The conversations Michael & I have sometimes feel like therapy. There is the sense that we can work out whatever happens to be front & center in our personal & professional lives through talking it out every Thursday morning at his condo. That's pretty much what psychotherapy is designed to do. Holding ourselves accountable for the choices we make is radical responsibility: from waking up & getting out the door on those stormy mornings to battling the inner & outer demons that feel like they want to devour us where we sit. I mention the book Tough by Greg Everett in this episode & I highly recommend it for anyone interested in the mental side of training. In this book, Everett talks about Character, Capacity, Capability. There is a the fourth C I forgot when mentioning it in this discussion, which is Commitment.  Interestingly enough, commitment is action & practice. This sets us off on a deeper exploration of a concept I have been unpacking since the pandemic, when many of us lost our purpose because races were cancelled. What follows here is a conversation that gets pretty personal, especially for Michael. We wondered whether or not to release this episode because of its sensitive nature, its raw bloody revelation of the struggle we have in our day to day lives. What is authenticity? What is true to our core essential nature? & why does running sometimes feel like a slick sales job designed to sell us something. Michaels & I are businessmen. We are entrepreneurs operating in late Western capitalism, attempting to both provide for our families & to change the running culture. This conversation reveals just how hard that work can be. & we know we are not alone. We know you also feel this paradox of wanting the next new thing that will make you better, faster, sexier, cooler at your next race & knowing, with everything you hold dear, with every ounce of your godforsaken soul that running cannot be capitalized upon, that - at its essence - running is pure being. That is all. So if you resonate with this episode, let us know. Drop us a line. Give this podcast a rating or share how it makes you think & feel. Because the only way we steal this culture is when we all show up & practice our bliss.