Technology and COVID-19 transformed conversational pace into audio book pace. Holy mackerel! Tony Evers, thinking of you.

Might have been my running secret sauce. I got through like 20 hours of German, 10 Swedish and a couple of Spanish while running two years ago. Tried really hard to avoid people seeing me talking while I ran. Now I wonder, is that why I was so successful then???

The concept was confirmed in “Endure” by Alex Hutchinson. Pace is harder to sustain when your mind is focused on something else. Try it! Then put the phone aside and start running again. Now you’re like a wild stallion! It’s magic!

Once you force yourself through in the beginning, it becomes normal. It is difficult to keep your mind focused and might seem like a buzzing fly at first. Don’t listen to an audio book during intervals or track workouts. Come on, people.

Why do I mention this? Daily runs are not a race. You will get faster running longer. I know it’s weird and not intuitive. Staying inside the aerobic range is the most efficient way to increase your speed when you’re a beginner. Later you’ll want to do track workouts, intervals and adjust your audio book pace. The beginning is your sweet romance and you should cherish it. Break-ups are hard so you’ll want to get to know each other, go on some dates and so forth. The movie night should be a few months in, unless you’re 16.

Next race is early October, Fall Classic. JUST SAW THIS IS CANCELLED! UPDATED IMAGE BELOW. I have about 7 bottles of pickle/jalapeno/beet juice combinations left in my fridge. Not supposed to be like that, but all the races are getting cancelled. Almost done eating another bottle of pickles. Maybe a short September race would help.

I appreciate you hanging in through this one. I promised to write and I did. Friday can be a hell of a drug!