Running
September 4th, 2026I am an enthusiastic runner. Like a happy lap dog, just chuffed to be here. Thursdays for me is run day, whether it’s early, lunch or after work. I try to get one in. 5km. Certain times of years I try to push the time, usually November, when it’s a bit cooler. I’ll run in all temperatures & weathers. Just as long as it’s not icy. Some of my favorite runs, are the foreign run, up early to explore a city. Or early run with a friend, then we go for coffee afterwards. I’ve even been lucky enough to have a vineyard run with my kids. Wonderful.
Some of my bucket list runs, are those mega endurance races in New Zealand, where you run a huge distance. The extra element is ensuring a steady footing, whilst exhausted. Or an antarctic run. Or I’ve heard there are kilometers of wine cellars in France, that might be fun.
If it is too cold, I’ll swap, to tabata runs inside, working on my pace.
With running, it is 10-15% of my overall activity, I’ll cycle 5-7km a day most days. A fortunate byproduct of living in New York. As well as other work outs. As well as work & family. Running is a pillar, but it exists within all of these things. That means, I’m not going to blow out a run, for that to then roll into other areas.
With my intention of a weekly run, that’s been fairly consistent the past 10 years. And over a year, I usually end up with 40-44 or so runs, with travel, work or something else popping up.
I don’t run with music, I don’t mind a podcast though but also happy to just run, smile, enjoy. Happy lap dog you see.
As a founder, running is an interesting analogy. First there’s the actual benefits of doing it, it’s like a mental wash, it rinses away all the stress, because, you’re focused on the run, and if you’re pushing yourself, you’re stopping carrying those thoughts in the back of your mind. And you come back feeling refreshed. That’s a huge win.
Then, building heart health, improving your v02 max, wearing yourself out physically to help with that full night sleep. And a full night sleep, then sets you up for the next day. Flushing that stress has benefits all round too.
The example you set others, in amongst everything they manage to find that time, to keep that up.
And running, requires working a few different mental muscles, holding the pace, to go the distance. But knowing, when to swap, and to focus on speed. But even going further than that, having the fitness, the capability, the fortitude to be able to change the speed. You can’t just desire to be faster, you have to have the capability to be faster.
Malcolm Gladwell, is also an avid runner, I suspect at a much better pace than myself. And he talks about this too, the best runners, know in training, to pace themselves, build the capability, and then in the race, build the timing, to hit the best pace in race conditions. For a runner, it’s easy to be, all out, as much as you can. Or to just take an easy pace. The best runners mindsets can encompass both in the same shell. They can be Travis Kalanick, attack, and Tim Cook. And it’s developing that, that’s the hard skill, that’s the top performers.
Younger founders, will go hard, sprint for 18 months, then jam up. Seasoned founders, find the rhythm to go at peak sustainable speed. And seasoned founders, know when to swap. This is go time, go all out, sleep on the factory floor, make the hard decisions. This is peace time, let’s harvest, and prepare for the next phase. And time between phases can be 6-7 years. Multiples on the younger founders 18 months sprints, they can’t even see the phases. Beyond that are multi-decade changes, which the best founders, attack, but on longer horizons.
If you’re a founder, but not yet a running, just get out there. Don’t think about next weeks run, plan a rhythm that gives you a years worth of running.
This entry was posted on Friday, September 4th, 2026 at 7:27 am. 