the morning shakeout | issue 515
The suspensive freedom of walking (or running!), refusing to loaf as you age, being there for your friends, and a lot more.
Good morning! As mentioned here last Tuesday, the newsletter is on archival autopilot for a few weeks. What you’ll find below is a short collection of some favorite posts from years past rather than recent reflections on what I’ve been thinking about and paying attention to. I’ll be back to my usual musings and meanderings on running, coaching, music, and whatever else is rattling around in my brain on October 14.
If you’ve been reading me for a while, a few of these timeless treats might taste familiar, or maybe you’re sampling some for the first time. Either way, it’d be great if they land in a fresh way and give you something to chew on for a little while. To those of you who are new (or new-ish) subscribers, it’s my intention for this little archival excavation to serve as an extended introduction to the spirit of the shakeout, giving you a better sense of how it’s evolved (or hasn’t!) over the past ten years.
OK, let’s get right to it.
Quick Splits
— From the archives (Issue 46, 9 years ago this week): Running has filled a lot of different roles in my life, many of them competitive in their nature. But the activity itself, more so now than ever, is when I get away from my desk, do my best thinking, come up with most of my ideas and solve 78 percent of the world’s problems on a weekly basis. I recently came across this piece on Farnam Street discussing how walking has shaped the lives of various writers and philosophers. What the activity of walking did for folks like Thoreau, Kant and Nietzsche, running (as a non-competitive pursuit) does for me. “[T]here is the suspensive freedom that comes by walking, even a simple short stroll: throwing off the burden of cares, forgetting business for a time. You choose to leave the office behind, go out, stroll around, think about other things.” Sound familiar?
— From the archives (Issue 202, 6 years ago this week): I want to be like John Olson when I grow up. The 97-year-old lobsterman from Maine is still working—not as much as he used to years ago, but he’s the captain of his ship and manning a couple hundred traps, not because he has to, but because it’s what makes him feel the most alive. I love reading about folks like Olson, who never really embrace the concept of retirement because their life’s work is more than just a job. These stories inspire me as I navigate my own journey through life, work, and where the two intersect. I hope to be coaching at least a few athletes and sharing stories about running as long as I’m alive. Sure, some day I’ll coach quite a few less people than I do now and maybe eventually the newsletter and podcast won’t be a weekly thing (and/or they’ll take on different forms) but I can’t imagine not doing what I do to some degree as long as I’m physically and mentally able. To echo Olson, “I never loafed,” he admits. “Sure I’ve earned it. But hey, I don’t want to.”
— From the archives (Issue 359, 3 years ago this week): The aforementioned Adam Campbell, with the nudging of a few folks (including myself during our conversation last Thursday), has started writing again at his Muddy Socks blog after a near 10-month hiatus. You can read his most recent entry right here. Adam’s a wonderful writer who has experienced a lot in life and I really appreciate (and enjoy) his willingness to explore different aspects of it on the page. “I get a great deal of satisfaction and therapeutic benefit from writing, but it is also a very easy area to neglect because it does take work and I have a tendency to make my writing quite personal, which comes with its own burden,” he writes. “I also have a tendency to always want to put out something ‘great,’ which is an entirely subjective measure and one that far too often I use as an excuse to not write anything. As John reminded me a few months back, the question I should ask myself is not ‘Is this good writing?’ The question is ‘What is this writing good for?’ Sometimes it’s good for processing, sometimes it's good for sharing thoughts and sometimes it's good for the garbage and that's totally okay!”
+ Check out this transcript of the conversation I had with Campbell in 2022 at the inaugural Mammoth Trail Fest. In this intimate—and, at times, emotional—exchange, which took place in front of a live audience, we discussed life, sport, loss, grief, guilt, redefining success, and a lot more.
— From the archives (Issue 411, 2 years ago this week): I spent this past weekend in Maine with a few of my closest friends, guys I’ve known for over 20 years, guys, who, despite distance and the busyness of our respective lives, have been there for one another through it all. These friendships are the most important thing in my life alongside my marriage, my family, and my health, and I’m incredibly grateful we’ve remained close for over half our lives at this point. Coincidentally enough I read this column about friendship from David French after I left on Sunday and it hit me right in the chest. “Stay together, I said,” French writes. “It’s going to get hard. Your kids are young. Your careers are just starting to take off. But stay together. Be there, even when it’s hard. Even when it’s inconvenient. After I got off the call, I kicked myself for not remembering a quote by C.S. Lewis: ‘Friendship is unnecessary,’ he wrote, ‘like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself (for God did not need to create). It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.’”
— From the archives (Issue 358, 3 years ago this month): I only heard Michael Kiwanuka’s “Cold Little Heart” for the first time a little over a month ago, quickly became obsessed with it, and immediately fell deep down the rabbit hole. Here’s my favorite version, acoustic and unfettered. It’s categorized as classic soul and has a haunting little hook to it. Kiwanuka’s voice matches up well with the lyrics, which are laced with failure, doubt, and shame but also a glimmer of optimism that held me till the end.
— A big thank you to my partners at Precision Fuel & Hydration for their continued support of my work. In addition to making best-in-class products for use during training and racing, the PF&H crew provides hands-down the best information of any brand (or any online outlet, really!) to answer whatever questions you might have about fueling and hydrating for performance and recovery. Case in point: In this article, PF&H sports scientist Emily Arrell covers everything you need to know about what to eat and drink before a late(r) race start. She goes over what to eat and drink from 24-48 hours before the start all the way until an hour before the gun goes off. She also covers common mistakes such as over/under-eating and/or drinking and how to remedy them. (And if you’re interested in trying any PF&H products for yourself—they’re what I’ve used to keep myself fueled and hydrated in training and racing for nearly 8 years now—check out this link and save 15% off your first order.)
I’m not racing a marathon this fall, but if I were I’d be doing it in the new FuelCell SuperComp Elite v5 from New Balance, their latest carbon-plated super shoe that’s engineered specifically for racing fast on the roads. They sent me a pair earlier this year and it was love at first stride. I took them out the door for a tempo run in early spring and just wow. This is the best-fitting, best-feeling super shoe I’ve ever worn. There’s enough protection underfoot to hold up to longer efforts without making it feel you’re running with a marshmallow on your feet, and a punch of pop that I appreciate when I’m ripping laps on the track or running fast on the roads. In short: It’s versatile! The FuelCell SuperComp v5 is now available at your favorite running speciality retail store and on newbalance.com (men’s sizes here, women’s sizes here).
Workout of the Week: Elimination 400s
I came up with this workout for the Wednesday night track crew I coach as a fun way to get in a high volume of quality work while also practicing how to be disciplined, stay focused, and go through a wide range of gears. This session works best in a group environment because it has a competitive element to it—you’re “eliminated” when you run slower than your previous interval; whoever can tally up the most reps “wins” the workout—but it can also be done alone. Here are the details.
The bottom line.
“You can plan a pretty picnic but you can’t predict the weather.”
—OutKast, Ms. Jackson (This quote first appeared in Issue 212. It’s a good reminder for fall marathon season!)
That’s it for Issue 515. If you enjoyed it, please forward this email to a likeminded friend and encourage them to subscribe at this link so the next issue goes straight to their inbox.
Thanks for reading,
Mario