Thanks. I needed that. Been going thru a very similar period for about 10 days. A friend said, your body must be telling you it needs some rest. And some junk food! Thanks again
Oh my yes. I’ll be 55 in a few months. I know I am way more active than most
men my age. I had a lagree class on Thursday, another combo lagree/treadmill class yesterday, was supposed to try Orange Theory this morning and another lagree class on Sunday. I cancelled this morning. It’s just too much and instead of feeling bad I need to chill out :)
Mike, I know the feeling very well. In fact just today after finishing parenting duties, I had 49 minutes to get to the gym and get a quick workout in… Or, sit down and take a breath. I chose the ladder. I don't think I regret it. Tomorrow, the gym will be there, still.
Such a wonderful article. I was so busy from age 14 on doing, doing, doing, achieving. Then it slowed down a couple years ago at age 55. I had moved to a totally new area and that took getting to know people. It felt like a screeching halt but it actually wasn’t. During that “downtime“ over five years I’ve had four books published. But for some reason that just didn’t seem enough. I’ve served on a board or two, been studying new languages and improving my second language, doing some travelling, spending more time with family, learning several new percussion instruments… still in my brain it doesn’t feel like enough. I agree with TomD: thanks, I needed that.
What you're describing is a loss of perspective—on the amount and magnitude of your success and productivity—that I know I'm also susceptible to, and that I think a lot of AGING with STRENGTH readers may be, too. I remember Tom Brady, the football player, describing the feeling he had after winning his third Super Bowl: "Is this all there is?"
That's where perhaps a daily gratitude habit can be instrumental. Yeah, Tom, three championships is enough (he went on to win 4 more, btw). But there's a version of that monologue going on in lots of us, too.
It’s not that I’m not incredibly grateful. It’s not that I don’t think, yeah, I freaking did that. It’s that I had in my head for the longest time that slowing down some meant being unproductive. But today being productive is being viral or an influencer. Being seen and acknowledged by the masses. I don’t even like the masses. lol. But now when I reread what I wrote to you, I’m like “are you freaking kidding me? You may not be running, running, running all day every day, and, frankly, that’s a very good thing, but you’re still doing a lot and using the knowledge and talent you have.” My son said to me “ mum, if one thing you wrote, helps someone or affects them, you accomplished a lot”. I definitely appreciate your comment, though. Was the realistic nudge I needed.
I like the posts where you write about not being a perfect self-optimization robot 👏 I also think Fritos are OK. Ideally not every day, but there’s room in life for Fritos. I mean, if you can’t cut yourself some slack and enjoy some Fritos now and then, what is all the life maxxing for? Boring! Good job.
I don't think I've fully described how indulgent I get with Fritos. Which, I must admit, are the Trader Joe's variety, which are markedly less toxic than the Frito lay version. But I can easily go two days in a row. And I have. But yes, I appreciate your appreciation of expressed imperfection. Stay tuned for lots more of that.
Haha, ok, I believe you about your Fritos habit. But still, you’re so harsh! Even the word toxic. Fritos aren’t toxic, just very high sodium, calorie dense and not particularly nutritious. I actually eat the TJs ones all the time. I like to make salads with a southwest spin, and I crumble some on top 🤷🏻♀️ This is all to say, they aren’t healthy and by all means lay off them, but also you’re so hard on yourself. The stress of self flagellation for deviating from routines surely can’t be good for you either.
Frito-Lay is poison. Read the ingredients and "nutrition" label and it's obvious. But I will say that TJ's corn chips have only three ingredients: organic corn, organic oil and sea salt. That probably explains why I don't wake up hating myself (so to speak) nearly as much after eating them vs when I impulse-buy a bag of actual Fritos because TJ's was closed.
Your “Fields of Schlub” is called Sunday! ( but without the junk food). My day of much needed mental and Physical rest. Thank you for your authentic self.
Frank, I’m so glad! Take it easy on yourself when your body/mind/heart is speaking their truths to you. I guess it’s not just chemical batteries that charge better if they’re fully drained first; human batteries seem to operate the same way.
Irina, that’s a great question. (And a good answer to it, too). Until this week, I don’t know if I’ve ever thought of pauses as pauses, rather than just me not performing—and being frustrated about it. I have a friend who says he purposely builds in what he calls “bullshit time” into his weekly calendar, for when things go sideways unexpectedly and you have to spend time you didn’t plan on spending to fix them. If you plan for bullshit time, you don’t get frustrated when you have to spend it. Same goes for pausing: plan on it happening, so when it happens, it feels like “oh, here’s the pause; embrace it.”
I have a feeling that once I allow myself the grace of pausing, I’ll be eager to unpause in short order. I surfed yesterday and today, thanks to a surfer friend being in town and eager to get on the water, and I think I’m unpaused now, but with a major post-surf mellow feeling.
You have awesome friends, wise and active, the best mix. I’m happy to read you had two days of surfing, this alone can clear a lot of things at once.
Pausing doesn’t happen naturally to me and only recently (call it approaching-50 wisdom) I started thinking of it as training the on/off switch. Reframing it as “the pause is just as important as the on time” helped. Thanks for sharing the “bullshit time” philosophy, with your permission, I will apply it.
I ran a 10k this morning and I'm sitting here doing absolutely nothing, which feels like the most productive thing I've done all week. Adaptation doesn't happen during the stimulus. It happens in the recovery window. Your body knew that before your brain caught up — which, as you've just illustrated, is usually how it goes.
Daniella, well said. Adaptation doesn’t happen during the stimulus. To which I would add a corollary: And it sure as hell isn’t found in a bag of Fritos.
They were Trader Joe’s version of Fritos, so not nearly as bad as the Frito-Lay deathfood variety, but still…..
Part of prepping for any long distance event—be it marathon, triathlon, or just life— involves a period of tapering. This is the forced rest before the race and it is built into any decent training program. Mentally, it is often the hardest part of the process for athletes whose days revolve around working themselves harder, achieving a performance goal. It’s easy to feel panicked, like you’re losing your edge or being lazy. But if you don’t pull back before the big race, you’re screwed. Consider the last couple of weeks your taper. Sometimes your body knows exactly what to do, and that mean little voice in your head needs to simmer down and kindly STFU.
Thank you for this! This just happened to me, too. I hit a proverbial speed bump last week in my version of 'pursuit of excellence'. I mostly ignored it and carried on thinking it each speed bump was just something that needed minor adjustment. But on Saturday, having ignored the bumps, I hit a wall which looked like lying nearly comatose watching daytime tv and eating most of a box of cookies. I desperately needed what a friend calls 'a potato day.' Thanks for keeping it real with us.
Thanks. I needed that. Been going thru a very similar period for about 10 days. A friend said, your body must be telling you it needs some rest. And some junk food! Thanks again
Just not Fritos, I beg of you, Tom! But I’m glad this landed at an opportune time. We all need to give it rest, sometimes, I suppose.
No Fritos. Ice cream!
...and today's post is precisely why i continue to check in with you- keeping it profoundly real, all the time. TY.
Michelle, I'm glad this is helpful, and I can't think of a bigger compliment than keeping it profoundly real, all the time. Thank you for that.
Oh my yes. I’ll be 55 in a few months. I know I am way more active than most
men my age. I had a lagree class on Thursday, another combo lagree/treadmill class yesterday, was supposed to try Orange Theory this morning and another lagree class on Sunday. I cancelled this morning. It’s just too much and instead of feeling bad I need to chill out :)
Mike, I know the feeling very well. In fact just today after finishing parenting duties, I had 49 minutes to get to the gym and get a quick workout in… Or, sit down and take a breath. I chose the ladder. I don't think I regret it. Tomorrow, the gym will be there, still.
Such a wonderful article. I was so busy from age 14 on doing, doing, doing, achieving. Then it slowed down a couple years ago at age 55. I had moved to a totally new area and that took getting to know people. It felt like a screeching halt but it actually wasn’t. During that “downtime“ over five years I’ve had four books published. But for some reason that just didn’t seem enough. I’ve served on a board or two, been studying new languages and improving my second language, doing some travelling, spending more time with family, learning several new percussion instruments… still in my brain it doesn’t feel like enough. I agree with TomD: thanks, I needed that.
What you're describing is a loss of perspective—on the amount and magnitude of your success and productivity—that I know I'm also susceptible to, and that I think a lot of AGING with STRENGTH readers may be, too. I remember Tom Brady, the football player, describing the feeling he had after winning his third Super Bowl: "Is this all there is?"
That's where perhaps a daily gratitude habit can be instrumental. Yeah, Tom, three championships is enough (he went on to win 4 more, btw). But there's a version of that monologue going on in lots of us, too.
It’s not that I’m not incredibly grateful. It’s not that I don’t think, yeah, I freaking did that. It’s that I had in my head for the longest time that slowing down some meant being unproductive. But today being productive is being viral or an influencer. Being seen and acknowledged by the masses. I don’t even like the masses. lol. But now when I reread what I wrote to you, I’m like “are you freaking kidding me? You may not be running, running, running all day every day, and, frankly, that’s a very good thing, but you’re still doing a lot and using the knowledge and talent you have.” My son said to me “ mum, if one thing you wrote, helps someone or affects them, you accomplished a lot”. I definitely appreciate your comment, though. Was the realistic nudge I needed.
I like the posts where you write about not being a perfect self-optimization robot 👏 I also think Fritos are OK. Ideally not every day, but there’s room in life for Fritos. I mean, if you can’t cut yourself some slack and enjoy some Fritos now and then, what is all the life maxxing for? Boring! Good job.
I don't think I've fully described how indulgent I get with Fritos. Which, I must admit, are the Trader Joe's variety, which are markedly less toxic than the Frito lay version. But I can easily go two days in a row. And I have. But yes, I appreciate your appreciation of expressed imperfection. Stay tuned for lots more of that.
Haha, ok, I believe you about your Fritos habit. But still, you’re so harsh! Even the word toxic. Fritos aren’t toxic, just very high sodium, calorie dense and not particularly nutritious. I actually eat the TJs ones all the time. I like to make salads with a southwest spin, and I crumble some on top 🤷🏻♀️ This is all to say, they aren’t healthy and by all means lay off them, but also you’re so hard on yourself. The stress of self flagellation for deviating from routines surely can’t be good for you either.
Fritos are toxic. If you’ve ever eaten a party-sized bag in one sitting, you know. It’s a gastro-intestinal hangover that you vow never to have again.
I guess a party sized bag in one sitting could be. The poison is in the dose, always.
Frito-Lay is poison. Read the ingredients and "nutrition" label and it's obvious. But I will say that TJ's corn chips have only three ingredients: organic corn, organic oil and sea salt. That probably explains why I don't wake up hating myself (so to speak) nearly as much after eating them vs when I impulse-buy a bag of actual Fritos because TJ's was closed.
Actual Fritos contain the exact same three ingredients (except not organic): Corn, corn oil, and salt. Fact check me.
Your “Fields of Schlub” is called Sunday! ( but without the junk food). My day of much needed mental and Physical rest. Thank you for your authentic self.
Lauren, maybe you’re right. Sundays are for the saunas, sans workouts preceding them.
Timing was perfect for this substack post fro me.... thanks Paul
Frank, I’m so glad! Take it easy on yourself when your body/mind/heart is speaking their truths to you. I guess it’s not just chemical batteries that charge better if they’re fully drained first; human batteries seem to operate the same way.
When do you know that it is time to unpause? For me, it is when the narrative changes from "I have to/ I should" to "I get to/ I want to"
Irina, that’s a great question. (And a good answer to it, too). Until this week, I don’t know if I’ve ever thought of pauses as pauses, rather than just me not performing—and being frustrated about it. I have a friend who says he purposely builds in what he calls “bullshit time” into his weekly calendar, for when things go sideways unexpectedly and you have to spend time you didn’t plan on spending to fix them. If you plan for bullshit time, you don’t get frustrated when you have to spend it. Same goes for pausing: plan on it happening, so when it happens, it feels like “oh, here’s the pause; embrace it.”
I have a feeling that once I allow myself the grace of pausing, I’ll be eager to unpause in short order. I surfed yesterday and today, thanks to a surfer friend being in town and eager to get on the water, and I think I’m unpaused now, but with a major post-surf mellow feeling.
You have awesome friends, wise and active, the best mix. I’m happy to read you had two days of surfing, this alone can clear a lot of things at once.
Pausing doesn’t happen naturally to me and only recently (call it approaching-50 wisdom) I started thinking of it as training the on/off switch. Reframing it as “the pause is just as important as the on time” helped. Thanks for sharing the “bullshit time” philosophy, with your permission, I will apply it.
I ran a 10k this morning and I'm sitting here doing absolutely nothing, which feels like the most productive thing I've done all week. Adaptation doesn't happen during the stimulus. It happens in the recovery window. Your body knew that before your brain caught up — which, as you've just illustrated, is usually how it goes.
Daniella, well said. Adaptation doesn’t happen during the stimulus. To which I would add a corollary: And it sure as hell isn’t found in a bag of Fritos.
They were Trader Joe’s version of Fritos, so not nearly as bad as the Frito-Lay deathfood variety, but still…..
Trader Joe's version at least suggests some residual standards :) The optimization instinct never fully sleeps.
Haha… you may be right, madam.
Part of prepping for any long distance event—be it marathon, triathlon, or just life— involves a period of tapering. This is the forced rest before the race and it is built into any decent training program. Mentally, it is often the hardest part of the process for athletes whose days revolve around working themselves harder, achieving a performance goal. It’s easy to feel panicked, like you’re losing your edge or being lazy. But if you don’t pull back before the big race, you’re screwed. Consider the last couple of weeks your taper. Sometimes your body knows exactly what to do, and that mean little voice in your head needs to simmer down and kindly STFU.
Okay but only kindly.
Thank you for this! This just happened to me, too. I hit a proverbial speed bump last week in my version of 'pursuit of excellence'. I mostly ignored it and carried on thinking it each speed bump was just something that needed minor adjustment. But on Saturday, having ignored the bumps, I hit a wall which looked like lying nearly comatose watching daytime tv and eating most of a box of cookies. I desperately needed what a friend calls 'a potato day.' Thanks for keeping it real with us.
My Fields of Schlub is your Potato Day. We all need them, now and then, Heather.
What kind of cookies, and how many?
Simple Mills sandwich cookies - which helped me justify eating, about 14, just shy of the whole box.
Oh yeah. Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about. Heather eats almost a whole box of cookies. Pause in effect. That’s solid work.