Five Things Running: Issue #106
Run more. But read this first!
Heya and welcome back to Five Things Running!
Last week I got three runs in before a cold struck me. But I did get to run in Tel Aviv three times, which was totally worth it.
The obvious route in Tel Aviv is up and down the beach, with Yafo in the South and the Yarkon River in the North. Also, running along Rothschild Boulevard is what everybody does, so did I. It’s amazing to see just how many people are doing sports in the morning, from running, surfing, biking to beachvolleyball. I saw young people running, old people running, run clubs meeting for running and for coffee. It always seems to me that in Tel Aviv everybody is young and beautiful, and really into sports. I can highly recommend running in Tel Aviv. Also, it is necessary for me to run early in the morning after all the good food I get to eat all day long. Unfortunately, I had to go back on Thursday. On Friday there was the Volcano Race in the Golan Heights, but I somehow couldn’t justify to spend a week in Israel for a one-day conference. Hopefully, this will work out next year. And hopefully there will be peace next year.
Anyhow, enough of my love affair with Tel Aviv, here’s this week’s Five Things Running!
The Only Motivation Hack* You Need
“Every runner, from Pheidippides to Pre, has battled the blahs. Even your favorite Instagram influencer (despite the put-together vibes and always-impossibly-white shoes) occasionally feels lethargic.
“No Spark” is the chapter left out of biographies and biopics. When it is written, the protagonist usually overcomes stuck-ness through divine intervention or feats of heroic willpower. But in the real world, the gods have bigger problems, and we’re saving our heroics for work and raising teenagers.”
All My Sponsors Dropped Me...
“There’s a reason why pro runners have been roped into the influencer game. As mentioned before, people don’t care to see ads. General influencers lost their influence when the content all of a sudden seemed inauthentic. An audience on socials can immediately identify when someone’s getting paid, and the messaging can come off poorly to that audience. That’s where pro runners come into play. “Niche” influencers– those with a following that could be considered experts in their field, have overtaken. Getting paid to sell a product that’s in your wheelhouse of everyday use and knowledge has a much better opportunity to be received as more authentic. It’s also a great way for brands to find their way into a new market that is outside their typical demographic.”
The endurance activist trying to save California’s water
“While Iröndäd is predicted to run less than 90 miles this weekend as he circumnavigates the dying body of water, last year the shoreline was 92 miles around. It was 96 miles the year before. Those two years of overlaying the maps of the shoreline are a fast visual aid to showing how quickly the Salton Sea is shrinking. But why run for up to 40 hours through terrain far less favorable than a Javelina or Cocodona?” - you’ll find the answer in the article.
A Quieter Way: The Power of Introverts in Ultrarunning
“When we’re into the race in earnest, the power of the introvert can come into its own. You are in your head, and this is when the reversion to solitude — to your most natural state — can come to the fore. For the elite runners, things start to spread out much sooner than for the rest of the field. The start lines of races like Lavaredo are a mass of frustrated over-takers, grunts, and misplaced poles — all fighting for a clear path up a narrow trail for hours after the fireworks have gone off. It’s exciting, we’re all in it together, and there can be a lovely camaraderie.”
Who are you beyond running?
“Do you know who you or who you would be beyond running? This really scares me, everything that I am is wrapped up in running, it’s my job title, my only income source, my social life, and my health and well-being.” - luckily for me, running is just a thing I do in my little spare time, apart from kids, career and kitchen.
I’m grateful for the partners of Five Things Running: Acid Running, New Balance and Coros!
If you missed last week’s edition, you can read it here:
Now, go running!
— Nico
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Another good collection! Thanks for including my piece.