Keep Going

Get ready for some heat, folks. Please be advised that there are portions of this episode where I go off on obscenity laden tirades & passion fueled laments. Michael holds down the emotional fort to keep some semblance of balance & objectivity, but you'll have to determine if he succeeded. If he didn't, don't blame him - this is all on me. We are releasing this episode the day we recorded it, September 28th, because I make some bold predictions that I want to be held accountable for & because the hot takes are flying all around the sprot this week & I want to add my 2 cents. Our subject this week is the incredible performance of Tigst Assefa at this past weekend's Berlin Marathon. Berlin is reputed to be the fastest marathon in the world as it has hosted many world record performances with only London being close. Assefa - who's name I repeatedly mispronounce through this discussion - ran 2:11:53, a time that was simply jaw dropping, & this in a year where women's distance running has produced an unprecedented number of world records. But I won't go there in this intro because we cover it in depth the episode itself. What does follow is part angry rant, part impassioned plea, where I beg distance fans to stop considering every unprecedented performance in track & field with a cynical & pessimistic take that it must be drugs & doping. Sure, it might. But it also might not be. & if this & other performances are not the result of performance enhancing drugs, then we are endangering the relevance & beauty of the greatest era in distance running history. I think there could be an argument for this being the greatest era in all of human sporting history. Bold - perhaps ridiculous?!?!? - claim, sure. But what the hell...I'm on fire here anyway & what's a little more hyperbolic fuel an an already raging inferno. 
Strap in, folks, for the episodes we call, Drinking From A Poisoned Well: Doping as the Ruin of Running. 
Godspeed, my friends, godspeed. 

In this episode, Michael & I discuss how to add quality training into a base phase. We talk through a specific session that Michael jumped into a few weeks ago in the middle of this experimental base phase he is in the middle of. Along the way, we cover the three basics of training in the Telos model: effort, economy & efficiency. For those of you who have been missing the nuts & bolts of training discussion, this one is for you.  

At the end of the episode, I tease a new podcast I have planned that dives deeper into the practical training weeds. I state that this would launch in early September, but that's been delayed with the passing of my father that we discussed last week. Coming soon to a podcast feed near, my friends. 
SO without an further delay, we bring you episode we call Loaded: Optimizing Training In a Base Phase. 
Godspeed, listeners, godspeed. 

This episode is in memoriam to my father, Thomas Edward Sisson, who passed from the finite game into the Infinite Game on September 12, 2023. Michael & I discuss mentors, living & dying, strange attractors & a beautiful life. 
Godspeed, Dad, godspeed.  

This episode is a first for us, we take a listener question about a specific training method - The Maffetone Method - & discuss Michael's experience training with the method for between 12-24 months & our views on the pluses & minuses of it. This is a next episode in our The System series. Let us know what your thoughts are & what we should cover next in this series. You can reach us at sisson at telosrunning dot com. We hope to hear from you. 
So pull up a chair, sit down & join us around the table as for this conversation we're calling The Systems 04: Maffetone & the Maximum Aerobic Function. 
Godspeed, my friends, godspeed. 
 

This episode is both an homage to Austin's unique & idiosyncratic running vibe & a call for listeners to explore their own local running haunts as power places. We try to set the stage for how the soul of a place - its flora & fauna, its land & waters, its roads & neighborhoods - can be tapped into for inspiration, gratitude & soulmaking. Wether we are traveling to another location for a change of pace or traveling for work or going epic with a running pilgrimage, perhaps the best way to get to know a place in a deep & meaningful way - & drink in its physical culture - is to run its roads & trails & footpaths. 

But it's not just a place's physical attributes...we can also learn from its weather, it's winds, its smells, its energy, its vibes. The experience of running at the ocean is vastly different from running along a river in the mountains. The nature of the experience is unique & tapping into this experience greatly enhances our run.
We can tap into the a place's history of running - Boston & Eugene are not special because of their weather or landscape, it's because of the power of those who have raced on those roads & at Hayward Field.

We don't think it is too much to say that one's relationship to reality is mediated by a sense of place.

We each share a sampling of our favorite running magical haunts in Austin & are very curious about your locals. Send us an email with your favorites & we'll share them on an upcoming episode. You can reach us at sisson at telosrunning dot com to share your's. 

We hope you enjoy this magical mystery tour of Austin & recognize the power spots in your life. So we hope you enjoy this episode we've titled A Magical Sense of Place.

Godspeed, my friends, godspeed.

Michael's Haunts

• Butler Trail's 10 miles of crushed granite trail around Town Lake
• the Central Texas Hill Country
• the 410 Speed Shop 
• Exposition Blvd/Pease Park/Lamar loop

Steve's Haunts 

• a secret spring on the Barton Creek Greenbelt
• the Hyde Park neighborhood
• Scenic Hill

What started in an insightful conversation at the dinner table between Michael & his wife, Lena, inspires this dive into the nature of the meaning of running & life & a challenge is issued. This episode is a conversation based on an idea that was burning a hole in Michael's mind. We'd already had a topic planned but we needed to pivot & Michael had the courage to unpack this concept with me & - as it turns out - all of you. We have not checked in on the journey Atreyu is on in awhile & here entrepreneurship acts as an initial spark but this goes deeper into what might be the ultimate aim of running, of business & of self.
Of course, those of you who know, know that when one's existential dread stirs up the "big questions", you are in deep water & you drowning feels inevitable. No one can help, nor should they...we all know that trying to save a drowning person by swimming out to their aid is very dangerous. &, if we're being honest, most of really don't want anyone else there with us anyway. In this scenario, even the optimists among us will tend to see the glass significantly less than half full. 
By the time this conversation ensued, Michael had pushed off the bottom of the deep end & had surfaced with a concept to explore: curiosity. He unpacked this in his recent Vlog for Atreyu & here we go deeper & share our perspectives on how curiosity underlies all learning, all growth & all development. & we tie in running & life as sitting on the bedrock of this curiosity.
Open awareness, dreams, insight meditation, yoga, mindfulness, bodyfulness, simplicity, human potential, zen, enlightenment & many other concepts pop up in this conversation. 
Also, we issue a challenge designed around an experiment Michael is calling 10,000 Runs. Who among you are interested in stealing the culture? Email me at [email protected] with your thoughts. 
Pull up a chair, sit down at our table & join us as we dig deep in this episode that we call, 10,000 Runs: Curiosity as Ultimate Aim. 
Godspeed, friends, godspeed. 

This is the second part of a diptych, a two-part artwork designed & connected in theme & style, yet retaining their own individual frame.  The first part, released yesterday was recorded in early July after John decided he needed to take a break from the podcast. This second part was recorded in mid-January & include the original three "expeditionaries". Both episodes are themed around suffering. We wanted to honor John's extraordinary style & insights even as we continue to carry the torch of Keep Going. We hope we are making the right decision. John is already sorely missed. 

It's been awhile but we're making it up to you with two episodes being released on back to back days. Unfortunately we hit a little bump in the road. A few weeks ago, John determined that he couldn't continue to be a part of the podcast. So Michael & I needed to regroup & decide the best way to approach this monumental loss. We considered not going forward with the podcast as we both recognize John a critical part of what makes the podcast work.  We continued to record each week in hopes it would allow a little time to see if John might only need a short reset & if he'd be okay to get back in the saddle after a few weeks break. But he's not coming back - at least not in the next month or two - so Michael & I decided to Keep Going.  We hope we've made the right decision. 
To make up for lost time & to honor John, we are releasing two conversations in two days. This episode is the first discussion Michael & I had post-John recorded in early July & the second one is an older conversation from January where we covered some of the same ground but in a very different way. I think they work well together & can be considered a diptych - a two-part artwork designed & connected in theme & style, yet retaining their own individual frame.  
We hope this honors John, while still allowing Michael & I a little room to roam. Hopefully you'll continue to find this podcast valuable & insightful. 
Just to be clear, John is okay. He just needs a break & we are hopeful he'll feel ready to jump back in a some point. His presence here is already sorely missed. 

The second in our series of episodes highlighting the iconic & inspiring "Godfather of Austin Running", Paul Carrozza. 

In this episode of Keep Going, Michael & I roll without John but his spirit is certainly present. In the last episode, John & I introduced our concept of Four Systems & how nearly all training can be slotted into one of these categories. Michael & I decide to kick the tires on this concept by considering his current planning of his training through the lens of these four systems. As Michael shares, he wants to compete at Ironman Texas in The Woodlands on April 27, 2024 & make it a Beautiful Race. We introduced the Beautiful Race in Episode 21 (The Art of Running).  Here we look at what a longer approach to a training cycle might look like as Michael asks me how I would recommend he approach his pre-training block. What follows is a refreshing luxury for me: I get to spend the time unpacking how a two to three month pre-training phase might be approached. I think the content in this episode is incredibly useful...if rarely considered, to say nothing of actually being implemented. Those looking for a secret weapon to performance excellence will find here gems of wisdom that are often hidden underground. Join us in this episode we call A Very Good Place To Start, where we excavate these precious stones for your benefit. 
Godspeed, my friends, godspeed.