"Human Growth Hormone"

Ben Johnson did it! Marion Jones did it! Barry Bonds did it….oh, no, no, no …not Barry…sorry Barry!

Yes they all did it! They cheated! Yes cheated! No other word for it, I’m afraid. But if it’s good enough for them, it should be good enough for me so I’m gonna do it too. Of course I can’t pretend to be as noble as them , since they all did it for the easily justifiable reasons of potential fame and fortune, and I’m just gonna do it to feel good. Also I can’t afford the high priced chemicals and doctors that they had available to them so I will have to come up with something cheaper…..and this is it….Human Growth Hormone(HGH). Yup! Human Growth Hormone! Would you believe that your very own body produces this stuff and that according to my recent health mentor and author(John Ratey) you can produce more of it at will, despite the fact that as you age its production normally decreases. This same guy believes that it is a significant factor in mental health,(for a bunch of technical reasons I can’t understand) and to top it all off he believes that it is the secret ingredient in shedding those final pounds of fat that the body wants to hoard as a survival technique. He also states the HGH is a key factor in building muscle.

So how to do it? Intense anaerobic activity. Simple as that, and not even that much. He recommends 5 to 6 all out sprints of 20 to 30 seconds duration, perhaps 3 times per week. The whole thing kind of hit home with me, particularly the body fat promise, because of a long term personal belief around running and body fat. As long as I have been running the accepted philosophy was that long, slow running is the way to go to get rid of that spare tire. You can read it proclaimed in every runners manual and I’m sure it’s true to a point, but I always wondered why, at any marathon you go to and watch the later runners come to the finish(the long slow runners), that inevitably a large portion of them carried a little extra weight. The guys around their waist, and the girls around their hips, despite the fact that all of these people have probably been running for 10 to 15 hours every week for months on end. I always believed that you had to mix in some very intense workouts as well.

So….I would normally have started to add some kind of track workouts early in the spring anyway, but I have decided to immediately add these sprints into my easy runs. Not on any formal basis, but just whenever I am tired and taking it easy. I may even do it just for fun as a separate workout up and down the laneway, since it will take so little time. I am very convinced that it is going to have an impact. Human Growth Hormone….who would have thought it? Maybe I’ll get taller, ya think? Let’s see what happens.

As to today’s training I did as planned. A short bike ride with some intensity. I did 40k in just over 1 hour 20 minutes for an average speed of 29k/hr. Not very fast I’m afraid, but I’m just fine with it. When you’re living on the edge you’re always going to be a bit bagged and I know it from previous experience. I am re-learning to tell the difference between normal tired and “ya better take a break” tired. Today I was ok for sure.

I’m actually on a plane to Mexico as I write so I will be able to rest up a bit for the next few days. Speaking of which, I will land in the US at an airport I have never seen before(Houston), change terminals there and catch my connection in 56 minutes, fly to a city in Mexico where I’ve never been before(San Luis Potosi), get my rental car and then try to find my hotel. I hope to arrive there by midnite local time which is 1 am eastern. Before you start feeling sorry for me however(as if anyone out there would consider it) please know that I chose this late itinerary. It was the only way I could get a workout in before I left, so it’s well worth it to me.

On another note, it looks like I’m going to be interviewed this Friday at the Cancer Clinic by CTV for their planned little series on head and neck cancers that I mentioned. Thanks to Teresa for initiating this thing for me. Hopefully I don’t look like too much of an ass. Of course I want to lose 10 pounds by then for the camera….lol!!

A little housekeeping...
1) no Cory, not just you, but of course as always you are number one in my heart!
2) I knew you would say that John.
3)my back is getting stronger I think....woohoo!

I wish to dedicate day 47 to my littlest brother David….the guy we overprotected, and under protected, and who has had his own tough row to hoe. Be kind to yourself David.

"Integrity is not a conditional word. It doesn't blow in the wind or change with the weather. It is your inner image of yourself, and if you look in there and see a man who won't cheat, then you know he never will". ---John D MacDonald

And one from Barry....maybe he's got a point?

"Doctors ought to quit worrying about what ballplayers are taking. What players take doesn't matter. It's nobody else's business. The doctors should spend their time looking for cures for cancer. ---Barry Bonds

love from George W. Bush airport in Houston(that's for you Mike)
peter