Bushel of Corn

I went for a run this morning. 3 miles. My mouth was dry starting off. I took it easy. 10:30 minute miles. Maybe 10. Was not pushing it. Some would say a slow walk. Looking at that number I can hardly believe it as I usually am at around 8:30 minute miles, and on a fast day sub 8. For 5-7 miles.

I got home. Was a little fatigued but feeling good. To get ahead of the fatigue and what I knew was driving it, I started drinking. Lots of water. Not at first. I filled up a 25oz glass Bubbies jar. They’re easy to use, big, and Tom Brady uses them. Drank about half and that was after I’d been home for 5-10 minutes. Not exactly guzzling water for having woken up dehydrated in the first place. But after my shower, pre-coffee I had probably drowned 25 oz and was onto #2. Which I probably drank right there. Between around 9 and noon..I was not keeping too close of tabs, I probably drank at least 4 and probably more like 5 Bubbies jars of water. That’s about 100 oz of water.

So what? My point is…most people would not sit there and over a couple hour period make it a point to ‘pound’ or drink…roughly 100 oz of water. Some would call it unhealthy or “dangerous”. You could die!! Bullshit.

I think most people – if they’re anything like me – are dehydrated. I could have probably drank…25 oz of water and been ‘ok’ish’. I could have probably drank..50 oz of water and been…more ok’ish. But I drank that much because I kept putting the jar to my lips and my body sucked it down. I didn’t ‘force it’. I stopped after a few sips. I stopped after one. I stopped after drinking half a jar and sometimes drinking 3/4’s to most of the jar at one time. But I kept coming back and just putting it to my lips every so often and the body just sucked it down. Yes, I peed. A few times. I shat! Another story altogether, which I’m excited to share. I am. 3 times. But it was part of cleaning me out as well. And the end result was I felt..much better. And had I not drank that much water, or had just drank what – if I wasn’t thinking about it – a full jar and called it a morning of water and on top of that drank a cup of coffee, I’d be like I’ve done a million times before – a little off, a little tired, a little fatigued, or a lot fatigued by afternoon. And yes, you eat more food in the afternoon or morning and that has water in it as well. But not like a bunch of pure water.

Drink more than you think you need. Or better yet, give yourself an opportunity to drink more than you think you might need. Just put it up to your lips. Let your body decide.

Working out first thing in the morning = total focus and energy throughout the day. Working out any other time – even an hour or two after waking up and bam, no go. Not that exact same affect. I’m still playing w/ this and tightening up my experience with it, but it was a revelation late last summer or early fall ( 2019 ).

This should be titled working out first thing in the morning. Recently I’ve been playing around with running or biking first thing in the morning. This past summer..I think it was this past summer. Or early Fall…I rode first thing with a few guys who biked at 6,630am. Way too early for my blood traditionally. I’m a get up and have coffee and write or work or peruse or whatever. Lean into the day easy. BUT…I have difficulty staying focused throughout the day, and this exercise of getting up & FIRST THING working out changed my entire day. No naps. Total focus. Working right through – blazing right through that 2pm, 3pm slump. It was a revelation. So what happened?

I’m not sure. A couple things. One is that traditional discipline, slacked off on it, etc. BUT…there was another aspect to this as well, and I believe that is running. I mentioned above biking. If I bike around Mercer Island – lets call it 20 miles door to door – at a fairly brisk speed, I was having this affect – total focus and energy throughout the day as if I was on something. Amazing! Why aren’t more people doing this. That type of thing. But if I ran…if I jogged in the morning…lets call it…45 minutes. 4-5 miles. Fairly brisk but not sprinting, of course. Let’s call it a 9 minute mile with some hills. It just wasn’t having the same affect. Sure, I felt better. But it wasn’t the same.

So why not just ride…20 miles or what accounts to roughly an hour and 20 minutes on the bike? I think time. I’m not sure. But the affect was amazing the few times I did it.

This is the power of writing. You see your bullshit on the page. This seems pretty…pretty hazy. Not sure, this and that, pretty hazy. So if I run do I get those benefits? Not really. If I ride, do you get those benefits? I think so. I have in the past, yes, but I’ve also ridden and not gotten those benefits – total focus and energy throughout the day. Did you ride that same course as hard as you did when you rode w/ that group? Not sure. I don’t know. Haven’t done it enough to know. Pretty sloppy here. But I can see it with writing. Awesome. The hard part is taking the action to figure that out now.

The point of this was…working out first thing gave me those benefits – focus and energy throughout the day. Oddly, working out ANY OTHER TIME did not give me those benefits, even biking 2-3 hours. Yes, I got other benefits – emotional stability and strength and confidence. Probably better sleep, but that one isn’t so obvious. Generally feel much better. But not the total energy and focus sustained throughout the day if I even wait a couple hours after waking up. First thing and boom, the magic happens.

Water and hydration. I was just going to call this ‘Water’ but felt hydration would give me some more SEO juice. Like throwing a dime into the ocean. Not sure it really matters.

Just re-read this interesting and very simple article online this morning and it was a great reminder – and supporter – of keeping hydrated. The article is called “What Happens When You Drink a Gallon of Water a Day“.

The woman who wrote it says she starting peeing a lot. Like 15 times a day. I get it. Happens to me as well. Except when I’m dehydrated, and that’s the key here, my main point: even when I don’t necessarily feel dehydrated or know I’m dehydrated – I just generally feel ‘off’ or more specifically, like shit, when I start pounding water…lets say 2-4 pint glasses back to back, I don’t pee. I was – in those cases – dehydrated. My body was literally telling me this by A. feeling like shit or less than great and B. by not peeing or peeing very little after pounding a shit load of water. Ding ding ding.

I do think people – or in my case – can also experience dehydration even when they don’t fall victim to the acute aspects of day to day dehydration indicated above – things like feeling like shit in general, feeling tired, maybe a headache or random muscle cramps and general malaise that can be quenched, in part, by – in my experience – pounding a bunch of water.

But…there are times I feel fine but discover when I start making an effort to drink more water, stuff gets, in general, better. Poo gets better. I know. Gross. But true. Just more…regular. I’m not as tired. My skin gets way better.

In Tom Brady’s book “The TB12 Method” he mentions that getting fully hydrated can take up to two weeks. I tend to believe this, again, from my own experience. People scoff at this like “why” – and who knows. I don’t know why. And I don’t much care. I know that it can take me awhile to feel fully on board with “feeling good” via hydration. It doesn’t just ‘snap’, feel better in one swell motion of drinking a few glasses of water. But it’s a good start. Keep making it a daily practice. You can start with Tom’s 12 day hydration challenge!

Other aspects covered in this Outside hydration article:

Day 4 “I didn’t feel like a 70-year-old woman when I got out of bed this morning.”

“Day 7: Can we talk about how good I am at yoga right now? My hamstrings are much more flexible, and my back bends with ease.”

Can I just say my back has been bothering me lately and my calves have been, well…kind of fucked. I’m excited there’s a possible solution here. Yes, rest is good. Nutrition – more leafy greens and vegetables. But also, just straight up hydration. What a God send. Like Neil Young was saying last night in his show – “…this show is brought to you by…Water!”

“Day 10: A switch to water that’s been ultrapurified by reverse osmosis (plus “carbon polishing” and UV sterilization) has proved revelatory. It’s fully palatable and delicately sweet, without a hint of chlorine. I’m now the proud owner of a refillable three-gallon jug.”

I do this, and it’s a pain in the ass but worth it. I get the reverse osmosis whatever crap at PCC and it’s awesome. But a pain in the ass. I can taste the garbage from my tap water – even when filtered w/ a Pura filter ( is that what they are called ). So I’m always going back to fill my two 3 gallon jugs almost every week, when I remember.

“Day 24: My massage therapist confirms that my muscles and fascia are noticeably looser.”

“The bottom line: “We all wake up slightly dehydrated. The easiest change you can make is to have a big glass of water first thing in the morning.”

I get this. Drinking a glass or two in the morning is huge. Some people think this is gross, but oh well. You get used to it. It’s a great way to start the day and accelerates that…#2 process!!!

Hydrate. It’s important. Even if you don’t know it. Or feel it.