#8: Test Yourself
Mulholland
If you have a goal, you need to find ways of testing where you are in achieving what you set out to accomplish. I wanted to be able to survive the massive climbs in California. But in Boston all we have are little hills. It’s impossible to simulate a 10- mile hill at a 12% grade.
I found the steepest hill I could (Summit Avenue in Brookline, about a mile from my house) and began doing sets riding up and down the same hill multiple times on the clock. By the end of my training I was doing 15 hills in sets of 5 with 2 minutes of rest between each set. That took an hour and a half of straight climbing, and totaled three thousand feet of ascent, more than any one of the single ascents in LA. I still had the downhill to rest, so it wasn’t the same. But parts of my workout hill were brutally steep. So I felt sure I was as ready as I was going to get.
Next: This Is Really About Friendship
—Photo Digammo/Flickr
About Tom Matlack
Vocalyze
Since you like Ice Cream, you should check here for some substitutes.
http://articles.elitefts.com/category/articles/efs-cookbook/
Hi mates, its wonderful paragraph concerning cultureand completely explained, keep it up all the time.
I liked the article, but could have passed on the “if he can do it you can” part. First, it’s a horribly lazy cliche. Second, it’s not even true — your first line notes your “background in swimming, rowing, marathon running, and kickboxing.” Is that really “if he can do it anyone can” baseline material?
Great photos! Looking hot, Tom! Interesting article….middle aged men trying to keep it all fit! My karate sensei ( a 46 yo 6th degree black belt who lifts 300+ lbs and does pushups on his thumbs) has had to face his own health issues: hypertension, a gastrointestinal illness that required an extensive work-up and scared him briefly about the possibility of cancer (all negative!), fertility issues (slightly low sperm count and facing future fatherhood), and stress from unemployment…..I kinda joined karate on a lark and have ended up dedicating a good portion of the last 3.5 years of my life to it…needless to say, I have bonded with Sensei and the other men in my karate class….and have learned a lot about men and what it means to be a man by watching them go through their crises close up…..I thought I was just doing exercise but I realize it is something so much more…you can tell a lot about someone by the way they do karate…
Great essay, Tom! I think I get men better through relating to them physically….more essays on this would be interesting!
Leia you should write about that, “I think I get men better through relating to them physically”
David Lynch’s MULHOLLAND DRIVE is a great film. Naomi Watts gives probably her greatest performance in a hypnotic investigation of fame, love, and ambition in L.A. It’s not a really bad movie. It’s a brilliant piece of cinematic art.
You do look great, though.
Bonking is a slightly antiquated brit slang word for sex. It has a naughtysaucy seaseaside end-of-the-pier type feel to it, rather like the word ‘shag’.
‘bonk’ what a glorious word
Why does it seem as though there is always a reference to Tom’s “alpha male” status? It’s the worst sort of humblebragging: I started out as an alpha male jerk, but congratulate me for getting in touch with my sensitive side now that mortality has come a-knockin’.
Shouldn’t all middle aged men be concerned about their health and fitness?
I was going to comment on the ‘a-word’ too Pedro. I agree.
Who cares about whether he is alpha or not?