Mind-Body Connection

I started reading Lance Armstrong’s It’s Not About the Bike over Christmas 2010, when I found it on the bookshelf of a relative we were visiting, but I didn’t quite finish it before leaving. I was reminded of it again when Magda mentioned it a comment recently. I ordered it from the library and finally got to finish it, over a year later!

Here is one of the passages I liked in the bit I just finished reading (near the end)

‘the mind and body almost never work cooperatively. Mostly, we are at odds with ourselves, and for a road cyclist, this is especially true: when your body gets tired it’s the job of your mind to override the impulse to stop. Or, when your mind wants more than can rightly be accomplished, it’s the job of the body to tell you it needs food and water before it does anything else. Occasionally, the two work in concert, and what happens then is, you fly up the Hautacam. When they’re in direct opposition, what happens is, you bonk on the way to Morzine.’

For some reason, I seem to really enjoy reading books about athletic struggle. One of my favourites is Ultra Marathon Man by Dean Karnazes. I also liked Running Hot by Lisa Tamati, although the writing in that isn’t as accomplished.

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This morning I did day two of program one. I put my weights up a bit and my glutes were shaking afterwards!

Breakfast was a mixture of rolled oats and barley, yoghurt and grated apple. Usually I’d put some cinnamon in too, but we’ve run out, so I used some ground cardamom instead.

Lunch was a salad topped with dhal, plus a slice of bread with sterol spread (not pictured) to mop up the bowl

By the time dinnertime came around I was feeling a bit dehydrated (tired and headachy) and all I wanted was a liquid dinner. Rob suggested margaritas (LOL) but I managed to find a sachet of protein powder in the back of the pantry and mixed it up in a blender with a litre of water and a couple of smoothie cubes. Once I finished that off I had some rice cakes. Neither were particularly photo-worthy.

Hopefully I’ll be feeling better in the morning. See you tomorrow!