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Good morning! I usually try to write the introduction to the newsletter on Monday afternoon but Christine had the day off work yesterday, the weather was nice, and we took Tahoe to a local park for a hike. So, these are all the introductory words I’ve got for you this week. Let’s get right to it.

Quick Splits

— There’s a quote from French writer André Gide that I love in which he says, “Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But since no one was listening, everything must be said again.” I thought of it while reading this recent Outside column by Alex Hutchinson about new data from this study in Sports Medicine that shows faster marathoners run more than slower ones with the main difference being the amount of easy running they do (since the volume of “threshold” or “hard” running was virtually identical). The study analyzed 16 weeks of training data from 120,000 runners who logged their workouts on Strava in the lead-up to a marathon. The main takeaway? If you’re trying to go faster in the marathon by running harder and harder workouts, dial back the intensity a bit and instead try to run a little more. To quote the great Frank Shorter from Michael Sandrock’s Running With The Legends, “I’ve always had a simple view of training for distance running: two hard interval sessions a week and one long run—20 miles or two hours, whichever comes first. Every other run is aerobic, and you do as much of that for volume as you can handle. Do this for two or three years, and you’ll get good.” (Also from Shorter, when you’re running with other people, “You go as slow as the slowest person you’re running with. If someone doesn’t like that, they should find another group.")

— Conner Mantz ran 59:17 at the Houston Half Marathon this past Sunday, finishing second to Ethiopia’s Addisu Gobena in a sprint finish with both men being given the same time. The 28-year-old Mantz shattered Ryan Hall’s American record of 59:43, a mark that stood mostly unchallenged for 18 years. But Conner Mantz the American record-holder doesn’t excite me as much as Conner Mantz the fearless competitor. The former is ultimately a fleeting title, the latter will end up defining his career as an athlete. I love how Mantz is simply just unafraid to stick his nose in it, no matter who he’s up against, and hang on for as long as possible. This short post-race video from Citius Mag paints a good picture of the man—and the mindset that is making him into one of the greatest racers our country has ever seen.

— The women’s race at the Houston Half Marathon wasn’t as close as the men’s contest but it was still pretty dang tight with Ethiopian Senayet Getachew finishing four seconds up on Weini Kelati of the U.S. Like Mantz, Kelati also broke the American record, running 66:09 to take 16 seconds off the mark she laid down a year ago. Unfortunately I can’t find any video of the finish but also like Mantz, Kelati’s competitiveness is something to admire and celebrate. The 28-year-old went out hard (65-flat pace through 10K!) before the hot pace, and some cold second-half headwinds, slowed everyone down a bit. Kelati, who also has the U.S. record for 10K on the roads, also set pending American records for 15K (46:32), 10 miles (50:05), and 20K (1:02:43) en route on Sunday. “I was just like, going for it,” Kelati told Jay Holder of Running USA after the race, explaining that the windy weather did not cause her to alter her race strategy.

— Breathwork is all the rage these days and most of what you’ll find about the various techniques you can employ are unnecessarily complicated and thus, largely ineffective. It doesn’t have to be that way. “Breathing is the simplest movement we perform and it should not be complicated to improve breathing skills to feel and perform better,” writes human performance specialist Robert Wilson. In this short post Wilson goes on to outline two easy-to-understand cues — “Fill the Bucket” and “Open/Close the A” — that will help you breathe with intention so you can feel, perform, relax, or focus better. I’ve been “filling the bucket” multiple times a day when I’m feeling tense and/or rushed and have found that it’s really useful at eliciting an effective relaxation response.

— Here’s Bob Dylan covering Don Henley’s “The End of the Innocence” in Philadelphia in 2002 with his trademark raspy, nasally voice, adding a new layer of emotion and soul to an already incredible tune. It’s like he’s reciting a timeless poem. Apparently Dylan sang the song nine times on this particular tour and I found three of them on YouTube: here’s another one from Sacramento and here he is singing it in Kingston, Rhode Island. Each version varies in its intonations and emphasis, almost as if he was trying to call attention to a different verse in every performance.

— From the archives (Issue 219, 5 years ago today): Five years ago yesterday was one of the hardest days of my life. My sweet Nana Fraioli, our family’s matriarch who had (and continues to have) an outsized influence on my life, passed away at the age of 92. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about her or the lessons she taught me, the most important of which have to do with selflessness, hard work, and humility. This tribute to her on that day is one of the most personal things I’ve ever written and shared publicly.

— A big thank you to my friends at Precision Fuel and Hydration for their continued support of my work in 2025. I’ve been a devotee of PF&H products since 2017 (before they even had fuel!) and the brand has never steered me wrong. Not only do they make best-in-class fueling and hydration products that I regularly use to fuel my own training and racing (the PF30 chews were my fuel of choice for my long run this past Sunday), they also provide expert information and advice in the Knowledge Hub on their website, as well as the opportunity to book a free 20-minute consultation with one of their in-house experts to discuss your hydration and fueling strategy. There’s no other company in the space offering this kind of service and, if you ask me, it’s one of the things that helps set them apart from the rest. (If you’re interested in trying PF&H products for yourself, check out this link and save 15% off your first order.)

One of the things that I’ve always loved about Tracksmith is that they’ve built their brand on celebrating the history and culture of the sport we all love. Classic literature is no exception, which is why I appreciate their latest collection, which pays homage to one of the best (and most underappreciated, I’d argue) running novels of all-time, “The Purple Runner,” by Paul Christman. I’ve owned a copy of this book for twenty years and as a young post-collegiate it was a huge inspiration for me to explore what was possible as an athlete. Anyway, Tracksmith is re-publishing a limited number of copies of the book and—you guessed it—a purple-themed collection of apparel to celebrate it. I’m going to snag myself a purple Brighton Baselayer because it’s my alma mater’s color and—checks the calendar—winter isn’t ending anytime soon. If you buy anything from Tracksmith.com, and you’re doing so for the first time, use the code MarioNEW to save $15 on your order of $75 or more. If you’re already a Tracksmith customer, use the code MarioGIVE and you can get free shipping on your next order (and 5% of your purchase will go to support the Friendly House in Worcester, Massachusetts, an organization that is near and dear to me).

Workout of the Week: Broken Tempo Run

Tempo runs are a staple workout for many runners and with good reason: they’re very effective at improving fitness, focus, discipline, and grit. They also tend to cause some of the most confusion. In general, a tempo run is defined as maintaining a steady effort for a prolonged period of time. So how far and how fast should your tempo runs be? It depends on who you ask. For ease of creating a common understanding here, we’re going to say your tempo runs should be 15-45 minutes worth of work at your half-marathon pace, i.e. a “comfortably hard” effort. Tempo runs tend to intimidate a lot of runners because of their stop-free nature, e.g. 3-8 miles at half-marathon pace is a popular prescription and anything but an easy assignment during a heavy training week. The Broken Tempo Run, which simply breaks a traditional tempo run into smaller chunks—serves as a nice alternative, especially early in a training block when you’re just not that fit. I also find it to be a good option for runners, newbies and veterans alike, who have a hard time wrapping their heads around long workouts—taking a 30-60 second break every 5-15 minutes (n.b. I’m using 5:00 reps here for simplicity’s sake) is usually enough time to mentally regroup without affecting the intention of the session. Here are the details.

The bottom line.

“Just slow things down and it becomes more beautiful.”

— David Lynch, American filmmaker who passed away last week at the age of 78

That's it for Issue 480. Enjoying the shakeout? Please do me a solid and forward this email to someone else who might also appreciate it. (And if you’re seeing this newsletter for the first time and want to receive it for yourself first thing every Tuesday morning, you can subscribe right here.)

Thanks for reading,

Mario

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