the morning shakeout | issue 533
Brief reflections on my recent race, the most interesting man in the sport of athletics, how exercise influences creativity, and a lot more.
Good morning! I’m very tight on time this week. Let’s get right to it.
Quick Splits
— I urge you to please continue to be a speck of hope for one another during these dark times. And if you’re American, call your representatives and let them know what’s important to you. Our individual and collective well-being, not to mention the preservation of democracy, depends on it.
— Jakob Ingebrigtsen might be the most interesting man in the sport of athletics. He walks the talk, isn’t afraid to be brutally honest, and has a wide range of quirks from a smattering of random tattoos to a garage full of sports cars and vintage vehicles. And, as you’d expect from someone who’s one of the best in the world at what he does, he’s incredibly driven, intense, and obsessed. This recent profile of the 25-year-old, two-time Olympic gold medalist, written by Sean Ingle for The Guardian, is one of the better windows into who he is and how he looks at things that I’ve ever read. “Only when I ask the double Olympic champion what his super-strength is does he pause to take a proper breath,” writes Ingle. ‘In Norwegian we have a word for it,’ he eventually replies. ‘Ingen kompromiss. No compromise.’”
— This Bonnie Tsui essay about how exercise influences creativity resonated very deeply with me. “Writers have long been chasing that dopamine hit,” she writes. “Virginia Woolf tramped along the Cornish coast; Oliver Sacks was known to swim; Haruki Murakami is an accomplished runner. These patterns aren’t unique to idiosyncratic writers: Movement loosens something within all of us. Physical practice is not just a break from sitting at a desk—it is explicit and essential, an extra twist to open the tap, allowing for a freer flow from the faucet of thought.” Running is usually the first thing I do every morning (after having coffee, of course) and it’s not unusual for me to sprint into the house to write down ideas that came to me while I was out. It’s the most essential step in my creative process, my daily unclogging of the creative faucet.
— My good friend Brad Stulberg has a new book out today and I think it’s his best one yet. The Way of Excellence, which complements Brad’s first four books and builds off many of the performance-minded themes he’s been writing about for years, will teach you how to pursue excellence with more focus, confidence, consistency, and meaning while avoiding the modern traps that threaten to pull us off course. I got an early copy a couple weeks ago and have found myself nodding my head at the turn of every page. I’ll sit down with him soon to talk about it all, but in the meantime, you can learn more and/or order a copy for yourself at this handy link.
— My favorite album of the past few years is John Moreland’s Visitor, a tight collection of 12 tracks that directly addresses some of the social and political realities of today in a deeply human way. The past couple weeks the second verse of the opening track, “The Future is Coming Fast,” has been on repeat in my head: “The news keeps steady coming in/Our condition shows its teeth again/A nightmare we all thought would end/How far is it gonna go?/Do we really wanna know?” Those last two questions, more than ever, feel like a prompt to participate than abstract questions searching for an answer.
— From the archives (Issue 481, 1 year ago this week): Fan favorite of the morning shakeout, Sabrina Little, has a new column out for iRunFar and, as usual, it will make you sit back and think a bit. Entitled, “Are We All Just Liars?” Little examines the tiny lies we often tell ourselves in the middle of a sloggy run, challenging workout, or tough race to keep ourselves going, or maybe just to get out there in the first place. Perhaps more accurately she’s describing the various mind games we all play with ourselves, and/or sometimes others, at some point in our journeys as runners. I know I’ve had to “fake it till I made it” on more than one occasion to get through a race, which could be considered a form of lying to myself, but I’ve also told competitors not to worry about me because I truly did feel like sh*t, even though I still ended up being able to perform well. Is this a form of deception, even if unintentional? And/or is lying to yourself necessarily a bad thing if it helps you to make progress in some way? I don’t know if there’s a definitive answer to either of those questions but for me, I guess it comes down to whether or not my lie causes harm to, takes advantage of, and/or takes an opportunity away from someone else. That’s never cool or justifiable, but if I tell myself I’m not tired even when I know I am because it helps me to keep moving forward, or call a 10-miler “easy” in an effort to normalize it, well I can live with that as long as it stays in my own head.
— A little while back I helped out my partners at Precision Fuel and Hydration with this series of five videos covering the fundamentals of race nutrition for the marathon and it’s got everything you need to know, whether you’re a seasoned veteran trying to trim a few minutes off your personal best, or a newbie just trying to avoid the cutoff time. I was fortunate to play a role in its creation and share some of the knowledge I’ve gained over the years as both an athlete and a coach. We cover it all: knowing your numbers and actually hitting your numbers, refining your strategy in training, starting fueled and hydrated, and executing your strategy on race day. If you’re getting ready to ramp up for a spring marathon and still need to get your nutrition plan dialed, get out your notebook and give these a watch. (And if you’re interested in trying PF&H products for yourself, check out this link and save 15% off your first order.)
I’ve been rocking my tried-and-true Brighton Base Layer from Tracksmith under their new Chiltern Jacket more days than not this winter and it’s proven to be a winning combination. The Brighton is the best (and most versatile) running shirt I’ve ever owned. The Chiltern Jacket is super lightweight and breathable, but it keeps the wind and wet weather off me while holding in warmth. They’re great on their own but together they’re virtually unbeatable, even when it’s below freezing (as it was when I was back in Massachusetts last week). If you want to pick up either or both of these items for yourself or the winter runner in your life (or buy anything else on Tracksmith.com for that matter), use the code “MARIO15” for $15 off an order of $75 or more.
Workout of the Week: The Tired Tempo Run
A spin on the “Tempo Plus” and “Hills and a Steady Chill” workouts, this session starts with a set of shorter, quicker intervals and finishes with a tempo run at a steadier effort. It’s a great way for marathoners to keep a little turnover in the mix while also practicing some race-pace running on not-fresh legs. Here are the details.
The bottom line.
“Be the dream.”
— John Chaney, legendary Temple University basketball coach
That’s it for Issue 533. Please forward this email to a likeminded friend or two, share the web link amongst your social circles, and/or reply to me directly at your own risk.
Thanks for reading,
Mario
Congrats Mario on making the podium! Amazing time! Thank you also for the opening message, and links. I believe there are enough good people in this country to turn this around.
Jakob also just got an award from YouTube. A true polymath.