Thanks for joining me for our last interview of the year. This week's guest is coach, author, host of the Whole Athlete Podcast, and Functional Diagnostic Nutritionist, Debbie Potts. We are going to be talking about health and longevity and some ideas for how to prioritize your own health and longevity.
This is our last show of 2019 and the 2010s decade. As we prepared the content for this week, I was going through a personal process of reflecting on the previous year, taking stock of where I am on my journey, and re-imagining how I can become the best version of myself. Taking stock of my current self includes being honest with myself about the decisions, actions and behaviors that make me who I am today, and the decisions, actions and behaviors required to take me what I want to become. I'll share some of my process, insights and commitments I'm making for 2020 and beyond.
Sponsor - iKOR Labs:
Today's show is sponsored by iKOR Labs. iKOR is a clean, natural source of recovery enhancing CBD that protects your body from the stresses of training, improves recovery from intense efforts and helps you maintain a positive mental state. For a limited time (until It is the most bio-available CBD product on the market, iKOR is a protective anti-oxidant and highly effective anti-inflammatory. It is used by world class professional athletes. Save 20% by using the code "MHE2020" at checkout. You need to switch to "MHE2020" and not use endurance any longer. The next time you go to use endurance, it likely won't work. Please make a note of "MHE2020" Go to www.ikorlabs.com for more details.
Announcements:
Sponsor - Halo Neuro:
Our interview is sponsored by Halo Neuroscience. The Halo Sport from Halo Neuroscience will help you learn the technique and form to get faster. 20 minutes of neural priming with the Halo Headset gives you an hour of neural plasticity to work and lock in the muscle movement that leads to strength, power and endurance. Use the code "MHE" at checkout to save an additional $20.
Interview with Debbie Potts:
Debbie Potts has been in the fitness industry for over twenty-five years and a competitive endurance athlete for twenty years. Along her journey, she has accomplished many goals including being nominated as one of the top one hundred best trainers in the U.S. by Men's Journal in 2004 and 2005 as well as participating in fifteen Ironman Triathlons - five of them were the Hawaii World Ironman Championship. Debbie is the host of the Whole Athlete Podcast, author of the WHOLESTIC Method and Life and Life is Not A Race. She's also a recently certified Functional Diagnostic Nutritionist.
Let's get into the interview now with Debbie Potts.
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Discussion:
I've been thinking about what she said and the testing that is a part of FDN services. Having some real information about what's going on the inside that only testing can provide is really appeals to me. https://debbiepotts.net/fdn-health-detective/
Imagine that you could have perfect information about your health. Imaging you know exactly what was going to be your cause of death and when. If you knew it was an accident (the third leading cause of death according to the CDC https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/deaths.htm, you would avoid the scenario (activity, location or vehicle) that will lead to your accidental demise.
Similarly, imagine if you had perfect information about the future and were certain that without any changes in your lifestyle, you will get a cancer diagnosis 5 years from today. If you were guaranteed you could extend that diagnosis 10, 20 or even 30 years by making changes that lead to that longevity, wouldn't you start today?
Except it's not that easy, is it? We don't have that perfect information. We don't have crystal balls. There is no certainty that the changes we make today will translate to longevity of 5 days, 5 years or 15 years. Without that direct connection and certainty, it's hard to prioritize in the near term. That said, the best time to know that there's a problem is as early as possible.
Regardless of your budget, my wish for you as look to the new year is that you are thoughtful about your health and make it a priority for the new decade of the 2020s. Whether you have the budget to work with someone like Debbie and can do all of the lab testing that Debbie referred to https://debbiepotts.net/get-started-on-your-2020-new-years-resolutions-now/, which will run you about $1500 in a 3 month coaching program plus $1200 in labs. Or you want to do something a little more DIY and lower cost like the over the counter EverlyWell tests https://www.everlywell.com/, consider getting some real information about how your body is performing, and take care of yourself in the new year.
Year End Process for Myself
The discussion about longevity weighed heavily in my year-end reflections. I spend this time of year reflecting on the year and revisiting my long term goals and setting some short term ones. My reflections span career, finances, health and fitness. This podcast is partly the result of the process that I'm going to share here.
After my last Ironman race 5 1/2 years ago, I knew I needed a break from Ironman but didn't know what I wanted to do next. I was generally ready for some self-exploration and needed to create some direction for myself. I had been reading several books on the topic of setting and achieving goals or taking on life changes.
How I Program Myself To Reach My Goals
I've put together a formula that works for me. It comes from a collection concepts that have common threads through a number of "how to achieve goals" programs and authors, including Tony Robbins and Mark Divine, author of The Unbeatable Mind.
With that backdrop, I use this time of year to revisit my personal mission statement, reflect on the last year and set goals for the new year. I thought I'd share my reflection questions with you in this episode.
Year End Process for Athletes
I've started writing the training plans for my athletes. We started in the Fall by having my athletes identify and sign up for their most important races of the 2020 season.
I use an Excel spreadsheet where every column represents a week of the year. The races are identified on the on the top row of the spreadsheet on the corresponding week. Along the leftmost column I have, by discipline, the # of training sessions, the duration of the longest workout, and total volume.
This serves as a roadmap for the TrainingPeaks training plan that I'm building for my athletes. This also serves as a way for me to communicate clearly with an athlete what the time commitment is for every week of the year and a benchmark to evaluate training plan adherence. Of course, as a coach I am building in target TSS and CTL scores based on the athlete.
If you are curious what this looks like, I've gone ahead and posted a copy of the Athlete Weekly Training Roadmap on the Resources page of https://milehighendurancepodcast.com/resources.
Endurance News:
Marathon training - a guide to getting it right
So you're training for a marathon. Here, coaches, experts and marathon greats share their tips on how to train like a pro. Run easy on most days On most of your runs –especially the long ones– resist the urge to push; instead, maintain an easy pace, advises running coach Janet Hamilton. You should be running at a pace that allows you to have full-sentence conversations with your running partners. Easy running reduces the impact on your body and staves off fatigue, enabling you to log more miles with less risk of picking up an injury. What’s more, the slow pace actually prepares you better for the distance. When you run a marathon, most of your body’s fuel comes from your aerobic (using oxygen) system – your hardworking muscles need oxygen-rich blood to power each contraction. Your body adapts to easy miles by strengthening your heart, sprouting more capillaries to infuse oxygen into muscles and building more mitochondria, the factories in cells that produce energy.
https://www.runnersworld.com/uk/training/marathon/a30256981/marathon-training-guide/
How to Go Beyond the Marathon Distance
Lose your fear - If a race is twice the distance of a marathon, it doesn’t mean your training needs to be twice as hard. Many people complete ultras on around the same mileage as a marathon training plan. Although you’ll be on your feet for longer in an ultra, you’ll be moving slower than marathon pace. It’s significantly less intense and less taxing on joints – repetitive pounding on asphalt is brutal compared with softer, changing terrain that better spreads stress around the body. Also, hiking the uphills (and most trail ultras are lumpy) is not only legitimate but a smart strategy, to preserve muscles. You may even start looking forward to hills and the sneaky walking break they allow. Other tips include, Get out more, Get the fueling right, Shift your mindset, Speed it up, Get specific, Learn to juggle, Find your way, and Recover well.
https://www.runnersworld.com/uk/training/ultra/a30280579/how-to-run-ultra-marathon/
Video of the Week:
Heavy As Lead - From 300 Pounds to the Leadville 100
Heavy as Lead is the story of Jason Cohen, who went from 300lbs to just a short 7 years later found himself running the Leadville Trail 100. Jason, at the age of 27, found himself looking at the number 297 on his bathroom scale. Jason resolved to never let that number touch 300 and has since lost over 120 pounds. His incredible journey has taken him through his battle with obesity and took him to the starting line of the Leadville Trail 100 Race on August 18th, 2018. This film documents Jason's story of losing the weight, becoming an athlete, and running the Leadville 100. Jason was given the idea to tell his story by his good friend, Mark LeBlanc, who realized that Jason's story needed to be told to the world. Mark is co-creating Heavy as Lead with Jason and is the person behind the camera for much of the film. More information and contact information can be found at www.heavyaslead.com
Heavy As Lead Documentary - From 300lbs to Running the Leadville 100
Upcoming Interviews:
Chris Helwick, a Colorado athlete making a comeback to his professional career as a decathlete (after a 6 year retirement) to make a third and final attempt at qualifying for the 2020 Olympics.
Anders Hoffman of Project Iceman will be joining us in the future to talk about the documentary of the first ever, World Record breaking Ironman triathlon in Antarctica in February 2020, the Iceman, to show that limitations are perceptions. The purpose is to inspire other people to dare pursue their biggest dreams.
https://www.projecticeman.com/
Last week we had Sarah Crowley and we were talking to her about her hydration/nutrition prep for hot and cooler races. Precision Hydration is her nutrition sponsor and we reached out to them and we are going to have Andy Blow from Precision Hydration join is in a couple of weeks to help give you some tips on how to customize your plan.
Closing:
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Stay tuned, train informed, and enjoy the endurance journey!