Curated: Issue 4
PWT (Performing While Tired)
I’m beat. Returning home from a month in Hawaii and recovering from a brief flirtation with overtraining, what I needed was rest. Instead—without going into woe-is-me detail—I’ve had three weeks of hurry-scurry and hustle-bustle.
But it’s Wednesday night and I owe you a Thursday newsletter.
What we’ve got here is a variation of the classic marathoner’s lament: how to perform while tired. Is there a supershoe for the brain? Some kind of wearable tech that gives extra bounce to flaccid gray matter? Maybe a targeted mental workout would help me avoid this predicament in the future.
Wait, that’s it. Eureka! This is the workout. The
“Tired Tempo” for my writer’s mind is to simply show up at the keyboard, keep my fingers moving, and get one word down at a time with patience and steady effort.Thanks for working through this with me.
Run Lightly,
-mike
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Mario Fraioli’s “Tired Tempo” Workout
My build for the Don’t Fence Me In 30k earlier this year put a lot of emphasis on the final few miles, a steep and rocky downhill. Again and again in training, I did this section at the end of my runs, on tired legs. On race day, I cruised into the finish with a smile. In my current marathon training block, I’m putting efforts at the end of my runs to similarly flex “performing while tired” muscles, including the most important one—between my ears. The “Tired Tempo” concept is a staple.
[paraphrased] The intervals at the beginning of this workout get your legs turning over while they’re still fresh. The tempo run at the end provides a nice aerobic stimulus and helps dial in your pacing and effort while you’re already feeling taxed. This is a great way to build race-specific strength and confidence.
Read More on The Morning Shakeout
A Case Against Supershoes
Conversations around technology vs. tradition in sport are nothing new. Competition draws out our instinct to seek advantage and capitalism does the rest. I own both trail and road supershoes and they’re a blast. These fifty year-old toothpicks need the love, especially when tired. Besides, (most) everyone else is doing it. Still, I sympathize with the arguments against. I am, in many ways, a “work harder” traditionalist, and recognize the privilege sewn into three hundred dollar running shoes. Wherever you land, Sabrina Little’s essay on the topic will balance your view.
Companies will continue to innovate in this respect — trying to make faster shoes, to exceed other companies, in ways that are not yet illegal. Athletes will be caught in these murky waters, running for companies in different stages of development. It’s like standing on a starting line with a random stagger — with certain athletes already at a disadvantage before the race even starts.
The Last Little Bit
Our experience tells us that more input leads to more output, but in asymptotic conditions, where competition is seeking to go to the very end of the curve, this rule is often suspended. The entire point of the competition is how extreme the last few steps are.
Transforming Complaints
This piece from Leo Babauta isn’t about the complaints we get from our body and mind when exhausted. But, a little creatively-applied “replace with running” reveals thoughts on how we might reframe these protests as requests, stay with them instead of pushing against, and transform them into something generative.
I’ve been learning to find the complainer in myself, and bring love to him. This is transformative! It means it’s okay for me to have complaint, to feel put upon, to not be happy or grateful. This is a permission to just be how I am right now.
Can someone please make a super shoe that helps navigate hurry-scurry and hustle-bustle when all you need is rest?
Or maybe simply giving ourselves "... permission to just be how I am right now" is enough. ❤️