We’re going to begin this week with a little honesty, and a little motivation.

Thursday marked exactly one month until the Tunnel Marathon on August 10th. And if you’ve ever been deep into marathon training (or any training block), you know this stretch well. It’s where pride and fatigue live side by side. You’ve stacked weeks of disciplined runs, early alarms, and clean eating. Your fitness is peaking. But so is the wear and tear.

The miles feel heavier now. Not just on your legs, but on your mind. You wake up sore. Little aches whisper doubts. You still lace up, because you said you would. But the resistance is louder than it was in week one. And maybe, for a moment, you wonder if you’re burning out.

This time is why exposure to multiple of these events is crucial - this is part of the process. This friction. This fatigue. This internal fight.

Every complaint, every voice telling you to take it easy, to skip just one day - it’s all coming from inside. It’s not the weather. It’s not my shoes. It’s not my schedule. It’s the war between who you are and who you’re becoming. Which is why you sign up in the first place.

The thing that experience teaches you? These pains don’t last.

They feel real now, but they’re just noise. And if you just keep moving forward, if you refuse to stop, they quiet down. They always do.

The breakthrough isn’t just physical. It’s the moment when you realize that everything trying to slow you down was made up by you. And just like you created it, you can silence it.

This experience is so analogous with many others in our every day lives. Often we go through difficult periods and our mind concocts ways to knock us down and to tell us to let our foots off the gas. It gives us an excuse. But if we just keep going, we never regret who we become and how we feel on the other side.

So just keep showing up.

Brain - NSDR - A Favorite Protocol of The Superset

You’re stressed. Your brain feels fried by 2 p.m. You’re dragging through the back half of the day, even though you’re training hard, working hard, and maybe even sleeping decently. But something’s still off.

Sound familiar?

I’m not someone who naturally leans into meditation or mindfulness techniques. But I’ve learned that if I want to perform at a high level, mentally and physically, I need more than caffeine and grit. You need tools. One of the best I’ve added to my mental toolbox, and a frequenter of this newsletter, is NSDR—Non-Sleep Deep Rest.

Popularized by Dr. Andrew Huberman, NSDR is a simple, science-backed protocol that gives your brain a structured break. Think of it like a “mental pit stop” during a chaotic day. It doesn’t require incense, silence, or even sleep. Just 10–15 minutes, a quiet spot, and your willingness to breathe with intention.

At its core, NSDR uses controlled breathing and guided body relaxation to downshift your nervous system. By changing the way you breathe - lengthening exhales, slowing the rhythm - you lower your heart rate, clear mental clutter, and recharge your brain. It’s not a nap. But it feels like a reset button.

Huberman’s NSDR video is my go-to. It’s just 10:49, guided the whole way, and easy to follow whether you’re new to this or not.

I’ve used it before high-stakes meetings, between long work blocks, or when I feel the afternoon fog creeping in. It’s become a low-effort, high-reward way to stay sharp without adding more noise to my day.

If you’ve never tried anything like this before, give it one week. Try it daily. Take mental notes. How do you feel before? After? Is your sleep deeper? Is your focus longer? Maybe this becomes a tool you can loop onto your belt too.

High performers recover with purpose. This is one way to start.

Body - The Future is Wearable

I’ve always loved technology, and as my love for fitness has grown, so has my interest in how the future of technology could help enhance the space.

It’s easy to think of wearables as just fancy step counters or sleep trackers, but the more you read, the more you begin to understand that we’re on the edge of something far more transformative. The next wave of health and wellness technology could completely change how we understand our bodies, prevent disease, and receive care.

Right now, most of us use devices like Apple Watch, WHOOP, or Oura Ring to track metrics like sleep, heart rate variability, and recovery. These tools have already shifted how athletes train and how everyday people make lifestyle decisions. But where we’re headed is even more exciting.

Take continuous glucose monitors (CGMs), for example. Once only for diabetics, they’re now being used by health-conscious individuals to learn how different foods affect their blood sugar in real time. Companies like Levels and Veri are pioneering this space, giving users actionable data to improve energy, avoid crashes, and optimize performance.

In the cardiovascular space, new patches and wearables are being developed to monitor heart rhythm and blood pressure continuously - not just once a year at the doctor’s office. Devices like the BioIntelliSense BioSticker or the Withings ScanWatch are already FDA-approved and pushing boundaries in passive, clinical-grade health monitoring.

There’s even work happening in mental health, now using wearables to detect signs of anxiety or depression through changes in heart rate variability, temperature, and breathing patterns. Imagine a future where your smartwatch prompts you to take a mindfulness break before stress overtakes you.

And this is just the beginning.

In a 2024 report by McKinsey, the wearable health tech market was projected to surpass $100 billion by 2030, driven by advancements in AI, sensor tech, and demand for personalized care. The promise? Early disease detection, real-time health feedback, and fewer surprises at your annual checkup - because your body has been speaking to you all along.

Of course, this doesn’t mean tech will replace lifestyle. The fundamentals of exercise, nutrition, and sleep still matter. But wearable tech is making it easier to stay consistent, measure progress, and get feedback faster than ever before.

We’re heading toward a world where your health data isn’t something you only get when something goes wrong, it’s something you own, understand, and can act on every day - and that is pretty exciting.

If you want a glimpse of what the next step in this technology could look like, check out this new health and fitness tracker, the Tricorder Zero. Seeing this device this week inspired this section. We are going to blink and realize how quickly this all evolved.

Book - Revisiting Deep Work by Cal Newport

This week, I pulled Deep Work by Cal Newport off the shelf—a book I first read years ago, but one I find myself returning to whenever I need some guard rails on how I spend my time. Lately, with tighter windows in the work day and a large block of time training, I’ve been looking for ways to get more out of less time. This book is a masterclass in doing exactly that, and was my intro into his work.

Cal defines “deep work” as the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. It’s a skill - rare and valuable in today’s distracted world - and one that separates the high achievers from the merely busy.

As I skimmed back through some of the highlighted sections, I jotted down these two ideas that I think are actionable for all:

1. Schedule Deep Work Like It’s a Meeting

We tend to assume deep, focused work will just “happen” if the day allows. But it doesn’t. He suggests blocking time for it with the same seriousness you’d give a client call or team meeting. One hour of distraction-free work often beats three hours of multitasking.

Even 30–60 minutes of focused output - where your phone is off, tabs are closed, and you’re locked in - can move your goals forward more than you think. The key is intentionality. Time is rarely the issue; it’s how we use it.

2. Embrace Boredom to Rebuild Focus

This one surprised me as a productivity hack when I first read it, but it makes even more sense now: If you’re constantly flipping between screens, scrolling, or filling every spare second with noise, your brain forgets how to focus. Newport argues that our ability to do deep work is directly tied to our ability to be bored without reaching for stimulation.

So try this: The next time you're waiting in line, sitting in traffic, or walking the dog - don’t reach for your phone. Let your mind wander. Training your brain to tolerate boredom actually strengthens the muscle of attention, so when it’s time to lock in, you can.