4 hour body. Really?

Color me skeptical, but intrigued. I've been reading the 4 hour body, and while I'm too old (school) to think a lot of this is possible, I do think he's got a point about minimum effective dose.

this comes after a summer of training hard, and losing perspective on why training hard should actually be having fun and just happening to train hard. That did happen a couple of times this summer, but definitely not as much as I would have wanted.

The truth is that I don't live to train, I live to have cool mental experiences while training and racing. And when I'm crispy, those mental experiences don't happen. I've always been easy to fry, mainly because life tends to wear on me a bit. This summer I've been working hard, and being a good dad and a good husband, and triathlon comes in third. It always will. So the key is to train for it in a way that doesn't stress me out, and doesn't break my body down.

My body, by the way, is pretty fucking broken right now. I've got achilles problems, exacerbated by a sprained ankle, all of this 4 days before my last triathlon, my A race, which as a cheap ass Indian I am going to do because I did after all fucking pay 80 dollars goddammnit.

So this whole 4 hour thing, especially the part about ultra-endurance, intrigues me. I think there is some good stuff in there: mainly:

1. to run far you've got to be strong. You've got to have muscle in reserve because your front line will break down.
2. to run far you've got to have good technique. That reminds me, I need to buy one of those runner metronomes.

So toodling around for 15 miles in 3 hours isn't going to make me uber. Unless, of course, there is 4000 feet of climbing and it's all on trails. On the other hand, doing cross fit endurance and running 400 meters until I puke doesn't sound like the ultimate solution. I think the intensity is needed, the strength is needed, but something has to give, like the amount of time I am putting in.

I'm wondering, quite simply, if it is possible to maintain fitness and strength and apply both to endurance events without burning out, and with flaming out during the event. I think this requires a couple of things:

(1) Gut go bye bye. Extra weight isn't earning it's way. Time to lose it.
(2) Distance tests. Got to run long, bike long at least 1x/week.
(3) Intensity Rules: when going fast, distance doesn't matter.

The injuries have come on the 'long hard' efforts. Which are still totally legit, just not back to back/all the time. More importantly, the mental capacity of going hard for a long time won't be fried by the time the race comes along. And maybe, just maybe, _not_ going 250%, only 80, during a long ride, will keep my head in the game.

Next steps:

1. get on the fucking weight loss/muscle gain plan.
2. rehab this fucking achilles tendon
3. get my head back for long, hard efforts.
4. get really fucking strong.

FUCK YEAH (battle cry)!