10 things, space squats and jaw droppers

Hi all,

Yesterday, walking my shaggy muppet of a dog Macy, she saw a man taking out his recycling and started crying and pulling me towards him like he was a long lost relative. I gave the guy a look like, do you have time to say hi to a whiny dog? He greeted her like she was a grandchild and told me this was his number six for today. 
Number six?
He explained that he counts up ten things to get excited about each day and the enthusiasm of my dog was one of his ten today. He told me about the other five, friends he hasn't seen in a while at the gym and a nice conversation he had with a neighbor. 

Lucky me, Tuesdays I always have something I can count on to be excited about and that is hearing from you. If you have never reached out and want to drop me a note, do it and GET ON MY LIST of ten things for today, I would love it! 

SPACE SQUATS
Have you seen this video of astronaut Jessica Meir working out in the International Space Station? My first thought was, that set up looks like a real pain in the rear and her hair sticking straight up just killed me, taking fly-aways to the next level. Here is a way easier way to workout. Join me on Wednesday night for Strength Training for Runners. Live to your screen and always free. Stay home, get strong. 

PODCAST PARTY IN PDX
There is a podcast party and if I were in Portland, I would definitely join this one. Feisty Media (the women's sports and health people) and Another Mother Runner (podcasters, coaches and community builders) are having a party (and an optional 5k run) at Portland Run Co on March 18. 

JAW DROPPERS

• This finish from the men's race at the LA Marathon had me on the edge of my seat. The kick coming from Nathan Martin was absolutely eye-popping. More about his win here. 
• I have watched Lucy Underdown perform this 701-pound deadlift a dozen times. The weight comes right up, she stands there holding it like I COULD DO THIS ALL DAY and gives the crowd a smile like, this is just the warm up. This makes me want to deadlift every day until I run out of weights in my gym. 
• El Salvadorian David Chavez prepping for the Paralympics ON THE SAND, ON THE BEACH!!!!! People are amazing. 

SUPPLEMENTS?
There is a new paper from the International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN), a position stand on the effects of dietary antioxidants on exercise and sports performance. (antioxidants they include are: Vitamins E and C, Zinc, Ashwagandha, beetroot, curcumin, tart cherry and more things you may be getting ads for in your inbox!)

In summary stress from overtraining, poor sleep, the environment or workouts isn’t the enemy, it’s part of the training signal. Sometimes that stress is needed so you adapt and strengthen against it. Sometimes you are just getting beat up from it. Because of that, antioxidants aren't always yes or a never, they are tools you periodize. If you blunt the training signal all the time taking high doses of antioxidants, you may reduce some of the adaptations you are training for.

In my opinion, please START HERE: Exercise regularly, sleep 7+ hours, eat fruits and veggies, build community, and make time to relax, all of which are the base where you build your training and this base needs to be solid before you should add anything else. You can't tart cherry juice your way out of a poor training plan and no sleep.