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RE: I've decided to do a marathon this year! (Did I really just say that?! πŸ˜…πŸ€”πŸ˜›)

in EXHAUST β€’ last year

Hello!

You'll find out the answer to your question about cadence. I'd been hearing it for so many years and never knew, until Chris explained it simply in chapter... something.

Re. the book. Your skepticism won't turn me off. I'm a hardcore minimalist. It's almost religion-level for me at this point πŸ˜‚ So I guess I best be careful not to preach too hard to you πŸ˜‰ I'm (mostly) joking.

I really appreciate you sharing how it's landing for you. And I'm guessing it must feel really similar for a lot of people who only came across Born to Run (the first) very recently, or even only came across the concept when the 2nd book came out.

I read the first book 12+ years ago within months of it coming out (just because a very forward-thinking ultra marathon buddy of mine put it in front of me and insisted I read it, not because I went looking for it. Heck, I did my first ultra in a pair of tiny-toe-box, motion-controlled, over-price-orthotic filled, heel-drop Asics of some kind - I knew nothing! But I soon rebuilt the strength in my feet and got rid of the orthotics I'd been told I had to have, I've never had plantar fasciitis again and I did my next ultra marathon in Vibram Five Fingers and my feet were waaaaay better after that one than the first one! Anway, back to my point...)

I've had all that time to ponder, experiment, integrate and realise... exactly why Chris is so preachy.

I also get that it's a lot to implement, like years' worth of change. I am already expecting to take the next 1 or even 2 years to slowly and deliberately implement most of the things in that book. And that's after I've already done as much change as I have. It's a lot, a lot.

So, I have a radical suggestion: Why don't you stop reading the book.

Seriously. You already sound overwhelmed by all the stuff in there. You sound skeptical (for good reason) about what they're sharing. Why not just stop?

Let it settle. Do some running. Feel into how pissed off you are that the book is so preachy. Consider which bits make sense to you and which bits annoy the f*ck out of you. Just be with everything it's brought up for you.

It's a book. It's not going anywhere. You can always go back to it in a month or a year or whenever. But no point in forcing yourself to try and take in something that doesn't feel good to you right now.

Just a thought.

And if you have any questions about anything in there that you want to run by me, to get another (less preachy) opinion about, feel free to comment on any of my posts re. this marathon training journey/running sessions. I'm happy to share my experience. And maybe hearing about someone's experience who you actually (sort of) know might make it feel more real or reachable than a bunch of stories in a book.

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I really appreciate you sharing how it's landing for you.

and Thank You for taking the time write a very lengthy reply. I suspect it all comes down to biases (that's not a criticism by the way, we all have our biases, its human nature etc.)

This book speaks to your biases, and doesn't fit with mine (not yet at least). That said, I'm still gonna read it and finish it. I've never read a book that is truly pointless and I'm sure I will be able to find at least some things to learn and new things to try.

Cadence is mentioned in chapters 8.1 and 9 btw. I sort of get it, it just seems almost too simple "run at 180 to run faster/further/easier". Or maybe I'm trying too hard to over complicate things. I guess that is human nature as well! 🀣

There is at least one point I totally agree with: "run without music"... I feel that running should be enjoyed for it's own sake, and I want to experience the sensation of running (and also keep an awareness of my flailing limbs too!)

The fact that I find this book challenging isn't an excuse to quit. If anything, it makes it even more important that I keep going... no-one ever changes if they do the same thing over and over. I need to remember that I don't know everything. I need to be open to the possibility that I might be wrong.

With that in mind, I will indeed be following your 'journey' (so cliche!) and who knows, I might actually learn something along the way

!LUV

πŸ˜„

I love your response.

I hear you on biases. I wonder where my bias was when I read the first book? I was in "normal" running shoes and wore orthotics in my closed toe shoes everywhere, doing everything I was told I should do. Who knows! Anywhere, I know what I "believe" now! !LOL

Brad is also saying "Surely it can't be as simple as just 180 cadence?" but he's trying it out anyway. Personally, I think a focus on just cadence is an oversimplification of a jam-packed book. I think our ability to run further, faster and easier comes as a result of putting many of the things they talk about together.

I've never read a book that is truly pointless and I'm sure I will be able to find at least some things to learn and new things to try.

The fact that I find this book challenging isn't an excuse to quit. If anything, it makes it even more important that I keep going... no-one ever changes if they do the same thing over and over.

This seems wise.

Music, yeah, I hear you. It was another thing the ultra running mate of mine insisted I stop doing 12 years ago. I seemed to easily give up running to music (not that I did it that much because we still didn't have a lot of good, lightweight, portable music devices then the way we do now). We just read that chapter last night and I enjoyed hearing the different perspectives. I like being able to connect to the world around me and do get annoyed (find myself flabbergasted might be a better way to describe it) when I see someone running with buds in their ears when running (or riding) somewhere with a lot of hazards, like other kinds of traffic. They can't hear their body but they also can't hear that bike/car/dog coming up behind them either!

I will indeed be following your 'journey' (so cliche!) and who knows, I might actually learn something along the way

Cliche or not, I'll be happy to share. !LUV

I wonder if glass coffins will become popular one day?
Remains to be seen.

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