. They are what you make of them, and even if you only stick to something for a short time, maybe it can help you redefine your relationship with it.

Hate exercise but made a resolution to get in shape, maybe you can find an activity you enjoy and change your relationship with fitness. Have a sweet tooth and want to stay off sugar for a week, a month, a year. Maybe you don’t make it all the way or you slip up occasionally, but redefining your relationship with sugar is progress.

Maybe you you are that perennial gym goer who is angry at the world because someone is doing curls at the squat rack. Can you redefine your relationship with your gym peers. Maybe take someone under your wing in a helpful and non-condescending manner (I know that’s a tough ask if they are curling in the squat rack but come on we are all trying to get better around New year’s)

I hope the new year brings all of you happiness, health, success, obviously some serenity through sweat, and a positive paradigm progression. All alliteration aside thanks for joining me, happy new year, and stay sweaty my friends.