Recommendations & good things
A short one
I am taking a little break from a full post this week to work on things behind the scenes, so here’s a short one…
I was at a leadership conference recently and one of the topics this time was managing stress. A guy called Kevin Light led the session and mentioned one of his clients who insists on taking a week off before a hectic period to ensure that he goes into the high-workload period fully rested and alert rather than feeling drained before it starts.
Like a taper.
Unfortunately, with the job I do and hobbies and projects I have, my (self-inflicted) workload is always high so I can’t take a week off. However, thanks to friends (Ellie) and my partner Ben, learning to take breaks is an on-going process.
I leave you with an extended list - I hope they are useful.
Recommendations & good things this week
Why 'I am enough' will be your undoing.
I just finished Rural: The Lives of the Working Class Countryside by Rebecca Smith and it is a wonderful book. Since most of my subscribers are from the NW countryside you can likely relate to it. It’s filled with history on Cumbria, Scotland and Wales and it focuses on the challenges from past and present from those who have lived it as the world and economy has changed. It also dives into and debates more recent subjects like the rise of second homes and holiday lets and the effect on communities.
A quote from an excellent piece about Finlay Wild - “Beyond this, the swollen commercial interest in trail and ultra threatens to taint hill running, if not crush it altogether. The outdoors is trendier than ever.”
How cynical are you? This has nothing to do with sport, but I thought it was interesting enough to share. Take the short test (subscription needed).
The test reminded me of a book called Humankind: A Hopeful History by Dutch historian Rutger Bregman. It was excellent. It is highly optimistic and argues that humans are inherently good by going back through history and unpicking things. Against the backdrop of on-going wars and politics, it’s a bit of escapism - something more hopeful and a different lens to view the world through.
Ged Dolan has completed 1,000 days of swimming. His golden rule was to do at least 20 continuous strokes every day, to make it a swim rather than a daily dip.
Celtic Camino - A new coast path linking Ireland and Wales (includes a ferry) and it sounds lovely. More info.
Pro cyclist Lachlan Morton is a third of the way into his 14,200km ride around Australia (44,000m of ascent). If you think ‘oh well, he’s a pro…’. he’s not your usual type: “The real world is going on around you. I think I prefer this kind of thing, to be honest.”
Neil Agius set a new world record for the longest unassisted ocean swim - 142km in 60 hours, 35 minutes. He beat his own time of 125km in 52 hours from 2021, and it seems like he is far from finished with these types of record swims…
