Running the Right Way: Inverting Mistakes into Mastery

Note: I made a few adjustments for this newsletter to make it more relevant for a broader audience. While much of this advice was originally geared toward high school athletes, the core lessons apply to runners at every level.

I recently had the opportunity to speak to a group of young runners in Saint Augustine, and it got me thinking about the lessons I’ve learned over my career. When I started to think about what I wanted to discuss for this talk– Inspiration struck me with one of the books I read this past year. The Book, Poor Charlie's Almanack is pretty interesting– It is a collection of documents from past talks of the great Charlie Munger. Charlie Munger was Warren Buffett’s right hand man at Berkshire Hathaway. And Warren credits Charlie with the success Berkshire has had over the last 30 years. For those high school kids out there who have no idea who either of these guys are, they’re really smart and rich dudes who built one of the largest companies in the world. I try to take advice from people who are smarter than me, and these guys definitely know a thing or two about how to be successful in their field. When I read, I try to relate the lessons to what I care about. So naturally, I took some of the advice from Poor Charlie's Almanack, and tried to relate it to my running. One of the biggest mental models Charlie meditated on before making big decisions was something called “inverting.” This method focuses on looking at problems from the opposite perspective to uncover insights and solutions that might otherwise be overlooked. The concept can be summed up by Munger's advice: “All I want to know is where I'm going to die, so I’ll never go there." An example of this would be something like this: Instead of asking "How can I be healthy?" Consider, "What habits will harm my health?" 

With that in mind, here’s a tongue-in-cheek guide on how to have a miserable running career—so you can do the opposite.

1. Do not trust your coach or their plan. 

The best training plan is the one you believe in. Full stop. And that training plan looks different for all types of runners. I am fortunate enough to train with some of the best athletes in the world. Many of us share incredibly similar personal bests. You might think that if we did exactly the same training, we would have identical results and success. However, this couldn’t be more incorrect. Many athletes need to run lower mileage and focus on quality workouts, while others thrive on higher-volume, slower-paced training. In 2023, I started off the year with the intention of being the best 1500m runner I had ever been. My coach (who happens to be my mom) figured that we needed to do a lot more race pace work than in the past to be better than before. I disagreed with her in silence. Showing up to practice with doubt, insecurity, and lack of trust in the system led to poor race performances. Heading into 2024, I had one goal: Show up to practice with gratitude and belief in what I was doing. That was it. We had a very simple plan. I finished 4th at the Olympic Trials in just my second 10K race, which felt like the start of a new career. Practice was about having fun, letting the process unfold, and TRUSTING that my coach would get me to where I wanted to go. Confidence drives commitment. I was more committed than ever because I trusted my plan and coach.

2. Be envious and resentful of your teammates' successes. 

I love the quote, “a rising tide lifts all boats.” By celebrating others' successes, you’re lifting the entire team—including yourself. Organizational psychology research shows that envy often reduces trust and collaboration among team members. Envious individuals may withhold information or avoid cooperative tasks, which undermines team cohesion. In a study from Parrott and Smith (1993) it highlighted that envy often correlates with feelings of hostility, making individuals less likely to engage constructively. Here are a few practical ways to avoid this: 

1. Emphasize team achievements like winning a meet, qualifying for a championship, or setting a new team record. Highlight how each individual's contribution supports the team's success. 

2. Relay Events or Team-Based Challenges: Incorporate training sessions that involve group efforts, such as relay races or challenges where everyone’s performance matters equally. 

3. Highlight Improvement, Not Just Wins: Celebrate personal progress in addition to race victories. Acknowledge PRs (personal records), consistent effort in practice, or overcoming obstacles.

4. Gratitude Practice: Before or after meets, encourage athletes to express appreciation for something a teammate did that helped them (e.g., pacing them in practice or cheering during a tough race). 

5. Teammate Shoutouts: During team meetings, set aside time for teammates to publicly acknowledge each other’s hard work or successes. 

3. Focus on fancy/flashy workouts instead of long term consistency. 

The best advice or quote I can give you is from a fictional book on distance running. John L Parker in Once a Runner writes, ““You don't become a runner by winning a morning workout. The only true way is to marshal the ferocity of your ambition over the course of many day, weeks, months, and (if you could finally come to accept it) years. The Trial of Miles; Miles of Trials.” In other words, if you want to be good at this whole running thing, be ready to strap in for a long time. Nail the basics, and do them for a long time. I have seen this first hand in my own running. In 2024, I sat down with my mom and we devised a training plan for me for the upcoming season. It was a big year for me. The Olympics were happening, my contract was up at the end of the year, and my wife and I were expecting our second child. The pressure to perform was on. In years past, I might have said “let’s train harder or do this differently.” Instead, we developed an incredible stimple training program. Monday long run, Wednesday threshold work, and Saturday harder race pace intervals. Rinse and repeat. Nothing fancy or flashy. In fact, most training weeks were quite boring. But are you ready for the secret? I didn’t miss any big running days. I stayed healthy, kept to the plan, and prioritized a ton of B workouts, and left the A’s for race day. I ended up having my best year of running yet. And I PRd in every distance from 1500 all the way up to the 10k. I’ll leave you with one more Once a Runner quote: “What was the secret, they wanted to know; in a thousand different ways they wanted to know The Secret. And not one of them was prepared, truly prepared to believe that it had not so much to do with chemicals and zippy mental tricks as with that most unprofound and sometimes heart-rending process of removing, molecule by molecule, the very tough rubber that comprised the bottoms of his training shoes. The Trial of Miles; Miles of Trials.” In other words, get out the door as often as possible. Slow and steady wins the race in the long run. 

4. ME > WE. 

I want to tell the story of my Penn Relays race my senior year of highschool. For those of you who don’t know. The Penn Relays is the pinnacle of races to run as a highschooler. It has a rich history of Olympians and world class runners who have run at the University of Pennsylvania track. I was fortunate enough to compete and win the highschool boys 3k and mile races my sophomore and junior year of highschool. There was one race left to complete the trifecta: the DMR. What is unique about this race was that it wasn’t entirely up to me to pull together the win, as the DMR has 3 other runners participate in 1200, 400, and 800 legs before handing off to me to run the 1600 leg. To add to the drama, our lead off leg (who was a great runner) fell. This brought our chances of winning the race down to pretty close to 0. Our 400m and 800m legs did their best and ran great legs, but handed the baton off to me 9 seconds back. I had one goal: run as hard as I possibly could and see if I could get us within striking distance. I did exactly that, And with 200 meters to go, I was neck and neck with the lead runner. I remember distinctly thinking, I have nothing left in the tank, I used all my gears to catch this runner. But, I had teammates on the sidelines counting on me to get the job done. I dashed to the finish line giving every ounce of exertion for my final lean. It was too close to call for a few seconds. I thought I lost, and my teammates gathered around me to tell me how proud they were of our effort and the fight we gave. NO, it turns out I had won by the smallest of margins. This was the best memory of my high school running because I got to share it with my teammates. I had no idea this would be my last relay ever, shortly after this I decided to sign an 8 year pro contract with adidas and forgo my college eligibility. The bus ride banter, the hard long runs, the pasta dinners– these moments are so important. Lean into them. Go above and beyond to immerse yourself within your team. Help your teammates with no agenda other than being a good teammate. The famous African proverb says, “if you want to go fast, go alone. if you want to go far, go together.” 

5. Focus on the outcome, not the process. 

Wrong, the outcome is the result of NAILING the process. It took me a while to understand this. We’ve all seen the Hollywood movies where the coach or athlete is up at night writing out their goals in a dimly lit room. It’s romantic and inspirational– but fails to address what actually matters. Most of these goals say “win a state championship, or run under 5 minutes in the mile. These are great, however, these outcome focused goals often leave us in a tough spot if we don't end up hitting them. Instead, focus on what you can control. Things like the effort you give in your race, your training preparation, your sleep habits, Instead of things you can’t control: what your competition does, the weather, injuries, etc… A Process-Focused Statement would look something like this: "I will complete five 6-mile runs this week, focusing on maintaining an even pace and improving my running form." This statement emphasizes actions and behaviors within your control. It encourages consistency, skill-building, and incremental progress. An Outcome-Focused Statement would look something like this: "I want to run a sub-40-minute 10k at my next race." This statement highlights the end result you want to achieve, which may depend on factors beyond your direct control, such as weather or competition.

In his bestselling book Atomic Habits, James Clear emphasizes the transformative power of small daily habits and consistent processes over simply fixating on long-term goals. He states, "You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems." This principle highlights that success comes from building effective systems and routines rather than solely aiming for a distant objective. For runners, this might mean focusing on daily mileage, recovery protocols, or gradually improving pacing rather than obsessing over a race-day time. Research in sports psychology consistently demonstrates that athletes who prioritize the process (e.g., maintaining proper form, executing a race strategy, or controlling their breathing) perform better and experience less anxiety than those fixated on results (e.g., winning or achieving a specific time). Process-focused athletes are also more adaptable, allowing them to respond effectively to unexpected challenges during competition. This approach not only improves performance but also increases satisfaction by ensuring that success is measured by controllable actions rather than external results. 

Lean into your teammates, trust your coaches, and focus on what you can control. Celebrate every step forward, no matter how small. And when you face challenges, remember that these are opportunities to grow, not barriers to stop you. After all, as the great John L. Parker Jr. wrote, “The Trial of Miles; Miles of Trials.” Embrace the trials, because they shape you into the athlete and person you’re meant to be.