I had that written on a journal cover when I was in college. Along with something about actualizing potential. That was a long time ago. I recently considered that on your way to ‘actualizing your potential’ and ‘becoming what you are’,  you may actually become a horrible person. I guess that’s the flip side.  I chuckled because the young Chris never even considered that possibility.

Aristotle wrote about potentiality and actuality in his Metaphysics … but in the context of “energeia” which he meant to mean energy through motion. Still holds true – there is a reason why most of Western thought is based on Greek philosophy.

Broke in a new pair of kicks today – New Balance 870v4’s. I’ve had 4 pair of v3’s and think they’re the bees knees. It’s a lightweight stability shoe – just enough medial posting to give me a bump when my form starts to fall apart on long runs. Today I ditched the orthotics to see what would happen (nothing happened). I only ran 6 miles and felt a little bit more strain on the front of my shin. I’d like to ditch them completely, primarily because of the weight (they’re carbon fiber, but still a few grams that could be shed). My theory is that using an orthotic makes your feet weak by supporting your foot in an unnatural position (for me it’s lots of arch support). I’d like my feet to be stronger and use the natural shock absorption of my foot instead of a cushioned shoe. That’s my theory anyway. Lighter shoes will mean faster turnover and less effort on toe-off which means more speed.

I’ve been climbing in the evenings again – feels great! A quick bike ride to the gym and after some easy warm up laps, picking a project to work on – last night it was a 5.11 that got super-weird at the top, left pull slopers to a crimp then hips back to the right  – then I popped off. I love the feeling of climbing hard right through the point at which you get spit off. Good stuff.

Human energy.