Col De L'Iseran

Health & Aging Well

Started my ride with 5 minutes easy, followed by a 55-minute build to Threshold. The speedy guys had run long (pre ride) and I had a hunch that the altitude (max 9000 ft) would suit me. Ended up being my 2nd highest hour of power for 2024 and it felt great. The mix of days at this camp suits me better than the beat down we used to give ourselves.

I got a kick out of dinner last night. It was billed as “traditional food.” As far as I could gather this meant a choice of sausages, cheese, cheese or cheese.

I chose cheese.

Fortunately, my cheese arrived with a plate of veggies, unlimited salad and a bag of potatoes. We were told we could have as many bags of potatoes as we wanted.

Cheese, potatoes and salad were a winning combo. Especially when backed up with some outstanding local ice cream.

Me and my bag of potatoes, you can see Ian’s sausages beside me.

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I awoke to the smell of croissants and the sound of Johno leading the lads on a long run.

Morning Metrics are hanging in. We are down low right now, two nights at 2,000 ft elevation (with AC) should, hopefully, get me back on the upswing.

Johno made an excellent recommendation to run before the ride. That’s a great tip, generally, when you’re going big.

The first session of the day should be the session you are least likely to do when you’re tired.

For most of us, that’s a swim. No pool in Val d’Isère so we ran.

• 6K easy for me.

• 1:45 long run for the speedy guys.

Then a long wait to let the slower riders get up the road. This worked well and we didn’t end up spread all over the route.

If you’re running a camp then figure out ways to help the slower athletes get to the front, occasionally.

Being “behind” can wear on people when they are tired.

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Health & Aging Well

We’ve been talking about athlete health, testing protocols and the aging process.

I made a few notes for you to consider.

What are the changes I’ve made to help my overall health?

• Take alcohol to zero.

• Take coffee to zero.

• More generally, my caffeine is almost zero. I’ve had 6 colas in 2024 and don’t use caffeinated sports nutrition. Two main reasons here:

  • I want to feel my natural fatigue signals. “Recovery on demand” works best when I can feel fatigue. Over the years, I overrode a lot of fatigue with (a lot of) caffeine.

  • I was addicted to my “next coffee” and that was a hassle. It’s difficult to see the mental drain of addiction until you get outside of it.

• Eat fewer eggs. I was eating a ton and my writing partner for our Nutrition Chapter (Ien Hellemans) encouraged more variety in my diet.

  • Related, we took our coconut oil consumption to almost zero. We switched to avocado oil for cooking.

The changes above are small details in an overall approach that’s effective:

1. Eat real food.

2. Get adequate sleep.

3. Strength train.

4. Exercise daily.

If you are hitting those four then you’re doing what it takes.

I have seen friends surprise themselves with their ability to change in the face of heart disease, cancer, A-fib or the death of a close friend/relative.

The question to consider…

Why wait?

Knowing the impact of my lifestyle accumulates over time, I decided to make the above changes pro actively.

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Seen on my run in Val d’Isère.

One thing about all the exercise my peer group does. We need to be careful that we don’t set ourselves up for chronic inflammation.

I’m hoping my liberal use of Easy Days will enable me to enjoy trips like this for many years.

I am extremely consistent with my training and I don’t do much hard stuff.

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Here’s something you should notice…

Pay attention to how short your memory is with recovery.

Many athletes smash themselves on Monday, and by Wednesday are convinced they haven’t done anything all week.

If that’s you then you’re at risk for chronic beatdown.

Chronic fatigue arrives slowly.

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Nadja and I were talking about testing for older athletes.

I shared that my electrocardiogram, when I did a run test to max, gave me surprising comfort. I’d recommend that to you… in addition to your routine cancer screenings.

The other things you could do:

• Flashing lights front/rear on your bike.

• Garmin radar integrated light (rear).

• Reduce time spent on roads with traffic.

• Avoid all busy roads.

Long-term risk is numbers game => a few small changes will greatly improve our odds.

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Finally, what is aging well?

We each have to decide for ourselves.

For me…

1. Being able to enjoy trips like this - different than merely attending.

2. Feeling good inside my body most days. I don’t mind getting tired occasionally but my family life is strained when I slide back into the level of fatigue I carried as an elite athlete.

3. Race performance? I’m still not sure. I’ll be racing more next year. Will be interesting to see how that goes.

The endurance lifestyle has risks associated with it. However, these risks are outweighed by giving ourselves a massive buffer in functional capacity.

When our approach to endurance sport reduces our functional capacity… then it’s time to change.