Laterz Haters

For those who don't follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Strava, Garmin Connect, DailyMile, MapMyFitness, Nike+, YouTube, Instagram, TrainerRoad, etc...wait, what was I saying? I lost track after building that list.  Oh, right, for those who don't follow me, I've been doing a month-long bike training program on my Wahoo KICKR through an amazing app called TrainerRoad.  The program is called The Sufferfest Build, and it's based on the insane training rides put together by Singapore-based The Sufferfest. They take footage and experience (incline, competitiveness) from actual races, superimpose intervals and technique training, and basically kick your butt.  The Sufferfest Build program TrainerRoad put together has six days of riding a week (you take Monday off), with alternating between intense rides and recovery/endurance rides, plus two long rides on the weekend (one very intense, one moderate but long) - see a map of the plan below.  I'm on week two, and already see the difference in my ability.  To call it tough is an understatement.  To call it fun and energizing is also an understatement.

A map of the plan. It is intense stuff mixed with recovery time, and a ton of fun. Image courtesy of TrainerRoad

So, when I finish my rides, I post them up to my various social media channels, including the fitness networks I'm part of. I also often will mention others, like the equipment makers for the stuff I'm using if I love it or have a particular comment about it. I've been posting about my Sufferfest Build experience on Twitter with mention of @WahooFitness, @TrainerRoad, and @TheSufferfest. The problem with that last one is that I was forgetting to include the 'the'. So, turns out, there's some other Twitter user who was getting notified of my activity.  Not only that, but they weren't too impressed, and felt the need to share that with me - see what they wrote:

@newbodi Try another sport.

— Sufferfest (@sufferfest) April 9, 2014

The workout they were writing about was a recovery ride, so my performance was nothing to write home about (though obviously I felt it was something to write all my followers about - but, hey, that's just what I do, and I suggest you do it, too). I had done 35 minutes of intervals on the elliptical that morning, and then did my first run of more than one mile in months (and likely my last for a few more months as my foot is still not ok) literally right before hopping on the trainer for 60 minutes of low intensity form practice (for those who know what this means, the FTP was about 50% of my current level, and I used the TrainerRoad Pettit course, as per the Build's plan).  So the effort, achievement (kJ, TSS, mileage, etc) was not great, nor should it have been.  My ride today will be mega, by the way.

So, yeah, if that meant to be a race performance, I should possibly go pickup another sport, but it wasn't meant to be anything but some time on my bike and trainer.

But let's analyze this for a moment.  By 'this', I mean the idea that I should change sports if I am not performing at elite levels. If I was making my living competing on my bike, sure. But I'm not. I'm keeping fit and enjoying the process on my bike. Why would I get off?  When I run races, I do ok, but I'm not a rock star and don't really stand to be a top finisher in the races I sign up for. Would I mind? Not at all - I'd be elated. Do I care? Not really - I'm not bothered by it at all. So why do I do it?  Why do so many people do these things if they won't win?

You see, the issue is all one of semantics. 'Win' doesn't have to mean coming in first. 'Win' can mean so much more, but it's defined only by the person doing the activity in question. No one else.

Elon Musk, founder of PayPal, Tesla and SpaceX, has this great quote in a 60 minutes piece done on him. He talked about how there was this high chance of failure with Tesla, and he didn't expect for it to succeed.  The interviewer why he'd try if he never thought they'd make it. Musk said the greatest things may not be the ones that succeed, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try. He's speaking about achieving greatness and doing things for the overall betterment of the world (your world or the world more broadly). The point being, don't let the fear of failure stop you from going for it. And by extension, don't let someone else's definition of success deter you from trying.  Here's a quote of the conversation:

Elon Musk: Well, I didn't really think Tesla would be successful. I thought we would most likely fail. But I thought that we at least could address the false perception that people have that an electric car had to be ugly and slow and boring like a golf cart.

Scott Pelley: But you say you didn't expect the company to be successful? Then why try?

Elon Musk: If something's important enough you should try. Even if you -- the probable outcome is failure.

So, the message here is simple. Don't let someone else with their definition of the word 'win' influence you, your definition, or what you do. Chose what a win is to you - and that can be as simple as showing up for the race/finishing at all/getting on that bike 3 days this week/etc. Push yourself to win as you define winning, and as you do it, raise the bar for yourself to keep winning overall.  As I say in one of our podcast episodes, win your way to success, and enlighten.your.body.

Flawed Logic: "If I'm gonna die anyway, I might as well enjoy what I'm eating"

Tell me you haven't heard or thought this before:

If I'm going to die anyway, then I am going to eat whatever I want and enjoy the time I do have. Why would I give up XYZ and be miserable?

That, my friends, is called 'flawed logic'. It's one of the most common responses out there for eating healthy (along with "I don't have the time," "it's too expensive," and "I don't have the willpower."). Why is it flawed logic?  Simple, it ultimately presumes that the only enjoyment in life comes from food. So, if you give up your most loved foods, then your life will be miserable.

How would your significant other feel about that? Your siblings? Kids? Parents? Friends? Pets?

I don't blame those who say things like this. It's what our society programs us to think - food is not fuel to us, it's a source of enjoyment and pleasure. It tastes amazing and makes us feel good. We run (or maybe waddle) to it when we're sad or upset, just like the Golden Girls with their late night cheesecake sessions. So it's no wonder as a society we say things like this.

In reality is that food is ultimately just a fuel. Also, healthy eating can actually be tasty. And it can be done economically, both in terms of cost and time.

But the real reality is that our lives and the enjoyment we experience within them aren't just about food. We take joy from so many other things. Time with loved ones, great movies/shows/games/music/etc, vacations, our jobs (seriously, some people take real enjoyment from their work), time with our pets - and the list goes on.

Why do we think that giving up on some foods we like that literally are killing us somehow wipes out all enjoyment from our lives?

This question came to me after watching a great documentary called Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead by an Aussie named Joe Cross. It follows him over 60 days as he goes on a fresh juice-only diet, and educates you about what our food choices are doing to us, and what healthy living can do instead. It's a fantastic movie (and book), so I highly encourage you to watch it.  It's free for Amazon Prime members, and available on DVD and streaming from most services out there (Amazon, Netflix, etc), and there's also a book version (on Kindle, too). He suffers from an autoimmune disease that has him on several medications (including strong doses of steroids), and yet he's still suffering (and overweight and feeling miserable). He transforms himself, is able to come off his meds, and is happier and healthier. He enjoys his life in a way he didn't before. And he helps another man along the way with the same ailment and even worse health (who then intern helps others, too).

What Joe learns and teaches is that we need to look for all the other sources of joy in our lives beyond food, raise the value those have in our minds, and then make healthier choices to enhance our ability to take in those sources of enjoyment. What we find along the way is that we had a false notion of what our real happiness comes from or, more accurately, just how happy we thought we were.

Whether you want to be as extreme as Joe (and you can't help but feel like you want to be), the message is so clear and valid. Live healthier, get to a place of true enjoyment, and enlighten.your.body.