the morning shakeout | issue 542
Being popular versus being good, Karissa Schweizer on staying healthy and running happy, separating the good sh*t from the bullsh*t, and a lot more.
Good morning! Earlier this month in Los Angeles, I sat down with Raziq Rauf, whose Running Sucks newsletter I’ve featured here a few times before. It was our first time meeting in person and we had a wide-ranging conversation on the mics over coffee that I’m excited to share with all of you. (My only complaint is that we didn’t have more time because this easily would have gone another hour or two.)
Raz’s book, This is Running, comes out a week from today and it’s got something for everyone, whether you’re a longtime enthusiast, serious athlete, or curious newbie. The book itself is beautiful, approachable, and thorough without feeling overwhelming. The best way I can describe it is as a celebration of running as a sport, activity, and culture that digs into the people, events, trends, and technology that help push it forward.
In our conversation, which you can listen to on your favorite podcast app (search for and/or subscribe to “the morning shakeout”) or at this handy link, we covered a wide range of topics, from the increased excitement around the L.A. Marathon, to the evolution of run crew culture in that city, to the growth and strength of community in general. We also discussed Raz’s background as a journalist and a runner, how his relationship to running has evolved over time, why he started writing about running a few years ago (and how that led to the publication of his first book), and a lot more.
Quick Splits
— I read this post from Seth Godin about what it means to be popular versus what it means to be good and it made me think of this podcast I listened to with legendary music producer and industry executive Jimmy Iovine, who opens by talking about fame replacing greatness. Both are essentially saying the same thing: popularity and fame have become their own currency, more valuable in many cases than actually being good at something, whether we’re talking about running, writing, music, or another pursuit. Some athletes become known for their social media reach, not their performances; writers get book deals for their platform, not their prose; musicians land gigs for the size of their following, not the quality of their music. Attention gets optimized, substance gets deprioritized, and eventually neither the person doing the thing nor the person taking in the thing can tell the difference. I think Godin’s parting advice is key here. “It helps to begin by becoming comfortable with what good feels like to you,” he writes. “Because conflating it with popular is a trap.”
— Until last week I had no idea that Jeff DaRosa of the Dropkick Murphys was a runner, but turns out that it’s been a big part of his life since getting sober three years ago. DaRosa, who quit drinking on Marathon Monday, of all days, will run the Boston Marathon a little less than three weeks from now for the Claddagh Fund, his band’s charitable foundation that supports veterans, at-risk youth, and addiction recovery efforts. A Cambridge native, DaRosa started running shortly after turning 40 and hasn’t stopped since. If anything, he’s craving it more and more. He recently told Boston.com that running has brought him back to life, made him more disciplined, and filled him with gratitude. “It’s kind of like a drug,” he said. “You just need a little more. You find it to be more attainable.”
— This was a good Fast Women interview with two-time Olympian Karissa Schweizer and what jumped out most to me about her current approach is that she’s dialed the intensity of her key workouts back a bit, which has helped her stay healthier and train more consistently, and she’s happier and less stressed outside of running than she’s been in recent years. I call this out because these are also two of the biggest problems amateur athletes face as well. We hear plenty about controlling intensity so that you can train consistently (heck, I am one of the biggest beaters of that drum), but after that it’s all about fueling strategies and recovery protocols and various other optimization interventions. And it’s not that those things aren’t important, because of course they make a difference, but in my experience, the best runners I know are generally happy people who manage stress well. With my own athletes, getting a read on that is more important than any data point. “I was just really struggling—last year was the first time I [was healthy but] didn’t make a team. And I wasn’t even close,” Schweizer explained. “That was a good wake-up call for me, because I also wasn’t happy. I’ve had seasons where I didn’t finish very well, but at least I was happy with other things in life. So hitting that double whammy, I felt like something needed to change.”
— Some of my favorite musicians have been popping up online recently and playing an acoustic song or even a short set from wherever they happen to be, and I’m here for it. Earlier this year, John Moreland was taking requests on Instagram Live from his living room (no link, sorry) and it was a nice treat on a random afternoon. It was like being a fly on the wall for a jam session and he seemed genuinely touched that people were so into it. And in just the past couple of weeks, Jewel has posted a few at-home recordings on her YouTube channel that are just fantastic. This acoustic version of “Foolish Games” she shared is better than any studio version I’ve heard. It’s just her and her guitar, recorded on her phone, and it’s so full of emotion and soul that it gave me goosebumps. (If you’ve come across anything that you’ve really enjoyed, please send it my way!)
— From the archives (Issue 489, 1 year ago this week): One of my main goals with this newsletter over the past 10 years has been to share useful information about training, recovery, nutrition, and related topics that’s grounded in science, experience, history, and practice. The internet is littered with plenty of bullsh*t about the best this and that, the latest and greatest workout or supplement, and/or folks intentionally trying to over-complicate stuff in an effort to sell you on their solution. This is not an accident and it can be easy to get caught up in the chaos and confusion. Luckily for everyone my friends Steve Magness and Brad Stulberg recently put out this guide on how to separate hype from reality and it’s a banger worth sharing with everyone in your orbit. “The history of strength, endurance, and interval training is a kind of natural selection,” they write. “What works stays, while the crazy ideas that don’t move the needle are abandoned. And that’s precisely what so many online fitness influencers don’t know.”
— Last year around this time my good friend Andy Blow, founder and CEO of Precision Fuel & Hydration, stopped by my office to talk to me about what the final few weeks of marathon training should look like as someone is winding down into race day. We carried on for nearly an hour and went step-by-step from three weeks out all the way to the start line: training, key sessions, fueling and hydration, recovery, goal setting, mindset, race weekend logistics, race morning strategies, and anything else that might be important. It’s a good one to check out (or revisit) if you’re a coach or athlete navigating the meat of marathon season. You can watch or listen to our conversation here. If you found value in our chat, it would mean the world to me if you shared it with any of your friends, teammates, or training partners who might have a spring marathon on the horizon. (And if you’re interested in trying PF&H products for yourself—they’re a longtime partner of the morning shakeout and the drinks/gels/chews I use to fuel my own training and racing—check out this link and save 15% off your first order.)
I’ve been running in the Ellipse v1 for over a month now and its spot in my regular shoe rotation is secure for the foreseeable future. This sweet new ride is built on a Fresh Foam X midsole and it’s super smooth underfoot. It’s solidly built, fits true to size, feels refreshingly familiar, and is aesthetically slick. There’s some good giddy-up to it, too. The only problem is that my tried-and-true 1080s are a little jealous that I like them so much! The new Ellipse v1 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: Hammer Intervals
Most interval sessions are pretty straightforward in their construction: X number of [fill in the blank] intervals @ Y pace with Z recovery between repetitions. There’s nothing wrong with these types of workouts. They’re easy to understand and effective at producing a desired adaptation. Hammer intervals, made popular by coach Scott Simmons, throw a slight twist into the mix: every third or fourth repetition (whatever cadence you choose, really), you “hammer” it (i.e. run it quite a bit harder) before returning to the prescribed pace. The catch? You don’t get any more recovery time after the hammers than you do the other intervals in the session. Here are the details.
The bottom line.
“The most effective way to do it is to do it.”
— Amelia Earhart with some advice for runners and writers and anyone else who spends more time second-guessing themselves and trying to get things perfect than actually doing the work. That’s insecurity in action. Just start! You can figure out the rest from there.
That’s it for Issue 542. If you enjoyed it, please do me a solid and forward this email to a likeminded friend or two and/or pass the web link around in your group chats. (And if you’re seeing this newsletter for the first time and want to receive it for yourself every Tuesday, you can subscribe right here.)
Thanks for reading,
Mario
P.S. Are you going to be in Boston a few weeks from now for Marathon weekend? Join me on Saturday, April 18, at 9 AM for the morning shakeout that started it all. We’ll meet at Tracksmith’s Trackhouse, 285 Newbury Street, and head out to the river for an easy 3-5 miles followed by coffee and casual conversation. Doors open at 8:30. The event is free, but please register here!
LOVE that opening photo!
This was solid bro.