The Weekly Word: February 27th, 2022

What I've Been Thinking About...
What keeps you up at night? As I write this, it is 3 am on Thursday morning. I woke up shortly after midnight and since that point, I have not been able to fall back asleep. I tried reading. That did not work. I tried listening to an audiobook, that did not work. I tried laying there focusing on and counting my breathes,  and guess what? That did not work. Other than counting sheep, I feel like I have tried everything. The crazy thing about all this is the random thoughts you have while laying awake. There must have been about 900 things that went through my head. Here are a few examples...

1. I thought about the roof of some of our out buildings and how they might fall in eventually due to damage.
2. I thought about conversations I had during the day regarding athletics at the youth level.
3. I thought about global warming. This is because I recently read a book on the topic (Merchants of Doubt) and also listened to interviews with two "experts" who had opposing viewpoints on the matter. 
4. Will my daughter ever sleep in her own bed through the night?
5. I thought about if I was going to be sore and whether or not I should run with a sore body.
6. I thought about what book to read next and then went through a laundry list of them as I was deciding.

Why do unimportant things keep us up at night? I couldn't even begin to guess but lets just hope this doesn't become a frequent occurrence!

Fitness Tip of the Week
As I cycle through different cardiovascular training modalities, I am going to be introducing steady state training to the mix. To do so, I will be following coach Phil Maffetone's methods and what he calls Maximum Aerobic Function (MAF). This style of training is designed to utilize our innate ability to burn body fat as a nearly unlimited energy source. The way he recommends you do this is to take 180 and subtract your age from it. This is your maximum heart rate for cardiovascular training (I am 36 so for me, 180-36 = 144. I then subtract 10 from that to give me a range of 134-144). The goal for your workout is to stay within that aerobic zone. 

Full disclosure, I tried this three times so far and failed every time. I guess there are too many hills around me but my heart rate shot up into the 150s and 160s for most of the 20 minute run. This will take some practice but the overall goal for me will be to increase distance and improve pace while staying in this zone. In doing so, the heart will not be taxed too much which allows for improved recovery, body fat will be eliminated (hopefully), lung capacity will improve, and running technique can be focused on. This last one is important as the slower pace allows for better mechanics which will prevent fatigue induced injury. 

What I've Been Reading...
On the plane ride to California I spent most of the time digging into James Nestor's book Breathe: The New Science of a Lost Art. I don't want to spoil this for anyone but this is a book about breathing. It begins with the author's own health issues associated from poor breathing, and then goes down a long windy road trying to figure out what is going on with modern day humans and our poor breathing patterns. Nestor looks at everything from primitive skull shapes, to the effects of mouth breathing, to ancient texts dating back thousands of years and much more. Some of his experiments and theories even indicate that most of our common health ailments stem from our bodies response to poor breathing.

It is written well and a very interesting book. I would recommend this to anyone looking to get a better understanding of breathing and its role it plays in our long term health.  

What I've Been Watching...
On the plane ride home from California I wanted to relax a bit and watch a movie. After scrolling through the selections I came across Judas and the Black Messiah and knew this was the one.

The 1960's have grabbed my attention for most of my life. From the musicians like Bob Dylan, Sam Cooke and Otis Redding to civil rights, assassinations, Charles Manson, and more. This decade has to go down as being one of the wildest of all time. This movie builds off of that craziness and tells a story that will potentially blow your mind. Judas and the Black Messiah is about the life of Fred Hampton. This man was a controversial figure and at the age of 21, was the leader of the Black Panther Party. His teachings did not sit well with Hoover and the FBI so they decided to act. How they did so will most likely disgust you and make you wonder how many other stories like this have not been told yet.

Quote of the Week
"Only a fool learns from his own mistakes. The wise man learns from the mistakes of others." -- Otto Von Bismarck.
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