Training for Life: Being Heroic, Addressing Deficiencies, Remembering When The Killers Were Young

Welcome to the best month of the year! (It contains my birthday.) My longevity and performance practice at Structural Elements is now open! I have begun enrolling patients in the first cohort of my practice membership program. I am excited that these patients are ready to go ALL IN on improving their health. I am now Level 2 certified to provide Functional Movement System screening. Come to the clinic to see how you're moving. I can tell you from experience - it's humbling. I got a nice snow run in during one of our January storms but the weather was unseasonably warm for Chambersburg's IceFest, so the sculptures soon took on an abstract appearance. Nonetheless, 327 people turned out in the drizzle for the Run Your Ice Off 5K. My 19:06 finish was good enough for 8th place overall and first over 40.

Quote of the month:

"There is nothing the wise man does reluctantly."

• Seneca

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What I'm reading:

Areté: Activate Your Heroic Potential, by Brian Johnson

Our Q1 book club selection is a brick of a book, at nearly 1,000 pages. But the 451 micro-chapters of one to three pages in length make this a quick-paced read. Brian Johnson has made it his job to read an insane amount of personal development books, then distill their wisdom into short format to help others live well. He founded the Heroic Public Benefit Corporation, on whose platform he offers, among other things, "Philosopher's Notes," which relate in written and video form the "Big Ideas" from each of these books. I completed his Heroic 300-day coaching program back in 2022, so reading the book, I felt I was not seeing much new. Fair enough. If I had written and filmed hundreds of philosopher's notes, I would stitch them together into a book, too. Johnson is a dynamic speaker and I prefer his video to his prose, but if you're looking for the most succinct, cost-effective introduction to his ideas, the book is it, even at $30 and 1,000 pages. I'm still practicing many of the protocols I installed while going through his program in 2022, such as this one: "create before you react." I'm writing this before checking any email today.

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What I'm measuring:

Grip strength update

When I first wrote you about measuring grip strength at the end of the summer, we looked at its inverse relationship with all-cause mortality. That turned into a baseline dataset, as I then sustained an upper extremity injury and subsequent surgery. As I wrote in December, grip strength can track recovery after surgery. (I've found it also tracks with my day-to-day recovery status, and tends to dip after a hard training day.) Since December, I've dedicated more time to grip strength training. I've not done the 20 minutes per day used by Kaji et al. in their distal radius study, but I've used a grip strength trainer at least a few times per week. I was on lifting restrictions due to the clavicle fracture until the end of January, so I have yet to resume any dead hangs, farmer's carries or pull ups. I'm now measuring it weekly. My left hand grip is still weaker than my right, but both are now stronger than before my injury. As I progress to full activity with the shoulder, I'm aiming to be able to carry my body weight for at least one minute.

What I'm measuring:

Vitamin D update

After reporting an inadequate 28 ng/mL measured on 11/3/23, I took a replenishment dose of 50,000 IU Vitamin D3 per week for 6 weeks, then reverted to 2,000 IU per day. By 12/27/23, my serum Vitamin D had jumped up to 68 ng/mL. Although easy to become deficient, this one is also usually easy to correct.

How I'm training:

I've completed 6 out of 16 weeks of my marathon program, which I outlined in last month's newsletter.

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I have completed 31 days of fasting from alcohol, with 69 days to go until the marathon. No adverse effects to report!

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While becoming certified to perform Functional Movement Screens, I've dedicated more attention to improving my own screen. Ankle and foot self-mobilization, thoracic spine mobility and core stability exercises have become part of my daily routine, either as warm-up/cool down on training days, as part of my pre-bed soft tissue routine or on their own on non-training days. I've scheduled an appointment to have another professional re-screen me. Although my injured shoulder may drag my score down, I believe I've made improvements elsewhere and I feel that I'm moving better.

What I'm listening to:

When You Were Young (Calvin Harris Remix) by The Killers

Recently I've been remembering with fondness the years I spent living in England, from October 2004 to June 2006. The Killers, an American band that had signed on with a British record label, released their debut album, Hot Fuss in June 2004. I listened to that album constantly during the two years I lived abroad. As I returned, they released their much anticipated second album, Sam's Town, which contains "When You Were Young." Although the second album could not live up to the first for me, "When You Were Young" is a good track. Calvin Harris has provided a sick remix, a deluxe edition bonus track on their first greatest hits album, Direct Hits (2013).

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Upcoming events: ??

March 16, 2024 - Chambersburg Half Marathon. The Chambersburg Half Marathon is held in memory of Robert Eyer, Sr. (1926-2001), who died while running. Bob was an avid, competitve runner and was a member of the Chambersburg Road Runners Club. The Chambersburg Half Marathon was his favorite race and is a good tune-up for the Boston Marathon.

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April 15, 2024 - The 128th Boston Marathon. Targeted as my marquis event of the year.

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July 28, 2024 - Fort Ritchie Triathlon. Last year I did this as my first ever triathlon. This year I'll look to get another rep on this course.