Full Transcript for 486: Why am I so exhausted?

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WEBVTT 00:00:02.043 --> 00:00:04.330 So why am I so exhausted? 00:00:04.341 --> 00:00:05.929 It might not be your training. 00:00:05.940 --> 00:00:08.492 It might be everything else you have going on in life. 00:00:08.509 --> 00:00:13.960 Kevin and I actually both slept in on both days this weekend, which is wild. 00:00:13.971 --> 00:00:19.012 I cannot remember the last time that happened, and it's because life has just been that crazy. 00:00:19.013 --> 00:00:25.452 And so today we really wanna talk about this idea of why am I so exhausted, because there's a lot of people that think that their... 00:00:26.097 --> 00:00:32.369 When they look at their training, and maybe their training's not going the way that they want it to, they tend to blame training. 00:00:32.377 --> 00:00:37.009 They tend to blame what is going on in their workouts and their training plan and their exercises. 00:00:37.365 --> 00:00:44.978 But the reason you're so exhausted and the reason maybe you're not making the progress that you want could be everything else outside of your training. 00:00:44.981 --> 00:00:52.841 So today we're gonna take a look at your real life and how that affects your training, and not only that, but also what can you do about it. 00:00:52.853 --> 00:00:53.965 So stay tuned. 00:00:58.505 --> 00:00:59.500 What's up, runners? 00:00:59.503 --> 00:01:02.628 Welcome back to the Running Reconnected podcast. 00:01:03.118 --> 00:01:10.159 Today we're talking about why am I so exhausted, and the reason that this is the topic for today, it, there's a couple reasons. 00:01:10.179 --> 00:01:18.361 Number one, I was driving in my car and I was listening to the radio, and this was one of the things that I th- the DJ said. 00:01:18.364 --> 00:01:20.090 I think it was, like, a, a commercial ad. 00:01:20.424 --> 00:01:23.430 and it was like,"Why am I so exhausted?" I was like,"Bingo. 00:01:23.454 --> 00:01:26.210 That's the one." That's the one we need. 00:01:26.646 --> 00:01:30.054 because that has been our real life right now. 00:01:30.055 --> 00:01:33.272 that has, life has just been so crazy, at least in this house. 00:01:33.496 --> 00:01:39.969 and I know that based on talking to a lot of our clients, there's been a lot of just craziness, around lately. 00:01:40.397 --> 00:01:40.665 Yeah. 00:01:40.680 --> 00:01:46.243 I normally have one cup of coffee, and I think last week I refilled my cup three different days. 00:01:46.340 --> 00:01:47.924 that is very much not normal for me. 00:01:48.132 --> 00:01:48.153 Yeah. 00:01:48.153 --> 00:01:51.078 As pointed out, we both slept in on both days of the weekend. 00:01:51.090 --> 00:01:54.986 To be fair- I know we also stayed up way later than normal on both days of the weekend. 00:01:55.018 --> 00:01:55.332 Yeah. 00:01:55.370 --> 00:01:58.424 and to be fair, I was planning on it on Saturday. 00:01:58.430 --> 00:02:09.187 we knew that we had a Halloween party that we were going to on Friday night, and that we were gonna likely be up later, so I planned to take my rest day on Saturday and then run on Sunday. 00:02:09.361 --> 00:02:20.221 But then it turned out that the weather decided not to cooperate on Sunday, and so when I woke up on Sunday to run, there w- there were thunderstorms, and so I just went back to bed and because it just wasn't worth... 00:02:20.256 --> 00:02:25.030 obviously if it's raining, that's one thing, but if there's lightning and thunderstorms, that's a totally different thing. 00:02:25.441 --> 00:02:25.949 Yeah, no. 00:02:25.965 --> 00:02:30.611 b- both of us, I don't think either of us like to run in the rain, but both of us are willing to do it. 00:02:30.669 --> 00:02:30.913 Yeah. 00:02:30.913 --> 00:02:32.665 it was not safe to be outside. 00:02:32.723 --> 00:02:34.894 yeah, it would just, it poured thunderstorms all day long. 00:02:34.894 --> 00:02:36.180 It was- Yeah Sunday was rough. 00:02:36.747 --> 00:02:51.835 Yeah, and so I just started thinking about this idea of why am I so exhausted, because I know that I definitely have been feeling super tired lately, and there's a lot of things going on in our life that I think a lot of you as our listeners can probably connect to. 00:02:51.835 --> 00:03:03.413 And so I really wanna just talk about that, because everything that h- is happening in our real life outside of running affects our running, and I don't think that we always give that enough credit. 00:03:03.413 --> 00:03:17.864 I think that sometimes we think about it, but then we still get mad or frustrated with ourselves that our runs aren't going the way that they, th- that we want them to, or that our training is not going the way that we want it, or that we're not hitting our paces or our distances. 00:03:17.865 --> 00:03:19.558 Our legs just feel like lead. 00:03:19.925 --> 00:03:29.574 And today's episode is to remind you that all of this is connected, that you are one human, you are one person, and you do not live in silos. 00:03:29.575 --> 00:03:45.170 It's not okay, my training is over here, and my running legs should feel fine even though I stayed up until 12:00 both nights of the weekend because, one, we were at a party that we planned to be at, and two, our We have teenage daughters now and we have to go pick them up. 00:03:45.686 --> 00:03:52.335 We have to stay up, later because now they have social lives, which is, both fun and not fun for us, I think, so 00:03:52.938 --> 00:03:56.788 Yeah, it was neat when their social lives ended at, the 2:00'cause the party- was done. 00:03:57.171 --> 00:03:57.364 not 00:03:57.366 --> 00:03:58.099 12:00- 2:00 PM. 00:03:58.099 --> 00:03:58.414 Not, 00:03:58.414 --> 00:03:59.175 like- Yeah, 2:00 PM. 00:03:59.191 --> 00:03:59.548 Yeah, not 00:03:59.556 --> 00:03:59.639 2 AM. 00:03:59.639 --> 00:04:02.294 It was a lunch, we'll get some pizza, and then call it a day. 00:04:02.334 --> 00:04:02.633 Yeah. 00:04:02.804 --> 00:04:06.962 When birthday parties used to be at, 11:00 AM, like

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11:00 to 2:00- Those- and then we were 00:04:06.962 --> 00:04:06.973 good. 00:04:07.112 --> 00:04:07.157 Yeah. 00:04:07.157 --> 00:04:08.122 Those were great. 00:04:08.301 --> 00:04:08.739 Yeah. 00:04:09.413 --> 00:04:21.781 But I think that, the more I thought about this whole idea, I think that we live in a fast-paced world, and it never has moved as quickly as it done, a- as it does right now. 00:04:21.803 --> 00:04:23.286 Everything's at our fingertips, right? 00:04:23.286 --> 00:04:26.538 We're expected to get things done fast and efficiently. 00:04:26.538 --> 00:04:29.369 And believe me, I am not anti-efficiency. 00:04:29.369 --> 00:04:30.644 I love efficiency. 00:04:30.644 --> 00:04:31.415 I, actually- You really do 00:04:31.415 --> 00:04:31.665 love 00:04:31.668 --> 00:04:35.459 efficiency I really geek out over how to make things more efficient. 00:04:35.470 --> 00:04:54.745 But I think that the problem is we're bombarded with all of the ways to make everything in our life better, to make everything more efficient, to optimize everything, and we're exhausting ourselves in the process, and we're also losing the process of it all. 00:04:54.749 --> 00:05:01.149 we're exhausting ourself in the process of trying to optimize and trying to be more efficient and trying to get more done. 00:05:01.464 --> 00:05:10.423 And by doing that, we are actually missing out on the process of training and actually being able to enjoy and be present with our training. 00:05:10.677 --> 00:05:16.995 and I think that's also exhausting, because we're just trying to get results sooner rather than later, always. 00:05:17.423 --> 00:05:18.196 Yeah, no, always. 00:05:18.235 --> 00:05:26.742 Always we're ch- reaching for the best result in the least possible amount of time, and that's, the opposite of what distance running could possibly be. 00:05:27.052 --> 00:05:36.283 Like, distance running really is a, a setup for you to practice patience in refining your craft- Yeah and improvement. 00:05:36.567 --> 00:05:36.675 that's- 00:05:36.675 --> 00:05:38.752 And over months and years, right? 00:05:38.752 --> 00:05:38.762 Yes. 00:05:38.762 --> 00:05:46.759 and people are like,"No, let's do this all now." And I think that's one of the first ideas that I wanna talk about, is this idea of results now. 00:05:46.766 --> 00:05:54.267 Because I think a big reason that we're so tired is that we don't want to wait for the results, so we try to speed everything up. 00:05:54.269 --> 00:05:58.177 We try to do more in order to try to get results faster. 00:05:58.449 --> 00:06:07.514 And I think that we lose out on the beauty of, like you said, endurance training a- and long-distance running when we try to rush the process. 00:06:07.514 --> 00:06:13.201 Because really, and we've talked about this on the podcast so many times, the beauty is in the process. 00:06:13.202 --> 00:06:14.754 The growth is in the process. 00:06:14.754 --> 00:06:19.822 It's in the becoming the person that's able

to run farther, that's able to run faster. 00:06:19.822 --> 00:06:21.278 That is where the growth happens. 00:06:21.279 --> 00:06:24.622 It's not actually doing the thing and achieving that goal. 00:06:24.793 --> 00:06:36.880 But I think that we are so bombarded with,"Oh, I have to post this on Instagram" or,"I have to put this on Strava," or, there's all these comparisons, and there's ways for us to prove what we're doing. 00:06:36.892 --> 00:06:40.877 And we want the glitz and the glamour and the claps, the kudos, right? 00:06:40.884 --> 00:06:43.822 Isn't that what they do on Strava, is- Kudos or something. 00:06:43.826 --> 00:06:45.408 I'm not on Strava, so I don't know. 00:06:45.855 --> 00:06:45.975 Yeah, like 00:06:45.978 --> 00:06:48.144 the greatest granola bar ever created. 00:06:48.144 --> 00:06:48.771 It's a Kudos. 00:06:49.651 --> 00:06:51.392 Ku- do they still make those? 00:06:51.745 --> 00:06:54.053 I think- I don't think I've seen those in the grocery store. 00:06:54.355 --> 00:06:54.884 Yeah, I don't know. 00:06:54.887 --> 00:06:57.492 For some reason, this came up recently, and I was searching them up. 00:06:57.492 --> 00:06:57.617 Oh my 00:06:57.619 --> 00:06:59.497 God, I used to love Kudos. 00:06:59.536 --> 00:06:59.675 I know. 00:06:59.675 --> 00:07:06.291 It was like a candy bar that was, like, it was actually, that they told you was health- They would say it was a granola bar, but it was covered in chocolate. 00:07:06.461 --> 00:07:10.550 Yeah, they still make it, but it's not covered in chocolate anymore, so it, they took away- Really? 00:07:10.552 --> 00:07:11.802 the best part of it. 00:07:12.064 --> 00:07:12.108 Yeah. 00:07:12.108 --> 00:07:12.447 Oh my gosh, I 00:07:12.454 --> 00:07:13.867 haven't thought about Kudos- They stopped existing for a while. 00:07:13.879 --> 00:07:16.810 Somebody bought them, and then they re- they came back out with them. 00:07:17.036 --> 00:07:18.658 But they don't look like a Kudos bar anymore. 00:07:18.762 --> 00:07:22.273 Oh my God, I haven't thought about Kudos bars in years. 00:07:22.370 --> 00:07:22.478 Those were 00:07:22.478 --> 00:07:24.336 so- I think about it every time somebody mentions Strava. 00:07:25.278 --> 00:07:26.081 So good. 00:07:26.129 --> 00:07:29.365 I used to try to carefully bite off the peanut butter off the top of it 00:07:31.355 --> 00:07:32.048 Of course you did. 00:07:32.249 --> 00:07:32.994 Yeah, I did. 00:07:33.569 --> 00:07:34.156 Of course you did. 00:07:34.654 --> 00:07:39.766 So I think that, when we're trying to get results really quickly, it's wanting the next PR. 00:07:39.841 --> 00:07:41.204 It's wanting the next distance. 00:07:41.206 --> 00:07:55.490 It's wanting the body change on a faster schedule than the body is actually able to adapt, and that is exhausting because, number one, that's going to lead to over-training, which we're going to talk about i- in our next segment here. 00:07:55.870 --> 00:08:04.158 Because if you're constantly pushing

to try to get these results, you're gonna be much more likely to over-train and then put yourself at higher risk of injury. 00:08:04.579 --> 00:08:12.334 And then there's also the mental frustration, because mental load plays a huge role in the exhaustion that we feel. 00:08:12.536 --> 00:08:16.122 So there's the mental frustration of,"I'm doing all this work. 00:08:16.122 --> 00:08:22.615 I'm putting all this work in, and I'm still not getting the results," because your body still needs time to adapt. 00:08:22.639 --> 00:08:28.331 No matter how much training you put in, there's only so fast that your body's gonna be able to adapt. 00:08:28.343 --> 00:08:34.881 And yes, there are ways that we can maybe make it faster or maybe make it happen a little sooner, but you still need time. 00:08:35.876 --> 00:08:38.336 Yeah, but there's, there are all these shortcuts. 00:08:38.527 --> 00:08:42.714 how many people are pushing various peptides online because you can recover- Oh, my gosh faster? 00:08:43.068 --> 00:08:43.087 Yeah. 00:08:43.087 --> 00:08:45.991 there's so many,"Take this pill, take this supplement. 00:08:46.086 --> 00:08:51.818 Here, click my affiliate link- Yeah and then try all these various things," because you can improve faster. 00:08:51.832 --> 00:08:55.053 That's alwa- that's almost always what the sell is. 00:08:55.251 --> 00:08:55.493 Yeah. 00:08:55.493 --> 00:09:00.696 Is you can recover faster, therefore you can train harder, faster again. 00:09:00.914 --> 00:09:01.042 Yeah. 00:09:01.042 --> 00:09:03.205 you can get to your next workout faster. 00:09:03.395 --> 00:09:05.076 Or you could just enjoy the process. 00:09:05.081 --> 00:09:05.544 this is... 00:09:05.684 --> 00:09:18.225 It takes me back to the, the idea of would you rather climb a mountain so that you can take the, enjoy the view from the top, or take a helicopter ride to the top of the mountain, they drop you there. 00:09:18.508 --> 00:09:20.832 Are you enjoying the view from the top as much? 00:09:20.888 --> 00:09:26.631 if you didn't actually put the effort forth to climb, to get to the amazing summit view- 00:09:26.889 --> 00:09:27.124 Yeah 00:09:27.124 --> 00:09:39.535 if you just took a helicopter there, if you took, a, a sweet little elevator that somehow shot you up to the top of the mountain, you're not enjoying the view from the top as much- because it doesn't feel like you put the effort forth. 00:09:39.714 --> 00:09:45.171 So even if you've got all these supplements, which I would argue are like taking the elevator ride to the top. 00:09:45.278 --> 00:09:50.423 if you're shortcutting your way along, are you enjoying the view from the top as much? 00:09:50.543 --> 00:09:51.938 And, personally, no. 00:09:52.131 --> 00:09:58.789 I'd rather enjoy the process even if I never quite make it to the full view from the top. 00:09:59.089 --> 00:10:02.500 maybe I get to see a pretty good view pretty close to the top. 00:10:02.974 --> 00:10:06.341 I'm gonna enjoy that, because I'm g- I want the experience along the way. 00:10:06.341 --> 00:10:07.240 I wanna climb the mountain. 00:10:07.691 --> 00:10:13.514 I want all of the vi- the views that I get to see along the side of the mountain, not just a single shot from the top. 00:10:14.134 --> 00:10:26.109 Yeah, I definitely think that's one way to look at it, and I also don't think that- i- if we can use things that will aid our recovery and aid our performance, I don't necessarily see that as a really, as a bad thing. 00:10:26.130 --> 00:10:27.620 But it depends on what it is. 00:10:27.871 --> 00:10:30.104 I think that everything has a trade-off. 00:10:30.104 --> 00:10:35.592 Everything has a plus and a minus, and I can understand why people would want to take supplements. 00:10:35.613 --> 00:10:40.500 I personally wouldn't, at this point in time, take any of the peptides. 00:10:40.538 --> 00:10:43.369 I just think that there's way too many risks involved. 00:10:43.369 --> 00:10:45.576 There's a lot of unknowns, with them. 00:10:45.576 --> 00:10:46.537 they're not proven. 00:10:46.830 --> 00:10:59.354 Not all of them, of course, but, there's a lot out there that's just getting pushed, and I, it, I have a lot of issues with some of the supplements on the market for lots of different reasons, which we are not going to get into today. 00:10:59.732 --> 00:11:10.265 But I do think that you make a good point in this whole idea of information overload, and the way to get better results now, get better results sooner. 00:11:10.562 --> 00:11:18.470 And there's all of these different things that the Internet's telling you, that, we're seeing in the media, on social media, like, all over the place of, like you said. 00:11:18.775 --> 00:11:23.580 And supplements is just one category, but that's a really big category of, do all of these things. 00:11:23.586 --> 00:11:25.837 Take all of these things and you will feel better. 00:11:25.840 --> 00:11:27.013 You will get better results. 00:11:27.273 --> 00:11:34.109 And so that is a lot of information going in t- for us to then figure out, oh, do I want to do some of those things? 00:11:34.149 --> 00:11:36.318 Should I look into some of these supplements? 00:11:36.369 --> 00:11:37.562 are they even safe? 00:11:37.563 --> 00:11:46.745 And now all of a sudden there's all these other decisions that you have to make, and you have to figure out what to do with all of that information, and I think that's a big piece of it also. 00:11:47.157 --> 00:11:51.336 Yeah, so then you're getting, information overload on top of I need the results now. 00:11:51.414 --> 00:12:01.494 And a lot of this information is telling me,"Here's how to get the results now." it seems very compelling to get those results if that is a lot of the information coming in at you. 00:12:01.889 --> 00:12:14.182 it's t- it's the, what, it's that marshmallow experiment with the little kids of where they put the kid in the room with a marshmallow and they say,"Just wait

here for five minutes and I'll bring you a second marshmallow." How many kids were actually able to wait? 00:12:14.400 --> 00:12:17.837 most, most adults would just eat the marshmallow. 00:12:18.455 --> 00:12:18.734 I would 00:12:18.734 --> 00:12:20.057 argue- I disagree with that. 00:12:20.057 --> 00:12:22.307 Most adults would not eat the marshmallow 00:12:23.289 --> 00:12:25.263 The metaphorical marshmallow 00:12:25.315 --> 00:12:26.730 Oh, the metaphorical marshmallow. 00:12:26.743 --> 00:12:27.068 Okay. 00:12:27.068 --> 00:12:28.216 Yes We're not talking literal. 00:12:28.610 --> 00:12:28.956 No. 00:12:29.172 --> 00:12:29.301 No. 00:12:29.303 --> 00:12:30.873 Okay You wouldn't even touch a marshmallow. 00:12:31.105 --> 00:12:32.253 I don't like marshmallows 00:12:32.923 --> 00:12:33.197 Unless they're- 00:12:33.197 --> 00:12:34.447 Unless they're in s'mores 00:12:34.725 --> 00:12:36.572 perfectly toasted inside of a s'more. 00:12:36.572 --> 00:12:37.431 That's what I was gonna say. 00:12:37.543 --> 00:12:37.710 Yeah. 00:12:37.759 --> 00:12:39.615 Yeah, that's the only way I'll eat a marshmallow. 00:12:40.027 --> 00:12:52.278 Yeah, but the metaphorical marshmallow, I'd argue there's a lot of adults that are going for the more immediate return, that they want their results now- Yeah rather than waiting just a little bit for, in theory, better results. 00:12:52.301 --> 00:12:54.061 They're t- gonna take the quick win now. 00:12:54.625 --> 00:12:56.933 Yeah, and a big piece of this is over-training. 00:12:56.937 --> 00:13:09.673 And I think that there's a lot of people that get into this over-training trap because they're really going for those results right now, which leads to a lot of overreaching in the short term. 00:13:09.686 --> 00:13:11.267 They try to add more volume. 00:13:11.269 --> 00:13:12.916 They try to add more intensity. 00:13:12.916 --> 00:13:21.788 They try to add more load to the body, and they do so in a way that sometimes works, right? 00:13:21.788 --> 00:13:31.421 Because sometimes when you're overreaching in the short term, as long as you are following that with enough recovery, that can lead to better performance. 00:13:31.677 --> 00:13:39.011 But the problem is when people overload the body with inadequate recovery, and that's what we see most of the time. 00:13:39.020 --> 00:13:57.903 there are some people that have figured out how to load the body more and then recover on top of it, but those of us that have real lives, that are not professional athletes, that have work and family and other responsibilities and all sorts of other stress in our life, that's one of the big traps that a lot of people are falling into, is that they're trying to add all this load. 00:13:58.096 --> 00:14:14.988 They're trying to imitate some of these, maybe more elite runners or people that have different lifestyles or that are in their 20s and don't have the same life stresses that those of us in our 40s or 50s have, and it just doesn't work because our bodies don't recover the same way. 00:14:15.719 --> 00:14:24.035 Yeah, to go into, the ultra world on this one, there's a lot of big ultra races that a few months before their race, they have an unofficial training camp. 00:14:24.203 --> 00:14:24.541 Yeah. 00:14:24.601 --> 00:14:35.778 So they're like,"Hey, come on out, and even if you're not in the race, you can come out and enjoy the training camp." W- the, the one that I know off the top of my head, the Western States training camp is three days and approximately 70 miles. 00:14:35.796 --> 00:14:36.620 That's massive. 00:14:36.850 --> 00:14:37.145 Yeah. 00:14:37.500 --> 00:14:37.946 And 00:14:37.946 --> 00:14:39.951 if- Yeah, 70 miles in three days is insane 00:14:40.322 --> 00:14:41.341 if you have the ability- 00:14:41.341 --> 00:14:41.759 Most people 00:14:42.196 --> 00:14:59.378 to step out of all of the in- incumbences of your life- and just take a break and say,"Yes, this is just gonna be like a training camp experience, and all I'm gonna do is go do this running thing, and I'm gonna eat all of the food afterwards, and I..." it's just gonna be running and recovery. 00:14:59.399 --> 00:14:59.623 Yeah. 00:14:59.625 --> 00:15:04.017 And I can leave all the rest of my life behind for these three days- then that could be phenomenal. 00:15:04.169 --> 00:15:06.187 that's overreaching in a good way. 00:15:06.471 --> 00:15:06.985 But there's... 00:15:07.052 --> 00:15:12.297 Then because some big races did that, then there's smaller races that are like,"Oh, we could also do that. 00:15:12.307 --> 00:15:13.256 That'd be another way. 00:15:13.469 --> 00:15:14.918 we'll open it to a bigger group. 00:15:14.988 --> 00:15:16.615 We'll charge people$20. 00:15:16.754 --> 00:15:24.514 We'll use that." and now suddenly, not just, elite athletes are doing this and heading into some of these bigger races, but it's happening all over the place. 00:15:24.703 --> 00:15:24.809 Yeah. 00:15:24.809 --> 00:15:25.886 And we've got these little mini things. 00:15:25.888 --> 00:15:36.988 And,"Oh, why don't you try our virtual at-home running camp?" And now people are trying to fit in these, these quote, unquote"training camp" three, two, two to four day, boot camp things. 00:15:36.989 --> 00:15:37.326 Yeah. 00:15:37.586 --> 00:15:40.817 But they're trying to do it while real life still exists. 00:15:40.879 --> 00:15:41.135 Yeah. 00:15:41.136 --> 00:15:47.423 They're trying to do it virtually, and they're like,"Oh, I can fit that in before work or after work." And it's like that's not the point of a training camp. 00:15:47.426 --> 00:15:52.188 The train- the point of a training camp is to devote yourself to training for a X number of days. 00:15:52.339 --> 00:15:58.640 Like, when I had training camp in college, we took our fall break, and we literally went to a cabins and stayed there. 00:15:58.899 --> 00:15:59.128 Yeah. 00:15:59.128 --> 00:16:02.025 All we did was run and eat. 00:16:02.278 -->

00:16:05.181 that was it, and there was a lot of cards being played. 00:16:05.398 --> 00:16:06.658 the downtime- There was no,"Oh- 00:16:06.658 --> 00:16:08.360 Yeah, the rest and recovery. 00:16:08.465 --> 00:16:08.649 It... 00:16:08.673 --> 00:16:09.967 That's all it was. 00:16:09.967 --> 00:16:10.226 Yeah. 00:16:10.293 --> 00:16:15.707 It was you work really hard, and then you eat, and then we're gonna run again in the afternoon, and then we're gonna eat. 00:16:15.750 --> 00:16:19.402 And the downtime was such relaxed downtime. 00:16:19.413 --> 00:16:25.432 There was not like,"Oh, why don't we, play some pickup football outside?" No, we're g- napping is the downtime. 00:16:25.897 --> 00:16:31.990 and I think that's one of the big things that people don't understand is that training is one stress on the body. 00:16:32.192 --> 00:16:36.730 And it's a big stress depending on how much load and how much volume that you're doing. 00:16:37.004 --> 00:16:45.496 And if you're trying to increase mileage, trying to increase intensity, you have to increase recovery at least by the same amount, if not more. 00:16:45.662 --> 00:16:57.253 And that's the big thing that people don't often get, especially if you are a runner over 40 because you just, your body just doesn't re- recover the same as it used to, especially if you're a woman over 40 that's in perimenopause or post-menopause. 00:16:57.259 --> 00:17:00.818 We don't have estrogen backing us up like it used to. 00:17:00.846 --> 00:17:12.849 Estrogen used to aid in our recovery, and now that we're losing estrogen, our body takes more time and needs more support in order to recover because we're losing the natural recovery benefits of estrogen. 00:17:13.130 --> 00:17:22.383 And so all of this different stuff, like not just the training, but all different stress is all going into what I like to call the stress bucket. 00:17:22.547 --> 00:17:26.711 All of us have one stress bucket, and that is your body, your nervous system. 00:17:26.948 --> 00:17:33.490 And so training, work, family, sleep loss, worry, all of that pour into the same bucket. 00:17:33.803 --> 00:17:39.169 And the stuff that's going on in the world right now, like Election Day here in the United States is tomorrow. 00:17:39.169 --> 00:17:42.686 We're recording this on a Monday, and Election Day is tomorrow. 00:17:42.698 --> 00:18:01.300 The number of freaking political text messages that I have gotten in the past week is enough to put way too much water into my stress bucket because I'm like,"Oh my gosh,""This is ridiculous." And my phone is buzzing at least 10 times a day with all of these political, text messages. 00:18:01.317 --> 00:18:15.847 And these political text messages and these political commercials that we see on TV and that we hear on the radio, all of them are meant to incite you, are meant to stir something up in you. 00:18:15.949 --> 00:18:18.144 they're very inflammatory in nature. 00:18:18.154 --> 00:18:21.813 They're very stress-provoking types of situations. 00:18:21.836 --> 00:18:32.875 Everyone wants to tell you how our country, if you vote this way, the country's going to completely go into the toilet, the co- the country's just going to decline and we're never gonna get, back from it. 00:18:32.878 --> 00:18:39.298 And then the other side is telling you the same thing, and you're constantly, you're just bombarded with all of this information and you're... 00:18:39.634 --> 00:18:45.897 We have to try to figure out what to do with all of that, and I think that is one of those reasons, again, why am I so exhausted? 00:18:45.898 --> 00:18:54.086 Because we're being constantly bombarded with information at all times, and this is something that I don't think we talk about enough. 00:18:54.086 --> 00:18:55.882 I know we talk about it here on the podcast. 00:18:56.175 --> 00:18:57.897 we've had other episodes about this. 00:18:57.913 --> 00:19:12.633 But it's just something that we need to recognize how all of this information is also affecting our physical abilities and our abilities to train and our ability to reach certain goals that we have for ourselves in our life. 00:19:13.369 --> 00:19:15.818 Yeah, but, and we'll dive more into that in, in a few minutes. 00:19:15.818 --> 00:19:18.676 But here is very specifically over-training. 00:19:18.864 --> 00:19:19.017 Yeah. 00:19:19.041 --> 00:19:19.281 You... 00:19:19.426 --> 00:19:23.069 And that's just, we're putting too many miles, we're putting too much intensity. 00:19:23.361 --> 00:19:38.200 If we're like, no, I need to get to this faster," it's what follows from,"I want the results now.""I want the results now, so I'm just gonna do more and more." And the problem is just'cause you want the results now does not magically make your body perform adaptations faster. 00:19:38.241 --> 00:19:38.534 Yeah. 00:19:38.586 --> 00:19:41.858 that wanting it more is not gonna lead to more adaptations. 00:19:41.920 --> 00:19:48.715 Maybe wanting it more will get you out the door, putting in the hard workouts, but that doesn't mean your body's recovering from them. 00:19:49.073 --> 00:19:51.074 wanting doesn't lead to recovery. 00:19:51.186 --> 00:19:55.829 Sometimes wanting just leads to more stress- more physical stress in this particular case. 00:19:55.837 --> 00:19:55.851 Yeah. 00:19:56.147 --> 00:20:03.887 But just adding more and more physical stress is not actually going to do anything- Yeah especially when you look at all of the other aspects. 00:20:04.130 --> 00:20:12.112 Yeah, and I think that if you are one of those people listening to us that is someone that wants more, right? 00:20:12.114 --> 00:20:22.220 You're like,"I want it so bad," you can want the training all all day long, and as long as you also want the recovery. 00:20:22.473 --> 00:20:23.701 And I think that's the key, right? 00:20:23.701 --> 00:20:30.122 you, if you want the results- It can be easy for a lot of people, depending on your personality.

00:20:30.767 --> 00:20:38.451 But those of us that are often, are runners, w- it tends, runners tend to be more Type A individuals, right? 00:20:38.924 --> 00:20:43.538 And so when we want the results, we are no strangers to work. 00:20:43.540 --> 00:20:45.935 We are no strangers to putting in the work. 00:20:46.505 --> 00:20:52.061 But we also have to remember that we have to want the recovery also, because that's when your body adapts. 00:20:52.063 --> 00:20:53.548 That's when your body gets stronger. 00:20:53.548 --> 00:21:01.617 And so there's nothing wrong with wanting to increase your training load, as long as you're doing it safely, as long as you're also increasing recovery alongside of it 00:21:02.141 --> 00:21:08.926 Yeah, so it's possible that if you are able to increase the recovery, that you can overreach, I think the term is, functionally overreaching. 00:21:09.068 --> 00:21:09.816 This happens. 00:21:10.045 --> 00:21:15.194 I'm possibly gonna consider doing this over Thanksgiving break- Yeah because it's a break from school. 00:21:15.373 --> 00:21:17.992 Where I remove that part of my stress- 00:21:18.096 --> 00:21:18.546 Right 00:21:18.661 --> 00:21:30.000 and it gives me an opportunity where I'm a little bit more in control of sleep, I'm a little bit more in control of food, and I could conceivably try and put in a few days of really intense training. 00:21:30.050 --> 00:21:35.441 But if I just try and throw that anywhere, it goes from functionally overreaching to overtraining. 00:21:35.758 --> 00:21:37.808 And it's just flat out overtraining. 00:21:37.955 --> 00:21:40.256 And- there's actually one in between also. 00:21:40.266 --> 00:21:46.779 So there's functional overreaching, which means it's actually benefiting you, and it, that works for a short-term period of time. 00:21:46.785 --> 00:21:51.848 So like a training camp or a week off, where you're intentionally increasing your training. 00:21:52.253 --> 00:21:55.895 And then the second phase is non-functional overtraining. 00:21:56.071 --> 00:22:01.810 So you're overtraining, but you're not really gaining a benefit from it, but it's not harmful. 00:22:01.815 --> 00:22:02.038 Yeah. 00:22:02.038 --> 00:22:06.756 And then there's overreaching, where you're getting to a point where doing more is actually harmful. 00:22:07.237 --> 00:22:10.137 Yeah, and I think a lot of it depends on what your other context is. 00:22:10.145 --> 00:22:19.086 I think that sometimes that non-functional overreaching- Yeah is when you took your functional overreach, it was good for three days- so you try a fourth. 00:22:19.159 --> 00:22:19.565 Exactly. 00:22:19.583 --> 00:22:22.488 And it wasn't negative yet- but it wasn't better. 00:22:22.587 --> 00:22:22.854 Yeah. 00:22:22.942 --> 00:22:24.310 the sponge was full. 00:22:24.328 --> 00:22:24.355 Yeah. 00:22:24.368 --> 00:22:28.808 Pouring more water into the sponge was not going to d- oh- Yeah now the sponge is wetter. 00:22:28.832 --> 00:22:29.384 No, it's not. 00:22:29.384 --> 00:22:31.510 You are fully saturated on all these things. 00:22:31.560 --> 00:22:31.836 Yeah, 00:22:31.840 --> 00:22:33.640 and- Adding another more intense day is not more 00:22:33.641 --> 00:22:39.201 and this is the trap I think that so many people fall into, is they think that more is better. 00:22:39.201 --> 00:22:43.267 And we just have done, we did our, an episode about this, just a couple episodes ago. 00:22:43.267 --> 00:22:50.785 I don't remember if it was the last one or a couple episodes ago, where, we talked about the law of dimisi- diminishing returns, right? 00:22:50.785 --> 00:23:02.170 there's a point where you get better, and adding more is going to help you get better, and then there's a point where if you add more, you're not gonna get better, and then there's a point where if you keep adding more, you're g- going to get worse. 00:23:02.413 --> 00:23:13.815 And that's exactly what we're talking about here, is that I think that a lot of people find themselves in that non-functional overreaching, where they're adding more load, but they're not really getting the benefit from it. 00:23:13.824 --> 00:23:25.575 And that's definitely a reason why you are feeling more tired and more exhausted, because you're adding more load, you're not getting the benefit, so your body's not actually able to adapt, and so you're just adding fatigue into your system. 00:23:25.877 --> 00:23:26.125 Yeah. 00:23:26.150 --> 00:23:36.170 the, once you get to over-training, it's easier to tell because you're just- Yeah you're always tired and grumpy and just moody, and your performances start declining. 00:23:36.363 --> 00:23:36.578 Yeah. 00:23:36.599 --> 00:23:40.821 it's that tricky part before you get there where it feels like you're on a plateau. 00:23:41.089 --> 00:23:46.905 And a lot of runners when they're on a plateau, they try and get off of it by pushing harder- instead of from pulling back. 00:23:47.124 --> 00:23:51.786 And if you've tried pushing harder and it doesn't get you results, try the other direction. 00:23:52.048 --> 00:23:52.412 Yeah. 00:23:52.412 --> 00:23:54.398 Pulling back may spring you off the plateau. 00:23:54.674 --> 00:24:02.575 I know, but that one's so hard to do because in our minds, we feel like if we're doing less, that we're going to decline. 00:24:02.584 --> 00:24:03.880 We're going to regress. 00:24:03.894 --> 00:24:05.317 We're going to go backwards. 00:24:05.326 --> 00:24:07.684 That's- I think that's one of the hardest ones mentally. 00:24:08.102 --> 00:24:08.451 Oh, yeah. 00:24:08.452 --> 00:24:09.994 No, I completely agree, but- 00:24:10.007 --> 00:24:10.246 Yeah 00:24:10.285 --> 00:24:15.146 if you've tried pushing and it doesn't get the result, pulling is often gonna work. 00:24:15.384 --> 00:24:15.590 Yeah. 00:24:15.592 --> 00:24:21.269 It reminds me of the Far Side comic of the, the gifted child trying to get into the building where he was shoving really hard on the pull door.

00:24:22.079 --> 00:24:22.507 Nice. 00:24:22.827 --> 00:24:22.961 Yes. 00:24:22.961 --> 00:24:24.503 If pushing doesn't work, try pulling. 00:24:24.857 --> 00:24:25.175 Yeah. 00:24:25.179 --> 00:24:33.048 So you wanna be careful that you're not over-training, or doing the non-functional overreaching'cause that could be a reason why you're so exhausted. 00:24:33.048 --> 00:24:40.912 So you always wanna make sure that you are following a good training plan, and a training plan that works for you in your life. 00:24:41.159 --> 00:24:44.134 That's gonna be one of the best ways for you to try to avoid this. 00:24:44.570 --> 00:24:48.013 And it's important for you to customize this plan too. 00:24:48.013 --> 00:24:52.431 and if you are not one of our clients yet, please come on over. 00:24:52.442 --> 00:24:55.189 this is something that we help our clients to do all the time. 00:24:55.413 --> 00:24:58.179 If you don't wanna work with us, think about working with a coach. 00:24:58.179 --> 00:25:06.539 if your training is, and your health are important to you, a coach can be really helpful to give you the insights on, like, why this isn't working. 00:25:06.539 --> 00:25:11.068 are you actually doing enough, or are you doing too much, right? 00:25:11.069 --> 00:25:12.519 are you go- do you need to pull back? 00:25:12.522 --> 00:25:13.357 do you need to push more? 00:25:13.357 --> 00:25:14.332 Do you need to pull back? 00:25:14.605 --> 00:25:19.726 And sometimes when it's you, when you're that close to it, it can be difficult to figure that out. 00:25:19.728 --> 00:25:32.086 So following a really good balanced training plan where you're having some medium, some hard effort, but mostly easy effort, is going to be a really helpful thing to give you the advantage that you're looking for. 00:25:32.766 --> 00:25:35.355 Yeah, no, 100%, 100% on, agree on the coaching. 00:25:35.538 --> 00:25:35.711 Yeah. 00:25:35.718 --> 00:25:41.623 And having a, a human as a coach is working a lot better than having an AI as a coach. 00:25:41.763 --> 00:25:42.148 I know. 00:25:42.241 --> 00:25:43.867 AI is not up to the task. 00:25:44.071 --> 00:25:44.140 I know. 00:25:44.148 --> 00:25:45.644 It may be at some point in the future. 00:25:46.095 --> 00:25:48.132 I'm honestly questioning on that one. 00:25:48.183 --> 00:25:50.204 But it is certainly not up to the task right now. 00:25:50.484 --> 00:25:58.359 I think that AI can make a training plan, but it's not gonna understand how to adjust as well as, I think, humans. 00:25:58.359 --> 00:26:02.194 and maybe I'm wrong, because I think that this is another reason why we're s- 00:26:02.194 --> 00:26:02.917 It can't do it right now 00:26:03.108 --> 00:26:06.681 I think this is another reason why we're so exhausted,'cause we're tracking everything. 00:26:06.826 --> 00:26:18.205 we're tracking and trying to optimize and trying to make things more efficient, and we're looking at our heart rate and our HRV and all of these different things to help, give us better results, and that alone is exhausting. 00:26:18.268 --> 00:26:19.413 I think that we have to... 00:26:19.635 --> 00:26:30.715 it's that mental load that we need- Yeah to look at, because that is part of what just drains us, that in addition to all of the other stuff that's going on in our life, like the life load, right? 00:26:30.963 --> 00:26:36.493 Because we speak mostly here on the podcast to people in midlife, right? 00:26:36.612 --> 00:26:38.009 Both women and men. 00:26:38.375 --> 00:26:45.525 We are runners in midlife, and there's a lot going on in midlife that adds a lot to our plate. 00:26:49.669 --> 00:26:51.179 So midlife is just a lot. 00:26:51.186 --> 00:26:58.012 we have kids, we have teenagers, and people always like to say, little kids, little problems, big kids, big problems. 00:26:58.260 --> 00:26:59.181 And I get it now. 00:26:59.181 --> 00:27:01.169 teenagers are not easy. 00:27:01.223 --> 00:27:12.816 The amount of stress and worry and times and energy that I spend thinking about my kids and trying to figure out if I'm doing the right thing or if I'm making the right decisions. 00:27:12.866 --> 00:27:22.128 there's big decisions to be made, and bigger things to help these kids navigate, and it's a lot. 00:27:22.336 --> 00:27:30.036 It's a lot, and there's a lot of people that have both teenagers and aging parents, and they're trying to make decisions for their aging parents. 00:27:30.086 --> 00:27:34.353 there's a lot of things going on in midlife that we have to deal with. 00:27:34.835 --> 00:27:44.189 And figuring out how to parent and help other people in our community, helping... 00:27:44.306 --> 00:27:58.679 For me, going back to the parenting thing, I think that one of the hardest things for me as a parent is learning how to let go, and finding and figuring out what is my role in their lives right now, right? 00:27:58.679 --> 00:28:00.715 Because when they were little, it was very clear. 00:28:00.772 --> 00:28:03.467 I was the mom, I was the one that made all the rules, I had to do all the things. 00:28:03.467 --> 00:28:10.217 And like now, as they're getting older There's this big question mark of, how much should I be stepping in here? 00:28:10.229 --> 00:28:12.681 how much independence should I give them? 00:28:12.681 --> 00:28:15.718 How mu- how many of these decisions should they be able to make? 00:28:15.730 --> 00:28:20.817 And how many of the consequences of those decisions do, should I be giving the consequences? 00:28:20.817 --> 00:28:23.589 Should they just have natural consequences of these decisions? 00:28:23.640 --> 00:28:27.232 there are so many deci- things to navigate in this phase of life. 00:28:27.611 --> 00:28:34.490 Yeah, it feels like it's really overwhelming when the kids are smaller- Yeah because you're responsible for all of the decision-making. 00:28:34.578 --> 00:28:34.875 Yeah. 00:28:34.946 --> 00:28:42.227 And and that can feel overwhelming because, you're not

just trying to figure out all the things in your life, you're also trying to figure out the other things in other humans' lives. 00:28:42.336 --> 00:28:49.809 But now you have to think about whether you should be making the decisions in other people's lives. 00:28:49.932 --> 00:28:50.142 Yeah. 00:28:50.174 --> 00:28:50.395 it- 00:28:50.395 --> 00:28:58.067 and there's also the things that I think should be done might not be the things that they think should be done. 00:28:58.433 --> 00:29:01.790 And then it's like, okay, should I go with what I think because I know I'm right? 00:29:02.385 --> 00:29:08.083 Or should I let them, or should I let them make the decision- and then just see what happens? 00:29:08.308 --> 00:29:10.372 Because I know I'm right is spot on. 00:29:10.479 --> 00:29:11.288 Wisdom. 00:29:11.328 --> 00:29:12.384 It's called wisdom. 00:29:12.459 --> 00:29:13.170 Wisdom. 00:29:13.192 --> 00:29:13.506 Perfect. 00:29:13.511 --> 00:29:13.923 Yes. 00:29:14.243 --> 00:29:14.356 Yes. 00:29:14.413 --> 00:29:19.881 but yeah, it's still a lot of decisions, but now some of the decisions are I shouldn't make a decision on this. 00:29:20.240 --> 00:29:20.478 Yes. 00:29:20.482 --> 00:29:23.272 They should make a decision, and that itself is emotionally taxing. 00:29:23.803 --> 00:29:26.992 Keeping my mouth shut is so emotionally taxing. 00:29:27.415 --> 00:29:28.138 Yeah. 00:29:28.183 --> 00:29:29.269 I'm, like, yelling right now. 00:29:29.270 --> 00:29:30.685 Sorry, y'all, if I just, yelled at 00:29:30.686 --> 00:29:30.799 you. 00:29:30.799 --> 00:29:31.421 I know, but that's okay. 00:29:31.609 --> 00:29:35.395 Hopefully the microphones aren't picking up the crazy thunderstorm going on outside also. 00:29:35.395 --> 00:29:35.407 Yeah. 00:29:35.407 --> 00:29:35.428 I know. 00:29:35.428 --> 00:29:37.306 The- no, Zoom's got a good sound filter. 00:29:37.306 --> 00:29:37.676 Perfect. 00:29:37.676 --> 00:29:41.876 But I think that, holding yourself back is exhausting. 00:29:43.508 --> 00:29:44.324 Yes. 00:29:44.420 --> 00:29:46.009 Holding yourself back from, 00:29:46.131 --> 00:29:46.689 Can be. 00:29:47.175 --> 00:29:47.789 Yeah. 00:29:47.938 --> 00:29:56.144 'cause what you're doing in some cases is watching the car drive towards the edge of the cliff- and not telling them,"Hit the brakes." 00:29:56.974 --> 00:29:57.400 Ah. 00:29:57.869 --> 00:30:00.077 I think that's a little bit, that's a little drastic. 00:30:00.093 --> 00:30:04.750 but yes, teaching a, a teenager how to drive, the, the number- Okay of times you get,"I know. 00:30:04.797 --> 00:30:05.564 I know, Mom. 00:30:05.578 --> 00:30:07.525 I know." But, but- I'm like,"Bro, you just started driving" let's 00:30:07.692 --> 00:30:08.217 go a little less drastic. 00:30:08.314 --> 00:30:09.951 Let's go to teaching the kid how to drive. 00:30:10.582 --> 00:30:10.894 Yeah. 00:30:11.837 --> 00:30:18.425 I know I was guilty of this, and I said that I was not gonna do it because it's what both

of my parents did when I was learning how to drive from them. 00:30:18.750 --> 00:30:35.758 I'm like,"When I sit in the passenger seat, I'm not going to slam my foot into the imaginary brake-" that does not exist on the passenger side-" Yeah as we get closer to that car in front." And then lo and behold, there I was, kicking the floor in front of me- as though that was somehow going to push on a brake pedal. 00:30:36.602 --> 00:30:42.255 You take that little area of teaching a kid to drive and then expand it to all the decisions in their life. 00:30:42.324 --> 00:30:42.516 Yeah. 00:30:42.588 --> 00:30:44.215 should I push on the brake? 00:30:44.484 --> 00:30:47.614 Nope, I actually don't even have control of the brake. 00:30:47.752 --> 00:30:48.472 They do. 00:30:48.693 --> 00:30:54.434 And that is very exhausting to recognize that I have less control than I used to have. 00:30:54.785 --> 00:30:54.795 Yeah. 00:30:55.330 --> 00:31:01.387 It's very emotionally taxing, and it's also the anxiety that comes along with it, right? 00:31:01.387 --> 00:31:11.294 the, there's this, this background hum of anxiety about our kids and their futures, and are we making the right decisions? 00:31:11.294 --> 00:31:12.929 Am I doing the right thing as their parent? 00:31:12.940 --> 00:31:15.728 Like, how is this all going to shake down? 00:31:16.063 --> 00:31:18.981 it's just constantly there'cause, you can never just relax. 00:31:18.981 --> 00:31:29.090 going back to our driving example, when you are sitting in the passenger seat when your kid is driving, you can't just relax because you are teaching them how to drive. 00:31:29.118 --> 00:31:36.140 And, there were, I know there was a couple times when I was driving with them, and even still so sometimes,'cause they're still young dri- or she's still a young driver. 00:31:36.140 --> 00:31:53.119 We only have one driver right now But you can't relax because there's things that I assume or that I forgot,"Oh, I didn't teach her that yet," because- Yeah it's something that I've done na- so naturally for decades and I'm like,"Oh, no, I have to, I still have to teach that to her. 00:31:53.124 --> 00:32:05.042 She doesn't know that part yet." And so you can't ever relax, and I think that's a huge part of our exhaustion is just not being able to relax arou- like, with certain things, especially with our kids. 00:32:05.313 --> 00:32:05.643 Yeah. 00:32:05.671 --> 00:32:08.709 you mentioned the, the- And I'm, I need to consciously make myself do that 00:32:09.332 --> 00:32:09.829 that's true. 00:32:09.874 --> 00:32:13.106 Yes, and suddenly then it's not just a thing that your brain's doing in the background. 00:32:13.318 --> 00:32:15.904 The more conscious decisions you have, the more exhausted you are. 00:32:16.366 --> 00:32:17.909 But you, you- Yeah mentioned the background hum. 00:32:18.164 --> 00:32:23.458 Every time you pick up your phone, you're inundated with things that are designed to cause you anxiety. 00:32:23.714

--> 00:32:23.981 Yeah. 00:32:24.298 --> 00:32:26.242 you already mentioned the text messages you're getting. 00:32:26.394 --> 00:32:26.730 Yeah. 00:32:26.730 --> 00:32:36.147 Today during class, I got two messages within five minutes that told me the two oppos- the two candidates going against each other are both sending us to- doom and destruction. 00:32:36.357 --> 00:32:36.638 Yep. 00:32:36.962 --> 00:32:37.294 Yep. 00:32:37.556 --> 00:32:37.750 Yeah. 00:32:37.752 --> 00:32:37.771 So 00:32:37.771 --> 00:32:38.551 there's that as- We're tired of this three 00:32:38.551 --> 00:32:39.000 options. 00:32:39.148 --> 00:32:39.397 Yeah. 00:32:39.397 --> 00:32:40.047 So that's what I got. 00:32:40.428 --> 00:32:50.249 But there's no"Look at me, I can do this," it's always,"This path is terrible." It just, the internet, all social media seems to be designed towards grabbing your attention. 00:32:50.257 --> 00:32:50.270 Yeah. 00:32:50.276 --> 00:32:53.479 And the easiest way to grab attention is to be like,"Watch out. 00:32:53.492 --> 00:32:54.378 Be careful. 00:32:54.388 --> 00:32:57.854 This is dangerous." it sends your brain into fight or flight. 00:32:57.998 --> 00:33:10.906 if you're walking- Constantly if you're walking along a dark path and you hear something, snap off in the brush off to the side, you're going to immediately perk up and be like,"Ooh, what was that?" That's what scrolling on your social media does. 00:33:10.961 --> 00:33:17.576 Everything is another twig snapping- because that's what grabs your attention, and so those are the things that hit your feed. 00:33:17.968 --> 00:33:31.253 You could try to very carefully formulate your feed so that it's a little bit more positive, but most of the stuff that's gonna be sent to you is telling you that the world is incredibly dark and scary and doomed. 00:33:31.519 --> 00:33:31.698 Yeah. 00:33:31.748 --> 00:33:32.836 and it's not. 00:33:33.173 --> 00:33:39.442 But if you just took all the information from whatever social media you're on, you're convinced that we might not make it to the end of next week. 00:33:39.571 --> 00:33:40.881 it is and it isn't. 00:33:40.894 --> 00:33:42.723 the world is 50/50. 00:33:42.739 --> 00:33:44.461 Life is always 50/50. 00:33:44.478 --> 00:33:46.539 There's always going to be good and bad. 00:33:46.539 --> 00:33:48.891 There's always going to be positive and negative. 00:33:48.896 --> 00:33:51.278 It just depends on what we choose to focus on. 00:33:51.490 --> 00:34:04.366 And like you said, the things that are most often Front and center in our feeds are those very negative things because our brain is constantly trying to scan for threats and keep us alive. 00:34:04.541 --> 00:34:10.690 And so they know, people, marketers know that saying the bad things are the things that are going to give attention. 00:34:10.704 --> 00:34:12.579 look at the food industry right now. 00:34:13.032 --> 00:34:18.206 Look at all these food influencers on social media, the people

that are walking through the grocery store. 00:34:18.206 --> 00:34:19.086 "This'll kill you. 00:34:19.255 --> 00:34:19.947 This'll kill you. 00:34:20.244 --> 00:34:21.195 This is awful. 00:34:21.302 --> 00:34:30.023 That's awful." Those are the people that have millions of followers, not the people that are telling you should probably e- eat more vegetables, you should get more sleep. 00:34:30.023 --> 00:34:32.722 the things that actually make a difference in your health. 00:34:32.733 --> 00:34:41.940 That one ingredient that you eat that is in the products that you're buying from the grocery store, that's not the reason that you're unhealthy most likely, right? 00:34:41.947 --> 00:34:41.983 Yeah. 00:34:41.983 --> 00:34:43.902 that's just fear-based mongering. 00:34:44.210 --> 00:34:44.496 Fear-mongering. 00:34:44.512 --> 00:34:44.664 That's 00:34:44.681 --> 00:34:46.306 what I used to do when I was in... 00:34:46.351 --> 00:34:46.559 It... 00:34:46.742 --> 00:34:48.027 Fear- fear-mongering, you got it. 00:34:48.027 --> 00:34:48.036 Yeah. 00:34:48.302 --> 00:34:51.423 that's what I used to do when I was in biology class and we covered, things that cause cancer. 00:34:51.559 --> 00:34:51.570 Yeah. 00:34:51.570 --> 00:34:54.010 name the carcinogens that you've interacted with today. 00:34:54.063 --> 00:34:59.025 And after, after a few minutes, people would call out some of the, big obvious ones. 00:34:59.184 --> 00:35:02.391 I'm like,"Okay, what else you got?" And then they just started naming random things. 00:35:02.391 --> 00:35:03.659 I'm like,"Yes." Yeah. 00:35:03.708 --> 00:35:04.766 what about this desk? 00:35:04.815 --> 00:35:05.489 Yes. 00:35:05.489 --> 00:35:05.503 Yeah. 00:35:05.717 --> 00:35:06.152 What about... 00:35:06.184 --> 00:35:09.731 And just, they just started looking around the classroom and just pointing to objects. 00:35:09.731 --> 00:35:29.152 I'm like,"Technically, yes." They're like,"Wait, so everything?" I'm like,"Yes." But then I didn't use it to be like,"So you should live inside a bubble." I then took it to the next level and been like,"Since everything is dangerous, you have to opt to live." avoid things that are known to be, like, incredibly dangerous. 00:35:29.943 --> 00:35:33.327 But you can't just avoid everything. 00:35:33.422 --> 00:35:37.306 And that's not really what gets you a lot of good views online. 00:35:37.518 --> 00:35:37.780 Yeah. 00:35:37.820 --> 00:35:40.762 Like- Yeah scaring people gets you a lot more views than being like... 00:35:41.019 --> 00:35:46.367 And so since everything has some small level of danger- you can go about and live your life. 00:35:46.576 --> 00:35:46.862 Yeah. 00:35:47.197 --> 00:35:49.907 And I think that's a really important for, thing for us to remember. 00:35:49.907 --> 00:35:58.039 the, people wanna look at the political climate right now and the state of the world, and if you look at some of this stuff, it does so- sound very scary. 00:35:58.052 --> 00:36:06.208 And then

I also remind myself that in the'50s, there was, the Space War, and there was, like, the, the Cold War with Russia. 00:36:06.425 --> 00:36:12.081 And, in the'30s and'40s there was the World War II, and there was, the... 00:36:12.137 --> 00:36:13.643 the Cold War was in the'80s, right? 00:36:13.643 --> 00:36:15.619 With- Yes in the'70s and the'80s with Russia. 00:36:15.623 --> 00:36:15.639 Yes. 00:36:15.878 --> 00:36:19.036 and the, but then there was Vietnam, and then there was nuclear threats. 00:36:19.036 --> 00:36:30.777 And, every generation has had something that they thought was going to end humanity, that was going to be the end of hum- the world as we know it, and we have plenty of that going on right now. 00:36:30.782 --> 00:36:34.356 There's a lot of, quote-unquote,"scary things" that are out there. 00:36:34.356 --> 00:36:43.932 And if you're constantly focused on those things, your nervous system is going to be in fight or flight mode most of the time, and then you're going to feel exhausted. 00:36:44.184 --> 00:36:48.664 So it's really a matter of what you choose to focus on. 00:36:48.811 --> 00:36:55.695 How much of your attention, how much of your energy are you giving to these things on a daily basis, and is it worth it? 00:36:55.726 --> 00:37:02.643 do you really want to be so angry about what's going on in politics- and what's going on in the world? 00:37:02.644 --> 00:37:07.996 Like, how much of that, of your very precious energy do you want to spend on that? 00:37:08.177 --> 00:37:10.135 And I'm m- y- I'm not judging. 00:37:10.148 --> 00:37:12.284 I'm h- I'm not here to tell you what the answer is. 00:37:12.300 --> 00:37:14.114 You're the one that has to make that decision. 00:37:14.295 --> 00:37:16.728 But how much of your energy do you wanna spend on that stuff? 00:37:16.728 --> 00:37:23.838 How much of your energy do you wanna spend scrolling incessantly on social media and watching some of these fear-mongering people? 00:37:24.003 --> 00:37:35.818 Fear-based marketing, that's what so many companies are using right now to make you feel like you're not doing enough, you're not good enough, you have to have this product, and this is going to be the thing to save you. 00:37:36.811 --> 00:37:37.811 Yes. 00:37:38.097 --> 00:37:38.465 Yes. 00:37:38.505 --> 00:37:41.581 You can just, you can make a choice to try to avoid some of those things. 00:37:41.583 --> 00:37:41.601 Yeah. 00:37:41.610 --> 00:37:44.061 You could try to just take a little step back from it- 00:37:44.239 --> 00:37:44.420 Yeah 00:37:44.503 --> 00:37:46.536 and not live in fear constantly. 00:37:46.663 --> 00:37:48.123 'Cause the fear is exhausting. 00:37:48.266 --> 00:37:50.907 The fear is exhausting, and so is the decisions. 00:37:50.907 --> 00:38:02.047 there is a real thing called decision fatigue, and I know that my sister sent me, a funny reel, the other day that there's a trend that happens. 00:38:02.050 --> 00:38:06.280 It's like,"My top five horror movies," and it's things that are in your real life. 00:38:06.333 --> 00:38:09.960 so the one that she sent me the other day was like,"My top five horror movies. 00:38:09.965 --> 00:38:12.235 Number one, deciding what's for dinner. 00:38:12.259 --> 00:38:15.291 Number two, nobody wanting what I made for dinner. 00:38:15.373 --> 00:38:17.820 Number three, cleaning up after dinner. 00:38:18.007 --> 00:38:21.090 Number four, tomorrow's dinner." so it was just, it was funny, right? 00:38:21.090 --> 00:38:25.077 Because obviously those are just things that we do have to do every single day. 00:38:25.331 --> 00:38:32.085 But w- those are all decisions that we have to make, and every decision takes a little bit of energy. 00:38:32.329 --> 00:38:40.396 And if we're constantly be- needing to make more and more decisions, then y- again, we're, it makes sense that we're tired. 00:38:40.402 --> 00:38:47.018 It makes sense that we're exhausted because we are taking up a lot of our precious energy making decisions every day. 00:38:47.496 --> 00:38:50.065 Yeah, which happens constantly as parents. 00:38:50.067 --> 00:38:53.880 It ha- depending- on what your job is, there, you know- Yeah how many times... 00:38:54.135 --> 00:38:56.721 And we talk about having teenagers, but you have younger kids. 00:38:56.849 --> 00:39:00.503 How many times did you hear the name, did you hear,"Mom," during the day with younger kids? 00:39:00.545 --> 00:39:00.849 Yeah. 00:39:00.914 --> 00:39:02.818 Each one of those is a decision. 00:39:03.695 --> 00:39:04.809 do they actually need me? 00:39:05.105 --> 00:39:06.298 Are they just saying my name? 00:39:06.469 --> 00:39:11.925 But all of them perk your brain and decide,"Now I have to do something," let alone- Yeah"Mom," and then a question. 00:39:12.108 --> 00:39:12.219 Yeah. 00:39:12.219 --> 00:39:14.179 How many questions were you asked during the day? 00:39:14.565 --> 00:39:15.280 I'm a teacher. 00:39:15.447 --> 00:39:18.650 How many times do I, how many questions do I get asked during the day? 00:39:18.800 --> 00:39:28.900 there was some, teacher influencer thing that I saw online that he had a clicker that was counting how many questions he got during the day, and he ended up with something like 400-plus questions over- Yeah the course of the day. 00:39:29.172 --> 00:39:33.398 And most of them were insignificant, but they were all questions addressed to him. 00:39:34.940 --> 00:39:35.371 Yeah, exactly. 00:39:35.371 --> 00:39:36.579 And it gets tiring. 00:39:36.579 --> 00:39:36.590 And, 00:39:36.804 --> 00:39:40.304 yeah, it gets very tiring, so you have to actually acknowledge those things. 00:39:40.599 --> 00:39:43.677 And there's a lot of research out there that backs this up, too, right? 00:39:43.677 --> 00:39:59.780 there's a lot of research that backs up how a lot of times people are not getting enough sleep, and this is not on the, the topic of decision fatigue but going back to the, the stress and the life load that

we're all going through and how we're not, a lot of people aren't getting, as, enough sleep. 00:40:00.233 --> 00:40:10.972 There's a lot of research that shows the less sleep you get, obviously the more tired you are and the more your performance is going to suffer, the more likely you are to be stressed. 00:40:11.222 --> 00:40:15.152 And, I'm sorry, not to be stressed, to be injured, if you're not getting enough sleep. 00:40:15.202 --> 00:40:24.471 lots of things that are kind of- Putting that extra stress on our body and then not getting enough recovery. 00:40:24.483 --> 00:40:32.990 that's ultimately the through line of, what's happening and why we're all so exhaust- exhausted, is overstress, underrecovered, right? 00:40:33.202 --> 00:40:40.902 And I think that this is taking us to really the main point of the episode, which is permission to rest. 00:40:41.204 --> 00:40:45.610 And I think that we all need permission to rest sometimes. 00:40:45.635 --> 00:40:56.559 And a lot of us, especially as Type A runners, very achievement-driven people, don't always take the time that we need for rest 00:40:58.041 --> 00:41:01.226 And this is where having some grace for your training plan. 00:41:01.425 --> 00:41:01.561 Yeah. 00:41:01.561 --> 00:41:03.735 we talked about training, having a structured training plan- 00:41:03.856 --> 00:41:04.092 Yeah 00:41:04.092 --> 00:41:05.896 but having the ability to adjust. 00:41:05.998 --> 00:41:08.719 Because grace isn't saying,"I'm done with it. 00:41:08.771 --> 00:41:12.947 I'm quitting this." Grace is making wise adjustments. 00:41:13.206 --> 00:41:26.193 It says,"I may need to take a break for today." It doesn't say,"There is no bar that I'm trying to get over," and say,"Let's put the bar all the way to the floor, and I can just shuffle my way over the top of it." But it takes other things into account. 00:41:26.425 --> 00:41:26.449 Yeah. 00:41:26.449 --> 00:41:28.981 All the life stresses that we've been talking about. 00:41:29.197 --> 00:41:29.891 It says,"I... 00:41:30.135 --> 00:41:35.422 How can I do the best for myself in these circumstances?" and be... 00:41:35.434 --> 00:41:39.353 Have some care, have some, some positive thoughts about myself. 00:41:39.367 --> 00:41:41.373 Not,"I'm doing everything wrong. 00:41:41.554 --> 00:41:45.302 I'm not getting faster because look at all of these things." Yeah. 00:41:45.304 --> 00:41:49.643 But having a little bit of, just positivity towards ourself, of I'm- 00:41:49.643 --> 00:41:50.451 Self-compassion 00:41:50.824 --> 00:41:52.201 self-compassion. 00:41:52.271 --> 00:41:52.556 Yeah. 00:41:52.556 --> 00:41:54.134 I'm doing a good job. 00:41:54.817 --> 00:42:00.329 I'm getting the best results I can- given all the things pouring into my stress bucket." 00:42:00.666 --> 00:42:01.045 Yeah. 00:42:01.367 --> 00:42:01.762 And it's... 00:42:01.822 --> 00:42:06.112 I'm glad you brought that up because there's been some research on self-compassion. 00:42:06.119 --> 00:42:22.612 So there was a study done, that, in 2019, it was actually a systematic review of multiple studies that found that self-compassion interventions were as effective as other behavior change techniques at improving self-regulation of health behaviors. 00:42:22.849 --> 00:42:26.159 Okay, so self-regulation of health behaviors, doing healthy habits, right? 00:42:26.210 --> 00:42:32.925 by actually being compassionate with ourselves is actually going to help us with those healthy habits. 00:42:32.925 --> 00:42:52.695 There's so many people that think that they have to be mean to themselves, or they have to put themselves down, or they have to feel guilty or shame if they miss a workout, or if they eat a piece of pizza, or have a slice of cake, and that making themselves feel bad about it is going to somehow help them, and the research is actually showing the opposite. 00:42:52.969 --> 00:43:06.701 It's showing that self-compassion, in, in a separate study, found that self-compassion was associated with getting back on track after an exercise setback versus trying to make yourself feel bad about it, right? 00:43:06.701 --> 00:43:24.164 Like, when you give yourself that grace, when you are giving yourself that compassion to be a human and rest when you need rest, and realize that you've got a lot going on in your life right now, you're gonna be much more able to be more consistent with your healthy habits. 00:43:24.715 --> 00:43:29.418 Yeah, it's easier to get back out and do the thing when you're not ruminating on that you didn't do the thing yesterday. 00:43:29.525 --> 00:43:29.900 Yeah. 00:43:30.157 --> 00:43:37.353 if I spent all day feeling bad that my run yesterday was shorter than I wanted it to be- Yeah I would not have gotten out and gotten anything today. 00:43:37.530 --> 00:43:37.862 Yeah. 00:43:38.139 --> 00:43:38.387 Or- 00:43:38.396 --> 00:43:39.871 I didn't even get to run yesterday. 00:43:40.108 --> 00:43:45.291 Yeah, or I swing too far the other way and I go back into,"I didn't get all the miles I wanted to yesterday. 00:43:45.641 --> 00:43:51.735 I feel bad about that, so I'm going to put all those miles onto today." And now I'm right into over-training. 00:43:52.030 --> 00:43:52.201 Yeah. 00:43:52.202 --> 00:43:52.971 And we've already covered that. 00:43:53.235 --> 00:43:54.275 Yeah, exactly. 00:43:54.327 --> 00:43:55.733 neither of those are a good path. 00:43:55.833 --> 00:44:08.336 Neither of these are a good path, and so I actually decided I was gonna look into some scripture about this as well, because I think that permission to rest has been something that is in scripture. 00:44:08.338 --> 00:44:11.918 And if you are, not a religious person, that's fine. 00:44:11.929 --> 00:44:25.284 You can just fast-forward through this section if you want to, or you can just listen along, because I think that whether or not you're religious or not, the scriptures are very old texts, right? 00:44:25.284 --> 00:44:28.657 we can just

all agree that is just a factual statement. 00:44:28.907 --> 00:44:35.072 And so we've been talking about this for centuries, that how important it is to rest. 00:44:35.074 --> 00:44:43.081 in Matthew 11:28, one of the, the verse is,"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 00:44:43.327 --> 00:44:48.552 Take my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 00:44:48.556 --> 00:44:59.809 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." God is there saying,"Come to me when you're stressed, when you're burdened, when you've got a lot going on," because you'll find rest. 00:44:59.809 --> 00:45:04.306 you need rest in order to be able to deal with all this crap in your life. 00:45:04.967 --> 00:45:06.751 And it says,"I'll help." 00:45:07.112 --> 00:45:08.027 And I'll help, yeah. 00:45:08.036 --> 00:45:08.056 And 00:45:08.061 --> 00:45:15.083 whether that help comes from God or that help comes from asking some- anybody else,"Can you help me here?" 00:45:15.105 --> 00:45:15.438 Yeah. 00:45:15.746 --> 00:45:19.300 But honestly, I think that is asking God. 00:45:19.313 --> 00:45:23.047 I think God, God doesn't just magically take things off your plate. 00:45:23.047 --> 00:45:27.112 God- often, I think, sends us people to help. 00:45:27.114 --> 00:45:27.639 Yes. 00:45:27.639 --> 00:45:30.182 sends us people that can help us. 00:45:30.458 --> 00:45:35.668 It's just whether or not we're actually able and willing to accept their help. 00:45:36.744 --> 00:45:36.851 Yeah. 00:45:36.851 --> 00:45:41.385 I think that's one of the biggest problems that we have, is being able to accept help and not be like,"Oh, no, I got it. 00:45:41.385 --> 00:45:41.891 Don't worry." 00:45:42.257 --> 00:45:46.914 Ev- every time He sent an angel into our life, they came with actual wings, it would make it really easy. 00:45:47.201 --> 00:45:47.713 Oh my gosh. 00:45:47.726 --> 00:45:51.199 Sometimes they send people into your life who are named Angela, and it's really helpful. 00:45:51.576 --> 00:45:55.492 it's j- it's a key sign- It's a key sign that He has sent an angel into your life. 00:45:55.771 --> 00:45:58.275 n- giant wings would also be super, re- really helpful. 00:45:58.367 --> 00:45:58.909 Yeah. 00:45:58.911 --> 00:46:01.594 I sh- I'll just start wearing those around everywhere I go now. 00:46:01.851 --> 00:46:02.432 Perfect. 00:46:02.894 --> 00:46:04.887 Maybe I'll use it as a marketing technique. 00:46:05.440 --> 00:46:06.724 That sounds fantastic. 00:46:07.590 --> 00:46:10.007 but, there's so many different places in scripture. 00:46:10.007 --> 00:46:18.275 Like Elijah, this is one of the things that the radio, mentioned, and I was like,"What's the story about Elijah?" apparently Elijah had- Oh, 00:46:18.422 --> 00:46:19.266 I like this story 00:46:19.405 --> 00:46:19.425 he, huh? 00:46:19.425 --> 00:46:19.465 I like this story. 00:46:19.465 --> 00:46:28.610 So he, if you know the story,

you can f- you know, by all means tell it, but Elijah had a big public moment, and he was like,"That's it, I'm done." he got a death threat, things were not going well. 00:46:29.052 --> 00:46:30.476 And he said he's had enough. 00:46:30.476 --> 00:46:31.244 He's like,"I'm done. 00:46:31.244 --> 00:46:34.286 I want out." And what does God do? 00:46:34.304 --> 00:46:45.139 God lets Elijah sleep first, and then an angel touches him and says,"Get up and eat something." And then he eats, he drinks, and he lies back down and goes back to sleep, right? 00:46:45.139 --> 00:46:48.570 and then the angel comes a second time, and he, makes him do it again, right? 00:46:48.572 --> 00:46:54.842 He makes him sleep and eat and water, and then go out and continue on his journey. 00:46:55.250 --> 00:47:05.958 And it wasn't like God was there saying,"Get up, let's go, we gotta power through." It was like, no, take some time." Get some sleep, refuel yourself, and then let's move forward 00:47:06.648 --> 00:47:06.885 Yeah. 00:47:06.934 --> 00:47:11.655 basically, he ran away from everybody because of this death threat, and he, literally just ran off into the woods. 00:47:11.704 --> 00:47:13.579 Yeah, into- Yeah up a mountain I think, right? 00:47:13.597 --> 00:47:13.771 Yeah. 00:47:13.798 --> 00:47:18.469 and God allowed him to sleep- Yeah and then woke him up, and there was bread and water just sitting there for him. 00:47:18.693 --> 00:47:18.846 Yeah. 00:47:18.846 --> 00:47:26.940 So take the rest, take the sustenance, because if you have a big challenging journey ahead, you need the rest and the sustenance. 00:47:27.052 --> 00:47:29.030 You can't just grind it out always. 00:47:29.050 --> 00:47:30.822 You grind it out, you turn yourself into powder. 00:47:31.054 --> 00:47:37.402 That, I think that's the takeaway of that one- Yeah is you have to get the rest and recovery before you can hit the big journey. 00:47:37.626 --> 00:47:37.884 Yeah. 00:47:37.885 --> 00:47:42.402 And there are so many also examples of times when Jesus went to rest. 00:47:42.402 --> 00:47:49.483 that the Bible said,"And Jesus went off to rest." like He was sleeping when they were on the, the boat in the middle of the storm, right? 00:47:49.483 --> 00:47:58.570 Jesus was off sleeping and resting because they had just had a big day preaching to lots of crowds and stuff, and they had to, wake Him up and for Him to calm the sea. 00:47:58.570 --> 00:48:05.577 But there's lots of examples about Jesus resting before big events, and also resting after big events. 00:48:05.577 --> 00:48:07.528 He, after He, didn't we just... 00:48:07.557 --> 00:48:09.733 W- after the, the loaves and the fishes, right? 00:48:09.766 --> 00:48:10.244 Wasn't it- 00:48:10.244 --> 00:48:11.641 Loaves and the fishes, He went up to the mountain to pray 00:48:11.724 --> 00:48:12.771 to pray after that. 00:48:12.771 --> 00:48:20.498 And then they, there's a lot of times where He had to go, just go off by Himself and pray and rest to regain His strength. 00:48:20.943 --> 00:48:21.208 Yeah. 00:48:21.240 --> 00:48:25.427 And He was God, so if He needed some rest- Yeah perhaps we could sleep in on occasion. 00:48:25.472 --> 00:48:26.152 Exactly. 00:48:26.490 --> 00:48:43.514 And so I think that, consistency matters, and but in order to have the consistency that we want, we also need rest, and we need to be strong, and we need to have energy in order for us to take on all of these other things that are going on in our lives. 00:48:43.518 --> 00:48:47.572 And if we neglect our health, then we don't have as much energy for everything else. 00:48:47.572 --> 00:49:05.628 And so I think that, there's people that tend to let their health fall on the back burner, and let their workouts and their eating fall on the back burner when they're really stressed, and they grab fast food, or they miss their runs, or they don't lift because they're just like,"Too many other things are going on." But I think that's the time that we need to double down. 00:49:05.634 --> 00:49:28.505 That's the time that we need to be even more consistent and more dedicated to our health habits, like making sure that we are eating the right amount of food, making sure that we're getting enough food, that we're getting the right nutrients to help support our bodies, that we're, are exercising to stay strong and to stay healthy so that we can have more energy and show up better in all of the other areas of our life. 00:49:28.505 --> 00:49:30.724 this is not just something that goes on the back burner. 00:49:30.956 --> 00:49:38.250 It's the thing that helps, sustain us so that we can show up as the people that we're, that we want to be in this world. 00:49:38.887 --> 00:49:47.181 Yeah, on, on the idea of, you have so many balls that you're juggling at once- the, the health one is not entirely rubber and bounces back every time. 00:49:47.425 --> 00:49:50.217 you've gotta kinda take, ke- keep that one up in the air. 00:49:50.438 --> 00:49:52.813 You don't have to do magic tricks with it. 00:49:52.813 --> 00:49:58.385 You don't have to throw it the highest, but you kinda have to keep that one a, a little bit in control. 00:49:58.641 --> 00:49:59.853 You can pull back a little bit. 00:50:00.025 --> 00:50:07.621 There are other things that in your life, and this is a running podcast, there can be times in your life that running is certainly not your highest priority. 00:50:07.625 --> 00:50:07.943 Yeah. 00:50:07.943 --> 00:50:11.663 But your overall health- Yeah should stay a fairly high priority. 00:50:12.038 --> 00:50:12.329 Yeah. 00:50:12.329 --> 00:50:18.981 And there are certainly times in my life that I put my overall health as a lower priority than running, okay? 00:50:19.219 --> 00:50:23.831 There are times, I don't, I'm probably not the only person who's done that, and they're like,"I don't know, but it's running. 00:50:23.831 --> 00:50:24.503 It's exercise. 00:50:24.503 --> 00:50:27.922 That's part of my

health journey." not if you're only sleeping three hours a night. 00:50:28.001 --> 00:50:30.956 Not if you're not getting the fuel to recover from a long run. 00:50:31.219 --> 00:50:36.769 then running is just another hard thing that you're doing, and that's neat, but that's not healthy. 00:50:37.516 --> 00:50:37.811 Yeah. 00:50:37.900 --> 00:50:46.802 Yeah, and I think it is important for us to have those priorities and to make sure they're very clear because not everything can be a priority at all times. 00:50:46.802 --> 00:50:59.503 We have to make sure that we have a very clear list of priorities, and if there's a lot of other things going on in your life, it's okay if your running kind of goes down a little bit on that list because not everything can be your number one priority. 00:50:59.507 --> 00:51:11.081 So I do think that it's important to set our priorities straight first, make sure that we know what, where that falls, make sure that we're giving ourself grace if we are in a very busy and stressful season. 00:51:11.083 --> 00:51:15.360 And we've got the holidays coming up here, and so we all know how that is going to go. 00:51:15.409 --> 00:51:33.373 there's a lot more that typically gets added to our plate during this season of life, and it, again, it doesn't mean that e- everything needs to hit the back burner, that we don't do anything, but it's okay if we rearrange our priorities and then give ourself grace for those times when it doesn't go as planned. 00:51:33.706 --> 00:51:46.204 And then if you're still feeling exhausted, even if you're trying to manage stress, trying to get sleep, there are some other things that I think are worth just mentioning as reasons why you could be feeling more tired than normal. 00:51:46.420 --> 00:51:49.969 So number one is iron deficiency or anemia. 00:51:49.981 --> 00:52:03.869 if you haven't had blood work done recently, that's probably a good idea for you to get some blood work done, especially if your fatigue and exhaustion is not responding to sleep, if it's lasting, more than a week or so, get your iron levels checked. 00:52:03.869 --> 00:52:05.065 get some blood work done. 00:52:05.070 --> 00:52:11.349 Get a, a pl- a panel done, and see if there's anything that, you could use some supplementation for. 00:52:11.807 --> 00:52:13.724 A second thing would be thyroid problems. 00:52:13.786 --> 00:52:23.538 If you, again, f- your thyroid has a lot to do with energy metabolism, and so if you're feeling really tired for an extended period of time, you might need to get your thyroid checked. 00:52:23.552 --> 00:52:25.911 Again, you can start with a simple blood test. 00:52:26.155 --> 00:52:31.146 That, a lot of that can be, measured, just with some basic blood tests, which is fantastic. 00:52:31.528 --> 00:52:35.672 Some other things that you might want to consider, sleep apnea is one. 00:52:35.673 --> 00:52:40.025 If you're not getting good sleep or if your body's waking up in the middle of the night, that could be something. 00:52:40.380 --> 00:52:45.469 Depression or anxiety can definitely be causing a lot of fatigue and exhaustion. 00:52:45.840 --> 00:52:50.387 Blood sugar problems can be something that, definitely affects your energy levels. 00:52:50.639 --> 00:52:57.385 And then heavy or prolonged periods during perimenopause can also contribute t- to fatigue. 00:52:57.396 --> 00:53:07.364 And, for the sake of, this might be TMI, but this is definitely something that I have been struggling with and dealing with over the past couple of years, is just, very heavy bleeding. 00:53:07.554 --> 00:53:18.780 And when,'cause when you're losing a lot of blood every single month, that often leads to that iron deficiency or low ferritin levels or anemia, and that's going to affect your energy levels. 00:53:19.001 --> 00:53:33.371 And so these are all things to keep in mind, because the reason that you're feeling exhausted all the time is likely due to stress and s- and training and all of these things, but also could have some medical cause behind it as well. 00:53:33.371 --> 00:53:47.358 So it's always important to make sure that you're getting regular health checkups, you're getting regular blood work done, you're working with a very knowledgeable healthcare provider to help you interpret all of those things and figure out what to do about them. 00:53:48.025 --> 00:53:48.447 Yes. 00:53:48.483 --> 00:53:54.329 Iron deficiency's always a, a high one on my list for people that are just carrying fatigue and can't figure out why it's not going away. 00:53:54.416 --> 00:53:54.744 Yeah. 00:53:54.853 --> 00:54:05.969 the connection of periods and iron deficiency is clearly obvious, but if you ramp up your mileage- there's, you literally are also breaking down blood cells with every footfall. 00:54:06.168 --> 00:54:15.036 there've been some good studies on this, that every time you land, you're actually crushing whatever blood is down in your feet and you're breaking down blood cells over time. 00:54:15.297 --> 00:54:17.603 So that's an aspect of it. 00:54:17.922 --> 00:54:23.500 if you're losing blood over time, you also have less oxygen to carry around. 00:54:23.512 --> 00:54:29.813 this is something where if you've got significant changes in what your period looks like, that's going to lead to- 00:54:30.077 --> 00:54:30.277 Yeah 00:54:30.289 --> 00:54:31.940 a, a great increase in fatigue. 00:54:32.190 --> 00:54:37.364 And you gotta maybe correct me on this one, but I feel like estrogen helps iron absorption. 00:54:37.731 --> 00:54:46.228 And so if you're dealing with lower levels of estrogen, you may need to be taking in an iron supplement, and you may need to tweak what it is. 00:54:46.389 --> 00:54:46.599 Yeah. 00:54:46.626 --> 00:54:52.878 Because if you were supplementing before, and now you've got different levels of estrogen inside your body, you might just not be absorbing it as well. 00:54:53.016 --> 00:55:00.701 You're taking the pills,

but it's just passing through, because depending on what the, the compound is, it may or may not be getting absorbed as well. 00:55:00.940 --> 00:55:01.250 Yeah. 00:55:01.565 --> 00:55:05.657 So again, all of these things are great questions to ask your healthcare provider. 00:55:05.914 --> 00:55:10.155 And then the last thing that we need to mention is under-fueling, okay? 00:55:10.155 --> 00:55:15.581 If you are tired all the time- It could be because you're not eating enough food. 00:55:15.818 --> 00:55:42.215 If you are under-fueling and not giving your body the energy that it needs, you could be putting your body into a state of what's called low energy availability, or LEA, which if continued, can lead to RED-S, which is relative energy deficiency in sport, which means that the energy that you're taking in is not matching the energy that you're putting out, and you are training harder and not fueling your body enough, and that can lead to all sorts of problems. 00:55:42.237 --> 00:55:44.380 A lot of the problems that I just mentioned. 00:55:44.382 --> 00:55:46.271 It can lead to iron deficiency. 00:55:46.271 --> 00:55:47.929 It can lead to thyroid problems. 00:55:47.931 --> 00:55:51.300 It can lead to depression, anxiety, bone stress injuries. 00:55:51.510 --> 00:55:54.655 It can lead to, changes in your period and your menstrual cycle. 00:55:54.659 --> 00:55:56.934 cr- like, all of it is related, okay? 00:55:57.313 --> 00:56:00.492 And so there's lots of different boxes that you can check. 00:56:00.717 --> 00:56:04.842 make sure that you're not just blaming it on stress and life load. 00:56:04.842 --> 00:56:16.019 I know that's, what we, spent the bulk of this episode on, but there could also be some other health things for you to look at and to make sure that you're checking those boxes and making sure that you're good there. 00:56:16.324 --> 00:56:21.030 And then also figuring out how to manage all the stress, because that's always going to benefit you. 00:56:21.030 --> 00:56:33.356 Even if you actually do have underlying health conditions that you can address with a healthcare provider, learning how to manage stress better in your life is always going to benefit you, both mentally and physically. 00:56:33.978 --> 00:56:39.329 Yeah, and if it gets to a point that you are really struggling to manage that stress, you may need to go to a healthcare provider for that also. 00:56:39.536 --> 00:56:39.887 Yeah. 00:56:39.985 --> 00:56:40.244 That's- 00:56:40.289 --> 00:56:40.585 Yeah. 00:56:41.018 --> 00:56:42.291 Finding a therapist- I mean- or a life 00:56:42.411 --> 00:56:43.621 coach or something I run the crazy way. 00:56:43.847 --> 00:56:48.141 Sometimes it gets to a point that you need a therapist,'cause you're not running the crazy way. 00:56:48.362 --> 00:56:52.623 You have very high levels of anxiety, and you just need to actually talk to a professional about it. 00:56:52.887 --> 00:56:53.286 Yeah. 00:56:53.646 --> 00:56:56.108 Yeah, because running is not therapy, right? 00:56:56.108 --> 00:57:01.391 you actually- No, it is not you might actually need therapy, and that is a very good thing. 00:57:01.398 --> 00:57:02.480 That is not a bad thing. 00:57:02.480 --> 00:57:04.985 There's nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to therapy. 00:57:04.985 --> 00:57:11.168 and I do think that there has been a lot more acceptance of therapy and awareness of mental health issues. 00:57:11.396 --> 00:57:12.965 and I think that's all a very good thing. 00:57:12.967 --> 00:57:16.016 So- Why am I so exhausted? 00:57:16.023 --> 00:57:17.527 There's lots of possibilities. 00:57:17.581 --> 00:57:23.867 So I hope that today kind of shined a light on some of those areas that you might want to look at. 00:57:24.121 --> 00:57:27.262 I definitely encourage you to work with your healthcare professionals. 00:57:27.264 --> 00:57:33.269 Make sure that there aren't any o- underlying reasons, medical reasons for your exhaustion. 00:57:33.289 --> 00:57:37.300 And then if there is, great, then you can address them. 00:57:37.496 --> 00:57:52.503 And if there isn't, great, now you can just look at stress management and life load and making sure you're getting enough sleep and enough food, to really support both you as a human in this world and you as a runner with the training goals that you have set for yourself. 00:57:52.503 --> 00:57:57.518 So head out there, have some energy, achieve the things. 00:57:58.583 --> 00:57:58.914 Good. 00:57:59.215 --> 00:57:59.478 Good 00:57:59.688 --> 00:58:00.195 summary. 00:58:00.195 --> 00:58:00.215 The wrap-up. 00:58:00.215 --> 00:58:00.773 I like it. 00:58:00.907 --> 00:58:01.567 That's the wrap-up. 00:58:01.567 --> 00:58:01.846 Okay. 00:58:01.983 --> 00:58:06.489 we've gotta go because we are late to our dinner engagement tonight. 00:58:06.731 --> 00:58:10.331 so if you guys liked this episode, please share it with a friend. 00:58:10.568 --> 00:58:19.228 We wanna just help more people, so that's the best thing that you can do to help with this podcast, to say thank you, to all the free content that we put out for you guys every single week. 00:58:19.268 --> 00:58:22.545 Please share it with a runner that you know could benefit from this. 00:58:22.793 --> 00:58:26.108 And as always, thanks for being here with us and spending this time with us. 00:58:26.117 --> 00:58:30.701 This has been the Running Reconnected podcast, episode number 486. 00:58:30.956 --> 00:58:32.601 Now get out there and run your life.

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