Finished reading: The Tomb of Dragons by Katherine Addison continues the great Cemeteries of Amalo series. I’m impressed with how casually and simply such a rich and complex world is created in this series 📚

🔗 Matt Gurney: How Hollywood screwed with our civic expectations

Why do we assume the same government that is, for instance, struggling to fill potholes in my city, or hire enough nurses in my province, or fix a federal payroll system, is going to be more competent when presented with something totally out of the blue? This flies in the face of all of our lived experiences with government. It’s a generous assumption of state capacity that is, to put it charitably, unearned.

🔗 Optimization Culture is Making Us Fragile

For all that we know about human performance, it is still wildly mysterious. A blackbox algorithm cannot predict how you’ll perform. If you think you must have full readiness to perform at your best, then you will leave so many of your best days on the table. It is a fragility mindset that creates a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Absolutely something to be careful about. I know I’ve sometimes been influenced by a poor readiness score and have learned to treat it as a general indicator, rather than prediction.

Finished reading: Outlive by Peter Attia is a comprehensive approach to health. Although we need to be careful about influencer nonsense when it comes to health advice, Attia’s work is carefully considered and researched. My main takeaways are the importance of strength training, monitoring my protein consumption, continuing to prioritize sleep, and carefully considering mental resiliency 📚

Tall Trees Muskoka. 📍

Reflecting on yesterday’s stomach troubles, I have to consider the deep fried butter tart I had the night before the race. A delicious concoction of a butter tart, wrapped in a cinnamon coated churro, topped with vanilla ice cream. Not traditional triathlon nutrition, but I’ve decided it prevented anything worse from happening, rather than contributing to the trouble.

Me sitting at a table, smiling, and holding a spoon near a dessert topped with ice cream.

🏊‍♂️🚴🏃‍♂️ I do these things because they’re hard. This was was the hardest yet: ridiculous humidity and some bad nausea on the bike made this one a struggle. 45 minutes slower than my last two attempts and every minute was earned. But, this is likely the one I’ll remember most.

A person wearing a red shirt and white cap is holding up an Ironman Muskoka Canada medal.

🏊‍♂️🚴🏃‍♂️ I’m always worried that I’m forgetting something. Pictures like these help, plus a packing list in Apple Notes

A table displays various athletic gear including cycling shoes, a helmet, a jersey, a cap, sports bottles, and nutrition supplements.

George let’s me know when I’ve spent enough time with my phone. Leans right up against me and is not shy about using his paw to push the phone away.

A close-up of a golden retriever’s face showcasing its eye and nose.