Good morning! I’m on the road to southern California for weeklong podcast recording parade as this issue is landing in your inbox. I’ll also be spending some time with a few of my athletes and doing a little running of my own too. If you’re in the L.A. area later this week, join me, Billy Yang, Sally McRae, and Chris Hauth on Friday for a 5-mile trail run (or 2-mile hike), meeting in Parking Lot G at the Greek Theatre, 2700 N Vermont Ave, in Los Angeles, at 6:45 AM. Pancakes and coffee to follow. Hit reply on this email or Tweet in my direction if you’re planning to make it so we can make sure we have enough post-run sustenance for everyone.

Next, a big thank you to Tracksmith for sponsoring the newsletter this month. I’ve been a big fan of of this brand since their humble beginnings five years ago and I’m proud to say that I’ve been training and racing in their gear from the get-go. I’m pretty stoked about the release of their Boathouse Jacket, a version of which was issued to me as a freshman at Stonehill College in the fall of 2000, which I still have stowed away in a closet somewhere. A team staple, the Boathouse Jacket has long been a statement of belonging. Tracksmith’s take on this classic pullover keeps all the functional essentials of the original and dials up their signature aesthetics. Designed for runners in collaboration with Boathouse, purveyors of performance outerwear in Philadelphia since 1976, this is the perfect jacket for before and after races/workouts. Give it a look later today on the Tracksmith homepage. 

Finally, I’ll be back to a regular work schedule next week for the first time in over a month, meaning more commentary on current happenings within the sport—perfect timing with the World Championships and Berlin Marathon on tap for this weekend—but I’ve got a healthy serving of Quick Splits to tide you over in the meantime. Let’s get right to it.

Quick Splits

— The New York City Marathon is a little less than six weeks away and my training is behind schedule, if we’re being honest. A sprained ankle in mid-August set me back a week, and then heavier-than-usual work travel, an unplanned move, and vacation did a number on workouts, long runs, gym workouts, and consistency in general. I share this not as an excuse, only as an admission that training hasn’t been anywhere near the top of the priority list for me of late. And that’s OK. Life happens, unexpected things pop up, and we need to be willing to adjust and reprioritize. This past week was a good one in terms of getting myself back on track and it felt great to knock out my first long run in a month this past Sunday. Things settle down a little bit once I get back from my current trip and I’m committed to packing away a few more weeks of solid work before early November. I’ve been reminding myself of one of the first training tips I shared with the Strava Fall Marathon Club back in early August. As a coach, sometimes the hardest thing to do is take your own advice!

— The World Athletics Championships kick off Friday in Doha and not many people are going to be in the stands. In fact, “tickets will be given away to migrant workers and children who will be bused in by organisers,” according to Sean Ingle of The Guardian. I wish I could say I was surprised, but I’m not in the least. The whole thing was a corruption-laced IAAF money grab from the get-go. It’s a sad situation for the athletes—midnight start for marathoners, a special air conditioned stadium for everyone else, not to mention the whole thing is kicking off at a time when the summer track season is long over—and fans, who, for a variety of reasons, can’t and won’t be there to cheer on the best athletes in the world. How is this a step forward for the sport?

— I want to be like John Olson when I grow up. The 97-year-old lobsterman from Maine is still working—not as much as he used to years ago, but he’s the captain of his ship and manning a couple hundred traps, not because he has to, but because it’s what makes him feel the most alive. I love reading about folks like Olson, who never really embrace the concept of retirement because their life’s work is more than just a job. These stories inspire me as I navigate my own journey through life, work, and where the two intersect. I hope to be coaching at least a few athletes and sharing stories about running as long as I’m alive. Sure, some day I’ll coach quite a few less people than I do now and maybe eventually the newsletter and podcast won’t be a weekly thing (and/or they’ll take on different forms) but I can’t imagine not doing what I do to some degree as long as I’m physically and mentally able. To echo Olson, “I never loafed,” he admits. “Sure I’ve earned it. But hey, I don’t want to.”

— This quick refresher on effective writing reads a bit like a rule book but functions more as a set of helpful tips to keep in mind when putting words down on a page. Too many writers, myself included, can be unnecessarily wordy when trying to get a point across or tell a story. These 19 suggestions will help tighten up your writing and make it easier to read. 

— This just in: chess is stressful. OK, maybe that was an obvious statement but the aforelinked article explains how a grandmasters' response to stress in a match isn’t much different from what an elite athlete experiences in competition. In fact, some grandmasters are training like professional athletes so that they’re better equipped to handle the physical, mental, and emotional demands of a long match. “Grandmasters sustain elevated blood pressure for hours in the range found in competitive marathon runners,” says Robert Sapolsky, who studies stress in primates at Stanford University. This is a fascinating read on the link between body and brain, how physical fitness affects out brain's performance, and how stress—whether it’s physical, mental, or emotional—can have a profound effect our bodies. (The latter point is one I discuss often with my athletes all the time.) Check it out.

The bottom line. 

“Am I 100 percent? No. But I’m the best that I can be right now, with what I’ve been through, with more fire and fight than ever.”
— Sarah Thomas, a 37-year-old breast cancer survivor who last week became the first person to swim across the English channel four times.

That’s it for Issue 202. Forwarding this email to friends, sharing the web link freely across the internet, and/or replying to me are all actions I encourage you to take from here.  

Thanks for reading, 

Mario

P.S. Planning to be in New York City for marathon weekend in early November? Join me on Friday, November 1, at the New York Road Runners’ RUNCENTER, 320 West 57th Street, for a live recording of the morning shakeout podcast with special guests Jared Ward, sixth place finisher at last year’s TCS New York City Marathon who also ran 2:09:25 to finish eighth at this year’s Boston Marathon, and Mary Ngugi, a two-time world championships silver medalist from Kenya who was seventh in her marathon debut at Boston this past spring in 2:28:33. The event is free to attend but register here to reserve your spot!