Innovation

Every industry tries to be innovative and I certainly support innovation.  Where would we be without all of the innovation throughout history?  Innovation these days, mostly involves technology.  In many cases, technological advances replaces humans, or at the very least human thought and creativity.  After a few days at a pharmaceutical clinical research conference, an industry know as being laggards in technology adoption and having as many inefficient processes as government agencies (maybe because they are regulated by government agencies?), innovation was fresh on my mind.  There were many discussions about innovation, yet the presentations showed little in terms of innovation.  What's innovative to this industry is well beyond mature in other industries.  I'm not talking about medicinal innovation per se but the entire drug/device process to get a drug to market.  If the big pharmas drove innovation through the regulatory agencies, I think that they would embrace it.  There are many more internal barriers that the pharmas blame on regulatory.  Hopefully the new band of brothers (Transcelerate) can help change that since no one pharma wants to stick their neck out.

As I was running today, I was thinking about innovation in the running industry.  Innovation in running is found in a few areas:

• Running shoes (minimalist, maximalist. stability, cushioned, materials, etc.)
• Running clothes (tech material, compression, etc.)
• Gadgets (watches, wearables, packs, hydration, etc.)
• Timing and tracking systems (GPS, chip timing, photo identification, SMS, etc.)
• Food and drink (electrolyte replacement, blends, gels, blocks, etc.)
• Registration and information (web sites, mobile, training programs, social media)

But with all of this, you still have to physically and mentally do the work.  You still have to put one foot in front of the other and go the distance.  Yes, many of these things help you go the distance but believe me, at mile 20 and beyond in a marathon, there is nothing except for your physical and mental strength that will allow you to cross the finish line.  You also cannot innovate the Earth.  Yes, some of these theme runs can make events more fun or more difficult by adding obstacles, colors, foams, doughnuts, etc.  But, for pure running over a marked course, it is what it is.  The course doesn't change once you start.  It might change next year, but once the gun goes off it is you against the course and other runners - human against human, human against Earth.  Innovation makes for a better experience but is not a substitute for perseverance and endurance.  

Today Day 38: 4 miles; 2014: 214 miles