Host Brad Kearns talks to older endurance athletes about strategies that will help you preserve your health as you pursue ambitious endurance goals. One thing to emphasize is aligning your competitive goals with your age, dude! Perhaps the extreme ultra distance events are best left to youngsters? No offense intended, but you don’t see 50-year-olds in the NFL, so it’s worth considering. Maybe its a more sensible and honorable goal to try to improve your 10k time as you get older, or become a competent sprint triathlete instead of slogging out another season of half and full iron-distance events in a manner that can’t really be described as “racing.”
Everyone pays lip service to the concept that older athletes require more recovery, but in practice we see youthful egos constantly at war with the attached older bodies. One thing that might help is to develop a morning routine of flexibility/mobility to help you absorb and withstand the intense workouts that might occur less frequently with older athletes. Enjoy some interesting food for thought as well as practical tips in this program.
Brad shares his thoughts on why it is important to stop and think about what reasons you have for participating in sports as well as what your long term goals are. Do you need to rethink what you are doing? [00:02:29]
What are the considerations we, as athletes, should look for regarding protecting our health? How much exercise is too much? [00:15:00]
What are some scary things we need to know about our heart if we continue to push our bodies? [00:21:44]
What are the abnormal heart rhythms that can happen to us? What symptoms should we watch for? [00:28:51]
Lindsay Taylor tackles more interesting Q&A from Primal Endurance podcast listeners and book readers. Submit your questions at www.primalblueprint.com/
Kevin, age 43 asks about a 50-K race he has scheduled. "Do I begin the MAF training now and just run the race with whatever gains I've made or do I continue training as I have been and begin MAF following the race?" [00:02:49]
What are the consequences if I went over MAF for one run? [00:09:20]
Matthew, age 28 asks, "I've been running for about 17 years but only starting training by Dr. Phil when I had my ACL reconstructed about five months ago. As I recover from this, how do I know when I can push it back to my regular heart rate of 150?" [00:12:56]
Two questions from a listener about eating primally. Does it matter what time of day one does an intermittent fast? [00:16:38]
This person wants to know about running slowly asking if it is okay four to six months of Zone 2 training? [00:19:32]
How high should my heart rate be if I am beginning my Primal Endurance training after a period of time off from training? [00:20:51]
Primal Endurance Chapter 11 - Hitting The Showers
Host Brad Kearns covers the profound message in the final chapter of Primal Endurance, titled “Hitting The Showers”. The premise is that we have a given amount of battery power over a lifetime (some more than others, eh?), and we must be judicious about how we dispense our energy. In particular, we must reflect on the balancing of peak performance goals with longevity. Often they can be at odds, but with a smart approach (this is what Primal Endurance is all about) these goals can be complementary.
The Cortisol Showerhead conveys the idea that we have this reserve tank of the fight or flight stress hormone cocktail that allows us to rise to the occasion of high-stress modern life and perform at peak cognitive or physical function. [00:03:44]
Brad talks about the idea of setting a pace for yourself to get the most out of life. [[00:05:53]
How is it that different individuals seem to have such varied levels of work capacity, athletic potential, stress tolerance, and preferences for how much stimulus and excitement to take on over the course of your life? [00:10:28]
What is this frantic search for happiness that this society seems to require of us? [00:15:18]
How does it "just happen?" [00:20:18]
How does one gauge the balance between peak performance and longevity? [00:25:02]
Should one expect to feel burnout right away? [00:29:11]
What happens when we decide to depart from routine in our training? [00:32:28]
A more relaxed approach to your athletic goals will definitely pay off. [00:34:17]
Host Brad Kearns talks about the importance of taking a break in the middle of a busy competitive season in order to refresh and restore for a strong finish. The cumulative stress of pre-season base building and then the introduction of intensity and the race calendar can have you feeling fit and energetic, but perhaps unknowingly in need of a break. Despite fears commonly harbored by endurance athletes, you will not lose your hard-earned conditioning if you chill a bit in mid-summer. De-training requires a sustained period of complete lack of exercise (e.g., illness, injury). If you take a week or two to unplug mentally and physically from the training grind, minimize your exercise and instead just sustain everyday movement, you will gain restoration and renewed motivation.
What is it that happens mid-season that causes a problem? [00:01:36]
What is an example of the advantage of taking a break mid season? [00:08:01]
What???? Take a break right in the middle of the racing season???? [00:10:36]
What about the high intensity training? What does it mean base first? [00:12:54]
How does one escape that destructive pattern? Is there a schedule that should be followed? [00:15:19]
Kevin, age 43 asks about a 50-K race he has scheduled. "Do I begin the MAF training now and just run the race with whatever gains I've made or do I continue training as I have been and begin MAF following the race?" [00:02:49]
What are the consequences if I went over MAF for one run? [00:09:20]
Matthew, age 28 asks, "I've been running for about 17 years but only starting training by Dr. Phil when I had my ACL reconstructed about five months ago. As I recover from this, how do I know when I can push it back to my regular heart rate of 150?" [00:12:56]
Two questions from a listener about eating primally. Does it matter what time of day one does an intermittent fast? [00:16:38]
This person wants to know about running slowly asking if it is okay four to six months of Zone 2 training? [00:19:32]
How high should my heart rate be if I am beginning my Primal Endurance training after a period of time off from training? [00:20:51]