the morning shakeout | issue 519

The power of practice, talking shop with Pete Pfitzinger, a PSA for fall marathoners and ultrarunners everywhere, and a lot more.

Don’t shoot into the sun, they said. It will ruin your eyes, they said. (Shot on my iPhone.)

Good morning! This week’s “Quick Splits” were anything but that, so I’m keeping this intro short. Let’s get right to it.

Quick Splits

— As part of the Fall Marathon Workshop Series that Peter Bromka and I hosted in August and September, we brought in sports psychology coach Emily Saul to give a presentation on mastering the marathon mindset. She taught our cohort how to choose (and sharpen!) the mental tools to help navigate the ups and downs of marathon training, and then how to use them effectively on race day. It was a home run.

Emily’s incredibly skilled at what she does, so, as I’m prone to do, I went down a rabbit hole to learn more about her work and came across this TEDxBoston talk from 2022 called “The Power of Practice: Lessons From 10 Years of Pushups.” It’s less about pushups and more about the importance of having a practice—for Emily it was pushups; for the rest of us it might be running, writing, meditation, yoga, or something else—and what you can learn from doing something consistently and with intention.

“We’re all striving for something,” she says near the end of the talk, “and if this practice has taught me anything, it’s that if there’s something that inspires you or has meaning for you, and you want to be connected to it, find the version of it that works for you and then practice being good at it day after day.”

Along these lines, I have a few consistent practices in my life, running being the, uh, longest running one (pun not actually intended), followed by writing this newsletter every week, and reading most days. I recently restarted doing “Morning Pages,” a daily, stream-of-consciousness journaling practice in which you fill up three pages of a notebook with whatever is on your mind. Julia Cameron popularized the idea decades ago in The Artist’s Way, and it’s a popular practice for folks looking to unlock creativity in their lives. For me, journaling in this way is more about wading through my muddled mind and finding clarity, but my problem with them in the past has been my lack of consistency—I’ve had more stops and starts than I care to count, mostly because three pages proved to be too much to keep up with day after day. In short, it wasn’t working for me. But Emily’s talk encouraged me to find a way that might, so I’ve settled on a morning page, instead of pages, which takes me all of 5 minutes, and it’s already proving to be a much more attainable (and sustainable) practice.

— I recently caught up with Pete Pfitzinger, two-time U.S. Olympian in the marathon, exercise scientist, and author of Advanced Marathoning. Pfitzinger, along with his longtime collaborator and co-author Scott Douglas, just published the fourth edition of his popular and influential book, which is geared toward ambitious amateurs looking to race fast(er) over 26.2 miles.

Over the past two decades I’ve learned a lot from Pete, and his work has helped shape my own perspective on marathon training and program design. I’ve had a copy of Advanced Marathoning on my bookshelf since my first marathon in 2007 and was also a dedicated reader of his monthly “Lab Report” column in Running Times back in the day.

So, it was a real treat to talk shop with him a few weeks ago: what’s new in the latest edition of his book, the influence of super shoes and sports nutrition in recent years, how strength training and cross-training fit into the mix, key considerations for Masters runners, common mistakes marathoners make, and a lot more. You can read a transcript of our conversation here. (There isn’t an audio version for this one, sorry.)

— When I was coming up in the sport, I remember the name Maria Cicero popping up a bunch, which makes sense since we’re about the same age and both competed collegiately in New England. A high school standout, Cicero (now Maria Lindberg), went on to have a solid collegiate career at Boston College, and that seemed to be it as far as her involvement in competitive running went. I hadn’t heard her name in nearly two decades until it resurfaced in yesterday’s issue of the Fast Women newsletter.

The 42-year-old Lindberg just ran 2:34:59 to finish 17th at the Chicago Marathon, setting a huge personal best and qualifying for the 2028 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon. The journey she’s taken to get there, which includes a career as a therapist, three kids, learning that she had had a BRCA gene mutation—which eventually led to a prophylactic mastectomy, followed by reconstruction surgery, and finally prophylactic hysterectomy—is nothing short of incredible. It’s one of those “it’s never too late to be what you might have been” type of stories that was genuinely inspiring to read.

“I think for so long, I had that cognitive distortion of the arrival fallacy—if I only did this, then I’d be happy,” she told Alison Wade. “And that kind of thinking can lead to having all of your eggs in one basket. My life is so much more balanced now, and ironically, it’s been so helpful for my running because my focus is on so many other things. I feel like I’m able to get my best out of running because I don’t put all of my energy toward it.”

— A lot of you seemed to like the episode of the Glue Guys podcast with Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr that I linked to in last week’s issue, so my hunch is that you’ll enjoy this one from earlier this year with former Duke basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, aka Coach K, just as much. What makes this one particularly special is that one of the hosts, Shane Battier, played for Coach K more than 25 years ago and the respect and reverence he has for him is palpable throughout the episode. Like the podcast with Kerr, this one is another mountain of gold just waiting to be mined. My favorite part is when Coach K talks about “the dignity of work,” i.e. that no job is too small, no matter what your role is on the team. Add it to your podcast queue!

— Two years ago my wife and I went to a big music festival for my birthday, mainly to see Norah Jones do her thing from behind the piano. Ed Sheeran was the headliner that night, and, to be honest, we’d planned to bounce after a couple songs so that we could try to beat traffic out of there. Long story short, we stayed for the entire set, long lines to leave be damned. Sheeran’s an incredibly talented and entertaining performer and what he’s able to do with a loop pedal is mind-blowing. Anyway, he got behind NPR’s Tiny Desk last month, pulling off this 5-song set entirely on his own, and it’s really, really f*cking good.

— From the archives (Issue 467, 1 year ago this week): I’d like to open up this week’s issue with a PSA for fall marathoners and ultrarunners everywhere: it’s OK, even advisable, to unplug from training after racing hard for a few or more hours, whether you hit your goal or not. Just because a couple of your favorite pros or Instagram influencers are doing ridiculous things within a week of finishing the same race you just did doesn’t mean you should be too. I’ve seen more stupid shit on my Strava and social media feeds of late that my head hurts from shaking it so much. Who is everyone trying to impress and/or what are you trying to prove? Take some time to enjoy your accomplishment or even sit with your disappointment for a bit. Either way it’s OK, and good for you to do, I promise. And while you’re doing that, respect the recovery, not just the allowing of your body to bounce back from the physical pounding of the race itself, but paying back the mental and emotional toll of going hard at a big goal. (Which includes the months of accumulating effort and increased focus that went into it before you even set foot on the start line.) Now, what that unplugging looks like is going to be different for everyone but the key is to get out of “training mode” for a little while. Heck, don’t adhere to too strict of a schedule for a week or two. And for crissakes don’t race again for at least a month. Take some days off, maybe cross-train or go for a walk instead of run, or run less and slower than you normally would, and forget about Track Tuesday, Tempo Friday, or Church of the Sunday Long Run for a couple weeks, longer if you dare. However you do it, the main idea is to give your body a break and shut your brain off for a bit. The 1-2 weeks after a long race is the time to rest, repair, and recharge, not crush workouts or slay long runs or chase the dragon because you’re riding high from a recent PR, shit the bed last Sunday, and/or have another race coming up in six weeks. To quote my Nana Fraioli, who never ran so much as a mile but knew a thing or two about playing the long game of life: “Don’t be afraid to work hard, but know when to take a rest. Otherwise you won’t last very long.”

— We’re at the height of marathon season right now and it seems as good a time as any to share this piece from my partners at Precision Fuel & Hydration on the history of marathon fueling (which, if you already receive PF&H’s weekly performance emails, you may have seen already; if not, make sure you’re subscribed here) as well as this fantastic 5-part video series on how to fuel a marathon that I was fortunate to contribute to alongside PF&H’s sport scientists, sponsored athletes, and other experts. I’m a big believer in Precision’s products, which is what I’ve used to fuel my own training and racing for the past 8 years, and I’m incredibly grateful for the no-BS nutrition and hydration knowledge they share so freely. (And if you’re interested in trying any PF&H products for yourself, check out this link and save 15% off your first order.)

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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).

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Workout of the Week: NAZ Elite Fatigue Resistance Session

The “fourth dimension” of marathon performance, along with VO2 Max, Running Economy, and Lactate Threshold, is Fatigue Resistance, says Jack Mullaney, the head coach of HOKA Northern Arizona Elite. “The final miles of a marathon are the most telling of an athlete’s fatigue resistance, and often are the difference between a PR and a performance that leaves more to be desired,” he explained to me. “Since you can’t run a marathon every week in training, I look for ways to create fatigue in a workout where the athlete is forced to hit their target marathon pace on tired legs.”

The following workout is a fatigue resistance session that Alex Masai of HOKA NAZ Elite did last fall in his buildup to the 2024 Chicago Marathon, where he ran 2:08:51 to finish 9th overall in his debut at the distance. (Ed. note: Masai went even faster at the 2025 Chicago Marathon, finishing 3rd in 2:04:37.) It consists of a tempo run at marathon pace, followed by some 1-mile repeats at 10K pace, followed by another tempo run at marathon pace. Mullaney told me that Masai ran the first 3 miles in 14:45 (4:55/mi), then split 4:26, 4:24, and 4:25 for his mile reps, and finished in 14:21 for his final 3 miles (4:47/mi). Now, while Masai’s splits are likely out of reach for the rest of us, the spirit of the workout is something you can effectively emulate in your next marathon training block. Here are the details.

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The bottom line. 

“What really matters is the work. And what matters to me is doing the work. I’m not looking at the back end: ‘What am I going to get out of this? What’s going to be the reward?’ I’m just looking at the work, the pleasure of being able to do the work. And that’s what the fun is: To climb up the mountain is the fun, not standing at the top. There’s nowhere to go. But climbing up, that struggle, that to me is where the fun is. That to me is the thrill. But once that’s over, that’s kind of it. I don’t look too much beyond that.”

— Robert Redford, renowned actor, director, and activist, who passed away last month at the age of 89 [Ed. note: This pairs well with David Lynch’s quote at the bottom of Issue 498.]

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That’s it for Issue 519. 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