The Weakly #1: Runners are wealthy, toe socks, and escaping social media
Welcome to a new weekly post from Running Sucks, where I link to interesting things and people that I've encountered or created.
WELCOME to the first edition of a second weekly post. More writing?? Yeah, you thought it would be a podcast, didn’t you. No chance! (I thought about it.)
Why The Weakly??
Yes, I’ve called it The Weakly. It’s a very purposeful and not-very-intelligent play on words, ok? People keep asking me if I regret calling it Running Sucks (I don’t), so I’ve doubled down on confusing them. I’m actually very strong!
Please enjoy some cool stuff that I’ve been thinking about, doing, or writing about.
Runners Who Write: Seth Werkheiser
Yeah, Substack is chock full of self-help, ‘grow your subscribers like THIS’ kinda newsletters, but if you’re somebody who enjoys creating - whether that’s a newsletter, a book, a podcast, a painting -
talks fluently and properly on Social Media Escape Club about how to insulate yourself from the ultra-modern demands of spending 75% of your life on social media platforms where you’re talking about the work, rather than actually doing the work. Seth is also a runner.
Using a quarter of a century of creative experience in the music industry, Seth started SMEC in 2021 to help musicians harness the power of their fanbase via the medium of newsletters or blogs. He started writing about bands he liked as a hobby almost 20 years ago. He says that when that was picked up by AOL and led to an actual paycheck? That was the beginning of his true creative life.
Now, Seth’s advice extends to any creative person. He’s helped me crystallize several ideas about where, how, and why I spend my time. (10% on social media talking about the work, 90% actually doing the work.)
What do you feel when you run, Seth?
“After the first mile, the feeling of awe, and being grateful, that I can be outside, and enjoy nature, and be in the woods away from everything? I love all that. That's what keeps me going back. Even if I'm not in the mood for a run, I'm always in the mood to be in the woods, along creeks, listening to birds.”
How does running help your creative process?
“It helps by keeping me from thinking about writing while running; to get back to focusing on the things right in front of me, like the creeks, and slippery roots, and the birds singing, and the deep up ahead in the fog.”
“I've gotten back to my love of photography, so running has gotten me to some fun locations where I set up a tri-pod and take some self portraits for my newsletter. After runs, too, I get out my equipment and try to capture video footage of a nearby creek, lake, or river. Some grand scene, with a dedicated audio recorder, too, just to capture everything just right.“
Subscribe to his Substack newsletter below, and read his personal blog sethw.xyz here. Good luck in your half marathon, Seth!
Do you wear toe socks?
I wrote about the myriad benefits of toe socks over on Yahoo!, where I am a founding creator. Benefits? They make you faster! For real.
I’ve personally been wearing toe socks since August 2023, when my friend Keaton convinced me that they’re great and not unfashionable at all (as long as you don’t tell people you’re wearing them). Now I have joined her in extolling toe socks’ virtues wherever I can.
Don’t worry: I still wear regular socks when I’m not running.
Last week on Running Sucks
The last awesome person that I wrote about was Laura McGreen. I weave in themes of media literacy and artificial intelligence, of course. Here’s the note I posted.
Wealthier people are big runners
A cool article in the Financial Times pointed out that within the wider sports community, running has the third highest level of people in professional occupations.
I have some theories about that, regarding the sedentary nature of desk jobs, and an exercise-oriented reaction, but you can go and read it and decide for yourself.
I’m actually very good at breathing
However, I really enjoyed this piece on breathing by
a few weeks ago.I have worked very hard on my breathing technique over the years. Indeed, when I’m coaching a new runner, one of the first things I ask is how they breathe, so this piece was of interest to me, and it should be to you as well.
I would add rhythmic breathing to Mike’s extensive list, but that’s it. You can read what the American Lung Association has to say on the matter. I agree with them! Breathe in for 2 steps, and out for 3 steps. That’s my cadence.
Running Sucks Haiku of the Week
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Thanks for reading
- Raz
Hot take: Toe socks are the only way to go when running, but also when camping/backpacking if you’ve got Chacos with the toe strap. No shame.