fitness

Always Look On The Bright Side

As the calendar rolls over, I’m seeing the usual rush of recap posts. Most revolve around 2020 being awful and wanting it to go away; I’m down with that… but it may be oversimplifying. Plus, I’m in the mood to pick a fight, so here we go!

Look, I’m not going to deny some awful stuff has happened. The pandemic, with its horrible death toll (not to mention all the people who survived only to face long term medical issues). The economic trauma that ensued. The isolation of social distancing. The list goes on.

Here’s the thing, though – at this point everything is being assigned to COVID and that mean old 2020. For example, a wide range of celebrities passed away this year; it seemed like every time, the “2020 strikes again” comments would come. You can blame 2020 if you like, but Pro Tip: celebrities passed in 2019, and more will in 2021. Call me callous, but it’s true.

Credit Where It’s Due

My spark came directly from a different type of post by a good friend. She’s a remarkable lady with a great attitude; she talked about being thankful for the things she learned and realized in 2020. As I read it, I realized that’s what had been bothering me about all these other stories, memes, etc.

When it comes down to it, bad shit happens all the time. 2020 certainly had a big share of it – I won’t argue that. What matters, though, is what we learned about ourselves and others. What we take away from all this mess. How we changed and grew.

I’ll Bite – Hit Me With The Good Stuff?

This year, for example, I finally pulled the trigger and changed careers. To be clear, I love my former coworkers and clients. It was a great company and they took care of me – but it was past time. I wasn’t challenging myself and I wasn’t growing. I was too comfortable. “Comfort is the enemy of progress,” and I was a classic example.

That career change has me working from home, which has been an adjustment. Some days I get a little stir crazy, I’m not gonna lie. Still, the opportunity and flexibility are going to help me continue to grow while allowing me to spend time with The Boy, go to his games, be there for him as he navigates high school in a crazy global time.

I made major steps on my fitness journey; while my weight actually went up a couple pounds, my body shape is very different. I’m stronger and leaner than I’ve been since, well, ever, really. A lot of that took shape while the gyms were closed and I was doing virtual classes in the basement. Pro Tip #2: It doesn’t take a big fancy gym to change your life.

As event after event canceled, we were able to hold the 2nd Mileage Monsters 5k and I got to experience Savage Race for the first (two) times. That checked a couple new states off my list; there’s no official goal to race in all 50 but it’s a thought… Savage, I will be back for more, I promise that. Plans were made and scrapped and remade and adjusted and scrapped again – it’s a good thing I’m determined. (That sounds nicer than saying I’m stubborn as hell…)

OK, It Wasn’t ALL Bad

This is really all I’m saying. It totally could have been worse! Our family was fortunate; that’s a fact. We both worked all year. All three of us are healthy. But I didn’t stop pushing. New challenges were met and beaten.

Look at it like running hills with a weight vest. When you drop the vest, you feel like you’re flying and crush that hill easily! 2020 was one hell of a weight vest, guys, but you made it up that hill. Drop the vest, leave the bad behind you and take what you’ve learned to move forward. Happy New Year!

Photo by Immo Wegmann on Unsplash

One Missed Step

“It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.”
“We are judged by what we finish, not by what we start.”

The point of these statements is not to give up after a slow start or stumble. Keep fighting, keep working, and continue to make progress. There is something to that – it is important to finish strong.

When your favorite team wins or loses in the last minute, invariably the focus goes to the last possession, the last at bat. But what happened earlier had just as much effect on the outcome. When sprinters and hurdlers run, they don’t look at distance as much as strides. Usain Bolt, for example, took 41 strides in Berlin, 2009 – and every one was critical to the world record he set. One missed step, one stride off, and he doesn’t set the record. Heck, he might not even have won the race!

22:00.01

I ran a PR this week. As the Alberta Clipper (or Polar Vortex or whatever they are calling it now) swept across the country and wind chills dropped, friends of mine were still out running in the nasty stuff. I, however, was in a 68 degree cave doing a 5k. This was the Groundhog Run, which holds a place in my heart. My first 10k was here in 2017; I missed it last year due to unavoidable circumstances. Not this year; I was there with The Boy and 3 close friends, ready to run.

I didn’t warm up much at all, but felt good out of the gate. The stride was working, I felt comfortable, and all was working well. I ran the last mile neck and neck with a guy around my age, and we both sprinted the last tenth to the line. I crossed first, we congratulated each other, and I waited for the rest of my group. I saw the time when I crossed and knew I had a PR, but wasn’t sure exactly what the final was. After we got everyone gathered I went over and got my results. There was the number: 22:00.01.

Now, running is largely a race against yourself and your previous runs. I didn’t know the guy next to me at the finish line, and I wouldn’t recognize him if he walked up to me today. We pushed each other, but I was racing against my own history. That time was 13 seconds better than my previous best, and if you had told me in 2016 or 2017 that I would run a 22, I would have laughed at you.

So how the hell was I feeling disappointed??

Big Round Numbers

Let’s be real; I was not really disappointed. I’m proud as hell, in fact. I worked hard, set a personal record, and finished 79th out of 2331 – but the number does nag at me a little. I remember running my first sub-30 minute 5k. My first sub-25 was a big deal. We can get obsessed with those big round numbers; this could have easily been a sub-22.

When I realized what my time was, I of course started running through the finish to figure where I could have shaved a click. Now, it’s certainly possible that I might have saved some time there – but why do we review the end so intensely and not think about earlier on? The middle is pretty important too, you know? I stumbled at one point around the 2 mile mark. I could have pushed my pace earlier. There were multiple places where I could have shaved a second or two. That’s true of any race.

What’s Your Point?

Our successes (and failures) don’t come from the last point on the journey. When you climb a wall, it’s because of all the work you did to that point. It’s the pullups and the core work for the last few months that get you over that wall, not just your run up.

The ability to persevere, to keep fighting and working, is critical to your success. At some point you will hit obstacles; that’s how life works. When you review your path and reset goals, you need to look at the whole path – not just the last drive.

If you finished, but aren’t happy with your outcome, take a look at how you got there. Did you do every challenge, complete every task down the line? If the answer is yes, you did what you could and you should stand proud. Set your new goal, keep pushing and working, and you will continue to improve.

However, if you took shortcuts here and there, decided that it was “good enough” or “far enough”, and didn’t put in the work? Listen, you should still be proud that you finished. There is absolutely value in that! Any disappointment you have for not reaching a goal time or outcome, though, isn’t because of the weather or what someone else did or didn’t do. You have to own the good and the bad!

Progress, not perfection, is our goal every day. You can’t always control what happens – but you can control how you respond to it. Your willingness to own your total journey – the beginning, middle, and end – gives you the power to change it, put in ALL the work, and raise your bar.

Featured Image credit: Photo by Clique Images on Unsplash

Ode to the Burpee

Dearest Burpee

Know this always

You suck

This is a contentious world we live in. The 24-hour news cycle and social media have added to our already argumentative natures as people; everything is up for debate. Often those debates get quite heated. In the fitness/wellness world, crunch and situp proponents are at odds; keto vs. paleo is a hot argument, and so on. I would venture to say, though, that there is one safe call – burpees. I’m not aware of anyone who actually likes burpees. Some develop a grudging respect for their benefits, but that’s about as far as it goes.

Why is that? I mean, burpees are damn close to the perfect exercise – combining a squat, a sprawl, a pushup, a jump into one exercise. Personal trainer Mike Finlay says, “Burpees engage your entire body in a force movement that requires a total body cardio exercise that uses power movements.” (H/T ventfitness.com) Despite it being a terrific way to get fit, the exercise has inspired shirts, slogans, memes… Or maybe it’s because it’s a terrific way to get fit. It’s hard work doing a set of burpees, and hard work is, well, hard. Most people don’t enjoy hard work – at least not while they are doing it. Afterwards, you realize what you’ve accomplished while you are catching your breath, and yeah – it’s a good feeling. But during, or worse yet leading up to it? Not so much.

Hey, I Don’t Even Like Talking About Burpees

I get it. Again, they are hard. There are plenty of variations out there, whether easier or tougher. Yes, in answer to your question, you can amp up your burpees. You’re welcome. Don’t believe me? Try burpees with a box jump at the end. Or burpees into pullups! There’s plenty of variations out there; if you’re looking for a bonus challenge on your exercise, Google is your friend. Someone out there has done it (and filmed it), most likely.

The truth is, hard things get easier as you do them more. I’m currently involved in a Spartan burpee/pullup challenge. 50 days total, and we’re through 29. So far, I have completed 4280 burpees (almost 150/day), with my count going up each week. My initial goal was 200/day, or 10,000 total. I set it high intentionally, and it was a little scary. Okay, a lot scary. My daily high so far is 220, and that’s actually pretty workable now. 4 weeks ago, I wasn’t ready for that. I built in no rest days, and no accounting for race days, etc. and that has affected my numbers. Still, it’s a mark to set out there. My target now is to get to 8000 – so 3720 over the next 21 days, or 177/day. I’ve got this!

Don’t Just Do Them, Do Them Correctly

As I’ve increased my count, I have also improved my form. Technique is such a critical part of exercise, and I know as a kid I got absolutely zero coaching in that. Gym class was “grab the bar and do chin-ups” or “do as many pushups/situps as you can”. If you don’t do the exercise properly, you make it harder on yourself and increase the risk of injury. I was reminded again watching my son’s baseball team do strength and conditioning – some of the forms I saw were dangerously awful.

Again, I get it – no one ever taught me to do a pushup. When I started exercising again, I couldn’t do one legit rep; partially that was a strength to weight issue, but it was also partially HOW I was attempting the exercise. Hands about shoulder width, breathe on the exertion, it looks like a bench press. You wouldn’t (I hope) do a bench press with your arms up at your ears or higher; yet I see people trying to do pushups that way.

Burpees are no different – in fact, since they combine several moves it’s even more critical. Your hips, your back, your shoulders – all are involved, and if your technique is off you can hurt any or all of them. Perhaps even more important, though, is your breathing. As mentioned in the article above, the breathing pattern is critical. They recommend before every other position; that’s close to what I’ve worked out. I focus on exhale while squatting, inhale while lowering the pushup, then exhale on the way back up. That pattern keeps me from getting too out of breath and helps me focus on the form of the moves as well. That focus helps prevent injury, and also helps distract me from all the fun I am having… As long as you don’t lose count, any distraction like that is a good thing.

Are They Helping?

The answer to “why do them?” is because they make a difference. Having run a half marathon, completed a half dozen Spartan races, as well as any number of other activities, I thought I was in pretty fair shape. The first test for this challenge was a timed burpee mile: 30 burpees, run 1/4 mile, and repeat 3 times. 120 burpees, 1 mile run. Yeah, not so much. The burpees alone were more than I was prepared to handle. By doing a full pushup as part of the burpee over 4000 times in the last month, I’ve increased strength and stamina. I’ve been asked several times if I’m lifting now; the answer is “only my body weight” – and that is all I really need. What I thought was largely excess skin from weight loss has tightened up even more; I plan on posting a before and after at the end of this.

Am I recommending you go do 8000 burpees in 7 weeks? No – but if you find a number that works for you, do them properly, and follow through every day, you will find it so much easier to run, do your workouts, and just live a functional physical life. You have to run fast in order to run fast; that carries over to strength, conditioning, and every other part of your journey. Face the challenge, and go get it done!

Feeling Comfortable in (all of) My Skin

My friend has lost almost 100 pounds; she has gone from a non-exerciser to doing 5 and 10Ks almost every weekend. She is kind and caring, strong and determined; she also avoids wearing tank tops because of her excess skin and (her words) “bat wings”.
Another friend is a powerhouse of energy and positivity, both at the gym and in life. She radiates strength, and attracts friends without even trying – people love being around her. A wonderful mother and wife, the kind of person we all need in our corner. At the same time, she is self-conscious and embarrassed about her tummy.

Why do we find it so easy to look at the negative instead of focusing on positives? Our brains seem to be hardwired to go pessimist even in the face of overwhelming positivity. Naturally, there are exceptions to this but most people do seem to have the ability to find the bad in any good.

If we are indeed hardwired this way – and the science seems to agree with this – then how do we counteract that and find the bright side? Based on that same article, it appears that we need to overwhelm ourselves (and others) with kindness. Positive comments and reinforcement need to outnumber negatives FIVE TO ONE, per the research. Be honest, now – do you give yourself FIVE TIMES the positive reinforcement? I’m sure I do not. For many of us, it can be hard to even beat a one-to-one ratio; have you ever posted about a success and in the same paragraph deflected it by saying “I just got lucky” or some such statement? That’s our nature coming through and putting ourselves down again.

Last time I started by talking about my excess skin after weight loss. I’ve thought in passing about surgery to remove it, but have no plans to do so. After all, that is all part of me. I came by that skin honestly, and I wouldn’t be the person I am now if I hadn’t been there. Would I prefer to have the rocking six-pack? Sure, that would be cool. Would that change the way I interact with other people, and the way they see me?

Celebrate Your Wins!!

We all need to run our own race, it’s true. We tell each other all the time, “Don’t worry about what the other person is doing, focus on yourself!” – and that is good advice. It goes both ways, though – if you have worked hard to be fast, strong, fit, you should not feel the need to apologize for or downgrade it. You can be proud of your achievements without rubbing them in someone’s face, of course. Stand tall, stand proud, and offer help and advice if others come asking how you were able to succeed.

Being comfortable in your own skin like that is a great goal; how do you get there? It starts with honestly assessing yourself and how far you’ve come. After all, the best way to truly celebrate your wins is to remember your struggles. If you don’t know where you were, and where you are now, how can you plan for the next steps? Give yourself credit – don’t ignore the 10 pounds you still want to lose, but don’t forget the 50 you have lost, either. It’s not about the fact I struggle to do 40 pushups in a row – a year and a half ago I couldn’t do one legit pushup (not an exaggeration!). That is where the focus should be – how far you’ve come!

Mr. Bright Side

I am sarcastic by nature, and don’t think I’m particularly good at small talk. I have learned a lot about myself on this journey, and one big thing is that, for all my sarcasm (defense mechanism much??) I care about other people’s success. Helping them reach their goals makes me happy; to that end I am more of a cheerleader than I’ve ever been. I still miss opportunities because I’m not fully comfortable approaching others about their fitness goals, but I’m working on it.

As I talk about honesty and being comfortable in my own skin, I have decided that I need to put myself way out there. For the record, I have almost never taken my shirt off in public. I don’t know that I’ve ever had a picture taken without my top. (That would explain the pale whiteness and farmer’s tan.). But here it is, some before and after shots – along with me and my extra skin. This is me, it’s what makes me who I am.

My challenge to you is to put yourself out there. No, you don’t have to take your shirt off. You do have to celebrate your success and be proud of who you are and how far you’ve come. Now go out there and shatter some more goals!

Chasing Shadows

World, meet Loki. He’s being shy…

Like myself, Loki is a creature of habit. One of his habits is chasing shadows. I’ve not seen anything quite like it from a cat before. In the morning I come downstairs and Loki sprints full speed to be in position, then chases shadows around while I put shoes on, warm up, whatever. This video is actually a mild episode, but it gives you the idea.

As I watch him chase but never catch, I started thinking about how we do the same thing in life. We chase after an ideal, without having an actual plan to get there or what we will do if we do manage to catch it.

Like most people, I’ve spent a lot of time over the years chasing big dreams. As a kid, I was going to be a scientist, a rock star, an athlete… As an adult, I have dreamed of different jobs, a ’68 Camaro… We all have these big dreams, but why do some people achieve their goals and others do not? It’s not a trick question – the answer is hard work. Sure, luck plays a part, and knowing the right people can make a difference. In the end, though, if you aren’t willing to put the effort in, who you know and all the luck in the world won’t make you truly successful.

Your health and wellness journey is the same thing. You can WANT to be fit and healthy – that won’t make a difference by itself. Trust me, I know – for years I WANTED to be in better shape, but I never did anything about it. People try diets and pills** and surgical options – and they work to some extent. However, if you don’t change your habits, you won’t change your results. Roughly half the people who try one of the surgical routes do not keep the weight off after 24 months. Reasons vary, of course, but a big part is that without changes to your diet, your mindset, your workout habits – you are just patching the problem. You are chasing shadows.

** When I started my journey, I began taking Contrave, an appetite suppressant. It helped me not be hungry all the time, but it didn’t change my desire for food. I still wanted to eat at all hours, snack on things that weren’t good for me, etc. and had to fight those urges. I took Contrave for several months, then went off it and continued to lose weight. The pills helped keep my appetite down while I rebuilt my habits and mindset; I would never say they did nothing for me. They did not change me; they did help me to change.

Progress, not perfection

When people ask me how I lost weight, the answer is some variation of “so it turns out, if you eat less and exercise more, that actually works.” People laugh, and usually say something like “what else you got?” Yeah, I get it. That is the actual answer though: using whatever tools work for you, make the change and put in the effort. You may not see all the results you want to see; life happens. Medical issues pop up, financial issues arise, things change, we hit plateaus. If you hit one of those obstacles, step back and regroup, find help if you need it, then go forward again. There is always a path forward; that’s the shark mentality we talk about with 1DOS. Progress not perfection is a real thing.

If you are going to the gym regularly but not changing your diet, that’s probably not going to get it done. Everyone is different, and you may be able to get away with that for a while, but at some point you will hit a wall – you can’t outwork a lousy diet forever! If your diet is good but you aren’t getting stronger or more fit, you probably need to change your exercise routine. This spring I was putting in work, but not developing upper body and grip strength like I wanted. I made changes, adjusted my plan and I can see the difference.

Set big goals, and then set about making them happen. Get help where you need it – whether it’s a workout buddy, a trainer, medical professional, an expert at your local running shoe establishment. Beat each step along the way. Stop chasing shadows – go catch them!

What’s Next?

June 9, Warrior Dash with my local friends. Looking forward to this one! Then June 23, the whole family heads to Chicago for the Spartan Super (and my son Alex’s Junior Spartan!) and the second annual 1DOS Sharkfest. Gonna be a great summer!

Running Your Race

H/T: bobsrunfun.blogspot.com
“I am the greatest runner ever! I could run like this all day!!” -Joel A.

The half marathon, or any race for that matter, is as much a battle of will as it is a physical test. Our bodies are capable of so much more than we realize or allow; there’s a reason C25K programs are effective. By breaking it down and building your endurance quickly, the plan teaches that you CAN do a 5K. It doesn’t make you capable of that in 9 weeks; you always were capable of it. What it does is teach your brain to accept the running and push to finish the race.

I did my first half on 4/21; later, I was talking to my friend Joel and he was explaining his experience. Every half he’s done, around mile 8 he thinks about how great he feels. Then around mile 12 he’s thinking, “Yeah, I could walk it in, I’m done.” When he finishes, exhausted, he thinks, “man, that’s only a HALF!!”

The story was funny and appropriate because I had the same thought process for my half. Just past halfway, I was in a groove, I was rolling, I was freaking invincible. By mile 12, going up the long hill towards the finish (JERKS!!!) I was seriously considering walking. Pushing through, I actually sprinted (as much as I could) up the final hill to the line; I spotted another runner and ran her down. In the end, I finished 98th out of 595 men, 120th overall, 10th in my age group. More importantly, I beat my time goal by over a minute.

Set a goal, but not really…

I read a lot of different advice leading up to the race. Mainly people said that, for your first half, you shouldn’t set a time goal – just try to finish it. I get the concept, but I had run the full distance in training. The work had been put in; I was going to finish the race barring some major injury. So I set a time goal for myself. It was achievable; I beat it by 12 seconds on my training run. Knocking another minute off that training time was a great feeling.

My plan, as far as that went, was to run a steady pace. In the corral, I found the pacer I was targeting and forced myself to run right behind him for the full first mile. If you’ve done a race, you know that is not an easy thing to do… the adrenaline is kicking, your heart is driving, you just want to go. However, the last thing I wanted was to fly out of the gate, “win” the first half of the race and then drag to the line. That’s exactly what I did in my last 10K – crazy fast first 3.1 miles, then fought it hard all the way to the line. Overall my time was good that day, but I struggled mightily.

After the first mile marker I went a little ahead of the pacer, but paid close attention to my splits. This is where I conceded a little to the “just finish it” theory. Could I have run overall faster? Sure, for stretches – but what would have happened at mile 12?

Looking back, I’m glad I set an actual time goal. We don’t always challenge ourselves to max out. In the spirit of 1DOS, I put a big hairy-ass goal out there, then went and got it. I got there by doing the work, having a plan, setting a pace – and then sticking to it. That last part can be tough. Pressures, real or imagined, internal or external, make us think we have to do more or different or… whatever. Guess what – no you don’t.

What you need to do is honor yourself and run your race. There were plenty of runners passing me on the course, especially early. Many of them I re-passed on the back half. Every time someone went by me, I was thinking, “Speed up! Go Go Go!” It’s a natural reaction, but they were running their race, and I was running mine. On our life journeys, we do it too. How many times have you decided to lose weight, get in shape, learn a language, master a skill, whatever it is. You tear out of the gate, sure of success – but if you don’t lay the groundwork, be patient, and do it right – running YOUR race – you risk burning out when the bumps come. And they will come!

What the hell is a Ragnar??

12 runners, about 200 miles, on a relay run from Boston to Cape Cod. Yep, sounds like Ragnar… It’s intimidating, I won’t lie. That is the next big hairy-ass goal – Ragnar Cape Cod, followed the next day by a Spartan Sprint. I’ve run the distances I will do, but I haven’t done them with sitting in a van in between, minimal sleep, 1500 miles from home. This will be challenging, but also a lot of fun to do it with a group of friends, old and new. Then the next day, four of us will be doing a Spartan Sprint because, well, it’s there.
We will finish the Ragnar by running our own race. Each of us has our own stride, our own pace, our own little races to run, and combined together we will complete the Ragnar as a team. I’ll see you guys in Provincetown!

Karl Koelle Dot Com