Copy
View this email in your browser
The friction of waking up early
Hi Fellow Athlete,

Friction is the bumps in the road that slow us down. That's why I like Singapore - all the roads are smooth.

OK, bad joke. The real friction I'm talking about is the obstacles that prevent us from doing the hard things we know we should do, but that we may not have the immediate willpower to tackle.

Things like:

  • Doing a hard run before sunrise
  • Going out on that long ride when the weather forecast says it will rain
  • Starting that swim workout that seems so complicated and your brain is already frazzled from a long day at work

The good news is there are a number of things we can do to reduce the friction needed to start (and finish!) these kinds of things.

Things I do include:

  • Laying out all my shoes, shirt, shorts, watch, lights etc the night before
  • Making sure my bike is ready - lights charged, tires pumped, bottles filled, helmet ready
  • Getting any nutrition mixed up or measured out in advance
  • Putting my house key and some cash in my jersey pocket, shorts, hydration vest, etc the night before
  • Building structured workouts and putting them in my watch or bike computer. Then, you don't have to remember the workout - let the device tell you.
  • Building those structured workouts days in advance and synching them to my Garmin or Zwift. Don’t want to be doing that the morning of the workout!
  • Keeping a swim bag always at the ready with goggles, pull buoy, fins, snorkels, and towel – no excuses when I don’t want to do that swim!
  • After my workout, plugging in all my devices right away (Garmin, Wahoo, heart rate monitor, bike lights) to ensure they’re charged for the next workout
This was inspired by Steven Kotler, author of The Art of Impossible (affiliate link) and proponent of the concept of flow.

In addition to reducing friction, Steven talks about how to deploy more friction to prevent you from doing undesirable things.

Read all about it in my blog post below.
Reducing Friction to Improve Training

Backyard Ultra: 48 1-km laps

48 hours before turning 48 years old I decided to:

  • Swim 4.8 km
  • Ride on Zwift 48 km
  • Ride outdoors 48 miles
  • Run outside 48 km in 48 1-km laps

The swim and the run were the highlights of it. The swim, because it wasn't that hard, and the run because doing something so stupid is just so satisfying.

Here's the video!

Yo! Yo! Yo!

In our recent series with Bob Babbitt, we asked him his take on Sam Long.

Here, Bob tells us a few stories and what he thinks about the 25 year-old star.

What does Bob think about Sam Long?

Sprint Reads

   How often should runners strength train? Subscriber and contributor Dr. Alex Harrison is off to a good start on his YouTube channel where he addresses this topic

 Want to work for Bob Babbitt? CAF is hiring

  The cycling girl and the little pigs - see the short video here

   Strava year end report: 32 billion km covered and 9.6 billion kudos given

 Continuous oxygen monitoring? Stick an OxiWear in your ear if you are susceptible to hypoxia

 The Clmbr looks pretty cool - like a treadmill-stairclimber hybrid

 CEOs stepping down: Oura CEO and Honey Stinger CEO both step down

 If you're a Dead Head you may like Pearl iZumi's new line of Grateful Dead kit

 Tougher Olympic marathon trials standards for US athletes in 2024

  A great video about bikepacking

 If you use a Wahoo, update the firmware and it may get faster and more responsive

 Follow me on Strava and Instagram and I’ll follow you back

None of the Sprint Reads links are sponsored.

Get a Deal


10% off Recovery Systems (excludes rentals)

10% off Purpose Performance Wear with this promo code: IMHACKS10

15% off UCAN (US only)

15% off first consultation with Karelle Laurent Nutrition when you quote IronmanHacks.

OnCourse Goggles: Swim straight with these and get a free swim buoy. Watch review video here.

Addaday massage guns

Finally, check out my triathlon reading list 

IronmanHacks is reader-powered. If you buy anything from the links below, I may earn an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you.

My goal is to deliver value to you. So, where possible, I choose the deal with the highest discount to you and lowest commission for me.

 Tri Planner App


Need help getting organized for your races?

The IronHacks app allows you to:
1.   Calculate race split times (swim, bike, run, transitions)
2.    Calculate how much of what foods to eat per hour (200+ endurance fuels in the database)
3.    Get organized with a packing checklist


iOS
Android
Forward Forward
Share Share
Tweet Tweet
IronmanHacks on Facebook
IronmanHacks on Twitter
Instagram
IronmanHacks Website
Email IronmanHacks
IronmanHacks on YouTube
Copyright © 2021 IronmanHacks, All rights reserved.


Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp