Random thoughts

Making a stupidly easy pasta sauce, that is surprisingly delicious, for dinner:

-1/3 cup drained roasted red peppers
-2/3 cup low-fat buttermilk
-salt/pepper to taste

Combine in a food processor until smooth. Warm gently in a small saucepan.


Little known fact: The brain consumes 20% of the body's metabolic energy both during rest and during exercise. That means the brain is incredibly engaged during exercise.


I read a really interesting article by a Craig Weller. Here's how he describes himself:

As a member of the SWCC community, a component of Naval Special Warfare, I've spent more time in the last few years overseas than I have in the states. I've had the opportunity to design and implement the strength and conditioning programs of small forces on three different continents. In this subculture, one's livelihood and possibly one's life — not to mention that of your friends — is heavily dependent on one's body.

He wrote a really interesting article about why overseas trainees are more proficient squatters. You can find it here:

Third World Squat

Thats an awesome picture, too. Next time you think you need some fancy gym to get in some good training, or next time you think you can't get to parallel on your squat, think of this guy.


When you find contradiction between the advice of exercise scientists and the training habits of world class athletes, ALWAYS follow the lead of the world class athletes.


Started reading a really exciting new book. One of my favorite running/triathlon coaches and authors is Matt Fitzgerald. He's published a new book called, Brain Training for Runners: A Revolutionary New Training System to Improve Endurance, Speed, Health, and Results. Check it out here. He's got an elegantly simple hypothesis. He says,

The threshold approach to training is misguided because (according to the model of brain regulation of exercise performance) there are no direct physiological causes of fatigue.

He continues,

The goal of training is not to push back particular physiological causes of fatigue. Rather, the goal of training is simply to gradually increase the speed you can sustain over race distance and the duration you can sustain race speed (or faster) until you are able to sustain your goal pace over the full race distance. To do this, it is necessary to train the brain and body to push back the wall of fatigue used by the brain to ensure that catastropic failure does not occur.

Finally, he says it is not true that fatigue is caused by energy depletion. He says,

The actual cause of running fatigue is a reduction in muscle activation by the brain that is influenced in part by declining energy stores.

Fascinating so far, and I am only a few chapters in.

Be happy; Be frey.