Wicked Fast Sports Nutrition: Your Calf Says Chee!

Funny story from one of my recent trail running adventures…

In a recent 50-mile trail run in the mountains of Utah, I was trading leads back/forth with another guy. You typically will see the same people several times in a long trail run – you might run together for awhile, then leave them when you’re feeling good (or they leave you) and then join up again in various sections of the course.

This particular guy was a phenomenal downhill runner – absolutely flying on the rocky single track. I’m better on the uphill sections – so I’d creep past him on the ups and he’d blow past me on the downs.

We both had on ipods so we didn’t talk too much except for the short, “how ya doin’?” and “looking good” encouragement that all trail runners share with each other – but on one of the last long rocky downhill sections, I heard him coming fast behind me – and just before he got to me, he popped out his earbud and yells to me, “Your calf says Chee!”

I couldn’t believe what I heard, so I popped out an earbud and asked, “What did you say?” – to which he repeated, “Your calf says Chee!”

We ran together for the next couple of miles (without earbuds) and when I asked how in the world he knew what the Chinese symbol on my left calf represented, he explained to me that his ipod contained a series of Chinese language lessons that he was trying to get through for school (International Business major) – and he recognized the “Qi” symbol from his studies (meaning life force and pronounced “chee”). I explained to him that I had been studying the Western equivalent of Qi – what we call “Vigor” in mood-state research for about the last 10 years.

At that point in the race (about mile 47), his college-student body clearly had higher Qi/Vigor than mine, so he went on to the finish line a few minutes ahead of me – but it struck me how the concept of Qi/Vigor is starting to finally reach into the mainstream public consciousness – especially considering that Burnout (the opposite of Vigor) has been a part of our mainstream vocabulary for so long.

If you know someone who could use a little more “Chee” or Vigor in their life, then encourage them to check out some of the video and audio resources on this website, including:

A book on the topic of Vigor – 7 Days to Unlimited Energy, Focus, and Well-Being (all proceeds to charity)

A scientific publication about using traditional approaches to restore Vigor

Thanks for reading,

Shawn

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Shawn M. Talbott, Ph.D.

Chief Scientific Officer

Wicked Fast Sports Nutrition

648 E Rocky Knoll

Draper, UT 84020

(801) 915-1170

Shawn@WickedFastSN.com