What a fantastic morning to run! Temps were near 60, no wind, blue sky just after dawn. Mile intervals were also a nice switch from the straight distance work. I was amazed to hold a sub 8:30 pace.
And something else has been a lot on my mind the past week.
My favorite marketing writer, Seth Godin wrote this brief bit of wisdom last week. I quote here the essence:
I want to write a novel. What word processor do you recommend?
Yesterday on the radio, Jimmy Wales was talking about the Wikipedia movement. A caller who identified himself as a strategist at Amnesty International asked: We're going to build a website to promote freedom and democracy and human rights. What software should we use?Really.
If you want to do something worth doing, you'll need two things: passion and architecture. The tools will take care of themselves. (Knowledge of tools matters, of course, but it pales in comparison to the other two.)
Sure, picking the wrong tools will really cripple your launch. Picking the wrong software (or the wrong hammer) is a hassle. But nothing great gets built just because you have the right tools.
Seth's blog post hit me at several levels.
Do we run because we really like our Brooks/Asics/Nikes? Do we run to watch our Garmins find satellites? Do we run to feel the Gu replenish our glycogen levels?
Or do we run because we love to run? Because of the passion for staying fit, for competing with ourselves, for doing something that stretches us?
The answer is obvious. And we see the flip side of it in folks who start to run, get the gear and then tire or quit when it’s hard or they get sore.
Do I thus talk about the passion? Or about the tools?
This applies widely. We need passion, not only in our running, but in our profession, our family, our spiritual life. With passion present, the tools take care of themselve.
Persevere in your passions.
7 comments:
Thank you for that lovely reminder about passion.
WOW-great thoughts.
Funny that you mention it. In the past few months I've often thought about some of the cool gear I bought for my racing season that didn't happen this year. And of course, none of that stuff matters right now. Cool gear or not, I'd rather be out running, plain and simple.
Isn't this sort of a sign of the times when a good marketing scheme determines so much of what and how we do neary everything.
(I guess I'd better shelve the blog I've been thinking in my head about the new gear I've gotten lately, hmmmm?)
I'm on my fifth pair of shoes, all by different manufacturers... LOL!! My feet seem to be holding up just fine, which I can say certainly helps my passion ;-)
Joe, an interesting topic to be sure…. So I’ll take issue with it, in part. The tools enhance the passion and provide some motivation. For example, you and your readers find the “tool” of blogging encouraging for their sport and bloggin can intensify their passion. Perhaps the record-keeping keeps someone going on through a rough time. Just look at the side panel of your blog….. 680 miles YTD and 4700 total! So I pose a question….. if your Garmin breaks and your computer crashes, how would you feel toward running???
Your sister---who else!! Karen
This post makes me think of the many times you talked about golf clubs. You always said that the nice clubs don't make a good golfer. Probably explains why I have a set that cost about $80 and play about as well as my hack freinds. Keep it up dad.
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