the morning shakeout | issue 508

Some takeaways from the U.S. Track & Field Championships, what Stoicism can teach us about running (and vice versa), simple pleasures, and a lot more.

Peekaboo. (Shot on my iPhone.)

Good morning! I’ve had a lot on my mind lately so one thing I’ve intentionally not spent a lot of time thinking about since early July is my own training schedule. That said, I am being intentional about my running this summer and have put together a weekly framework that’s repeatable and sustainable as I look ahead toward the fall cross-country season. In case anyone’s interested, here’s what it’s looked like for the past month or so:

— Six days a week of running: 5 days between 60-75 minutes, 1 day between 90-105 minutes. I go first thing in the morning (after drinking coffee, of course) otherwise it’s not getting done.

— On Tuesday or Wednesday I do hill repeats of some sort and later in the week I’ll mix in 20-30 minutes of steady effort, i.e. not too hard, not too easy, into one of my runs. If I miss a workout, as was the case last week with last week’s hill session, I don’t sweat it. (I just try not to make a habit of it.) The rest of my runs are situation-dependent: If I feel like shit, I’ll run as slow as my body wants to go; if I feel great, I’ll just let it flow. And if I’m running with someone else, I’ll run their pace because otherwise what’s the point?

— Two to three times a week I’ll finish my run with 8 x 15-20 second strides for speed and mechanical maintenance.

— Two days a week I go to the gym after work with Christine and strength train for 45 minutes. I pretty much do whatever she’s doing and adjust weight/reps/sets as necessary. If time allows, like it did this past weekend, I’ll squeeze in another 20-30 minute session in my garage.

— One day a week I rest. I’ll take Tahoe out for his walks and spend 15-20 minutes doing some basic mobility work in my office and that’s the extent of my activity for the day.

None of this is complicated, exciting, or sexy but it’s effective foundational work. In fact, if you did something like this for three months or more without missing (m)any days you’d find yourself pretty damn fit and in a position to take your training in any number of different directions: you could dial back the volume and fine-tune your speed for a fast mile or 5K; maintain the volume and layer in more specific workouts for 10K to half marathon; or increase the volume and shift your focus to the marathon or beyond. Don’t overthink it—just get out there and do it. (And try to do the things outside of running that help support it: eat and sleep well/enough, take care of your body, manage your stress levels, have other interests, and surround yourself with good people.)

Anyway, all of my stuff is on Strava and you can follow along here if you’re so inclined. Any questions, simply reply to this email or leave a comment on Strava/below this post.

Quick Splits

— I’ve rewatched the men’s 800m final from the U.S. Track & Field Championships this past Sunday in Eugene, Oregon, about half a dozen times already and I’ll probably watch it a dozen more before the week is out. There’s so much to appreciate about it, from Josh Hoey taking it out at breakneck speed to try and out-fitness everyone, to American record-holder Bryce Hoppel trying like hell to get around him from 250 to 100 to go before finally taking the lead for a hot second on the home straight (he’d eventually finish third), to 2019 world champion Donavan Brazier, returning from injury this season after a multi-year hiatus, just sitting patiently on the rail the entire race until he found an opening with 60 meters to go and took it all the way to the tape. Oh, and let’s not forget about 16-year-old Cooper Lutkenhaus coming out of nowhere in the final 100 meters to finish second in 1:42.27—a huge personal best and under-18 world record. [Insert head-exploding emoji here.] Everyone’s talking about Lutkenhaus—and with good reason, as that was a once-in-a-lifetime performance that no one, probably including Lutkenhaus himself, had on their bingo card—but for me, Brazier’s victory was evidence of why he’s going to be considered one of the all-time greats in this event. His poise, timing, and savvy, that sense of calm, control, and confidence amidst all the chaos around him, especially after a few uncertain years away, isn’t something we often get to see in sport. This was an instant all-timer if there ever was one.

— High school coaches: If you want to teach your kids how to race a mile, have them watch Nikki Hiltz in the 1500m final at the U.S. Championships on Saturday. This is a masterclass in keeping calm (Hiltz got tripped up in the first lap), marking moves, making moves, closing with authority, and generally just competing with confidence. It was Hiltz’ eighth-straight U.S. final and third-straight U.S. outdoor 1500m title. Fast race, slow race, push from the front or kick from behind, they’ve seen it all and won it every which way. “Experience is everything,” Hiltz said immediately after the race.

— Just how talented is newly crowned U.S. men’s 1500m champ Jonah Koech? Sure, the 28-year-old won his first U.S. title on Saturday in only the fifth 1500m race of his pro career. He also won a Diamond League race back in May. And yes, he’s reportedly been nursing a tight hammy the past few weeks. But he also ran one of the sloppiest last laps I’ve seen in recent memory and still set a championship record of 3:30.17 while doing it. Watch the replay: Koech spends pretty much the entirety of the final 400m in Lane 2, running wide in an effort to get around the field, and somehow still had enough gas in the tank to close his final 100 in 12.49. Plenty of guys ran better tactically, but Koech out-talented all of them to take the win. (Wait until he gets himself some Hiltz-level experience!)

— Bestselling author (and formerly pretty fast 800m runner!) David Epstein recently wrote about the arrival fallacy, i.e. “the mistaken belief that finally ‘arriving’ at a long‑sought goal will deliver lasting happiness,” and it’s a great read. It reminds me of a line from one of my favorite books, Robert M. Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, in which he writes, “The only Zen you find on the tops of mountains is the Zen you bring up there.” Process over outcome. Journey over the destination. We hear some version of this tired trope all the time, probably because we all need the reminder that the PR, the win, the BQ, the degree, the promotion, the bonus, the award, the whatever it is you think will change your life, probably isn’t going to leave you feeling fulfilled for more than a few minutes. This is 90% of my job as a coach: helping to keep things in perspective. Goals are great. Achieving them is awesome. But pinning your happiness or sense of self worth on an outcome or an achievement isn’t sustainable. In fact, it will drive you insane. As my friend Brad Stulberg likes to say, “The goalpost is always 10 yards down the field.” The real reward is in the work, in showing up every day, in putting in an honest effort, in how you go about doing the thing, in what you learn and who you become along the way.

— Several years ago Christine and I watched a guy named Jake Bugg perform as the opening act for a show we were attending in Oakland. I honestly can’t even remember who the headliner was that night but Jake was really f*cking impressive and I’ve been a fan of his music ever since. Here’s a live version of my favorite song of his, “Simple Pleasures,” a moody tune that reminds me the “little” things in life often bring the most joy. I thought of it last Monday when I was running with Tahoe: no watch on my wrist, stopped at a grass field mid-run to chase each other around, and finished with telephone pole strides like I used to do in high school (i.e. run fast to the next pole, slow it down for a pole or two, repeat a bunch more times). You know, simple pleasures. “People finding the most pleasure / All within the smallest treasures / This don't seem possible to me”

— From the archives (Issue 404, 2 years ago this week): This is a good video from the writer Ryan Holiday in which he talks about how running taught him about Stoicism—and on the flipside, what studying Stoicism has taught him about running and being a better athlete. I appreciate what he had to say about competing with yourself (which, paradoxically, is something you should focus on even if you are someone who likes to compete in races) and making the pursuit of running yours without letting other people influence it. In our world today, with Strava, social media, real-time results and whatnot, it can be easy to fall into the comparison trap or let what other people are doing negatively affect your own approach. In the paraphrased words of Epictetus: “If you want to win, find a competition in which you are the only one in it.” (And in case you missed it the first time around, or just want to revisit the conversation, check out the podcast I recorded with Ryan in 2021 right here.)

— I’ve been using Final Surge to run the coaching side of my business since 2017 and I can’t say enough good things about the platform. They recently released the Workout Builder into their mobile app, which allows you to create and edit structured workouts directly in the app (versus just on desktop) and then sync it to your preferred device. Learn more about how to use it here. This is pretty nifty and useful for both coaches and athletes alike! (Also, fellow coaches: Head over to finalsurge.com and take advantage of a free 14-day coaching trial today. Use the code MORNINGSHAKEOUT when you check out to take 10% off your first purchase. Any questions? Just reply to this email and send ’em my way!

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I have been loving running in the New Balance FuelCell Rebel v5 over the past month or so. I’ve run in every iteration of this shoe and it’s my go-to for faster workouts on both the track and the roads. This latest version is no exception. As fast and fun as carbon-plated shoes can be, it’s important not to be overly reliant on them for all your track sessions, fartleks, hills, and tempo runs. The Rebel allows your feet to do what they want to do while providing plenty of protection underfoot when you’re putting a lot of extra force into the ground. The new blend of PEBA and EVA foams in the midsole provides a snappy ride underfoot, helping make the miles go by quickly. The FuelCell Rebel v5 is available on newbalance.com (men’s sizes here, women’s sizes here) and at your favorite local run specialty retail store.

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Workout of the Week: Surging Mile Repeats

Note: I messed up the link to the Workout of the Week in last Tuesday’s issue. Here’s the correct one for the In-n-Out Tempo Run. Apologies for the mistake.

Let me know if this situation sounds familiar: You’re in no-man’s land midway through a half-marathon or marathon. Or maybe you’ve been towing a group for several miles and none of the other runners in it want to help out with the pace. There’s a good-sized pack about 10 seconds down the road but they’re not really pulling away anymore. What do you do? If you want to ride that wave’s momentum and take advantage of the collective energy in front of you, you need to make a move and surge ahead. The Surging Mile Repeats workout is a session designed to help give you the fitness and confidence to do just that. Here are the details.

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The bottom line. 

“The great barrier is the mental hurdle.”

— Franz Stampfl, coach of Roger Bannister, the first person ever to run under 4 minutes for the mile (n.b. This quote can be applied to virtually any worthwhile pursuit in life.)

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That’s it for Issue 508. If you enjoyed it, please forward this email to a few friends and encourage them to subscribe at this link so that it lands in their inbox next Tuesday.

Thanks for reading,

Mario

P.S. We’ve still got a few spots left in the Fall Marathon Workshop Series! This virtual series of 6 in-depth sessions led by myself and Peter Bromka, with additional support from subject matter experts in nutrition, strength training, and sports psychology, will help you put the big building blocks of marathon training into place so that you’re as prepared as ever when you step to the start line this fall. It kicks off on Friday, August 15, and runs for 6 straight weeks. More details can be found here. (And the price goes up this Friday, so get in on it soon!)