Nick Thompson Q&A 3pm Friday on his new book, life, and why he finally ran over 3 hours in marathon in first time in 20 years

Wejo and Nick:

Both of you have written extensively about how training is really simple but it took you a long time to figure that out. Why do so many runners make the "simplest of sports" so complex? Is it only possible to figure out the simplicity after you have spent many years screwing up? Is there something in the basic temperament of runners that makes them try (too) hard? Is it that younger runners do not value the meditative, therapeutic aspects of running (and therefore run 6 milers at 6:15 pace on concrete rather than 12 milers at an easy pace on trails)? Something else? . . . Really enjoyed the book.

Already heard him speaking extensively on other podcasts, including Rich Roll. He's had remarkable success in work and in running despite not being a college star, you should ask him about that. Glad he'll get to promote his book to your listeners.

I am curious about the basic temperament of distance runners. The runners on LetsRun are generally very smart and analytical and the tendency then can be to try and overanalyze things or try and optimize everything but you start missing big picture items.

An Olympic writer told me they liked interviewing runners way more than swimmers as runners were more interesting to talk to or more analytical. But that could be because distance races are tactical and swimming races aren't. But I would like to know more if more analytical people are drawn to running for some reason but don't have proof of it.