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The Long Run
There’s a lot of talk in the improvement space about envy.
It’s usually framed as something to eliminate. Something ugly. Almost sinful. As if feeling envy is a personal failure that needs fixing or reprogramming.
I think that does more harm than good.
Envy is a legitimate emotion. Pretending it doesn’t exist - or that “better” people don’t feel it - just teaches us to feel inferior for having a very human response.
Where things go wrong isn’t the feeling itself. It’s what we do with it.
When you optimise for utility, envy can be incredibly useful. It points to areas where other people are visibly excelling. Sometimes that’s a sign of something you genuinely want and could work toward. Other times, it’s simply noise.
The mistake is expecting the outcome without wanting, or doing the work.
Running makes this obvious.
You see someone posting a long run every Sunday. Or a big PB. Or mileage that dwarfs yours. Envy shows up. That’s normal.
But if you don’t actually want to structure your week around long runs, early mornings, tired legs, and quiet consistency, then the envy is misplaced. You’re not behind. You’re just not playing the same game.
And if you do want it, then envy becomes information. A signal. Something to harness rather than suppress.
The goal isn’t to sterilise envy. It’s to understand it, filter it, and decide whether it deserves your effort.
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