View this email in your browser

Hello, fast moving, good looking runner 👋

I trust you had a fantastic celebration to mark the start of a new year. Me? Oh, it was great. I was in bed by 9:30 PM, and got a good night's sleep to start the new year well rested when the kids turned out in the early morning hours. Well, actually, my wife took the first few hours. Because I started the year with a long run!

This week’s theme is consistency. I want to begin by sharing a quote from the always insightful James Clear:

"Consistency before intensity.

Start small and become the kind of person who shows up every day. Build a new identity.

Then increase the intensity."

Take it from James, who literally wrote the book on habits. No matter where you are in your running journey, aim for consistency.

Speaking of consistency, my favourite language learning service Babbel is back as sponsoring the newsletter this week. My thanks to them. If you haven’t already signed up, check out their current special offer, and get up to 55% off!

📈 Make Consistency Your #1 Running Goal

“Leaving it all out there every time you lace up your fast shoes for a workout might sound sensible, it is an unsustainable approach to training. If you try to do the maximum amount of mileage you are capable of each week, you will break down.”

One from the archives, but I know many of our new readers may have missed it. And it’s thematically bang on. Learn about why I think consistency should be your number one priority, regardless of whether you’re running for performance, health, or just pure enjoyment.

>> Read the article

🗣️ Sponsored by Babbel: Meet new people and explore the world

Travelling abroad for races is great, but experiencing exotic races like a local is even better. Not speaking the language is no longer an excuse: with Babbel, you can learn to speak a new language in three weeks.

>> Special offer: Up to 25% off!

🧐 Why I Run: On Thoreau and the Pleasures of Not Quite Knowing Where You’re Going

“I am running to breathe deeply, to let my mind fill with nothing, to listen to the steady beat of my footsteps, a rhythm of just going about human business. I’m not accomplishing anything spectacular, but steadily getting things done.”

Immediately upon reading this piece, I realised it’s been too long since I last shared an introspective essay pondering the meaning of running, life, and the intersection of the two. Well, I am pleased to offer this exquisite piece by Rachel Richardson to make amends. Enjoy!

>> Read full article

🍺 British man completes 365 straight marathons, earning his well-deserved beer

“Gary McKee completed his 365-day run streak of a marathon every day in his hometown of Cleator Moor, U.K. Thousands of supporters and media were on hand to help him celebrate his accomplishment of covering more than 9,500 miles (15,289 kilometres) while raising more than $2,000,000 for charity.”

No, I didn’t pick this article only because I could reuse that particular emoji from last week’s newsletter. Sometimes things just click. Like they did for Gary, who ran a cool marathon a day for a year, and raised literal millions for charity in the process. What a story! Read more about the background for Gary’s crazy project in this feature from The Guardian.

>> Read full article

🤣 Just for Laughs

A word-for-word recounting of a regular conversation between my wife and I.

And that’s all for now. Have a great weekend, hopefully filled with a long run, fun run, hard run, or just a plain old get-it-done-run.

See you next week!

Lars-Christian