The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-313 – Jens takes on the internet startup
“The lost Episode”
(Audio: link)
[audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4313.mp3]
Link epi4313.mp3
Support my Hood-to-Coast Relay for Cancer Research – https://give.everydayhero.com/us/chris-russell-hood-to-coast-for-cancer-research
Intro Bumper:
Hello and welcome to episode 4-313 of the RunRunLive podcast. It’s a beautiful day and I feel very lucky with all the gifts I’ve been blessed with.
Part of the blessing is all of you, the people I’ve befriended over the years doing this show. My life is so much richer for it. So, thank you.
I got to see one of my online friends this week. I was out in San Diego and I originally planned to hop the redeye back but decided to stay over instead. And ZenRunner drove out meet me. We went for a run together, had a quick supper and a great talk.
I love talking with Adam because he’s super smart and has a deep well of intellectual experience to draw from.
I was telling him how I was working my way through the Head Space meditation app and how some of the days it was super hard to get my mind to quiet down.
He told me that your mind is like water, sometimes it’s calm and sometimes it’s choppy. You can’t really control that but you can manage your life around the knowledge of what state your mind is in.
I think in practice it’s similar to how I sleep on airplanes. If a plane is super noisy I’ll visualize that I am inside a clear box, a force field of sorts. Inside the box all is quiet and calm. All the noise and chaos is outside the box. In much the same way I’m hoping my meditation practice, as pitiful as it is, will allow me to create that patch of calm water for myself within an angry sea.
I’ve been getting in some awesome runs, especially trail runs. I’m close to setting my race calendar for the summer and we’ll talk about that in the outro today.
I went back to the cardio doctor for my 2-week review after the procedure. They seem to think everything is well but they won’t declare success or failure for 3 months. I guess there’s a burn-in period. I’d better get the extended warranty.
I’ve been watching my heart rate in my training and it seems to flip less. We’ll see. The trail runs have been really fun and it’s great to get back out into the green bosom of the world. I got a pair of Hoka trail shoes and I love them so far. Go figure, all the free shoes that I’ve gotten over the years and I fall in love with the ones that cost $130 a pair!
Today we have an interesting chat with Jens who has started an on-line, peer-review, web site for running shoes. He’s got a big idea about using the power of the crowd to rate shoes. You might ask, “What does that have to do with running, Chris?”
Well, you know I have a deep affection for entrepreneurs and also a fascination with the evolution of the internet and its ability to democratize and disintermediate. Listen to what Jens and I chat about and see if you can tease out the larger moving pieces.
In the first section I talk about what people see as their ‘purpose’ when they start running and what we can learn about it.
In the second section I’ll chat about some stuff (that’s a technical term) that I have learned from hanging around venture capitalist and how some of the stuff you assume isn’t really true.
It’s great to have summer here. I feel good about the future.
On with the show!
Section one – Running Tips
You purpose to start running – https://runrunlive.com/your-purpose-to-start-running
Voices of reason – the interviews
Jens Jakob Andersen
Here are a few links:
http://runrepeat.com/ – read the text on the footer on the right
http://runrepeat.com/about – I’m the only founder and owner.
http://runrepeat.com/compare-running-shoes – check this tool. It will blow your mind. A completely new way of comparing running shoes.
http://runrepeat.com/ranking/rankings-of-overall-running-shoes
http://runrepeat.com/research-marathon-performance-across-nations – got massive media coverage from this research. We also did this one: http://runrepeat.com/research-women-are-better-runners-than-men. Together those two got us into +100 newspapers/magazines around the world. Examples: http://www.wsj.com/articles/boston-marathon-which-countries-have-the-fastest-recreational-runners-1429488981?tesla=y, http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/04/22/the-worlds-fastest-everyday-runners/?_r=0, http://www.runnersworld.com/running-tips/women-are-better-marathon-pacers-on-average-than-men and http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2014/12/09/marathons-and-male-egos-just-about-the-result-youd-expect/
Section Two – Life Lessons
Managing like a VC – https://runrunlive.com/managing-like-a-venture-capitalist
Outro
What did I tell you? Isn’t Jens an interesting thinker? What, you don’t like what I’m doing here? You didn’t like this show? I’ve got good news for you then, you have reached the end of episode 4-313.
In a few weeks we’ll mark 8 years since the first episode of RunRunLive came crawling ugly and badly recorded to life.
That’s nothing. Steve Runner of Pheddippidations is a having a 10 year anniversary this summer. Adam is putting together a celebration audio collection for him – so send Adam your audio and let Steve know how much he’s influenced your life.
Do you know who my first interview was? My buddy Frank. I actually went for a nice easy ride with Frank out on the Minuteman Trail down to Alewife last Saturday.
He can’t run anymore because he’s got a bad hip but I’m going to talk him into buying a mountain bike and doing the Hampshire 100 with me this year.
Yes, I’m going to spin up my mountain biking this summer as a change of pace. I got a bike for my youngest and I’m going to see if I can corrupt her as well.
I’m also quite close to pulling the trigger on an Olympic distance tri. I’ll have to spin up my swimming – which is hard for me because I suck at it, but again, it will be good for me to get off the road marathon hamster wheel and let my body heal.
And that, my friends is I guess the biggest news, and the hardest thing for me to do. I’m not going to try to qualify for Boston this summer. The new qualification deadline of Sept 1st just doesn’t work for my life balance.
We’ll see how I do this summer and come back to it with fresh eyes, fresh legs and a fresh perspective in the fall. You know it will all work out. When you stop seeking the answer sometimes appears for you.
The other race on my calendar is the Hood to Coast Relay that I’ll be running for cancer research. Please lend me your support – Support my Hood-to-Coast Relay for Cancer Research – https://give.everydayhero.com/us/chris-russell-hood-to-coast-for-cancer-research
I haven’t locked down plans yet but I want to take some time, go out early, and drive through some of the states I’ve never been in on my way out there.
The MarathonBQ book is doing well and I am starting to see success stories from people who have used it to qualify this spring. If you know someone who yearns to qualify or just to take 30-40 minutes off their marathon time get them a copy of MarathonBQ. It’s the real deal of how I qualified for Boston with my limited time and talent.
…
Here’s a thought to take you out.
As I mature in my years I begin to understand that life isn’t about a series of discrete goals. Life isn’t a straight line. Life is a compilation of seasons. Each season is different. Each season has its challenges and its gifts. The season you are in is neither good nor bad, it just is.
You have to be present in your current season of life and live it. Don’t live in past seasons, don’t live in future seasons – live in the now that is your season.
And as you turn, turn, turn, I’ll see you out there.