Mythical Beasts

Hey all,

I’ve been thinking about stereotypes a bit this week as I move through the training days. I remember back when I was young and I was making uninformed decisions about who I am (a subject we’ll get into before long, I suppose) and who I thought other people were.

I remember the typical ‘jock’ stereotype loosely resembling Moose from the Archie comics, among other similar examples: Essentially a big dumb jock with one thing going for him – athleticism. I guess I just decided that was true despite many examples to the contrary (my own brother being one of them), there were, indeed, intelligent athletes.

Fast forward 20-something years to the golden age of podcasting, when we’re graced with such mythical creatures as the numerous ethically-moral college-educated medical analysts with elite physical prowess, body builders with PhD’s, endurance athletes and strong people with varying degrees who advocate for social justice and against climate change. Educated people who are extremely well educated and well versed in the ins & outs of sustainable farming, methane & co2 emissions, who advocate for better health – who are active in their communities.

It feels like a new era of ‘punk rock‘ to me, honestly. People are doing amazing things, gaining media attention, and using that attention to speak up about important issues. It’s exciting, and I’d be lying if I said that it hasn’t been inspiring to me to make my own voice heard.

There’s a group of people actively trying to extend their life expectancy, and doing so with the intent of spending those years on a planet that is in dire straits is counterintuitive – so really, how can we not advocate for cleaner water, cleaner food, community support, and a more hospitable planet? This is a topic I could get on my soapbox about pretty easily but I’ll sum it up here:

Despite the fact that commercial waste and animal agriculture are largely responsible for the rate of damage to this planet, the companies responsible are doing this in response to the market demand. We are the market.
I; much like yourself, resent the fact that we as consumers are being guilted simply because we’re the end user of all these unethically made products.
However, if the market is no longer profitable for these companies who behave this way, they’ll change their tune. This means personal sacrifice on the part of the consumer in order to shift the market. In other words, buckle up – because it’s going to be a bumpy ride, and you can choose to make changes, or you can be forced to make changes. As a man you lost 166 lbs in his 30s I can assure you that it’ll be an easier time if you choose to make changes.

THIS WEEK was pretty wild, we did what I thought was a super-sprint triathlon, though I’ve been corrected by a friend on Twitter to learn that what we did was actually more than that.

Finishing 500m swim, 10km bike, and 2.5km run gave me a great sense of accomplishment and a full-body soreness that I wore like a badge of honor through the rest of the day. I want to train like that all the time, and maybe one day I will be able to – but in the mean time I know that my limits are further out than I’d anticipated.

We got into the pool 3 times this week, and on to the weight bench once. Next week’s training schedule looks a little more normal, though I will be taking a swimming lesson from a friend before long that should clear up any bad habits I’m forming.