Don't Always Listen to Your Doctor

You ever take on something so foreign and outside of your wheelhouse that it scares the crap out of you? In a few days I will be in a situation I’ve never been in before. This Saturday I will be running a long distance race on a ski hill. But I’m not just taking on a distance I’ve never even come close to attempting before, I’m taking on the distance in an OCR (obstacle course race) format with stupid amounts of elevation change. In some sort of masochistic fever, I clicked my mouse, typed in my personal information, and hit enter on signing up for an event that will inevitably leave me cold, bloody and exhausted. The race is called a Spartan Beast. Over 24 kilometers and over 30 muddy, miserable obstacles designed to test the mental and physical fortitude of the group of fleshy humans who will congregate at Sun Peaks, British Columbia on that brisk autumn day.

If you’re reading this, you've probably made it here because you’re in the health and fitness circles or you’re a good friend that is helping me feel like my crappy writing efforts haven’t gone to waste. Those who know me, know I went through a traumatic event in March of 2012 that changed my entire outlook on life. I will save that story for another post, but it involved a broken knee and doctors telling me I could basically quit thinking about running any significant distances. At the time, I didn’t really have an inkling to run any distance longer than that needed to warm up for the hour I was going to spend in the squat rack. But, someone told me I couldn’t do something and I was triggered like a social justice warrior that was just told we only need two public bathrooms. I was offended! How dare they?!!!

Since those brutal days of physiotherapy in 2012 I’ve been spiting the doc and dabbling in the distance run game, going for the odd run here and there. I don’t overdo it because I know there is a point of diminishing returns when it comes to pounding pavement, especially for someone running on a knee that was put back together with metal hardware after being shattered into pieces. The big 215lb brute traded in the muscle for a set of lungs and some semblance of an ability to deal with lactic acid (wish I had done this in my hockey days). I’ve scrapped my 500lb squats in exchange for a (mostly body weight) HIIT based program that gives me more energy and endurance and allows my body to freely function without dealing with nagging impingements and tweaks that come with putting up big-boy weight and not truly taking care of yourself.

Fast forward to September 2016; the “incident” has forced me to give up the power lifter routine and the bodybuilder diet (and thankfully the high parts-per-million farts) and trade those in for the protocol I currently follow. I now need to keep a more slender build in order to deal with my arthritic get-away-stick.  If I want pain free locomotion I need to stay under 200lbs and move in a variety of ways on a daily basis. Unloaded, non-linear movement is now a huge staple for me. Being sedentary and physically heavy is a recipe for pain for this beat up (stupid 20s!), middle-aged, meat vehicle. Now I’m this dude who uses HIIT training, regular mobility work and a decent plant-biased diet in order to live (somewhat) pain free.

So, if I have this crappy old arthritic robot-knee, then why the hell am I doing a 24km mud run on a ski hill? I am using this somewhat unhealthy event- an event chosen to scare the bejeezus out of me- as motivation to progress my health and fitness practice and end up with more of a net gain than I would if I didn’t have something to work towards. Even a health coach like me needs to find new ways to stay motivated.  I knew when I hit enter on my keyboard at the beginning of the summer that I could be in a dangerous situation up on Sun Peaks, September 24 2016, subject to extreme fatigue, acute injury or mental breakdown had I not taken care of myself all summer. Or, I could prepare myself accordingly and test our new protocol, TheGoodsMethod, to see how well it prepares a regular working father like myself to deal with extreme conditions.

I chose the latter! With a base of HIIT training (three days a week), a moderate amount of running and a diet that is designed to fuel performance I am in the best shape of my life! My leg that was literally folded sideways to where my left foot was sitting next to my left hip bone feels great. My body feels limber, energetic and balanced and, four years removed from not being able to walk, I’m ready to take on the Spartan Beast!

Create your own destiny, folks! It’s not up to others to decide whether or not you are able to do something! I didn't blindly listen to my doctor when he told me I wouldn't be able to run. I went out and found that answer on my own. With that said, I'm going for my last run before I taper for this race. See you ‘round!

Aroooo!!!