Five for Friday: Where To Run

A few weeks back I helped this woman with her running shoe needs. I'm not sure my advice worked but at least I tried. I was fascinated by her twitter account @readeatwriterun and then I found her Blog. She and a few other bloggers started this Five for Friday and I'm playing along. I am a week behind them but it's still playing along.

On Tuesday I was on this beautiful run with my friend Marcus when I started thinking about this post. He and I were running along the river in Heilbronn, Germany and I was having a tough time coming up with more places I really have to run. It's not just where I want to run but with whom. So here's my listing.

1. Vietnam - With Mary and Marco - I don't know why I want to go there but I do. 
2. Nepal - With Marco I simply want to see those mountains up close. I've run in offshoots of the Himilaya in China but being up close and personal fascinates me. 
3. Alaska - With my Friend John Clark - John is the main buyer at Skinny Raven and his stories of running in Alaska have always made me want to run there with him. 
4. Beirut Lebanon - This would be with Mary because there is no way I'm going there without her. My Dad like me traveled the world for work. He said Beirut was the most beautiful city he ever visited. I have to go there and run. 
5. Cape Town, South Africa, I want to meet Professor Tim Noakes, and run in that city. 

Right now I have no idea when I'll get to do this. I've run in so many countries I could end my running tomorrow and be fully satisfied with what I've done. At the same time people aways ask me why I'm still running and my answer is always "Because I can". So as long as I can run I'm going to dream about running around the world and these are 5 destinations that intrigue me. 

It's a good life….

Week in Review: Germany-Home-Germay

 This picture was taken 3 hours after I got up. It's 6am in Cardiff. I got up at 3am because of jet lag. I had been home from Germany for two days and the USA Zoot Sales meeting was starting this day. Better to pull the hat down and get busy rather than worry about sleep.

 It was a busy few days for Zoot. This is just a random picture taken from my phone. It was not planned. Hopefully come July-August and beyond many other people get this exact same view in the Ali'i 14.

 The thought of jumping on a plane to Germany was mind numbing. Pull the hat back on and get focused was the theme. No need to worry about what lays ahead. Just push the crap out of my mind and focus on the task at hand. This trip could ease the tension on revenue needs. Let's just focus and get it done.

I walked out of baggage claim at the Frankfurt Airport and walked toward the hotel shuttle area. The walk brought back big memories and then I saw this patch of grass. Both a smile and a tear formed. In 2007 I did this same walk. At the time, I was pushing one cart and pulling another. Each cart had a large dog crate and each crate had one of our dogs. I had been in Germany for 3 months and on this trip Neptune our Black Lab and Scout my running partner were moving too. After 11 hours on the flight and probably 18 hours of total stress they were about to be released out of the crates. I opened them up put on leashes and walked across the street to this patch of grass. Neptune the calm happy lab squatted (yes he was a male but he was tired so he squatted) and peed for what seemed like 10 minutes. Scout who was the emotional thinker, just watched. 

I was talking to a co-worker the other day. I don't even remember the subject. She said "Wow you lead a great life". I just smiled and said yes, it's a good life…...

Week in Review: 7 Things

1. Fire Sucks
2. Consistency in my travel. Chicago in February blizzard, Boulder in April  Heavy Snow, Munich in May Cold and Raining. 
3. Running on jet lagged legs sucks but man does it feel good. I got up on group run morning after 3 hours of sleep and just did not feel like going. I went and came back refreshed and ready to execute the final day of the sales meeting. 
4. I love really good sales managers. They will fight you all year for what they want but when it comes time to selling they put blinders on and pitch. There is no better then our German Sales Manager. 
5. Breakfast in Europe is the best in the world. 
6. Sleeping flat in business class is priceless when you have to perform when you land. I slept flat my partners did not and it showed. 
7. I remember flying in to San Diego as a child and the awe of everything in this beautiful part of the world. I still have that feeling every time I fly home to San Diego. Love this place! 

It's a good life….

Five for Friday: Random Thoughts

These are just 5 things on my mind right now. 

1. Tell someone “it’s great to have you in my life and why.” Especially that boss or coworker you are angry with right now. You won’t be angry anymore after the interaction.
2.  Move – Stop sitting at a desk, sitting in a car, sitting in front of the TV and move.  Every hour you sit, stand up and do 10 ass to heel squats or 10 pushups or 20 Jumping Jacks. Most of the time I do all three.  I think I owe this idea to www.mobilitywod.com
3. Sleep – It will change your life. I turn off screens at 8pm. No TV, No Computer, No Phone. I am constantly turning lights off in the house at this time too. I read a magazine not my kindle or play my guitar. I roll out my body. I sit on the floor and play with the Dog. I have a cup of tea.
4.  Wake up Early – I get more done between 5am and 8am then I do the entire rest of the day. On any given morning, I talk to Germany, talk to China,  empty my inbox, write in my journal, walk the dog, talk to my wife as she gets ready for school, visit with our son as he gets ready for school and do 30 minutes of some type of workout. Then at 8am I leave for work. 5am on Saturday and Sunday and an entire new world will open up.
5. Take off your shoes and walk barefoot in grass. Electrical charge or just a feeling of freedom. There simply isn’t anything more relaxing to me than doing this daily. Yes, I do it sometimes in the middle of a run. But I also do it when I walk the dog and when I do it I naturally breath deep.

IIt's a good life….

The High School Runner: Triathlon Starts Now

Well maybe:

Saturday he road my road bike for the first time. He road from Cardiff to the top of Torrey Pines and back. He loved it.

Sunday he asked if he could do a workout with Jim Vance and Formula Endurance

On Monday I set it up.

This Sunday he'll do his first Bike/Run workout with a team. It's just about all he can talk about.

I only hope he has fun and meets a bunch of people he likes. The rest is up to him.

It's a good life…..

Travel Tips From the Glamorous Life of Running Shoes

The life in running shoes, this is my schedule the next two weeks.

Wednesday May 14th - Fly to Munich, Gemany
Thursday-Friday-Saturday - European Sales Meeting
Sunday May 18th - Fly home to San Diego
Monday - Friday - US Sales Meeting
Saturday May 24th - Fly to Frankfurt Germany
Sunday - Monday - Tuesday - Meet with retailers
Wednesday May 28th - Fly home to San Diego

The prevailing belief is that on average it takes a person to fully recover from time zone travel, one day for every hour in time zone difference. Germany is currently 9 hours time zone difference. My goal is to make sure my recovery stays in the 1 day per hour window and hopefully to accelerate the recovery. I believe with this trip it's a full 18 day recovery. Recovery mean's fully functioning sleep, mental focus and play. Below is how I will do it:


Air Travel

1. I use the same airline network all the time. I use United although I'm not loyal to them. They simply cover the majority of my routes in the shortest time. So far I've flown 29,000 miles on 13 flights. Total travel time is critical in this scenario since actual flying time is long. 
2. To build miles for the family I book all my travel and almost all the groceries and daily stuff on the United Visa. 
3. If I can upgrade to business class I will. The difference between laying flat and sleeping or sleeping in a economy cabin seat is dramatic. I honestly believe it cuts down on the number of days in recovery. The actual cost is crazy an the company won't pay it so I use my status regularly. Unfortunately on the upcoming trip only the outbound to Munich is upgraded. 
4. If I'm not in business class, I choose an aisle seat. Moving around, doing squats in the galley, and using the toilet to relieve all the water is critical to feeling good later. 
5. I take my own food. Even in business class I usually take my own food to eat. I don't use a microwave at home so why would I eat microwave food on a plane? 
6. 32 oz of water or coconut water before the flight and water all the time on the flight. By the time I land I hate water. 
7. 800mg of CoQ10 before the flight and 200 mg every hour on the flight. A long haul flight is equivalent to running a marathon. Lots of cell damage going on. 
8. Zoot Recovery Socks - Sitting for longs periods of time pools blood in your feet. Ever wonder why you have Kankles after flying. Sitting and air pressure is why. So the compression socks keep the blood circulating out of the feet. 
9. Alcohol - Oh my this is an entire post. Business Class is open bar and it amazes me the amount of drinking people do on a plane. Want to turn 1 day/hour into more, drink the entire flight. I have my glass of wine and that's about it. 

Arrival 

1. No matter what time it is I do this. I once landed in Singapore at 1am and still did this. So it really doesn't matter how tired I am or what time of day it is on landing this is my protocol. 
2. I go straight to the hotel. If you tell them you've been flying all night, they will check you in. I've yet to be refused by anyone. 
3. I take a cold shower. Wakes me up. 
4. I put on my running shoes and head outside. If it's real late I'll head to the pool to swim but the goal is to get the body moving and blood flowing. Nothing will feel good at this point. You won't feel like running and you won't feel like sleeping so running is better. 
5. If I can find it, I will find a patch of grass, take off my shoes and do barefoot drills and strides. The earth has an electrical charge and putting skin to earth grounds your body. Ever wonder why going barefoot on the beach or in grass is so relaxing? 
6. I force myself into the time Zone. If I land at 7:00am in Germany  I spend the entire day doing. By 9:00pm I'm trashed and out cold. 

Supplementation: I sat across the table from a really good friend the other day. He asked "How many pills do you take a day" I couldn't tell him because I really don't know. He said "I take none, should I?". I didn't know how to answer him or don't suggest that what I do is for everyone. I do know that I feel great at my age and in fact I think I feel way better than most people my age or younger so I'm doing something right. I'm just going to keep on doing it. 

1. CoQ10 on the flight. 
2. REM Caps once in Country. Your body releases Melatonin based on the setting of the sun. When you are out of your time zone it doesn't know when the sun sets. So when I travel I help it out 
3. When food quality is everything traveling can be a challenge. If you are obsessive about the quality of the food, you would never eat. So instead of that I fully enjoy the food presented and then fix my gut with Activated Charcoal. 
4. Damage Control - This has been my source for repair for years. Last year I flew 130,000 miles in the air, stayed 100 nights in a hotel, did an Ironman and I got sick a total of zero days. 
5. My Brain - I have to be on form from the time I land until I sit on the plane coming home. I used to take Motivator  which  works great when you are racing but leaves you a bit edgy if you are simply trying to execute effective work in China. It worked great but the feeling wasn't great. I've since switched to Alpha Brain and am quite pleased. I'm on point, stay on point all day and can sleep well at night. 

This is a ton of information. For 8 years this has been my life and for 8 years I've been hacking away at it. This is what works for me. I'm confident there are nuggets in here. 

It's a good life….

Five Friday: The Aging Athlete

After every race I do I evaluate my standing. Recently my times have gotten slower over distances like 70.3. My training doesn't feel different but the times are. So I have to ask myself, is it a trend, a result of lifestyle or simply my age. My 5 thoughts on the subject:

1. My Lifestyle or should I say my job is holding me back. The job of Director of Running Shoes is a absolutely dream job. I get to create the future of what a running shoe should be. At the same time it's a business and the business of running shoes is time consuming and body consuming. Logging 30,000 miles in a plane this year is actually low for me but as always my flight count is very low meaning my flights are long haul which are the killer. So I'm going to continue to hack these long flights. Monday I'll talk in depth about this. 
2. My Training is holding me back - My head says volume by available time says high intensity, my actual has been inconsistently both. So I'm going to commit to high intensity for the next 12 months. 
3. My Age - I don't feel it. I'm not on any medication, I don't ache all day, I'm amazed when I step into transition at a race and look across at the old men I'm racing. In fact I met a guy last week who is 4 years younger than me, looks older and is on 1/2 a baby asprin each day for his heart. Luckily he knew when to call it a day on race day. 
4. My Life - Stress holds everyone back. I have as much stress as anyone else. It's how I deal with it. My first stress breaker is meditation I've been working on this for a year it is a great helper for sure. Interesting to note our dog will take every chance she can to get my attention. When I'm meditating she knows to leave me alone. That should say something. 
5. My Life - Stress holds everyone back. My second stress breaker is learning. I love to read but I'm a terrible reader. It takes forever to finish a book. So I'm teaching myself to speed read. My wife does it and she's the smartest in the family, our son does it so I should be able to. Once I've figured it out I'll share it. 

It's a good life….

My Top 6 Podcasts

Things to stop doing: Watching TV, Watching or reading News, Listening to Podcasts - This is a paraphrase from a guy who has a podcast. I found it funny that he said essentially don't listen to me.

Like reading blogs or books, I listen to podcasts for inspiration, motivation and learning.

• I listen in the mornings when I walk the dog
• I listen on my bike commute to work
• I listen in my car when nobody else is with me. 

My favorites are: 

Dave Asprey - He does a great job interviewing and has a really good variety of guests for my three criteria above. His Brain Octain is the bomb too. 

The New Man Podcast - Simply awesome for any man trying to get his head out of the sand. My only wish is that he would do his podcasts more frequently. 

Rich Roll  - He's a vegan with a good story. He brings on inspiring guests and doesn't push his vegan ways. He simply is pushing good healthy eating which is refreshing. Hist podcasts tend to be really long so you will need some time. 

Vinnie Tortorich - He never prepares, he's vulgar, he talks about himself often and his favorite topic is the vagina. But he's also quite entertaining once you get used to his patterns. The overall message though is quite good and there are lots of things to learn from the guest he brings on. Case in point is Podcast #259 where he and Dr. X talk about the top 5 drugs on the market prescribed by doctors. 

Tim Ferriss - He's new to podcasting but already a top on my list. He's best the drunker he gets. We'll see in future but expect him to bring the guests on from all over the body hacking, life hacking and business hacking world. 

Endurance Planet - This is the only triathlon/running podcast I listen too regularly. I like it's because of the coaching content. As a footwear product guy I get to hear the questions athletes have and listen to the coaches respond. There is a ton of footwear insight in this content. I was also a guest on this one which makes it extra special. 

This is not all I listen to. I listen to NPR and Joe Rogan for good content but the Podcasts above are the places I find the most useful information in my quest to be a better Husband, Father and Man. 

It's a good life…..

5 Things I Learned at Ironman 70.3 Saint George

Saturday I participated in Ironman 70.3 Saint George for the 2nd year in a row. The lead up and race itself went much like last year. Here are things I learned.

1. You can't fake bike riding on a course like St. George. - I ride my bike but not well enough to race that course. Like last year, I was fast when the course allowed fast and I was spinning up the hills. Snow Canyon the monster hill felt easier and shorter. 
2. Enve Wheels are really well built. I'm used to the sound my Zipp wheels made on the road and the Enve don't make that sound. In fact they make no sound at all. 
3. Bike Fit is everything - My P5 fit to my body was so comfortable. It was a total pleasure to ride. Sure the P5 is a Super Bike but I believe it's more the fit I have that makes it the best bike I've ever ridden. 
4. My running is the best part of my fitness. It was hot, really hot on race day so over the first half I simply managed the heat and the big hills. I was not running fast but steady and good form. Then over the 2nd half I picked it up. I negative split by over 3 minutes. Part of that is the course for sure, and part of it is the 1st half pacing. Looking back I know I could have paced it differently and run faster but it was a decision to hold back and finish strong that I went with and am happy with. 
5. My nutrition was spot on. Pre race I had  Bullet Proof Coffee, a bottle of Amino Acids 100% MR and Muscle Synthesis . During the race I had a 300 calorie bottle of a mixture of Generation UCan combined with 100%MR/Muscle Synthesis and on the run a 100 calorie bottle of the same. I drank water when I was thirsty and I had 4-5 swigs of Coke on the run. That's it. No Gel, No bars no Salt Tablets. My energy levels were perfect, my head was always in the moment and no gut issues during or after the race. 

On my daily practice of Journalling I write -  I will Celebrate Success and that I will Love Food. At about 4 pm I was starving so I went back outside in the very hot sun, found a Habit Burger and had my favorite meal of all time, a Double Cheesburger, Fries and a Coke. Loved every bite of it. 

Finally I rolled across the finish line for my brother Bob and ALS. I honestly believe that rolling is the most important thing I can do on race day and it's why I keep getting slower. It's not my age, it's not my training (Ok maybe I could fine tune that) it's my need to make sure I cross the line with a roll. Rolling is an emotional deal. There will be more racing to do but there will only be one Bob. 

It's a good life….

13 Blogs I read Daily

13 has always been my favorite number. Funny as it is, Mary and I share that number.

Running and Triathlon

Joe Friel - No better in cycling than Joe. What a gift he is to our lives.

James Walsh - James came to Triathlon and crushed it. Then on to cycling with the same result. Now he's taken up Ultra Running and it's a great adventure to follow. And if you are looking for the next Beer to serve at a party then this is a good place to start.

The Sports Scientists Generally after any big race I go to them for their analysis. They are brilliant in what they do.

Bree Wee I started reading Bree when we lived in Germany. I've followed her life. She's now a friend. What I like about her is she keeps it real. She puts it all out there.

Japan Running If you didn't know it, Japan is a massive running market. This is how I keep up on all things Japan Running.


My Head and Body

Gordo Byrn  I started following Gordo when I lived in Germany. His writings and stories about his life and racing where epically written. There was always great head or body information. Soon after, I hired him to be my coach. I think a younger Dave would have thrived under his coaching but the older Dave struggled with the time commitment. It was a fight between the schedule, my travel and my family duties. The coaching was not the problem my decision to try it all was. Gordo is still keeping it real and coaches me daily. Not professionally but through his writings here.

Seth Godin a daily dose of marketing/business/life wisdom.


Mark Sisson if you ask who I want to emulate when I'm 60, it's this guy.

Gluten Free Anna  Gluten Free can be great tasting and Anna brings it.

In-Q - Simply amazing, inspiring and keeps the it all real. Just listen to the story of the 85 year old woman on the home page.

Running Shoes

Run Blogger he came along with the minimalist world. He was a professor at a university and now this is what he does for a living. I don't agree with everything he writes but again that's why I read it.

Run Ran Run A bit of edge, fashion and passion for running.

Running Shoe Guru - Another like the Run Blogger



It's a good life...