Five Things Running: Issue #89
Read this, then go running.
Heya and welcome back to Five Things Running!
I hope you had a great week with lots of running! I managed to get in five 10k runs during the week and then did a long run around the Hamburg Airport, which is exactly the half-marathon distance. This was a great week for me and now I’ll slow down a bit to be fit for my last race of the year: the Adventslauf in Ratzeburg on December 1st. I couldn’t run last year due to COVID-19, but this year I’m in good shape and looking forward to the run. Also, after a rainy and cold week just a bit above 0°C, it finally snowed on Saturday, which was my rest day, only to start raining again at night and then have a mild 12°C or so on Sunday. According to the forecast, next Sunday will be partly sunny, no rain and around 5-10 degrees, which is just perfect running weather. I’m so looking forward to this!
Two weeks ago I got an email from the country manager of COROS for Germany, Austria and Switzerland. He introduced himself and wrote that he knew from a mutual acquaintance that I was running in the COROS Pace 2 and that I quite liked it. He then offered to start a partnership with Five Things and to send me the new Pace Pro. This was a pleasant surprise - welcome COROS! Now of course I’m secretly hoping that people I know tell apparel companies that I could use some winter running clothes…
Today I ran my first time with the brand new COROS Pace Pro, which I received on Saturday. What a great watch! I’m so stoked. The AMOLED display is so nice and bright that even a guy with progressive lenses can quickly glance at the watch and see the numbers. This is a totally new experience for me. :) Honestly, a great watch for an amazing price. I bought the Pace 2 almost four years ago and really liked it, but the COROS Pace Pro is just on another level!
My Sunday long run was fun, but I could have done without getting wet feet after 3km due to the creek carrying too much water and spilling over on the trail twice.
Without much further ado, here are this week’s Five Things Running! Enjoy!
Living in the Montage
“Life is all about learning to live in the montage. It’s about finding joy in the in-between moments that aren’t exciting or sexy and probably don’t need an instrumental version of Eye of the Tiger to spice it up.” - that scene from Rocky is so engraved into our popcultural heritage. Just the other day, when I was happily jumping through the puddles on my run around the Alster in Hamburg, a guy came flying at me in grey sweatpants, grey hoodie and white (!) Converse Chucks… he was probably taking the idea of living in the montage a bit too seriously.
What I think about when I'm running
I think about everything and nothing. In my mind, I create world peace, solve the situation in Gaza, come up with lots of really cool business ideas, write emails in my head that I should have written a while ago, and I think about lots of other things. But on my longer runs, I mostly I daydream. This is basically why I’m running, it’s my form of escapism. And I get some business stuff done as well, I just have to remember to write that email later on…
How Hoka’s Approach to Innovation Has Made the Brand More Competitive in the Hot Running Market
Hoka is definitely one of the companies that changed running in the last decade or so. Nowadays, max cushioned shoes are everywhere and Hoka is responsible for that. Hoka also plays a big role in making trail running become more and more mainstream.
Strava’s Big Changes Aim To Kill Off Apps
I honestly don’t know what’s going on at Strava and why they try their best to alienate users. This API issue is really absurd as it limits the users to do stuff with their data. An ecosystem around an API is really the best thing that could happen to Strava, because it allows for plenty of innovative ideas to be executed without Strava’s involvement. But somehow Strava wants to emulate the many ways Twitter became less and less attractive to its users. Aside from restricting the usage of the API, Strava banned the setting of links in posts, which is a really boneheaded move. The link is the glue that holds the web together, by killing it they make the content posted on Strava less appealing. Also, I’d be happy if they would finally fix their stupid hallucinating Athletic Intelligence AI desaster.
How You Talk To Yourself Matters
“I have a theory that it’s often what we spend the most time thinking about that we foster. So think of the one time you weren’t confident often and you become this person. I don’t think you have to necessarily work out the issue that you had back then. I believe when you surround yourself with positivity and excitement those issues start to fade away.” - you can do it, too
I’m thankful 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
🏃🏻♂️
Great sponsor and jealous of the watch 🤣