It’s a rainy November night here in Oregon. As I sit in my bus tapping out sentences on my phone, rain patters on the roof overhead. I’ve spent the day running, making phone calls, and helping my girlfriend Jess build an A-frame house. At this point in the day, I’m feeling pretty tired, so I sip warm matcha as I work to corral my thoughts.
My brain hones in on something I’ve been thinking about in recent days; the concept of more. You’ve probably heard the saying less is more. It’s a fairly common and easy to understand phrase. It’s simply the idea that having less of something is better than having more of it. For example, when tapering for a race, you might remind yourself that less is more, because the main objective is to rest up for race day, not put in more hard miles.
In recent years, however, I’ve noticed people using a similar, but very different phrase. Perhaps you’ve heard it as well. It’s the phrase “more is more.” I have mostly, maybe solely, heard it utilized within the context of endurance sports. To be honest, its meaning has felt a bit perplexing.
Jess’s house starting to take shape. Photo: Zach Miller
Initially, I wasn’t sure what people meant when they said, “more is more.” Were they expressing that doing more of something, like running, was better than doing less of it? In other words, is running more weekly mileage better than running less? Or, were they simply saying that having more of something wasn’t necessarily better or worse, just more. By this train of thought, running 140 miles a week isn’t necessarily better than running 70 miles a week. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t. All we really know is that it’s more miles.
Taking a closer look, I think they meant the former of these two ideas. This would make sense because the idea that having more of something is better than having less of it is the opposite of the previously mentioned “less is more” phrase. Opposite statements with opposite meanings; the logic seems to check out.
But why am I even talking about this? Truth is, over the past week or so I’ve been thinking about humankind’s obsession with “more.” Why is it that human beings get so caught up in this four-letter word? As endurance athletes we can easily find ourselves wanting more miles, more vert, more races, more personal records, and more victories.
Zach Miller taking a break on a recent training run in the Grand Canyon. Photo: Rob Krar
In the world outside of running, we seem drawn to other things. People strive to make more money. Companies push for growth. People long for a greater return on their investments. We want a stronger economy and more money in our pockets, but where does this seemingly never-ending push take us?
In the world of running, “more” can be a dangerous thing to chase. Sure, there are times when the pursuit is good. More miles can help to make us fitter and stronger. More intensity can help to hone our speed. But, as many runners are aware, too much of these things can backfire with a vengeance. The trend is not always positive.
I can’t help but think that life is the same. Surely more has its limits. It can’t possibly be an infinite trajectory void of negative repercussions. At some point, more becomes less.
Outside the rain continues to fall. I don’t expect that it will last forever. It never does. Like many things in life, it has its time and place. A rain that never stops would be bad for growth, as would one that never starts. After all, less is more, more is more, and sometimes, more is less. No single mantra is the secret, just the wisdom of all three.
Call for Comments
- What do you think of the phrase “more is more?”
- Do you think it leads people to fall into a trap of overtraining, or wanting too much from their running?
- And what about this idea’s application to the rest of our lives? Is there something we can learn from the phrase in running than applies to everyday life?
