Less than 2 weeks out from the Jacksonville Marathon and I’m feeling pretty good about myself. I have gotten in more miles at a faster pace than the last two previous marathons I have done and have been (knock on wood) relatively injury free aside from some nagging Achilles issues and the leg fatigue you would expect from putting in 40-70 miles a week in training. Along with more mileage and faster speeds, I feel like my time management has been more on point as well. I can remember in training for races in the past the amount of time I needed to dedicate to daily workouts seemed counterproductive to any other activity in my life, i.e. work, personal matters, family, etc. Even with the addition of baby Zeus I still feel like I am able to balance more effectively the life of a runner with being a father, a husband, and a contributing member to society. Somehow I feel like the elimination of alcohol and recreational drugs has a lot to do with it and the gradual influence of responsibility filling in the voids of reckless nights (and sometimes days) of blacked out inebriation. I feel stronger, faster, and lighter than I have in the past which has made me a more efficient athlete contributing to gains in cardiovascular endurance that will hopefully help me break the 3 hour mark at the marathon and garnish an entry in the race of all races in Boston. I have done all that I can do to get my endurance up, putting in the long runs and getting my physical training on point, I now have boarded the taper train for the next two weeks leading up to the event to allow for the rest and active recovery needed to peak at the right moment. Now it’s time to work on the other element of my two prong marathon training program and the namesake of this blog, my secret weapon, and one of a handful of supplements I use on the reg; marijuana consumption and the method with which I consume the active ingredient, THC.
A significant element in my life and ultimately my training, I feel a little bad I haven’t put more of the spotlight on the thing that inspired me to start writing this blog in the first place. To challenge the perception associated with “smoking pot”, and the image most have conjured up in their head when marijuana is discussed in a hushed whisper as if it were on the same playing field as heroine or meth. The reality is, it isn’t even in the same stadium, or planet for that matter. And unless you have lived in a cave for the l last several years you can not overlook the medical benefits for those that use it and the movement of several states to decriminalize and sometimes even legalize bud which is spearheading the change of public opinion and redefining what a “pot head” is. Along with the changing mindset of the drug itself, there is also an evolving world of how to concentrate the active ingredient into something more potent and medicinal and how to consume it using more health conscious methods of introducing the chemical into the body. Being an endurance runner I am sometimes caught in a mental struggle as to the paradox of my vice. I need to maintain efficient cardiovascular endurance however more often than not, smoking is the easiest most effective way of using marijuana. This is what poses the biggest contradiction to me and others on the issue. This has inspired me to find a better, healthier, and more efficient ways of introducing THC into my body. The most obvious of those ways would be simply eating it. This turns out to be my least favorite way to consume pot. Not only is it slow acting, but the process of actually making it is far more complicated and time consuming than simply pouring some herb into a brownie mix. And for anyone that has ever eaten pot before, you are very aware of the fine line associated with eating that one extra cookie or brownie cause you don’t feel anything and spending all night in the bathroom projectile vomiting. Needless to say, no one is putting in miles as they are puking their brains out after consuming the unhealthiest way of ingesting THC. Bottom-line, I needed to find a cleaner way to smoke pot. Smoke is still smoke, whether it is burning plastic, tobacco, or pot there is still some element of negatively impacting carcinogens associated with the byproduct. This leads most to the wonderful world of water pipes. Water is the cheapest and most readily available method of filtration for the smoke, to eliminate some of the negative side effects of filling your lungs with burnt leaves and buds to extract the THC from the mixture. Bong rips are great fun, however I can’t imagine anyone getting off the couch after ripping some cloudy white hits and running…….or walking…..maybe crawling; anywhere. Even to those that are willing to invest a few months of rent on a bong with multiple chambers, ice catches, and percolators it still only minimally filters the smoke to become more healthy, and the only benefits of the filtering are immediately lost when taking into consideration the volume of the hit someone takes with these apparatuses. So, perplexed at how to take in the THC via the lungs for an instant effect without inhaling smoke, I looked to a relatively new and more socially acceptable approach, the vaporizer. Vaporizers came into use initially as a way for those prescribed the drug to obtain the benefits without the negative impacts on health. Rather than inhaling a potentially harmful smoke, you inhale THC laced water vapor, creating a more pure transport of the drug to the system with minimal harmful effects. Perfect for those with lung and breathing conditions and/ or endurance athletes who want the effects of THC without the negative impacts on the advancement of their training. The vaporizer industry is constantly evolving, becoming more efficient, smaller, sleeker, and more user friendly. There are models that sit like a monument to Cheech and Chong on a coffee table and there are more discreet options you can practically puff in public without anyone around you even realizing. In the world of casual “illegal” pot smoking, flashy is something I am trying to stay away from, so I opted for the later of the two. I am lucky enough to have an old college friend who, after a pilgrimage to the lackadaisical land of California, was turned on to the “future” of the ever growing industry of marijuana and the satellite companies that is spawn in its wake. A fellow athlete himself, he understood the plight of the athlete/ pothead and turned me onto a product he believes so much in he started a company to facilitate the sale and gospel of it. I am not naive enough to think smoking has zero effect on my endurance, however after hundreds of self imposed experiments I find it has little to no effect on my lung capacity while running or in high intensity workouts that require large amount of oxygen consumption. But regardless if there is a healthier option that would impact me even less then of course I would be down to try it out. He handed me a case with some glass attachments, a laser pointer looking thing, and a usb charger. “This was the future.” I plugged the usb into my laptop, charged the unit, spun on a glass bulb attachment, filled the necessary compartment with “my medicine” (as they say in Cali) and was off and running in less than 5 minutes. The hit is smoother and more pure, without the abundance of coughing and burnt taste in your mouth. You can really appreciate the subtle flavor notes of the product you’re consuming. And most importantly I feel it eliminates the harshness of the smoke immediately following the act of smoking, which before I would have to wait at least 30 minutes for it to subside enough to get a legit workout in. It take a little while to get past the snobberish look of the unit and the absence of the keynote characteristics a typical marijuana affectionado looks for in a new “piece”. There is no inside out blown glass, elaborate water chambers, or hand painted characters. It’s to the point, efficient, and powerful without the pointless bells and whistles of a show piece that will undoubtedly be broken on your tile floor by one of your drunken friends in less than a year. It is truly the future of pot and I am glad I am lucky enough to take advantage of its benefits as if I was Marty Mcfly sent from the future to Florida to inform the masses of the greatness yet to come. Now it’s up to time to tell how the effects of this new phase in training will help my race. Lucky for you guys the update will be sooner than later, 13 days to go. DUN DUN DUN.
In the meantime if you guys would like more info on the itaste vv and the future of awesomeness to come check out this link and use coupon code “DRZEUS” for 10% off any orders for readers only. Click the pic above to get to the goods.
intheskinny 