Hi there 👋
Do you ever feel like throwing in the towel? Like the only thing that makes sense is to quit? I know you do. We all do from time to time.
A trick to reset your perspective in times like these, is to adopt a polarised mindset. Instead of thinking about the next few weeks and months, and all you have to do and everything you may or may not achieve, consider only the following two time frames:
An hour and a decade.
How will what you’re doing transform your life a decade from now, if you stick with it? And what can you spend an hour doing today to ensure that I’m moving in the right direction?
If you can answer these two questions in meaningful ways, you can’t quit. It’s meaningful enough to be relevant for how you want to live your life a decade from now, and you only have to spend an hour today doing it. Forget the in-between, it doesn’t matter. Tomorrow, you reevaluate if necessary. But that’s tomorrow’s problem.
For me, this polarised mindset has been essential in helping me stick with running in tough times. But, more than that, it has also helped me clarify my priorities. When I lose track, and give running just a bit too much importance in my life.
Struggling with sticking with running? Try it out. It might help you get your priorities in order.
That’s today’s intro. Now, let’s move on to this week’s recommendations.
🚡 ‘Like a chairlift up Everest’: Once running’s supreme challenge, has the value of a four-minute mile diminished?
“The four-minute mile captured the imagination of the general public partly because it was easily quantifiable – four laps of a running track, each lap run in under a minute – but also because of the appetite for discovery at the time of Bannister’s record.
Edmund Hilary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay had become the first people to summit the world’s highest peak the year before, and the first four-minute mile duly became running’s own Everest summit, expanding perceptions of human potential.”
Progress in technology and understanding of human physiology will always drive times down. That’s the way of the world, and the result is that the yardstick of performance is always changing. This article nicely illustrates how being too obsessed with times is a problem for running as a spectator sport.
› Read about the 4 minute mile
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🏔️ Lessons in Humility: A Conversation With Jon Albon
“Albon had been struggling to find work in Norway and said, “I think I got about $15,000 for winning that race. And then I was invited back out for the independent Obstacle Course Racing World Championships, and I won that as well and I got maybe $10,000 for that!” Thus, quite accidentally, in the midst of trying to find a regular job, racing presented itself as a way for Albon to earn a living while finding his feet in a new country.”
Full of lessons, not just in humility, but wisdom, patience and the importance of resilience as well, this interview with my compatriot (and world class ultra runner) Jon Albon is a must read. Learn about his unorthodox path to running, and his plans for the future.
️👟 The ultimate guide to running shoe foams
“Running shoe foam works as a shock absorber, cushioning the impact on your feet with each stride. This reduces stress and potential damage to joints and muscles, allowing for increased comfort and decreased fatigue. In other words, we can sustain a faster pace, run longer distances and recover faster.”
Long time readers will remember that I shared a similarly titled Reddit post a while ago. Well, my friend Carlos is back with a new, even better researched and improved version of that piece. Here’s all you need to know about the foam of the running shoe you might think about buying this year.
› Learn everything about running shoe foams
😂 Just for Laughs
That’s all she wrote — or I wrote, anyways — for this week’s edition of the Run161 Newsletter. If you’re enjoying the newsletter, or you have feedback on how I can make it more valuable to you, hit reply and let me know.
As always, I would appreciate it if you help me spread the word. I’m sure you’ve got a nice group chat with your running friends where you can share the following link: https://run161.com/weekly-newsletter-about-running/
Talk to you again in a week,
Lars-Christian
Did you enjoy this edition of the newsletter?
Let me know by sending me an email at lc@run161.com.