Ironman Training Tip, Newsletter Prediction, Meathead Agreement, Quote on Art
Thursday Three: Episode 16
read time 4 minutes
Here are four interesting ideas you won’t find doom scrolling.
TL;DR
Tip for CrossFitters training for their first Ironman
Local newsletters are going to be a thing
Honor your Meathead Agreement
Quote on the meaning of art
Tip for CrossFitters training for their first Ironman
Stay focused and don’t be stupid — wish I had listened to this advice a week ago…
I’m one month out from my half Ironman and things were going well. But then Memorial Day came, and I felt pressured to do the Murph. Even though I knew it might mess up my training, I thought, "It's Memorial Day! I have to do it." Plus, it was the first time my Dad was doing Murph, so I needed to be there to do it with him — he crushed it by the way and it’ll be a moment I never forget…
Doing Murph to begin with would put stress on my training schedule, but to make it worse…
One of my friends (competitors) told me they did Murph straight through this year. Meaning they did 100 straight pull ups, 200 straight pushups, and 300 straight air squats. I knew that would be a bad idea, but I'd never done it before and felt inspired to try.
So, I did it.
Now, three days later, my body feels terrible. Every muscle is sore and I likely have a small case of rhabdo.
What’s worse is that I haven't been able to keep up with my Ironman training. Which sucks because the next two weeks are the biggest race focused weeks of training. From my training plan…
This week's goal:
Don't judge your training this week. These are your 2 biggest race focused weeks of training - focus on good form, execution and recovery very to get the most out of these training block.
So the lesson here is to stay focused on your main goal.
For me, that's Ironman training. You can't let other things distract you or set you back. Even if it’s Memorial Day Murph and your friend guilts you into doing it straight through.
For those interested, here’s a great thread every CrossFitter who wants to do an Ironman should read. It covers:
Whether or not you should incorporate CrossFit into your training at all
How to safely and smartly incorporate CrossFit training into your Ironman training
And first hand experience from CrossFit athletes who have completed Ironmans in the past
Highly recommend.
Local newsletters are going to be a thing
I've been following Nathan Barry — Founder and CEO of ConvertKit — for the past four years. A year ago, he started a new project, From Boise — a weekly newsletter and podcast about what's going on in Boise, Idaho.
Since hearing about this project, I've noticed a few other creators I follow have started local newsletters. Andrew Wilkinson is another. He started Capital Daily for Victoria, BC. Here's another one about Ottawa called Ottawa Lookout.
The TL;DR is that lots of smart people are starting these things. I think they'll gain more and more popularity as more and more people lose trust in centralized media and begin to seek more trustworthy and genuine sources of news. I'd love to start something like this one day...
Honor your Meathead Agreement
Speaking of newsletters…my friend Jon Finkel — owner of The Flex Factory, fellow Jersey guy, and oh, author of 10 books — writes a great one called Books and Biceps. I met Finkel on Twitter a few years back, and we’ve stayed in touch through each other’s newsletters — and our shared interest in sports and lifting heavy things.
My favorite piece of his is One Dad, Two Sons and the Night the Driveway Basketball Legend was Born. If you grew up playing basketball in your driveway with your brother and dad, it’s a must read that’ll transport you back to the good ole days…
And that’s one of the reasons why I’ve been a long time subscriber of Books & Biceps. Finkel has a gift of capturing the small, relatable, feel good moments in life in life — like playing basketball in your driveway as a kid — that most of us overlook.
So here’s the deal. Finkel has an unspoken agreement with his readers. It’s called the Meathead Agreement. It goes a little something like this…
In the gym, there’s an unspoken agreement that if a fellow dude needs a spot, you jump in and help him out. One meathead to another.
So today I’m asking y’all to throw Finkel a spot. He sure as heck will spot you back with the best books, interviews, and meathead content around…
The meaning of art
Life isn’t a support system for art; it is the other way around.
Stephen King
I like this quote because I've never thought of art in this way — a support system.
Makes sense though…
Art is the past and the future. The attainable and unattainable. The concrete and the abstract.
It's the support system of life. It gives people faith and hope. It changes people's perspectives.
I can't even imagine what a world without art would look like. Probably pretty damn boring.