Hey legends! Thanks for stopping by again! Can't believe it's been six months of these already. I'm feeling good and I hope you are too. Righto, let's dive in.
I won't lie, but I was scratchin' this month. Constantly coming up with Misogi challenges ain't easy when you're trying to also manage growing a business, increased training volume, day-to-day living and juggling some semblance of a social life. For my write up this month, I've decided to share a few thoughts on the year so far. Some learnings and reflections that have emerged on my journey. I've also provided a brief overview of my current training as I work towards the big run in October!
I won't bother diving into Junes' challenge which was removing meat for a month. In all honesty it was easy but I think I knew that going in. I'm a little disappointed that I didn't choose something harder (maybe I should try removing sugar - but hey! We don't wanna make it too hard 🤣), but I am struggling to come up with new things. I've been finding it quite tough lately to come across something that not only meets the Misogi criteria and is meaningful but also doesn't end up being a major distraction from my work. In the midst of this search, I stumbled upon my old blog posts, and guess what I found? My very first edition, where I laid out some loose guidelines.
"The Monthly Misogi doesn't have to be a massive physical or mental challenge every month. It just needs to be something that will challenge you and make you uncomfortable. Choosing a challenge based on different areas you'd like to work on in your life is a great start."
I've been doing okay by this definition, but I know I can do better.
Throughout this year, I've been actively trying to stack beneficial habits and behaviours into my life, month after month. Admittedly, there have been plenty of times when I fell short, but I've also collected some bloody good wins. As I write this blog post, I felt it would be helpful to revisit my earlier writings. It's both fascinating and exciting to see how far I've come and notice the evolution in my tone. It's incredibly easy to become consumed by the demands of life, the daily grind, and the rat race, often forgetting to pause and reflect on our personal growth. Although I often feel like I'm not accomplishing much, looking back over the year reveals that I have become and I'm still becoming a new person. Our identity is moulded by our consistent actions—the words we choose, the habits we cultivate, the decisions we make, and the experiences we pursue. Embracing this realisation has been a profound lesson for me. I've come to understand that I possess the power to change my identity and alter my path at any given moment, and the same holds true for each and every one of you.
Actually let me rephrase that; I think we all understand that we have it within us to change at any given moment, BUT understanding it, and embracing it are two very different things.Understanding means we grasp the concept and the workings, but embracing it, comes from a place of action. In my mind, it suggests that it's going to be 'lived.'
Isn't it funny how we are the masters of our own universes, but so many of us feel trapped and helpless? It's never easy to go against the current, but who said creating a new, purposeful life was going to be? Henry David Thoreau famously said, "Most men live lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them." There's an exciting life out there for those who'll chase it, so let's chase it together my friends.
Most men live lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them"
Quick fire reflections
Choose hard.
The path of least resistance won't take you to a good place. Easy life now, hard life later. Hard life now, easy life later. If you're ever faced with a couple of tough decisions, choose the scariest option. Thank me later.
You can change your identity.
Build new habits and repeat them. You don't have to remain the same just because that's all you've known.
Perfectionism is a mask for fear.
Chasing perfection is a great facade for fear. We dress it up and procrastinate, but people don't want perfection from you. They want passion and authenticity. Show your work.
Keep choosing adventure and experience.
I used to be very money-oriented and very unhappy. I realised that I was happiest when I was experiencing something new and working towards something. This year and these challenges have been about constantly reminding myself to live differently. By default, I, and presumably a lot of people, get trapped in the safe zone. It's not easy juggling life, kids, work, and everything in between, but hard ain't easy, and when you're fighting the good fight upstairs, remember, this is what hard feels like. Embrace it, and never give your negative thoughts a voice.
It's not the thing in front of you that's bothering you...
You're bothering yourself about the thing in front of you. It's all about perception. This could apply to anything in life, and lately it's been getting me through July's daily cold water immersion. Often, we work ourselves up more than we need to for no reason at all. Marcus Aurelius phrases it like this: "If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it, and this you have the power to revoke at any moment."
It's great to know. Let's start tuning out our internal dialogue that's telling us to choose comfort.
New trail kicks who dis! I'm hardly a shoe savant, but these Hoka Tecton X2's are bloody great. They've got a carbon plate, so most people recommend them for racing only as they can be a little hard for high volume training, but I love the response, fit and feel they offer.
Current Training
Weights
I'm currently lifting 3–4 times per week in the gym, keeping it simple with a push / pull / lower split. My fourth session is optional and focuses on lagging muscle groups or any prehabilitation or rehab extras that I feel are necessary. I'm keeping my rep ranges between 8 and 15 for hypertrophy purposes. While I could lose more size and focus purely on improving run times, I'm a big believer in hybrid training, doing my best to maintain as much size and strength as possible while increasing my cardiovascular engine.
Jiujitsu
My goal was to continue jiu-jitsu a minimum of twice per week; however, that's unfortunately gone out the window for now. I split my eyelid at training a couple of weeks ago from an accidental stray elbow and ended up getting it glued. It's super minor, and seems silly that I can't train because I feel like it's not uncommon, but the nurses said that until it gets a bit more strength in the underlying tissues, it'll split relatively easily if I go back too soon. Since running is the priority at the moment, I'll give it a couple more weeks.
Running
So get this, I'm too cheap to get a running coach so I asked ChatGPT to write me a beginner ultra-marathon running program and here's what it came back with:
Week 1: Base Building
Monday, June 12th: Rest
Tuesday, June 13th: 5 km easy run
Wednesday, June 14th: 6 km easy run
Thursday, June 15th: 5 km easy run
Friday, June 16th: Rest
Saturday, June 17th: 9 km easy run
Sunday, June 18th: 10 km easy run
Weekly Mileage: 35 km
Week 2: Progressive Increase
Monday, June 19th: Rest
Tuesday, June 20th: 5.5 km easy run
Wednesday, June 21st: 6.5 km easy run
Thursday, June 22nd: 5.5 km easy run
Friday, June 23rd: Rest
Saturday, June 24th: 9.5 km easy run
Sunday, June 25th: 11 km easy run
Weekly Mileage: 43 km
Continue the program with a maximum 10% increase in weekly mileage. Here's the complete 18-week program, including the daily run distances adjusted to ensure they add up to the correct weekly mileage.
ChatGPT provided me with a full 18-week training program, displaying weekly mileages and daily breakdowns. It did get the dates wrong, and the daily kilometres didn't add up to the weekly mileage totals, but with a few more prompts and corrections, we got there.
Recovery
Recovery is a huge factor; sleep, nutrition, and hydration, amongst other things, are all crucial variables to manage. Life happens; there are unavoidable stresses that arise, so it's all about planning, setting yourself up for success, and simply doing your best. I've been wearing a Whoop Strap (and yes, that is my referral link 😂 look at me go - affiliate marketer out here, haha) which has been awesome. Based on my recovery and sleep, it gives me daily strain goals and lets me know whether to push harder or back off and include more recovery activities. There are a lot of fitness trackers and wearables out there, and they all have different algorithms and methods for quantifying fitness data. While it's not perfect, I've still found it a helpful tool to include in my arsenal.
My July Misogi has been cold water immersion. It sucks and it's peak winter here in New Zealand, but damn do you feel alive and charged up afterwards! I chose this as a Misogi because it ticked two boxes.
It's hard and miserable, and
It's a recovery modality. It's another small daily habit that will hopefully help towards a bigger goal!
Anyway, enough chit-chat from me again. I wanted to publish this a week ago, but excuses got the better of me haha. Better late than never, though!
Continue the mission guys.
Shal
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