What My Training Looks Like These Days.

I just read Dear Mark: How Are You Training These Days?  I try to break down my training in a similar way to Mark. I have my training, hard strenuous exercises to strengthen my body for the demands of life. Then I have play, which is fun, carefree movement, be it working on my parkour movement or tag with my girlfriends kids. Finally, I have rest, which is often the most nebulous part of my training. Some days I am resting and working in my garden, doing yoga or straight vegging. I don't always have a set sequence of days that I do any of these activities. I cycle through these more organically. When I attend training with Parkour Horizons I do what they do. When I am don't train with them I do what feels right for that day. 

My training days can vary. Yesterday I wanted to lift, however, my schedule didn't allow me to. When I do lift I spend about an hour in the "gym." I can take as much as an 15 to 20 minutes warming up. Then I hit hard with a series of compound lifts that incorporate the whole body. When I can't get to a weight set I do either body weight exercises or speed work. For body weight stuff I fall back on my parkour training. I use lots of quadrupedal movement and classic movements like squats, push ups and pull ups. For speed work I was doing lots of sprints until recently. For me sprints are 400 meters or less. These days I have been working up to longer distance. I know the science, especially in the paleo sphere, points to shorter distance for optimum health, but I have been testing my metal with mile repeats. This is one of those "training for the demands of life." I share a car with my dad, this means that about two times a month I need to get across town in a car sort of time period, but all I have are feet. Therefore, I have been doing longer track work outs. These are things I haven't done since high school, but more on that some other time. 

I work hard so I can play hard. For me a lot of my play is movement and flow based or playing with the kids at the park. I work mostly on dexterity and proprioception. I try to make awkward things graceful. I work on things that challenge or scare me. Or sometimes I just try to remember what it was like to really believe the ground was lava. 

Some days after rocking for a few days, my body tells me I need to chill out for a day. I try to vegg out for a day. However, that never works completely. I usually take some long walks. Sometimes, on those walks I find a big thing to carry around like a log or a rock, movnat style. I always foam roll, in fact, I do that almost every day. I have been getting back into yoga. I used to do lots of yoga, but I quit when I got some knee pain two years ago. However, I have been being careful with it and trying to regain lots of mobility. I have always been really flexible cause of a genetic condition. For a long time I counted on that to carry me through any mobility I needed. Recently I started noticing some lapse in that area of my movement. More on this some other time. 

This is what my training looks like these days. I train to play and I play to live. I listen to what my body needs. I give it sweat when it needs sweat. I give it food when its hungry. I give it laughter when it needs joy. I give it rest when it's tired. I am off to foam roll. 

I love to Eat

I started a new job today. I am a pizza delivery driver. It's weird to be handing out food to people that I would never eat. But its money in my pocket. As a result I have been eating like a king today. Well I have been eating like a king since I got off work. I just polished off 8 eggs with some onion and cheese. If all goes to plan I will be back in the 3000 calorie club very soon. I read an artical a few months ago about the upper limits of protein consumption. The author mentioned that he had recently been eating 250 grams or more per day. He claimed that the result of this was that he didn't get sore after workouts. I don't know if that is a fesible number to aim for, but I like doing crazy things. Also I recall a bit in "The 4-Hour Body" where Tim Ferriss mentions eating ungodly amounts of red meat to up the sex drive.
I think it will take me a while to get my digestive system up to speed. I just put my numbers for today into "myfitnesspal" and I eat almost 1300 calories today. That was because I didn't really eat anything solid untill almost 4 o'clock. I also don't yet have some of the things I will need to make this jump to an excess of 250g of protein. I will need 100% whey protein powder and lots of meat. 
Tomorrow I am doing another day at the temp agency setting up for an event this weekend. That means eating on any kind of schedule will be thrown off. However, wednesday I will go to the local farmers market and get a bunch of meat. Soon enough you will hear about me cooking some heart and liver. Also, me eating tons and tons of food. I keep telling my self not to get excited. But I love to eat. 

Update 7-28-213

Today started early down in the garden. I had some bullet proof coffee and the flowers were in bloom. I finally got cought up on filling my sweet potato tire towers. They all stand about three feet high now. I am now "borrowing" dirt from the woods surrounding the community gardens. 
The experiment I have been running with the carrots has become interesting. I accidently pulled up one of the plants the other day and the bottom was an orange pulp. I am hoping however, that the seeds produced in the flowers will seed more carrots around the garden. Those carrot plants will hopefully grow the delicious tap roots. 
I think the flowers that have blooms in my big tractor tire are moon flowers, not four o'clock flowers. 

Sacred Duty.

Dear gentle reader
Please grow things, things that you can eat. There is nothing so sacred or so powerful as food that you grew yourself. When you take that food and consume it you are consuming your own hard work and sunshine and water. There is nothing so beautiful as that.
If you have no space, put a tomato plant on your desk. All it will ask for is water and your exhaled breath. When you first bite into that red delicious fruit you will fall in love.
You will fall in love with that same thing that I love. The joy of seeing things grow. The knowledge and the power that comes from that growth. Taking control of our food supply is the most sacred duty that humans have. We owe it to our mother earth to do so.
With love. The New Suburban Paleo Farmer.

Push and Pull.

Today, I did my training fueled by the heart of a bison. It was really hot out and for the first time in months I tried to do some heat training. I wore sweat pants and a long sleeved tee. I ran to a park and did some balance training. My balance has gotten really bad lately, so I stepped up what I was doing.
After all that I made my way slowly to the local college track. There I a mile in 7:07. I don't mean to offend anyone but I am about to. 7:07 is a pathetic time. I should be running in the sub 6 minute range. and I should be able to do it more than once. Today, I tried to go for a second mile and made it to 900 meters. Then, I just could not go on. I must redouble my efforts to bring down my time in that. I would like to be able to do several mile repeats in a row with much better times.
I also want to start doing more intensive heat training again. Today, it was only in the mid 80s and I was dying out there. All and all, I am happy I got out there today and pushed myself. However, I am bummed at how far I got when pushed.

Meat Heaven!

Today, I finally got around d to making the second heart in my freezer. This one was a bison heart. The structure was much the same as the cow heart but a bit smaller. I started the same way as you do with the cow heart. First, you 

through

ly 

rinse all the blood, including the congealed stuff, out. I know there are probably some things I could be doing with the blood, for now I am not getting that far into it. Then, I spend several minutes cutting away all the fascia. This is the really icky part, but you end up with one bowl of scrap and about Three decent sized steaks. Today I diced the steaks up and placed them in a simple red-wine vinegar marinade. Then, I took the scraps and put them in a slow cooker with some water. In several hours I will make the diced steaks into shish kebab and the scraps will be strained to make a soup base. 

I made a soup base with the scraps from the heart the other day. It was fantastic! The broth was so fatty I felt like I had just put on really thick chap stick. I just had some more of the stuff for lunch and I am so energized. I still have maybe a bowl of the stuff left. I also have a soup bone in my freezer. I am gonna have so much stew soon. 

Up Date 7-19-2013

Last night, with the help of Moe I cooked and eat the heart of a cow. Actually she did most of the cooking and I did most of the eating. Once you know how to deal with hearts they taste much like any other muscle. Though there the flavor is a bit different. Today I started thawing my bison heart. It will be ready to eat tomorrow.
This morning I also got into my garden again. This tire tower plan requires so much dirt. The tires average about 2.5 feet across and will be about 3.5 feet high at the end. that comes to almost 27 cubic feet of soil per tire. Times 9 towers, almost 250 cubic feet of soil for this project. That would be enough soil to cover my whole garden space 20x40 feet in 3.5 inches deep.  This is so much dirt.
I think the only way I can collect that much dirt is to dig a hole somewhere. At the end of the season  I have to clear out my plot to be tilled. I will have to make a huge pile somewhere in the woods near by.  

Ranting about Training

Today, I temped at a wear-house on the southwest side of Columbus. When on my way in I was listening to the latest episode of "The Paleo Solution Podcast." The guest was Jim Laird. He talked extensively about people that come into his gym that are just broken from having spent years moving poorly. When I got there I spent 8 hours around people moving heavy things that were not trained to do so properly. I saw more rounded back deadlifts that I could count. Everyone working there over age 30 was over weight and walking with a limp. I am not claiming that every time I picked up a box I was using perfect form. However, proper movement patterns are something that we should be teaching in elementary school. 
I remember gym class in elementary school. It was fun then but in retrospect it was terrible. We did nothing but play games. A noble thing for any grade schooler, but that is what recess is for. In middle school things improved a little. Gym class was actually treated like a class. We were expected to learn skills and be tested at the end. However, the two skills I still remember learning were 60s and 70s dancing and volleyball. Those skills will only become useful to me if I get a time machine. In highschool I managed to sort of oped out of traditional gym by taking "summer gym." I remember one of those classes made us walk for extended periods of time and use weight machines. Thats better than nothing, but the rest of the time we mostly played kick ball. One day we even watched "Space Jam" to learn about basketball. 
In high-school I also ran cross country. I have lots of issues about that as a thing for young people. Compared to the other sports I could have played in highschool it was probably one of the better. However, still there was never once a discussion about proper running form. I remember once talking to my coach about it. He pointed out to me that one of our best runners always looked like he was trying to touch his ear to his shoulder when he ran; Therefore, everyone has their own way. Terrible. 
We humans are given a very complex device, our bodies. However, the software needed to run that device is questionable. Squat down, hip hinge, carry something heavy, get down on the ground and get back up, these are all things we should be able to do long before we are told to play kick ball or 60s dancing. 

Update 7-15-2013

Yesterday I finally got back into my garden. It had been over a week. With all the rain I had no need to water and the whole area would have been a solid mud puddle. The place is a jungle. I spent most of my time trying to reclaim my paths. I also added more dirt to one of my tire towers. There is so much to do and its a bit overwhelming. 
I also finished my rain barrel. it looks good and works pretty well. However I fear it has a pin hole leak in the lower spigot. 

Ready for Any and Every Thing

Yesterday I woke up late. I had told my neighbor I would do some work for him starting at 8:30. It was 8:24. I felt terrible. On thursday night I was walking through my back yard barefoot when, I stepped on a bee. Since then my foot has been swollen up like I sprained it. Then friday morning when I was at the doctor's I had several warts frozen off. Including one on the sole of my other foot. In addition to that I had had a fitful night's sleep. I didn't end up getting down to my neighbor's house until 9:30. After some bullet proof coffee I was feeling less tired but still in pain. At 10:30 I was trimming some hedges and listening to "The Fat Burning Man Show" when I hear "Theodore"
Its Mr. Galupo my sensi from my dojo. I haven't been training with him for a while cause I can't afford it with out a job. They use the soccer field that my neighbor's house butts up on to run sprints. Also the neighbor who I am working for and Mr. G are old friends, my neighbor even used to lift at my dojo. So, My neighbor gives me a break so I can run with them. He even comes over him self to watch us run our sprints. 
I really miss training with those guys. I hope I can afford to get back in there soon. Surprisingly after the sprint work out my feet feel much better. Shortly after finishing, I get back to work on the hedges. 
Yesterday, I did a little more work on the rain barrel. It should be done soon. 
Also yesterday, I finally got back into my garden. It had been more than  week. The place is a jungle. I am going back there as soon as I finish this post to try to bring it under control. 

Doctor's Waiting Room

I am at the doctor office. I am in the waiting room. I hate being here cause there is a television that plays utter nonsense. They just aired a story about the wonders of lap band surge. Before that they told me how to make a better chicken salad with "light" canola oil mayonnaise. All these stories are interspersed with ads for prescription drugs. These commercials spend more time on the side effects then any other part of the commercial.
I understand people's fear of stepping into a paleo life style after going to doctors like this their whole lives. I used to think of my doctors as some kind of oracle dispersing the truth about my body and health from above. I now think of my doctor as a technician of sorts. I am sure if I had options to go around my insurance I could find other people more in line with my ideals. I am grateful to have the good insurance that I do, but it severely limits me in what I can do. If people who think and live like myself, I assume my readers do, we must be extra proactive about our health. 
We must search out the conditions we have, test we need to confirm them and the treatment we need independently. Then use our doctors to run the tests in hopes that they are the sort that will share all the data with you. After hearing their take on what the data means we have to use our own knowledge and research to find out what actions (if any) need to be taken. In this age with out ample access to masses of information we must learn to think critically about the world around and more importantly with in us. 

Morning in the Garden

It has been raining for about two weeks here in centrial ohio. I know I shouldn't complain about rain but with out needing to water its hard to motivate myself to go to the garden.
I was down there the other morning cause I wanted to see my morning glories in full bloom.

A deer has been jumping my fence. 

If anyone can tell me what this flower is I will give you a tomato.

Views from my chair. 

Biochar, a love letter!

Biochar is a really cool soil amenity. I just learned about it a few weeks ago, but it sounds really smart. It involves burning biomatter at a very low temperature, in a oxygen depleted environment. The advantages of biochar are many and I will in no way make an exhaustive list here.
 First, it creates a stable substance. In the case of compost, it loses carbon to the atmosphere at an exponential rate. In the first year from when you collect the original biomass it can lose more than 50% of its mass to the atmosphere. Every year after that it looses and less until it reaches about 10% of its original mass. Biochar looses about 45% of the original mass in the making of it due to the combustion. After that the biochar is stable and will not decay further. Put simply, if you start with two piles of wood chips each 10 lbs. you let one compost and one you make into biochar. The one you turn to biochar will immediately become 5.5 lbs of biochar. Then you let those two piles sit, in 5 years you will have 5.5 lbs. of biochar and about 1 lbs. of composted wood chips. All the matter that disappeared returned to the atmosphere as CO2 a green house gas. 
Another really cool advantage to biochar, is that it in theory "cleans" your biomass. One of the problems with compost is that unless you have a "hot" compost many things can survive in there. There are some micro-organisms that you want living in your new composted soil. However, there are also lots that you don't. If you have lots of weeds that have gone to seed and you compost them in something to cool you are just spreading the weeds around your garden the following year. In addition there are many substances you can't compost in the same way you compost plant matter. As someone who follows the paleo diet I end up with a lot of animal waste. Animal products will not break down in a regular compost. They will rot and become disgusting, I have neighbors. No one would be happy. With something like biochar from what I can tell there would be no issue with throwing a few bones, and the other bits I can't eat or use, in the fire and letting them cook down. 
The energy used to produce biochar is something to be considered and captured as well. In simplest terms you are burning a lot of stuff to produce biochar. Even the relatively low temperatures required for biochar is plenty of heat to heat homes, water or do work. I know that one of the towns I used to live in Ashland WI, used biomass gasification for its power. According to them the biomass was burned completely in the process and there was no solid waste left in the end. It's beyond the scope of this blog post to get into the different technologies out there for stuff you could build in or around your home to capture the heat from biochar. A quick google search I am sure will give you lots of information. 
If you can't tell I am very excited about biochar. From what I am seeing on the DIY side of things, a 55 gallon metal drums is the way to do it. There are people using those in different ways to contain the burn and reduce the oxygen getting to it. I haven't found a design yet that I am really in love with, but I am sure I will. When I do I will let you know how it goes.