RunRunLive 4.0 - Running Podcast

Interludes 1.3

(Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/Interludes1.3.mp3] Link

“Interlude of Love” - Backslider

Introduction:

Hello my friends.  Hope you are doing well.  I’m afraid I got squeezed into the wormhole of too many time commitments this week and couldn’t get the first episode of the new version of the RunRunLive podcast put together. 

I won’t bore you with excuses.  On the bright side I’m getting closer.  I’ve got the first interview rteady to go and all the rough audio for the intros, outros and bumpers, so hang in there and we’ll get it out to you. 

Hope you all enjoyed the NYC race report.  It was a bear to write, edit and produce.  I probably spent 24 hours of work on it and could have spent another 24, but that’s what deadlines are for.  One of the best lessons you’ll ever learn as a creative is how to push out the ‘good enough’ because you will cease to exist before you ever find ‘the perfect’.

In lieu of a new episode this week I’m going to give you a teaser from the new book I’ve written.  It’s tentatively called “MarathonBQ, how to qualify for Bosotn in 12 weeks”  Let me know if it sounds interesting or if you have any questions, comments and suggestions.

Hope you are all maintaining your sanity as we forge ahead into these long, cold, dark winter days with the gruesome overload of holidays thrown on top!

Buddy and I have been getting out on the trails.  We’re not training for anything specifically but I’ve started the process of trying to find some good B-Hags.  I don’t train well unless I’ve got some sort of compelling goal, but I don’t want to just do more of the same. 

Anyway – I have to bow out with a mea culpa this week but I wanted you to know that I’m still out here and actively engaged 26 hours a day on getting shtuff done.

Cheers,

Chris,

 

Zen Runner – “Hold on”

Interludes 1.2 - NYC Marathon

(Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/NYC.mp3]

Link NYC.mp3

 

Act one – The Bridge

Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros – All in a Day 

Freezing and about half way across the Verrazano Narrows Bridge and the wind was blowing sideways at 20-30 mph with gusts up to 50 mph.  Physical shivers racked me in the Orange Staging Area on the island.  My giant trash bag cut the wind but did little to warm me.  

I was thankful to have the giant trash bag but would have rather had a full size wool blanket or poncho like Clint Eastwood wore in the spaghetti westerns.  Or a down jacket.  

The temperature was not that bad.  It was in the high 30’s Fahrenheit, but the cutting wind dropped the perceived temperature to single digits.  I was feeling it. 

We were ½ mile or so in, still on the upward slope of the bridge with a steady stream of runners.  I didn’t want to get in the way of anyone trying to race, but I recognized this as THAT iconic photo that everyone takes from this race and had to find a way to get it.  

I was not racing this race.  I had my iPhone with me to facilitate these sorts of moments. I felt compelled to fill the social media void with my fuzzy pictures of randomness to show my sponsors, the good people from ASICS America that, yeah, I do occasionally attempt some content of the typical race-blogger type.  

I saw my chance and jumped up onto the 2-3 foot wide barrier that separates inbound and outbound traffic on the top deck of the bridge.  Safely out of the flow I pulled off one glove with my teeth and took a few shots of the horizon, the cityscape beyond the river and the bridge. 

…

There’s a guy a few feet away on the median with me who has one of those giant cameras.  I don’t give him much thought.  There are camera-people all over the place on this course.  One guy is lying on his belly shooting the runners’ feet as they swarm across the bridge.  Who am I to get in the way of their art?  

Then I notice this guy is moving closer to me and it’s a bit creepy because when I glance his way he’s focusing on me, so I just try to ignore him and get my shots.  Turns out he’s the photographer for Rueters and he’s giving me the iconic ‘Seinfeld moment’ of the weekend. 

In the picture he takes I’m holding up my cell phone, yellow glove dangling from my teeth.  Desperately clutching last year’s orange parka, with the wind trying to blow it out of my hands.  I’ve got my gray ASICS beanie, a long sleeve ASICS plain red shirt (not anywhere thick enough for this wind assault on the bridge), ASICS Shorts, and my E33 race shoes with the green calf sleeves. 

The caption will read; “A runner takes a selfie on the Verrezano Bridge at the start of the NYC Marathon”.  It wasn’t a selfie, but who am I to argue with the media moguls of New York.  

Ironically those were the last pictures I took during the race because I realized my phone was going dead and I might need the GPS to get back to the hotel later at the finish.  I powered it down.  

I’m also wearing a scarf that I bought on the street corner in mid-town.  I would wear that scarf for the whole race.  Rakishly tied like the adornment of a WWI fighter pilot in an open canopy.  I fantasize about founding a whole line of racing scarves.  I will call this version “The Sopwith Camel”.  I can buy them on the corner for $5 and sell them to triathletes for $50 – (I’ll just tell them it takes 6 seconds off their run times – triathletes will buy anything). 

The last piece of clothing is an impromptu gator I’ve constructed by tearing the pompom off and gutting the Dunkin Donuts hat they gave us in the athletes’ village.  Ingenuity bred by desperation.  I would have gladly gutted a Tauntaun from the ice planet Hoth with a light saber and crawled into its bowels for the body heat if that was an option.  

I’m also holding a plastic shopping bag.  In that bag is 3 Hammer gels and an empty Gatorade bottle.  I held on to the Gatorade bottle thinking that I might need to refill it on the bridge given that I’d just finished drinking the contents.  If I have to relieve myself I want to be tidy about it.  

Every time anyone has ever talked about the NYC marathon to me, somehow the conversation always ends up at “If you’re on the lower deck of the bridge you get peed on by the guys on the upper deck.”  In fact there are signs along the start that threaten disqualification for anyone caught doing so.  But on this day I don’t see a single guy attempting the feat.  It would take a brave and talented man to relieve himself in this cross wind and temperature. 

The orange parka is from last year’s race.  I have upgraded from my plastic trash bag.  The trash bag was good, but this is warmer, and I need to get my core temp back up to normal. Ironically when I got my trash bag out I realized that it was slightly used.  At one point I think it had actual garbage in it.  I just grabbed it from my car. 

When I laid out the trash bag the night before I realized it wasn’t ‘fresh out of the box’ but, it is what it is, and I wiped it down with hotel face towels.  I used the bib safety pins to carefully scribe perforations for the head hole and the arm holes, like in old computer paper or junk mail, so I could easily push the patches out in the morning without having to chew out a gash with my teeth.  

When you exit the holding area from the staging area into the starting line on the bridge they have big boxes to donate your throw away clothes to the homeless.  I knew my core temperature was low from the bone rattling shaking and shivering and I looked for an opportunity to better my sartorial situation.  

I thought a nice hooded sweatshirt, or knit pullover would be the perfect upgrade to run the first couple miles in until my core temp came back up.  At the homeless boxes I tore off my plastic bag and grabbed that thick, quilted, finisher’s poncho from the 2013 race.  They don’t have arm holes but they are giant and you can wrap them around you like your grandmother’s cardigan. 

I made a joke that I hoped the guy who tossed it didn’t have Ebola or bed bugs.  

I had a politically incorrect but amusing mental picture that they should bus the homeless out to the start and have them set up on the bridge so people could pick the homeless person they wanted to give their old sweatshirt to.  It would be a nice way to mainstream the disadvantaged of the city.  They could hand out cups of fortified wine, like Thunderbird or Mogan David to warm the aspirants at the start. 

In the starting coral I had a couple guys from Indiana take my photo.  America the beautiful played and I reluctantly took off my hat.  They played New York, New York, which was awesome, and then, without further fanfare, we bent our thousands of feet into the wind of the narrows.  Plastic bags and clothing of all sort blew sideways through the crowd and wrapped around people like suicidal jelly fish.  

We were off.

Frank Sinatra – New York, New York

Act two – The elites and the bloggerati 

I walked into the lobby groggy from my flight and a bit lost in time and space.  I had been battling the cold that tore through North America the previous week and trying to get enough sleep to beat it back.  I was coming off a short week and had run the Marine Corps Marathon 5 days earlier.  

ASICS had asked me to fly Thursday night to be there in time for the Friday morning warm up run.  I was taking a rare day off on Friday to accommodate.  They flew me down on the short hop shuttle into Kennedy from Boston and had a limo waiting to take me to the hotel.  I definitely felt like a poser, but did my best to roll with it. 

When confronted by these situations where you feel the imposter syndrome creeping into the back of your lizard brain I’ve found it best to have a sense of humor.  Smile and enjoy yourself.  Try not to talk too much and try to inquire and understand the new people you meet. 

ASICS was putting me up at The New York Palace Hotel, a five-star joint on Madison Ave in midtown across the street from St. Patrick’s Cathedral.  It was a beautiful hotel with spacious rooms – definitely not the Spartan accommodation of a journeyman marathoner. 

The travel part didn’t bother me.  I spend most of my time in hotels and airplanes.  I’m a hearty and hale adventurer.  But, I’d be lying if I didn’t feel a bit different, a bit fish out of water to be part of an industry sponsored junket of sorts.  Not icky per se, but more like the guy without a cool costume at a costume party. 

…

In the Lobby Noelle, our ASICS Liaison, was chatting with a couple guys. She noticed me lurking about in my head to toe ASCIS gear and introduced herself.  I could have sworn one of the guys was Ryan Hall but I’m such a meathead with the social graces I didn’t want to make a faux pas. 

Eventually Noelle introduced me them and the young blond guy leans in, shakes my hand and says, ‘Hi, I’m Ryan.’  The other guy introduced himself as Andy. I would soon learn this was Andy Potts the Ironman Champ.  It cracked me up that Ryan had the humility to assume I didn’t know who he was. 

Moving to the bar with Noelle we ordered drinks and waited for the other out-of-towners. 

…

“Mini-Marathoners” – that’s what they called them.  They were 5 inch tall statuettes of us.  They had taken photos of us and rendered them, with the latest computer aided design, into mini 3D renditions of us in full stride.  Noelle passed them out while we – the ASCICS Blogger team - were having drinks.  They were a big hit. 

I met two of the other bloggers, Megan ‘Irun4Wine’ from Florida and Brian ‘PavementRunner’ from the Bay Area.  Brian’s mini marathoner had a hilarious beer belly, which Brian does not possess in real life.  Megan’s mini marathoner had brilliant red hair, which she does not possess in real life.  

Megan Wood (Copello) - @Irun4Wine www.irunforwine.net

Megan Lee - @RunLikeAGrl - www.runlikeagrl.com

Brian Kelly - @PavementRunner – www.pavementrunner.com

Gregg Bard – NYCGregg – www.NYCSweat.com

My mini marathoner was excellent.  They gave me back a full head of hair, made me skinny, took at least 10 years off me and made me look vaguely like Will Wheaton.  I’ll take it.  Of course the jokes flowed in.  Does it have kung fu grip?  Is it a bobble head? Yeah, you know you’ve made it when they are making action figures of you…

…

New York City is a funny, kinetic and desperate place.  I walked the streets of midtown doing some people watching.  Beat down, bowlegged men in suits trucking down the sidewalk.  The street vendors.  The tourists, always looking up in awe.  The many languages and all the smokers!  It was like being in Paris in 1970 with all the cigarette smoke being exhaled into my personal space.  

I circled the hotel, over to Park Ave and 1st and 48th and 54th, getting the lay of the land, taking mental notes of restaurants and stores and milestones.  The Helmsley, Grand Central, the ebb and flow and surge of pedestrians.  

I passed a fruit vendor and decided to take the plunge.  I was quite proud of myself having procured some bananas and plums and pears.  It was later that I discovered the vendor had put the fruit stickers over the moldy spots.  Ahh…New York, a kinetic and desperate place. 

…

Friday morning dawned gray but I was up before the sun.  I went to the Starbucks next door and treated myself to a coffee and oatmeal, not knowing what the day might have in store nutritionally.  We had a rendezvous with the cars to shuttle us over to the park for our ‘warm up run’ event.  Noelle was the leader like a tour guide with her charges in tow we all boarded limos for the ride over and gathered in a restaurant for coffee and sundries.  

Among the assembled crowd was a throng of actual journalists from places like Rodale and USAToday.  Nice, literate and sporty journalists, guests of ASICS all assembling for coffee and bagels and selfies with the elites. 

Coach Kastor was there holding court and he was in charge of the morning exercise.  Andy Potts was there as was Ryan and some other elite athletes from the ASICS stable.  My new friend Grace ‘LeanGirlsClub’ was there and I gave her a big hug.  As was the other Megan, ‘RunLikeAGirl’ and Greg, ‘NYCSweat’.  The blogger team was complete.   

And then we went for a run.

Up until this point it was just super surreal for me.  All this attention for a journeyman marathoner of little account.  I won’t lie.  It felt a little icky.  I love running.  I love talking about, writing about and rolling around in the smell of running.  But, it’s my hobby, not my job.  All these industry folks and media people subconsciously gave me the heebee-jeebees and I consciously determined to smile and be humble and ask people about themselves.  

Coach Kastor led us around the park and out to the finish line.  

This is where it all got normal for me again.  As soon as I felt the kinetic relief of feet hitting pavement my whole world resolved back to that happy place.  The veil dropped and I was out for a run with some new friends.  

We were all taking pictures and chatting as we jogged around the park.  I told Coach Kastor how perfect his form was.  I chatted with Ryan and Andy and Coach about races and shoes and injuries and all those things that we default to like old men in a café over coffee.  

This is the human and democratic sinew of our sport.  It is the most human of endeavors.  To run . 

We paused for team pictures.  I look lean and happy in my short shorts.  Noelle told me that the only other person she knew who wore short shorts was Ryan.  That’s good enough for me! 

Back in the restaurant for coffee and schmoozing.  I had a chance to chat with Andy Potts about his Kona race.  I asked what I thought was an interesting and erudite question about how he resolves the challenge of dropping into a flow state during the grueling endurance intensity of an ironman with having to stay aware of the immediate tactics of the race? 

Up until this point it had been all small talk and banter but when we started talking about racing his inner competitor came out.  He got serious and intense.  I saw the character of the Ironman champion emerge from the shadows.  He told me about how when someone makes a move, “You don’t let them go, they take it, and it’s up to you to decide whether you’re going to let them take it.” 

I chatted with Ryan Hall too.  It was just small talk.  With the intent of small talk I asked him what he had coming up next.  He got a bit dark, dropping the California persona.  I realized that I unintentionally had asked a question that he got asked often with different intent by reporters.  A question they asked that really was “When are you going to live up to the expectations that the world has burdened you with.” 

Here’s a man that can crank out 26.2 sub-5 minute miles.  He’s got nothing to prove to me.  I just wanted to talk about running and racing and geek out about the sport we love. 

There were some speeches as the elites all gave us their tips on running our marathons.  At some point Deena Kastor came in and she gave us a talk as well.  She filled a plate at the buffet and sat at a table to pick at it.  I saw that the other bloggers were sort of hovering behind her chair so I took the initiative and asked Noelle to ask her to chat with us a bit. 

Deena was a sweetheart and immediately acquiesced.  She told a story about the Philadelphia ½ marathon that I had read somewhere before.  She told Megan that she loved the “Irun4Wine” blog name because she ran for wine too! 

…

The Clash – City of the Dead

Act three – the first half

There is a strange dynamic between New York City and Boston.  It’s a bit of a love-hate relationship.  Like sisters that were born too close together and forced to share the same room.  The typical exchange I had while in the city follows: 

New Yorker: “So…Where are you from?” 

Me: “Boston”

Them: “I’m sorry”

Me: “That’s quite alright.” 

Them: “You know what I like about Boston?” 

Me: “No, What?” 

Them: “The ride to the airport when I know I’m getting the hell out of there!” 

You think I’m joking.  I had this exact conversation with more than one person.  They weren’t being mean. In the zeitgeist of the New Yorker anyone living anywhere else is only doing so until they can figure out how to move to the Big Apple.  I won’t bother telling them it isn’t so.  They wouldn’t hear me anyhow. 

Another conversation I had was this one:

“How many times have you run the New York City Marathon?” 

“This is my first.” 

Why haven’t you run it before?” 

“Because it’s a giant pain in the ass.  It’s expensive, hard to get into and hard to get to.”

“Well, you must be excited about running the best marathon in the world!?” 

“Yes, I’ve run it 16 times, but I hear this one is pretty good too…” 

…

After we got off the windy chaos of the bridge and into the protecting streets of Brooklyn it warmed right up.  We were moving.  Everyone was happy, happy, happy with the early race excitement of finally being out there after much anticipation and wait. 

I tossed my sundry items of extra clothing away as we exited the bridge, taking care to place them downwind and out of the way.  The first few miles as athletes discarded clothing you had to watch your step.  The wind was swirling items around.  Bags and shirts and blankets were doing mad dances in the street.  

The sun was peeking through and the building blocked the wind intermittently, changing it from a sideways bluster to an occasional vortex as you crossed side street gaps.  They had removed much of the tenting and the mile markers due to the wind.  I heard they also had to change the wheelchair start at the last minute as well to get them off the bridge. 

As is always the case in the first few miles of a marathon I was running easy and in my element.  The pack was thick, but not as thick as you’d expect with a record 56,000 plus participants.  You could find a line and run free without side-stepping or pulling into the gutters.  

The crowds were consistent and vigorous, lining the course.  I was my usual chatty self and talked to a couple people with Boston Marathon shirts on.  I had forgotten to bring my Garmin so I had no idea on pace or hear rate.  I just ran.  You should try that sometime.  It’s quite liberating.  At my age the heart rate data just scares me anyhow.  

Without the mile marks I had to ask runners where we were and back into the pace.  My plan was a bit muddy and half-hearted.  I figured I could run 5 minutes and walk one minute and that would be a nice easy 4-hour-ish marathon.  Having run Marine Corps seven days previously I knew I wasn’t in a position to jump on this race with any enthusiasm.  With the combination of no mile marks and feeling fine I forgot my plan to take walk breaks and just ran.  

I stuffed three gels down the back of my glove and carried the sleeping phone in the other hand.  I had a baggie of Endurolytes in the shorts pocket.  I had my room key in an interesting key-card size back pocket I had discovered in these ASCIS shorts, (that I was wearing for the first time). 

 I had to add the extra security of a bib-pin to hold this mystery pocket closed because it had no zipper.  Thank heavens I had ignored my impish impulse to wear the short shorts.  The extra 4 inches of tech fabric might have kept me out of a hospital trip for hypothermia. 

I kept the scarf. 

…

Whereas I had no need to pee off the bridge I did start assessing the porta-john distribution patterns with some interest.  They seemed to show up every few K.  The first few had long lines.  I saw an opportunity around 10K and took care of my Gatorade recycling problem without a wait.  

This first stretch through Brooklyn was wonderful.  Everyone on the course was happy to be running.  The folks in the crowd were abundant and enthusiastic.  

There were several road-side bands, mostly playing classic-rock genre music, which I thought was great, but it reminded me of how old I’m getting that 80% of the people in the race had no idea what I meant by statements like “This was from their Fillmore East Live album!”  I would rather have a less-than-fully talented live rock band than someone blaring the Rocky theme song out a window. 

I pulled up beside a young woman with a giant smile on her face.  

Me, smiling and pulling up alongside; “Hi, how you doing?”

Her, gushing; “This is Great!, Isn’t this Great!?”

“Yeah, it’s something.  Where are you from?” 

“Oh, I live here.  Isn’t this Great?” 

“Sure, why is this so great?” 

“The People! They’re just great!” 

“What do you mean? They’re acting nice for a change?”

Her, scowling, and turning to look at me. “Where are you from?” 

“Boston!” 

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“Have you run this before?”

“No it’s my first time.” 

“Do you have some sort of time goal?” 

“No, I’m just enjoying myself.” 

“Well, I would recommend saving some of this enthusiasm for the last 10k, you may need it.” 

I had three goals for this race My A goal was don’t die, my B goal was don’t die and my C goal was don’t die.  I’m proud to say I met all my goals.  Additional bonuses were that I squeaked under 4 hours and had a blast.  

Act four – the Village

“My doctor told me I’d never run again.” Was one of the interesting snippets from conversations I had while waiting in the cold.  

The New York City Marathon, like many big city races has a substantially large block of waiting.  For those who are not sponsored athletes it start at 3 or 4 in the morning getting to and waiting on the ferry to Staten Island.  For me it meant a leisurely walk, once more led by our ASICS tour director Noelle down to the Sheraton to board the chartered busses that would drive us to the start. 

Early marathon start time tip:  Go to Starbucks the night before and order a nice high-quality coffee.  This way when you wake up in your hotel room you have coffee ready for your breakfast no muss, no fuss. OK, it’s cold, but it’s better than messing with the hotel coffee maker for some weak-ass crap that won’t get your pipes moving. 

We had to get up early, but the ‘Fall back’ time change mitigated that and it wasn’t a hassle at all.  It was still a long, stop and go ride out to Staten Island.  As we sat on the bridge in traffic the bus rocked from side to side in the wind.  

I had been being a proper dick for the last couple days making fun of the other runners who were super-concerned about the cold weather forecast.  

“40 degrees? Are you kidding? Up where I’m from that’s shorts weather!”

Turns out the joke was on me.  When we offloaded and made our way to the staging areas the wind gusts tore through me.  My thin tech-shirt, shorts and snarky Boston attitude were no match for the wind-chill.  

By the time we had taken some more group photos before breaking up for our respective staging areas my teeth were chattering.  It wasn’t that cold, but it was overcast and the wind was ripping through us.  I got into my slightly used giant trash bag, to find my staging area, but by that point it was too late and I chilled to my core, and a couple millimeters of black plastic wasn’t going to help. 

The starting area of the New York City Marathon is the most giant, complex operation I’ve ever seen at a race.  First the buses disgorge you into a triage area where a gaggle of friendly NYC police officers filters you through metal detectors and pat downs.  Then you disperse off into the color coded ‘villages’.

Once in the village you watch the giant screen for your start wave to be called.  When your wave is called you make your way to one of several coded exits.  When the wave in front of you moves to the start line, you progress through your exit to the holding pen.  Then you get released to the starting area on the bridge for your start wave.  

All of this is coded onto your bib.  For example I was Orange, B3.  This meant I went to the Orange village and moved to exit B when my wave, wave 3, was called.  In reality what it meant was me wandering around showing my bib and asking people where I should be.  

I didn’t check a bag, so I didn’t have to deal with the bag check at the start or the bag retrieval at the end.  Which meant a couple lines I didn’t have to stand in, but also the risk of hypothermia at the start and at the finish if I got the clothing thing wrong.  I didn’t die, but I sure would have loved to have had a throw-away sweat shirt!

As I made my way through this hyper-organized, on a grand scale machine I thought about What 56,000 people all in one place looks and sounds and feels like.  This is the size of one of Caesar’s armies, with which was conquered Gaul and Britania.  Imagine all these people carrying swords and running at another similar, bristling force?  The scale of it is moving and thought provoking.  

In the Orange village I found my free Dunkin Donuts hat and got some coffee.  I heard my name called and got to spend some time with a couple of RunRunLive friends, Krista Carl, shivering on a piece of grass with them, taking selfies and waiting for our waves to be called. 

One thing I have to give the race organization credit for is access to porta-johns.  I think these folks had procured every porta-john in the free world.  They were in the village and more importantly in the various queuing areas at the exits and start.  There’s no way you could have that many people waiting around for that long without access.  No one was denied their personal respite.  

Dust Rhinos – New York Girls

Act five – the Expo

After the warm up run with the rest of the team and the elites I was riding the elevator back up to the room.  I was chatting with Jason Saltmarsh from Saltmarshrunning.com and another young woman got in the elevator.  We small talked up a couple floors Jason got off leaving just the young woman and me.  I asked her “So what do you do for ASICS?” 

She looked a bit befuddled and responded, “I’m Sarah Hall…”  

It was a bit awkward for both of us but I smiled my way through it, saying, “Oh, I just ran with your husband…” 

After geeking out with the elites I was all fired up and feeling very grateful for having been given the opportunity and invitation.  When I got back to the room I sat down recorded a YouTube video to publicly thank ASICS and muse on the unifying force that running and our community is. Had to get that off my chest. 

Apparently the fact that I was taking the day off didn’t register with anyone at work because the emails and phones calls were dogging me all day too.  Isn’t that one of the truisms of life?  Nothing going on all week and then when you take a day off all hell breaks loose? 

I beat back some emails and started putting together some material for a podcast. 

I had nothing else to do and it was still early in the day on Friday so I figured I’d go down to the expo and pick up my number, and beat the rush.  I was still smarting from the previous week when I had wasted 3 hours standing in line on Saturday trying to pick up my Marine Corps bib. 

Cell phone to ear I set off to find the Javits Center and the Expo.  Outside the hotel the well-dressed bellmen ushered me into a waiting cab for the quick ride.  The cabby, as is usual, was from some non-English speaking part of the African subcontinent but was able to make it clear to me that the Javits Center wasn’t a good enough fare for him and tossed me out of the cab at the end of the block.  

Ahhh New York, funny, kinetic and desperate place.  And they wonder why Uber is so popular…

Being a marathoner, with time heavy on his hands, and nothing better to do I decided to hoof it the 2 miles or so over to the Expo.  Along the way I could get some work done, take some pictures and really just relax and enjoy the day.  As I drew nearer I picked up a few other strays from various parts of the world all questing in the same direction.  

The triage at the expo wasn’t bad and I got through to pick up my bib and shirt fairly quickly, but I may have accidentally cut the line.  The ASICS store in the Expo with the race specific gear was GIANT.  I would have bought a hat but I already had so much gear form ASICS and I didn’t feel like fighting the line that snaked all around the store.  

Wandering around with glazed over look I felt a tap on my shoulder.  “Are you Chris from RunRunLive?”  It was Brandon Wood, not the Brandon Wood the opera singer ironman, but another Brandon Wood @IrunAlaska who was in from said northern territory for the race.  We had a nice chat.  

Later in the day I had another one of those Seinfeld moments when I cracked open the race magazine that they were handing out and saw Brandon’s mug staring out at me as one of the featured runners.  I sent him a tweet and it turns out nobody told him about it and he was thrilled to get his 15 minutes.  

I wandered around and noted Ryan and Sarah signing autographs, but didn’t stand in that line either.  I’m not much for lines.  The Kenyans were there on display as well including Wilson Kipsang the eventual winner and Geoffrey Mutai, last year’s winner.  I went by the Garmin booth and tried to make them talk me into buying a new watch but they couldn’t close.

I got bored and wandered off to find the buses back to midtown.  Apparently these buses were running from Grand Central and back to the Javits but it was a bit of a madhouse.  It was easier to take the bus back than to locate the right bus in traffic on the streets outside Grand Central. 

Back at the hotel I beat back the tide of emails and I met Megan @Irun4Wine and her newly minted hubby for a few drinks, grabbed some Chipolte for Dinner and went back to the room to write and work on the podcast. 

Reel Big Fish - Beer

Act Six – the race

Even though there were 56,000 runners in this race I never felt crowded or restricted.  As we rolled through Harlem with its gospel choirs and on into Queens the roads were wide and free flowing.  There were a couple times where the roads pinched in for some reason but I never felt like I was having to side step or trip.  The pack was dense, but you could get through it. 

As we got into the middle miles I started to work in some one minute walk breaks every ten minutes or so whenever convenient water stops appeared.  With this cadence I would pass and repass the same people several times.  There were a bunch of people with orange shirts that said “Imagine a world without Cancer” and I had that thought running through my head, thinking about my Dad and Coach and all the other people I know that end up on the losing end of this disease. 

Another stand out attribute of this race versus any other is the number of international participants.  I must have missed the memo but apparently you were supposed to run in the standard uniform of your country.  In my wave there were Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, France, Brazil, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Australia, South Africa, and tens of other uniforms with flags that I couldn’t decipher. 

It was almost like the Olympics in a way because all the French wore the same uniform and all the Swiss wore the same red uniform and all the Aussies wore the same green uniform.  It made it easy for me to know whether an ‘Allee Allee’ or Aussie Aussie Aussie! Was appropriate.  

It also made it hard for me because no one was responding to the constant stream of humorous comments that stream from me during a marathon.  I’s say something funny or ask a question only to be rejoined with a blank stare and a shrug.  Compounding this was the high percentage of ‘double-budders’ who had an ear-bud on both ears and were unaware and unresponsive to the other 56,000 runners. 

Seems a bit of a waste to me.  To be out on this course in this city with all these people and these big crowds and then seal yourself off into your own little world.  

Not being able to communicate with people I amused myself with riling up the crowds and high fiving the little kids along the course.  I would run along the curb yelling “Who’s gonna give me some sugar?!”  

After the first hour, at one of my walk breaks I swallowed an Endurolyte and ate the Espresso Love Gu I was carrying.  I had already carried that gel through 2-3 entire marathons without eating it and I figured its time had come.  My body felt fine.  I wasn’t paying attention to splits or pace.  It was just another Sunday long run with a few tens of thousands of friends. 

Through these middle miles the course reminded me somewhat of the Chicago marathon as we passed through neighborhoods, each with its own character.  Except, unlike Chicago, on the NYC course there are some hills.  Nothing steep or horrible but some long gradual pulls nonetheless.  I wouldn’t call it a ‘hard course’, but it’s not pancake flat either. 

The other interesting topographical elements were the bridges.  There are five bridges, including the one you start on.  When I’m not racing I don’t bother looking at the course map.  Part of it is I’m just not compulsive that way and part if it is the extra element of adventure this provides me as the course rolls itself out in front of me real-time.  

The Queensboro Bridge was one of these adventurous surprises.  This comes right after the 15 mile mark and, including the approach and decent is over a ½ mile long.  This means you’ve got this 500-600 meter hill that just seems to keep going up and up.  

The strangest thing was this was the first quiet place on the course.  We were on the lower deck, the inside of the bridge and the wind was blocked by the superstructure for the most part.  After all the screaming and noise and wind we were suddenly confronted with silence and the sounds of our own striving.  It was a bit eerie.  Not the silence per se, but the absence of noise in the heart of this race in the heart of this city.  

This is where people were starting to show signs of tiring.  I had to side step some walkers and pay attention to the holes, lumps and buckles in the road that were common more or less across the course.  A not small group of runners congregated at the ‘overlook’ gaps in the bridge to take pictures.  I trudged on up the hill in the eerie quiet to the soft sounds of treads and breathing and the rustling of clothing broken occasionally by the wheel noise of traffic on the upper deck above our heads.  

Coming down the long down-slope of the Queensboro Bridge I find myself runner just behind an Amazon.  This young woman is tall, muscular and blonde like something out of a cheerleading movie.  My old heart and mind swoons.  I lose my train of thought and stumble into a collision with one of my international friends. 

I smile at him apologetically, shrug my shoulders in the direction of the Amazon and sheepishly say “Sorry, I was distracted.”  His broad grin tells me that some things are the same in any language. 

A couple characters I keep passing due to my walk break rhythm is a pair of Irish guys in their Green national uniforms.  One of them has, I’m guessing his name, Cleary, on the back.  Knowing that they speak a related version of my native tongue I make a comment on one of my passes, “Tough day, huh fellahs?” 

Mr. Cleary looks at me and rejoins without missing a beat in his best and lovely brogue, “Fucking Brilliant!”  You know what they say?  ‘If it wasn’t for whiskey and beer the Irish would rule the world.’

I believe that to be true, and a fine lot of mad, philosopher, poet kings they would make. 

As we crossed Manhattan for the first time I was starting to get a little tired.  I ate another gel at two hours and another Endurolyte.  I wasn’t crashing or bonking or hitting the wall or any of that other poetic nonsense, I was just getting tire.  It had been a long week.  Someone said we’d be coming back this way and I quipped, “If we’ve got to come back, why don’t we just stay here?”

As we cruised down the broad reaches of First Avenue I was trying to apply my drafting skills to stay out of the wind.  I’m very good at drafting.  You need to find someone about your height who is running a nice even pace and you snuggle up into their wind shadow.  

Drafting works even better in a big race because you can sometimes find two or three runners in a group creating a nice big pocket.  In big races you can draft a ‘double-budder’ for miles and they won’t even know you’re there. You just have to not bump them or step on them.  

But, running down First Avenue I couldn’t figure the wind out.  As you went by the cross streets it would start as a head wind then shift around and end up as a tail wind.  It was a constant swirl that made it hard to find a good pocket to run in.  The sun was out now.  It was after noon and warm.  I was wishing I had worn sunglasses. 

Act seven – Saturday

Saturday morning before the race Brian the PavementRunner has organized a tweet up on the steps of the Library in Midtown.  The idea was we’d all promote it, get a big group of people, take some pictures and head for some coffee, then drop by the ASICS Times Square Store.

It was a good plan but we woke up to a dreary cold drizzle.  We went anyhow and had some fun with the people that did show up.  We took some pictures, had some coffee and made our way over to the Big ASICS store.  

The ASICS store near Times Square is a showplace store.  It has an old New York Subway car in it that is really cool.  This is where we took a couple more pictures that ended up making the rounds.  @RunMikeRun from Twitter took one of all of us in the subway car with his GoPro on a pole rig and that shot ended up being picked up by Runner’s World.   

Greg, Megan, Megan, Brian, Noelle and I all climbed up into the window display and took some great goofy shots with the manikins that made the rounds too.  We ended up having a nice lunch over near Rockefeller Center and then drifting off in different directions.  Some of these folks were understandably worried about having to run a marathon the next day.  I wasn’t.  My goals were simple. Don’t die. 

Back at the hotel I used the afternoon to finish up the podcast and get some other stuff done.  Having no plans for the evening I wandered about Midtown, got some sundries and ended up getting a plate of pasta and a beer at TGI Fridays.  I picked up my Starbucks for the next morning and settled in. 

I wasn’t sure I knew how to set my iPhone alarm for the time change so I called the hotel operator and asked for a 4:45 wake up call, which was really a 5:45 wakeup call…I guessed. I laid all my race kit out in ‘Empty’ runner format on the floor.  Tried to wipe the garbage off of my garbage bag and commenced to watch a little TV. 

There was some really stupid zombie movie on that I started watching but reconsidered whether that was such a good idea the night before a race.  I fell asleep.  I slept fine, like a man with no secrets and many friends, and my eyes popped open at 4:30 (really 5:30) fifteen minutes before my wakeup call, like they usually do.  

Act eight – the finish

All the walking around the city, fighting the cold and wind all morning, and having run a marathon 7 days earlier started to wear on me as we crossed over into the Bronx by Mile 20.  I wasn’t bonking.  I was really tired.  I skipped the three hour gel and Endurolyte and started taking a minute walk every 5 minutes.  

Looking at my watch and backing into the pace I was on a 3:40 to 3:50 finish schedule if I kept the fire stoked.  I was tired though and I only had the one goal, which could be accomplished with any finishing time.  

Coming down the bridge into the Bronx there was a larger woman running a bit loosely in front of me.  There was also one of those giant orange traffic cones in the middle of the road.  I don’t know how she managed to do it, but she caught her toe on the cone and started to flail.  

It was one of those slow motion moments for me.  She was in that state where she was off balance and wind-milling her arms for purchase on that razors edge between falling and not falling.  She was right in front of me.  I reached out and grabbed her as best I could until she regained her heading and rejoined the flow. 

Coming back into Manhattan was a bit rough as I was super tired and not having much fun anymore.  I just wanted to get it done.  The race finished in Central Park but to get there you have to climb a long, long hill that just seems to go on forever.  I was passing the walking wounded and the walking dead but I was still on plan to attain my primary goal of cheating the grim reaper once more. 

Once you get into the park it’s another mile-plus of rolling hills to the finish.  When you make that turn into the park it’s still a long way to the finish if you’re hurting but at that point you know you’ve got it.  Along that long climb up Fifth Avenue and through the Park the crowds become loud and roaring.  It’s a constant assault of praise and exhortation as the runners struggle through to the finish.  

I crossed the line and had enough brain power left to stop my watch.  It said 4:00:03.  I turned on my IPhone to get a finish line photo and felt a tap on my shoulder.  It was Brian the @PavementRunner who had finished a couple steps behind me.  He had carried a GoPro and taken video of the race for ASICS.  Later I would learn that my actual time was 3:59:52.  That’s nice.  And, I didn’t die. 

I was glad to see PavementRunner.  First because he’s a nice guy and a familiar face, and second because I was clueless as to what we were supposed to do next and where we were supposed to go after the finish.  I didn’t check a bag so getting one of those quilted race parkas was high on my priority list as the sun was starting to get low in the New York skyline.  

Brian and I found the special, VIP exit that we were supposed to use and the volunteers were fantastic.  They were like hotel concierges telling us in great detail where we needed to go and how to get there. We found the parkas and the food and even the warming tent where we sat for a while to get some energy back for the walk to the hotel.  

In another helping of irony, the woman sitting next to us in the warming tent was from the next town over from where I live. 

Brian and I set out to find the hotel and joined the long stream of thousands of trudging warriors in blue parkas like Napoleon’s Grand Army retreating from Russia. 

Brian seemed to think he knew where we were going so I followed his lead until I saw water in front of us and intoned that even with my limited geographical knowledge of the city I didn’t think there was a river between Central Park and Midtown.  

We turned around and did some more walking.  My legs felt great.  I felt great.  This was an easy one that hadn’t left a mark on me other than the tiredness of doing it. We stopped to take some tourist pictures in front of Radio City and the Tonight Show banner.  

The people passing us in the streets of the City were very nice to us.  They were friendly and congratulatory.  It was a nice, warm and welcoming vibe that I’ve got to give the natives credit for.  They like their race. 

Brian asked me what I wanted to eat and I didn’t have to think about it.  God help me, and apologies to the planet, I wanted a big, juicy cheeseburger with bacon, fries and a beer.  Brian concurred.  After we washed up at the hotel that’s just what we did.  

After Brian walked us three blocks in the wrong direction which was beginning to become one of our running gags of the weekend we settled into Bill’s Burgers and consummated our burgers and fries.  The waitress, seeing our medals, refused to let us pay for our beers.  I was starting to like these people. 

On the walk back to the hotel I led Brian into St. Patrick’s Cathedral where a late mass was being held.  I crossed myself with holy water and genuflected to the altar and it somehow felt as if we had God’s blessing on this day.  I was grateful. 

Act nine – the selfie that wasn’t a selfie

Monday morning as I flew back to Boston for a full day of work the tweets and emails started to come in.  “Were you standing in the middle of the Verrazano Bridge wearing an orange parka taking pictures?”  

“Yeah, I was.” 

“You’re on the cover of the Wall Street Journal!”

“No Kidding? Can you scan that and send it to me?” 

And there I was in full freezing to death glory perched on the median taking pictures.  A final Seinfeld moment and another great Irony that this Boston boy was gracing the cover of their Newspaper.  The caption said “A runner takes a selfie on the Verrazano Bridge at the start of the NYC Marathon.”  

It wasn’t a selfie, but I guess I don’t have a say in that.  Then it got picked up by CNN as one of their “Selfies of the Week” and somehow I’m in the same gallery as Madonna and Barack Obama.  

Act ten – the end

At the end of the day when I met all my new blogger friends for celebratory drinks at pub. (my kind of place).  Grace’s boyfriend said “So, I guess you won the editor’s challenge, then?”  Honestly, it was the first time the thought had entered my mind that there was any contest involving finish time, especially between me and these social media friends. 

A bit jolly from the beer, my windburn subsiding into the cheery glow of my cheeks I turned to my new friends and said; “If there’s one thing that I’ve learned from all the marathons and all the years is that you have to celebrate every one.  You don’t know what’s’ coming next.  Celebrate today and now and every race because this could very well be as good as it gets.” 

Skankin Pickle – Thick Ass Stout

Interludes 1.0

(Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/Interludes1.mp3]

Link Interludes1.mp3

 

Introduction:

Hello my endurance friends and welcome to a crack-stuffing version of the RunRunLive podcast that I’m going to call “Interludes”.  I didn’t want you to think I fell into the abyss as I work to figure out the format for RunRunLive4.0.  I’ll keep passing along some content as I go to keep your interest. 

You can always go back and sample one of the previous 300 episodes that are filled with so much fluff and stuff about long distance running and endurance sport.  

I was going to call it interregnum, but that seemed a bit imperious.  But, it does lead us to a discussion of the value of a good command of Latin and Greek roots when trying to discern the language.  As you may have guessed the prefix ‘inter’, (technically a ‘morpheme’) means between or among.  In this case Inter means between.  Inter should not be confused with ‘intra’ which means ‘within’.  

Intercompany would mean “Between companies” whereas “intra-company” would mean “within company”.  See how that works?  You can figure out the meaning of most words by looking at the morphemes.  Interregnum means between kingships.  The Latin root Reg is king.  As in Regicide, Regent, etc.   

Now, as far as interlude, I thought at first that second bit, the ‘lude’ was a form of the Latin root Luce which means light – as in Lucid, Elucidate, Luminescent, etc. But I was wrong.  It turns out to be Middle English for ‘play’.  Which, is perfect, because what we have here is a pause between plays.  

And I ‘d like to thank my 9th grade prep school English teacher Mr. Mitchell, for making me memorize all the Latin and Greek roots.  Very handy for dismembering meaning from any of the Latin languages. 

Oh…We were supposed to talk about running, right?  Or atleast Zombies.  Did you like my zombie story in episode 300?  Can you imagine poor Andrew Kastor listening to that episode and having to suffer through all the self-indulgent schlock? Heavens!

Speaking of Andrew Kastor, I get to run with him in the morning.  I’m safely ensconced in the New York Palace Hotel (5-stars) on Madison Ave across from Rockefeller Center.  They flew me in today and got me a limo into town.  I’m having drinks with them later.  I do feel a bit like Cinderella.  (but I’ll still never a Disney race)  

I just made a successful foray into the wild metropolis (greek word) and managed to forage a bag of fruit and a kale salad with avocado, so the city isn’t too bad. 

Today, well, we’ll see what I can get done.  I’ve got too many plates spinning at the moment, but today we’ll squeeze in an interview (see there’s that Morpheme again) interview with Jim from the seeker podcast who is a certified nurse.  I asked Jim to talk me through some of the things people should be looking for when they get a physical.  

I’m also going to try to write up my Marine Corp marathon report for you…and maybe even something else.  I’ve got more ideas than time to birth them! 

Last time we chatted, two weeks ago, I was getting ready to volunteer at the BayState Marathon and the Groton Town Forest Trail Race.  I did volunteer at Baystate, we work a water stop each year.  It’s fun.  We’re at the 7 and 17 mile marks of the Marathon.  I try to coach people and encourage them.  I know most of the local running clubs so I can call them out when I see the singlets.  It was a bit of windy day, as it is sometimes at BayState, and that knocked a lot of the folks down who were looking for times. 

That’s why you need to train outside in real conditions.  Learn how to run in the wind and the rain.  There are techniques for all of this that can save your race.

I had a 10 mile pace run on the calendar as my last taper run for Marine Corp that day.  I didn’t manage to get up in time, and instead decided to run the trail race, which is 9.5 miles as a substitute.  If you’ve never run the Groton Town Forest Trail Race you are missing out.  It’s a gnarly single path with plenty of vertical.  

We had great trail conditions and a nice cool day.  The wind didn’t bother us in the trails.  I started out in the back with the baggage train and used the first 20 minutes to warm up.  Then I accelerated through the pack for the next 7 or so miles.  I’ve run the course plenty of times so I know how hard it is.  You’d better be in top trail shape if you decide to attack it.  In the last couple miles I caught all the people who underestimated the course and overestimated their abilities! 

Yeah, I felt great, had a good race.  I had forgotten just how much fun trail running is! 

Then, of course, I was down in Marine Corp last weekend.  Got that done without breaking anything, much. And now I’ve got The New York City Marathon this weekend, (which apparently has been outsourced to the Tata Consultancy).  

Spinning plates…

On with the show…

Section One: 

New York City Marathon Speech - http://runrunlive.com/gratitude

http://youtu.be/xHYCClSGnfo?list=UUHxGvauB2-_J1qvR_oDobeg

….

Intro to Interview: 

I got my physical last week and everything checked out, but they handed me a bunch of blood work results which are mystifying to me.  I figured I’d share those and chat through them with Jim and see if we couldn’t save some lives. 

My resting pulse, or heart rate is somewhere in the 36-42 BPM range, which is not normal, but it’s perfectly normal for me.  It’s partly genetics and partly endurance sports.  My blood pressure is 117 over 80, which I guess is normal.  My Prostate is okey-dokey on both the ever-pleasing digital exam and the PSA blood test.  

By the way – men, get yourself tested.  As many men die from prostate cancer as women die from breast cancer and it’s 100% curable if they catch it early.  Ladies, make your men get tested. 

The blood test they do checks all sorts of stuff, your sugar, your salt, your liver function and even if I was pregnant.  All of which I’m in the normal bounds on and (I’m not pregnant).  My liver function was borderline high but this is also one of those long distance running things.  I always go into these physicals after a hard race or workout and when you do that it can throw off your blood work, especially your liver function, because your liver is trying to clear all that crap from the workout out of your blood.  

If you want a copy of my blood results with all the explanations I can send them to you. 

Lean back and relax now while Jim and I discuss saving your life.   I didn’t have time to edit this so you’re getting our raw conversation.  

Section two: 

Marine Corp - http://runrunlive.com/2014-marine-corp-marathon

Outro:

Was that fun?  I bet it was.  Over the next couple weeks, if I survive New York, I’m going to dial back the training for November.  I have many balls in the air this month.  I have to get through a colonoscopy.  I’ve also got an appointment with the cardiologist to see if we can figure out what’s going on with my heart rate.  

I went in yesterday to my doctor and I brought some HR graphs from some of my runs to show him what I’m experiencing.  About 40 minutes into a workout my HR will flip to max and I’ll feel it.  There is no way my heart rate should be getting up into the 180’s and 190’s unless a bear’s chasing me.  A zombie bear.  An alien zombie bear.  

I’m perfectly ok if the answer is ‘you’re old’. But I want to make sure it’s not some new adventure that’s going to cause me to not return from a run.  

Therefor – If I hit the cement hard in the NYC marathon and don’t get up, tell my wife I’ve got 3-4 interviews on the hard drive that need to be edited and released. 

I will see you out there. 

Chris,

Expisode 300 – Coach Andrew Kastor and much frivolity…

(Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4300.mp3]

Link epi4300.mp3

Intro:

Hello my friends and welcome to episode 300 of the RunRunLive podcast.  For those of you who have been friends for a bit you’ll realize that this is a necessary departure from our standard format to celebrate our Tri-centennial.  For those of you who may be new to our little endurance sports journal, well you’ll just have to figure it out by listening to some of the other shows.  

Thanks you to Tony for the marathon prayer intro.  Tony does a regular segment called Tony’s Trials on the Marathon Talk UK Podcast (link).  One of our executive editors, Alex form the UK got permission from them for us to use it. 

Marathon Talk UK -> All about running. A weekly podcast dedicated to keeping you on the inside track to successful running. Presented by Martin Yelling and Tom Williams

Tony Audenshaw - Tony's Trials

I’m guessing we are going to go long today, so you’d better schedule a long run or ride or whatever for this one.  I’ve invited some of my friends to submit audios and I’m going to be completely frivolous and indiscrete with too many musical interludes.  Just sit back and let it wash over you like a wave of warm molasses.  Chill out.  No rules for this one. 

It’s going to be a long show and the format is going to be different than usual, but you want to hang around until the end because the ASICS team has asked me to give some shoes away and I’ll set up the contest in the show outro.  Everybody likes free shoes.  

It’s been a long run, huh?  We’ve seen births and deaths and marriages and divorces.  The cycle of life.  For everything there is a season and you’ve certainly ornamented my life for the better through these many seasons.  

In today’s 300th official episode I’m going to talk about community at some point and this strange and wonderful long distance relationship we all share wrapped around our sports.  I may tell a zombie story, for the Halloween season, just for fun.  

I’ve gathered up some guest commentary for you to enjoy, if for no other reason than to quiet the voices in your head. 

But, Fear not! We are going to wrap all the frivolity around a great interview with coach Andrew Kastor who I met through the ASICS NYC marathon Editor’s Choice boondoggle, I mean ‘program’.  I really enjoyed talking to Andrew about altitude training and geeking out on training topics in general.  

It’s a great running-content-rich interview and I feel I’m doing it a disservice by sandwiching it into all this 300th episode frooforal. 

Nothing significantly new in my training.  I’m feeling fairly strong.  I got a nice 2:30 long run in over the weekend that was significant in that I was able to maintain my HR and pace consistently throughout without power failure.  Too many of my long runs over the summer ended with a death march – so I think that’s progress.  

I’m still trying to find my racing speed.  Maybe it’s gone for good.  I appear to be healthy, so maybe I’m just entering a new phase of slowness.  It really doesn’t matter because either way I’m going to get up every day and throw myself at my workouts as part of my balance.  

With the MCM and NYC coming up in couple weeks on back to back weekends my plan is not to race them but instead try to walk away healthy.  Then we can throw in a targeted cycle for either a mid-winter race or a spring race.  I’m looking at some shorter stuff too to fill the gaps.  

Looking forward to some grand adventures with new and old friends alike. 

So…my friends, bear with me as we take off our shirts and dance on the tables today, throwing all rigor and caution to the wind, because, hey, we’re among friends, and friends take the time to celebrate their accomplishments.  

On with the show! 

Steve Runner

What can you say about Steve that hasn’t been said?  He’s the five-star General of running podcasts – a landmark – a fixture – a guiding light for all of us.  And, even though I know he doesn’t listen to my show he caught on to the zombie theme and submitted a slickly produced mini-episode.  Brilliant as always. 

Katy Thereux

It always warms my heart when I hear from women who listen to the show and get something out of it.  Katy sent me this very nice missive.  Apparently we resonate in some way through the universal mastermind.  That’s one of the dynamics of the digital world – your ideas can slip free of the physical and resonate with like minds in the ether. 

Section One

The Sleepless in Seattle Effect - http://runrunlive.com/sleepless-in-seattle-effect

Music -> Bombskare –“I’m so Happy!”

Carlos

I’ve been listening to Carlos and watching him run through his beloved Pacific Northwest Mountains and forest for many years.  I would have never had the opportunity to know Carlos if it wasn’t for being part of the online running community.  He’s always got the Grateful Dead playing in the background.  It seems like an idyllic life to me, running in the forest and listening to the dead.  How could it get any better? 

Ann Brennan

So sometimes in the digital world you get to meet actual crazy people.  I’ve had the great pleasure of meeting Ann and her husband and kids and I’ve learned a lot from her trials and resiliency and openness.   If everything goes right I’ll get to eat dinner at her place with the Miles to end Prostate cancer team before the Marine Corp Marathon.  The world is a better place with Ann’s life force.  

Steve Chopper

Steve was one of the original running podcasters with his high quality show “A mile with me” I always aspired to be as professional as Steve.  His first shows were works of art, like BBC documentaries.  I’ve met Steve in the flesh and broken bread with him.  When we met we immediately bonded and of course we ran and raced each other like kids in the schoolyard. 

Featured Interview

Coach Andrew Kastor

http://www.coachkastor.com/about/

About The Coach

Andrew started his running career in the early 1990’s, at the young age of 14, when he competed in cross county, track and road racing while attending Fountain Valley High School in Southern California.

He then went on to pursue a degree in Exercise Physiology (B.S. 2000) from Adams State University in Alamosa, Colorado. While in college, Andrew’s commitment to the sport of running continued to grow, as he competed in cross-country and track, specializing in the middle-distance events.

Post-graduation, Andrew moved to Mammoth Lakes, California, where he created and coached a non-profit running club called the High Sierra Striders. He is now the head coach for the ASICS Mammoth Track Club and the LA Road Runners.

Andrew currently resides in Mammoth Lakes with his wife Deena (Olympic Marathon bronze medalist and American Record holder in the marathon and half-marathon) and their daughter, Piper Bloom.

Music Big D and the Kid’s Table – “Myself”

Duane Hespell Comment: 

Obviously I caught Duane on a good day.  I think he was just waiting for a chance to bust out with some creative audio.  He went all extra-mile on me.  That’s another fun thing about our community – you discover people’s hidden talents! Thanks Duane.  

Maryro Mendez comment

I’ve been having conversations with this young lady for a long time but I seldom hear her voice!  Wow! What an amazing voice!  I can die happy now.  We made a bet one time when we both had marathons on the same weekend. I happened to have a decent race so I won!  I don’t care so much about the lobster dinner but I am happy to have made a friend that I’m grateful for.  

Section Two: 

Zombie Apocalypse - http://runrunlive.com/zombie-apocalypse-300-act-one

Peter Herridge

I first got to know Peter through Phedipidations as he and Steve traded philosophical arguments.  Peter is a thoughtful man and I enjoy listening to him turn big thoughts over in his head and look at them in a fresh, learned and interesting way.  I’d never get that chance if it wasn’t for joining this community and my life would be poorer for it. 

Eddie and Adam:

What does it sound like when two long lost friends get together after a long absence and start drinking craft beer?  I guess this bit from Eddie and Adam answers that question.  I’ve spent time with both these guys and can confirm that when they’re not addled on homebrew they’re both way smarter than I am.  I’m hoping someday my association with them rubs off and I graduate to a better person because of it. 

Outro: 

Drag your tired body out of the mud.  Push back the ravenous hoards.  Celebrate! We’ve come to a milestone.  We’ve survived.  We’ve grown. We’ve run, we’ve run some more and maybe we’ve even lived a little.  I hope to keep that streak alive. 

Frankly, I’m not sure what the show format is going to be going forward but I will do what I can to fill the void, to light a candle, to shine my feeble light into the dark and murky corners and find forgotten or unnoticed treasures, to weave into the tapestry of our mutual, digital experience.  

ASICS Gel Kayano 21 NYC Shoe Give Away!

Go here & post a comment to win some shoes -> http://runrunlive.com/asics-gel-kayano-21-nyc-shoe-give-away

My friends at ASICS America want me to give away a pair of NYC GEL-Kayano 21.  These are $160 shoes.  

I’ve never run in them (although I’m up to 5 different pairs of shoes that I’m testing to run NYC in ).  They are decribed on the ASICS website as follow. 

The new GEL-Kayano® 21 NYC special edition was made for the 2014 TCS New York City Marathon and is updated with nothing but the best in ASICS technical innovation, featuring the next generation of FluidRide™ and an Ortholite X-40 sockliner for the lightest and most luxuriously stable ride yet. Mild to moderate overpronators will run the streets of New York City in secure comfort, thanks to the new uniquely designed FluidFit™ upper and Heel Clutching System™.

So, it sounds like a light stability shoe.  If that sounds like something you want I’ve set up a post on my website at RunRunLive.com and all you have to do is go register.   We’ll pick a winner on NYC race weekend.  Just make sure you give a real email address when you’re posting or we won’t be able to find you! 

So my friends, as hard as it is to find the time to slap a show together every couple weeks, I really do enjoy it.  If it wasn’t for the RunRunLive Podcast to keep me occupied I clearly would have written a best-selling novel by now, and then I would have sold the rights to Hollywood, gone out there, hooked up with the drugs, the alcohol and starlets with questionable morals. I would have gotten divorced, and I’d be sleeping in my own filth in a West Hollywood gutter right now...so you’ve saved me from all that. 

I am almost done with my MarathonBQ book.  15 chapters in.  I had a couple people raise their hands for editing and I sent them drafts, but never heard from them again…  It took longer than a month but I wouldn’t have gotten it done at all if I hadn’t challenged myself.  I’ll edit and polish it up and do a launch in the next couple months.  

Here’s an actual value added tip that I heard a couple weeks ago.  When you work on a creative process the emotional energy and momentum is shaped like a ‘U’.  When you first start you are all excited and full of energy and you make progress quickly, like the straight side of the ‘U’.  

Then when you get part way through you start to realize all the things that need to be worked out and you get mired down.  You start going sideways into distracting offshoot.  You lose your momentum and your excitement for the project.  This is the bent part at the bottom of the ‘U’.  

It is here that many people give up on their creative projects.  It becomes work and the light at the end of the tunnel seems so far away.  This is where experience helps.  You might say this phase of the creative project is similar to ‘the dark place’ that I talk about in training cycles.  

You have to put your head down, soldier on and push through.  

Then as you approach the end of the creative project everything start to coalesce.  It all starts coming together.  Everything becomes clear and it is joyous again as you wrap things up and birth the finished product.  This is the other straight side of the ‘U’.  

Remember the ‘U’ process and it will help you stick to your path when things get hard. 

It’s been close to 2 years since we rolled out version 3.0 of the RunRunLive podcast. 

As always you can find me on Gmail or most social networks as CYKTRussell.  All of my slightly bent U-shaped projects are available at my website RunRunLive.com.  

And you know what?  

I’ll see you out there. 

Music: Tim Armstrong – “Hold on” 

Music in this show (All from Music Alley and Podsafe!) 

The High Fidelics – “Spy_Smasher”

The High Fidelics – “Mondo Rondo”

The Vibro-tones – “Nova Express”

The Vanes – “Bad Mea or Good Cheese”

Benuts – Turn off your radio”

The Fighting Cocks – “No Candy”

The Fashionistas – Keep it underground”

Big D and the Kid’s Table – “Myself”

20 Riverside – “Throwin it down beside the sea”

Unsteady – “Tokyo”

Bombskare –“I’m so Happy!”

Tim Armstrong – “Hold on”

The RunRunLive 3.0 Podcast Episode 3-299 – Coach Kristie

(Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi3299.mp3]

Link epi3299.mp3

Support RunRunLive; Purchase an audio book of running stories.  Written and performed with love by Chris Russell  ------------->>>>>>>http://bit.ly/1cH2Fr7<<<<<<<-----------

Introductory Comments:

Hey my friends! How are we doing on this fine rainy fall afternoon?  I welcome you to the RunRunLive Podcast episode 3-299 in which we do not collect donations, sell t-shirts or ask you to join our membership site – we just chat about the transformations, sticky, treacle goodness of endurance sport.  

That’s right! Here at RunRunLive HQ we’ve been setting the bar low for years and achieving that goal every week!  This is your pedantic and snarky host Chris and today we’re going to have a great chat with a friend of mine Coach Kristie.  I love to chat with coaches because they are unique animals.  

Coaching is a challenging vocation that I would never personally undertake.  I understand that they don’t do it for the money, they do it for the thrill of helping others achieve their potential.  In this way all coaches are like the manifestation of Mother Teresa in our sport.  They are selfless enablers.  And I dig that. 

When you get done listening if you’re curious as to whether Coach’s Kristie and Rebecca could be right for you they said you can contact them, tell ‘em you heard about them here and they’ll give you a free evaluation.  Then you can see if it’s a fit.  Fit is really important in coaching because, like it or not, it’s a very personal relationship between you and your coach.  Not every coach is right for every client, but when you find the right fit it can be transformational on many levels. 

For section one I wrote a piece on creating mission statements and in section two we’re going to talk about easy runs. 

Last time we talked I was in the middle of a long road trip and I’ve spent all week trying to recover from it.  I have had a couple great runs this week.  I think it’s because the weather has been ideal running weather.  In the 50’s, overcast and drizzly.  If I can believe my Garmin I negative split my 1:20 out back yesterday. .

An out and back is a lukewarm version of a step-up run.  You run the ‘out’ part at an easy zone 2 pace, so in this case 41-42 minutes out.  Then when you turn around you take it up into zone 3 and 4 on the way back in.  Not too difficult but valuable in building pace and effort.  

Anyhow…if the Garmin is to be believed I ran miles 8 and 9 at around a 7:40 pace, mostly uphill while staying in zone 4.  That’s encouraging with all the red-lining problems I’ve been having.  Tuesday’s run felt great too.  

I’m wearing a different ASICS outfit every day.  I told you about being on the ‘editor’s choice’ program for the NYC marathon, right?  When I got home from my trip I had two boxes of stuff rom ASICS waiting for me.  Shirts, socks, hats, pants and another 2 pair of shoes.  I can literally wear a new outfit every day.  It’s insane.  Of course, me being me, I asked them if they had any gloves they could send too! 

I ran that 1:20 out-back run in the new Gel-Nimbus that they sent me.  I used to be an ASICS snob.  My favorite shoe ever was the Gel-Cumulus-9, but then they changed it and I had to switch to another brand.  I’m not sure these Nimbuses…Nimbi?...are going to work for me the outsole is pretty hard, and the crash pad in the heel is fairly significant.  It just feels like too much shoe.  Almost like a control shoe.  I had to stop after a mile and unlace them a bit because they were fighting me too much.  We’ll see if I can break them in.  

Here’s a tip for you.  If the shoe feels too tight or restrictive in any way you can unlace them.  There’s no rule that says you have to use all the eyelets.  Try unlacing the top 2 eyelets and that will give you more range of motion in the shoe.  

Alternatively there are lacing techniques specific for most of your common fit problems.  If the toe box is too lose or too tight you can re-lace them to fit better.  Trust me, google it.  

Since I was home this week I went and got a physical from Dr. Schlimak.  I got my flu shot too.  You’ll be happy to know that my prostate is very healthy but I’m walking with a bit of a limp.  My Heart rate is normal (for a runner) my blood pressure is spot on, I might be a couple pounds overweight for my height, but we’re going to pretend that’s muscle.  

I do have to go get the over-50 colonoscopy, which after listening to Peter Herridge’s stories I’m not looking forward to.  Other than that I’ll be dancing on your grave! Why?  Because I’m indestructible – you knew that! 

Because you know what they say?  “When life gives you lemons it’s really not all that important because when the singularity comes and we all transcend the physical to become a race of ephemeral psychic energy, really, we won’t have much use for lemons, will we? 

On with the show...

…

You should really sign on to my email list.  Rather than basking in safe obscurity you can declare your allegiance to RunRunLive and get my drivel directly in your inbox.  I mean, really, you’ve made it to 294 episodes and sucked the vital life force out of my narrative for 5+ years you should subscribe or at least join the RunRunLive Facebook group.  

https://www.facebook.com/groups/46620307582/ or just search FaceBook for “RunRunLive”. 

On with the show!

Section one:

Indestructible Attitude - http://runrunlive.com/indestructible-attitude

Featured Interview:

Coach Kristie Cranford

www.krendurance.com

 

Coach Kristie has been an athlete since childhood. She has participated in a wide variety of sports as well as a coach to all ages. She is an ACE Certified Personal Trainer, ITCA Certified Triathlon Coach, Nesta Lifestyle Weight Management Specialist and Kids Nutrition Specialist.  Her personal greatest racing achievements being a Nevada State Games Gold Medalist, 22 min 5k PR, 1:24 10 Mile PR, and 1:46 Half Marathon PR with a variety of Age Group, Masters, and Overall Finishes. A multiple cancer survivor, Kristie was featured by Runner’s World in the Runner’s World Challenger Blog. She is a Coolibar athlete and Raw Elements Sunscreen ambassador.  She is the former Chair of Long Distance Running for USATF-Nevada and 2013 Training Peaks Ambassador.

“I am a runner at heart, but have a passion for all sports. I am a wife and mother, I understand it is hard juggling life and trying to fit working out and training into an already more than tight schedule. There are only so many hours in a day. I can help you find that time and balance. I specialize in running (5k-Marathon distances) however if you choose to take the leap to triathlon and ultras I can get you there too.  I will be your biggest cheerleader and motivator. I will also be tough, you want results, I will expect you to work for them. You tell me what you can’t do, and together, we’ll show you what you can do. I will help you find, and reach your fullest potential.  My coaching philosophy is about helping you to be the best you, you can be.”

Coach Kristie

Co-Founder KR Endurance

Certified Running and Triathlon Coach

CPT, ITCA, LWM, KNS

www.krendurance.com

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Section two: 

Easy Runs and Garbage Miles - http://runrunlive.com/easy-runs-garbage-miles

Outro:

There we are again the end of another perfectly mediocre podcast to keep our streak alive at 3-299.  Another year or so I’m going to catch up with Steve!   

I haven’t made much progress on revamping the format for the post-300 episode era.  I’m like that.  Can’t get anything done without an impending deadline.  I do have a great interview with Andrew Kastor for the next show, show # 300.  Heh, heh…I’m going to have to make some Sparta jokes.  

I also have 3 user-produced interviews in the can – so we can start with those and see where it leads us. The voice of the people must be heard! 

I had a great email from Greg Jansen who we talked to a while back in and episode – he was the cool guy with the Mayan Running Adventures in Guatemala.  He said he actually got some new customers from our show, which tickles the heck out of me…that someone is listening, that they cared enough about the topic to take action and that I was able to positively impact this guy who is doing good and interesting stuff.  

On the flip side I also got one of those messages that said “I did that workout you were talking about and injured myself!”  Clearly you’re not listening when I tell you that I’m not a coach and you should ask someone who knows what they’re talking about before jumping into one of my crazy training plans.  

Speaking of my crazy training plans I did not complete, but made excellent progress on my September ‘Write a book a month’ project.  I’m 11 chapters into “MarathonBQ – How to qualify for Boston in 12 weeks” – and that should see the light of day shortly as an Amazon e-book.  If it sounds like something you’re interested in I’d love to get some eyes on the draft as unpaid slave labor, I mean uniquely valuable executive editors. 

I’m not changing careers, I just have to get some things out of my brain and onto the page so I can sleep at night.  You can decide if they’re worth reading! 

To bring us to the finish line here I have a poignant story about my old friend Buddy the old Wonder dog.  He loves this cold weather.  I took him out for a couple long easy runs in the woods last week when I got back from my trip.  He doesn’t get out much so it’s a bit of a chore for him to hit the trails with me now, especially if the weather is at all warm.  

I was out with him on a planned 1:30 easy run in the woods on Friday.  We got 40 minutes in and came to a fork in the trail.  One way was out to the rest of the run and the other was back to the house.  He wanted to go back to the house.  First time in our years together that dog has ever bailed out on a run.  

God love him he’s getting old and I’m going to miss him.  He’s the best friend I’ve ever had.  A joyous runner and a great listener with a love of life that will never fade.

Hug your dog – they deserve it, 

I had to give up on the pole dancing.  Apparently you get paid by tips and I wasn’t going to be able to pay my bills on that basis for some reason.  Plus, Coach said it was adding too much upper body mass for a runner.  So I guess it’s back to whacking bad guys. 

Cheers, 

I am accepting donations for the race if you want to throw some coin at me but only if you’re sick of losing friends to cancer and you can afford a couple bucks.  The link is on my website and right here in the show notes. 

http://www.m2epc.com/chris-russell.html 

Thank you for listening. 

Cheers, 

 https://www.facebook.com/groups/46620307582/ or just search FaceBook for “RunRunLive”. 

Outro Bumper

  …

Thanks for listening folks I appreciate your support.  RunRunLive is a free service for you because I like writing and telling stories.  

I also love to meet folks so feel free to reach out to me at Gmail or any of the other social networking sites.  I’m CYKTRussell.  And as you know that’s Chris-Yellow-King-Tom-Russell with two Esses and two Ell’s. 

My Website is http://www.runrunlive.com and most if not all of this content is posted out there.   If you want the show notes to magically show up in your inbox when I publish a show in a beautiful HTML wrapper you can subscribe to the mailing list at my site.  It’s a useful thing if you are moved by something I say and would like to see if what I wrote is the same thing! It also has all the links to everything and everyone I talk to and about. 

Other than that, thank you for your attention, do epic stuff and let me know if I can help. 

Ciao

Happy Song – Super Hero - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Superhero

Other products from Chris Russell you may be interested in

The Mid-Packer’s Lament

On Amazon

On Kindle

On Audio (Read by the author) – http://www.runrunlive.com

The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy

On Kindle

Standard Links:

http://www.runrunlive.com

http://www.runeratti.com

Http://www.coolrunning.com

http://www.Grotonroadrace.com

http://www.SQRR.org

www.midpackerslament.com

Contact:

Cyktrussell At gmail and twitter and facebook and youtube

Bio

Chris Russell lives and trains in suburban Massachusetts with his family and Border collie Buddy.  Chris is the author of “The Mid-Packer’s Lament”, and “The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy”, short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack.  Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at www.runnerati.com.  Chris’ Podcast, RunRunLive is available on iTunes and at www.runrunlive.com. Chris also writes for CoolRunning.com (Active.com) and is a member of the Squannacook River Runners and the Goon Squad. 

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Tags -> Running  Podcast, podcasts for running, podcast for runners, free podcast for runners, Running Blog, marathon, triathlon, mileage, sprinting, run, track, training, running clubs, running groups, running shoes, exercise, health, 5k, running, swimming, sports, injuries, stretching, eating, jogging, biking, trail race, 5K, 10K, Ultramarathon, jogging a good exercise, road runner, jogging tips, benefits of jogging, free running, running shoes, marathon training, running, jogging, health and fitness, runners, runner, Boston qualification, Marathon BQ, Boston marathon

The RunRunLive 3.0 Podcast Episode 3-298 – Grace Kim - LeanGirlsClub

(Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi3298.mp3]

Link epi3298.mp3

Support RunRunLive; Purchase an audio book of running stories.  Written and performed with love by Chris Russell  ------------->>>>>>>http://bit.ly/1cH2Fr7<<<<<<<-----------

Introductory Comments:

Hello and welcome to the RunRunLive podcast. This is Chris your host.  This is, as near as I can figure, episode3-298. Today we talk to my new BFF Grace Kim from the Big Apple.  When I approached Grace I figured she would be one of those hyper New Yorker types, you know, loud and aggressive and all elbows. But she was just the opposite. Super nice person.  You can see why people are attracted to her message. She is calm, and self-effacing but still brings a positive image and story to her audience.

I'm in the middle of a whirlwind travel binge.  If everything goes right I'll be dropping this episode from a hotel room in Texas Friday night.  

Right now I'm trying to types this on my new Samsung Droid tablet that I bought specifically for this purpose.  Unfortunately the Bluetooth keyboard I bought is strangely configured.  The shift key is tiny like a UK keyboard and the page up arrow is where the rest of the shift key is supposed to be. I keep missing the shift key and moving the cursor up to the middle of a sentience above. Very strange.  And the lock screen button is where the backspace key should be and that makes for some not so interesting breaks in my train of thought.  

My reasoning is that because I spend so much time on air planes the tablet will allow me to get more work done. The seats are too close together to use a laptop these days and you can't take the laptop out until you get to cruising altitude.  The tablet will allow me to keep writing during takeoff and landing - as soon as I learn how to type on it without everything looking like the output of an Enigma machine.

It's been a weird couple weeks for me.  I've been trying desperately to figure out where my fitness is.  I met Eric in Grand Rapids last weekend to see if I could potentially use the fitness I have built up training for Pocatello to pick up a good time and qualify.

It wasn’t to be.  I was sucking wind from the start and DNF'ed at the 1/2.  I'm still trying to figure out where I am and I may talk about that more in one of the sections today.  I’ve written up a long piece on my thoughts around this summer's training cycle and my subsequent poor racing - but it's super long and I'll probably just launch it as a separate piece.  

The short story is I'm dropping back; going back to basics, figuring out where I am and working on my base for a while; because you need your base to race well, and I just don’t feel as fit as I’d like to.  I feel Like I skipped steps and did too much too fast.  

The weather is turning - up where I live in New England.  It's getting down into the 40's and 50's at night.  Buddy loves it.  This time of year he comes back to life and wants to get out and hit the trails. He's bouncing around the house barking at everyone.  He's nuts.  Of all the dogs in the neighborhood from Buddy's generation there are only 3 still alive and of the other two one's a stone deaf sheltie and the other is my neighbor's black lab, who can barely move.  Buddy is clearly in the best shape of all his class.  He’s old but he still loves to run. Just goes to show you – exercise and an active life are good for you.  

My garden is pretty much used up.  I had a nice final crop of beautiful heirloom tomatoes when the weather started to turn.  They were wonderful.  I'm still getting some rainbow chard - and apparently I'm the only critter in the food chain that will eat rainbow chard.  It makes great salads.  The worms got to my kale. Everything else is dead and the weeds are taking over. 

It's surprising how quickly the days get shorter.  You need to check for sunrise and sunset before scheduling your runs and plan accordingly.  Every year I get caught out in the dark by misreading the sunset.  

I'm working on a project that I've called “a book a month” because it involves writing a book a month.  The reason I’m doing it is to force me to organize and publish all of the content that I have lying around.   I need to produce.  The first one I'm doing for September outlines the 1600’s based speed work program I used to qualify for Boston when I was a puppy. I’ve got so much material.  I just have to fous on getting it written up.   

I'm super busy in all phases of my life right now - but I'm trying to be disciplined and keep all the balls in the air and do a good job and add value.  

I've been struggling with my Garmin310XT.  First the heart rate data has been in the science fiction neighborhood – it’s all over the place.  I've been getting readings that seem to suggest that I need a bypass. I've been ignoring them and running by feel and effort level instead, but it still bothers me.  

Today I was out doing a long zone 2 run and I couldn't get my heart rate down out of zone 5-6 –which is basically close to 90% effort level.  But, it didn't make sense.  It hasn't made sense since I bought the new watch and came back from the injury.  The heart rate is showing as red-lined but I was not breathing hard at all and basically jogging a 10+ minute mile.  Very discouraging. 

When I got to the turnaround point, 45 minutes in, I pulled up my shirt and tightened up and adjusted the chest strap. All of a sudden, now everything is cool, I'm solidly in zone2, running easy, even up the hills.  Here I am ready to go see a cardiologist and it turns out my strap is poorly adjusted. 

I think that watch is trying to kill me. 

Anyhow, it's a stressful time of year for me, and for you as well I'm sure. Just try to relax and not do so much.  It's not worth making yourself unhealthy or unhappy by trying to juggle too many things. Look at all that stuff and decide what the important bits are.  Focus on those.  Don’t worry about the rest. 

That's why I've decided to change jobs.  I have been gainfully employed as a hit man for the mafia for many years, and it's been a good gig.  There's a lot of travel, but, the perks are good and when I'm home I get spend time on my Yak farm.  Which is very relaxing.  I decided that I need a job that is more active, like landscaping, or mercenary …but settled on professional pole dancer as it requires both strength and flexibility. 

On with the show...

…

You should really sign on to my email list.  Rather than basking in safe obscurity you can declare your allegiance to RunRunLive and get my drivel directly in your inbox.  I mean, really, you’ve made it to 294 episodes and sucked the vital life force out of my narrative for 5+ years you should subscribe or at least join the RunRunLive Facebook group.  

https://www.facebook.com/groups/46620307582/ or just search FaceBook for “RunRunLive”. 

On with the show!

Section one:

Non-Negotiable - http://runrunlive.com/non-negotiable

Featured Interview:

Grace Kim

Hi! My name is Grace aka gracekelle. When I started in the music business years ago, one of my supervisors hollered “Grace Kelly” every time I walked by. It was the one nickname that I didn’t mind.

I’m a 30 year old New Yorker by ways of (Northern – there’s a difference!) Virginia. I’m the director of marketing for a major record label and also blog about all things health and fitness.

This is who I used to be. 

Today, the new me is proudly an athlete. I’m a 2x NYC marathoner and Guiness World Record Setter.

I LOVE <3

*Running.

*Trying the new "it" workout.

*Work Out Clothes - I own more workout clothes than regular clothes.

*Brunch - it's the best post-workout meal.

I started Lean Girls Club in 2010 as an outlet for me to connect with other healthy, fit and lean women. Exercise and fitness helped me lose 75 pounds and helped me find new life. I hope to inspire you to live a leaner, fitter, and healthier life.

You are a Lean Girl if you strive for being...

Everyday Healthy. Everyday Fit.

If you are someone who is wants to live a healthy, active, and balanced lifestyle, then you are a Lean Girl. Perfection is not expected. If you are perfect at working out and eating clean, please go away.

I’d love to hear from you. For media inquiries and more, please feel free to reach me at grace (at) leangirlsclub (dot) com.

.

Section two: 

The Training Pyramid - http://runrunlive.com/the-training-pyramid

Outro:

Ok my friends – that is it.  Through the miracle of beer and sleep deprivation we have come to the end of episode 3-298! 

I have to tell you, I do this because I love the opportunity to write free-form out into the universe.  It’s my form of art – and like most of us old-timer running podcasters we do it, as Nabokov said ‘for the trash can’ – we do it and we get so much pleasure out of the creative act that we could care less if anyone ends up listening.  

I don’t say that to diminish you, my friends, because every once in a while I’ll get one of those ‘you changed my life!’ emails and it gets me high.  I’ve never made any money off of this or gotten laid but I do have an all-expense paid junket to the NYC marathon from ASICS that I’m pretty happy about.  

I’ll get to see Grace and all my other new BFF’s.  I also interviewed The ASICS coach Andrew Kastor (yes you may recognize the last name – he is indeed Deena’s husband).  We totally geeked out about marathon training and altitude training that’s going to be a great show! 

I also have 3, count ‘em 1,2,3, episodes that were guest inteviews from friends of the show – remember I’m going to refresh the format in the next few shows and have as much user generated content as I can extort from y’all – so if you have a good blog post or someone you think would shine a light on our world – give me a shout – don’t be shy.  

I’ve got a story for you.  I’m in Austin today and it’s Friday.  I was up at 5:00 but it was monsooning rain so I decided to push my run until after my morning client meetings.  I got out onto the road after lunch.  It started out overcast and sprinkly.  Which was good.  But – then the sun came out half way through my run and it was like being in pressure cooker – incredibly hot and humid.  

My heart rate went through the roof and I was soaked with sweat just trying to move.  When I’m out running in strange environs I look for trails, parks and railroad tracks – anything to get some quiet and some trees.  I passed by a park entrance and went in.  

They have been having unseasonably high rainfall over the past couple weeks and in this part of the country it doesn’t soak in – it runs off.  As I’m running through the park some of the path is under a couple inches of flowing water from the run off.  I look down and there’s a fish flopping across the trail in front of me!  That’s a first.  I’ve never had a fish cross a trail in front of me. 

We had our first Groton Road Race meeting tonight and we’re gearing up for another good year.  We’ve got a great team.  Next year will be our 25th anniversary and then I’m stepping aside for a new race director.  It’s been a privilege and I’ve got another couple years to make the event even better for our customers.  This way I’ll be able to spend more time pole dancing, prepping for the zombie apocalypse and comforting the yaks. 

Jeff is still making his way across the country in his miles to end prostate cancer program.  It sucks that my coach is dying from cancer.  It sucks that anyone has to die from cancer.  I reached in the pocket of my suit this week and found a card from my father’s funeral.  Cancer is bad and takes people from us before they need to go.  

I’ve gotten a few more contributions for my Marine Corps prostate cancer fund.  I got one from John Vaughn and he won the Pocatello race bag and a t-shirt.  First person to donate $100 after this podcast drops will get a Grand Rapids bag and a men’s large Grand Rapids – Last chance to BQ tech shirt.  This is an awesome shirt that is a long sleeve tech shirt modeled on the Boston race shirts – Boston Blue and Yellow.  

To take you out here’s a haiku by Toshie Nohara

Inspiration (Haiku)

My mind so muddled

Birds singing merrily

Back to work with smile. 

Cheers, 

I am accepting donations for the race if you want to throw some coin at me but only if you’re sick of losing friends to cancer and you can afford a couple bucks.  The link is on my website and right here in the show notes. 

http://www.m2epc.com/chris-russell.html 

Thank you for listening. 

Cheers, 

 https://www.facebook.com/groups/46620307582/ or just search FaceBook for “RunRunLive”. 

Outro Bumper

  …

Thanks for listening folks I appreciate your support.  RunRunLive is a free service for you because I like writing and telling stories.  

I also love to meet folks so feel free to reach out to me at Gmail or any of the other social networking sites.  I’m CYKTRussell.  And as you know that’s Chris-Yellow-King-Tom-Russell with two Esses and two Ell’s. 

My Website is http://www.runrunlive.com and most if not all of this content is posted out there.   If you want the show notes to magically show up in your inbox when I publish a show in a beautiful HTML wrapper you can subscribe to the mailing list at my site.  It’s a useful thing if you are moved by something I say and would like to see if what I wrote is the same thing! It also has all the links to everything and everyone I talk to and about. 

Other than that, thank you for your attention, do epic stuff and let me know if I can help. 

Ciao

Happy Song – Super Hero - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Superhero

Other products from Chris Russell you may be interested in

The Mid-Packer’s Lament

On Amazon

On Kindle

On Audio (Read by the author) – http://www.runrunlive.com

The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy

On Kindle

Standard Links:

http://www.runrunlive.com

http://www.runeratti.com

Http://www.coolrunning.com

http://www.Grotonroadrace.com

http://www.SQRR.org

www.midpackerslament.com

Contact:

Cyktrussell At gmail and twitter and facebook and youtube

Bio

Chris Russell lives and trains in suburban Massachusetts with his family and Border collie Buddy.  Chris is the author of “The Mid-Packer’s Lament”, and “The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy”, short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack.  Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at www.runnerati.com.  Chris’ Podcast, RunRunLive is available on iTunes and at www.runrunlive.com. Chris also writes for CoolRunning.com (Active.com) and is a member of the Squannacook River Runners and the Goon Squad. 

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Tags -> Running  Podcast, podcasts for running, podcast for runners, free podcast for runners, Running Blog, marathon, triathlon, mileage, sprinting, run, track, training, running clubs, running groups, running shoes, exercise, health, 5k, running, swimming, sports, injuries, stretching, eating, jogging, biking, trail race, 5K, 10K, Ultramarathon, jogging a good exercise, road runner, jogging tips, benefits of jogging, free running, running shoes, marathon training, running, jogging, health and fitness, runners, runner, Boston qualification, Marathon BQ, Boston marathon

The RunRunLive 3.0 Podcast Episode 3-297 – Nutrition Case Study – Rachel Shuck

(Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi3297.mp3]

Link epi3297.mp3

Support RunRunLive; Purchase an audio book of running stories.  Written and performed with love by Chris Russell  ------------->>>>>>>http://bit.ly/1cH2Fr7<<<<<<<-----------

Introductory Comments:

Well my friends, hello and welcome once again to episode 3-297 of the RunRunLive Podcast.  Today we speak with my new friend Rachel who was my nutrition coach for the last few weeks to help me get to race weight.  I had the pleasure of spending some time with her this week at the Pocatello Marathon and she’s super nice in person too.  

The whole losing weight thing is simple yet frustrating at the same time.  It’s simple because it is clear what you need to do to be successful. It is maddening because our lifestyles sometimes make those simple things the hardest things to do.  Rachel and I will talk through my case study.  

The skunk in the room I guess how I did at Pocatello.  Not so well, as it turns out.  I knew early that it wasn’t going to be my day.  I executed to my race strategy dead nuts on, but, alas, by mile 15 my legs said ‘no mas’…apparently my legs are Hispanic…and thus began the dispirited 2 hour death march to the finish line.  

Since I’m sure you’re all just super fascinated with this, I’ll put something together for section 2 that gives what insight I can.  

In Section one I’ll talk about being the alpha male, liking yourself and how it’s a primary life skill. 

Going into the race I had two weeks of the most intense taper madness.  I was traveling for most of the two weeks with trips to Atlanta and Indianapolis.  I had the most lucid dreams.  Normally I don’t really have dreams or remember them but these were some fully formed epic dreams.  

This first one started with Buddy and I in the back yard of a house.  It wasn’t my house. It was dark out.  There was a lion after us.  Not an African lion, more like a large, dark mountain lion.  I grabbed Buddy and carried him up this 40 foot ladder up the side of the house – to get away from the lion.  

I set Buddy on the roof, but the stupid dog jumped off and before I could get to him the Lion got him.  I tried to beat the lion to death with the ladder, but it was dark and I was too late to save Buddy.

Interesting, huh?  I woke up very sad that Buddy had been eaten by a lion while I couldn’t save him.  

The next week I had a dream that I had a hooker girlfriend.  Me and my hooker girlfriend were lying in bed in a post-coital repose and I asked her: “How many men have you slept with today?” 

She answered, “Six, but you’re the first paying customer.”  She was cute, in a rough sort of way.  

My point is, where the hell did these fully formed screwy dreams come from? Complete with characters and dialog? 

Crazy. 

After I got back from Idaho I was commiserating on my poor performance with my wife – (in the race, not with the imaginary hooker girlfriend) – and she said “You always don’t do well when you focus too much on an event.  You do much better if you just show up and wing it.” And there may be some truth to that. 

Before I let you hear from Rachel let me say one word…Rice Cooker…I guess that’s two words but you could hyphenate it.  You’ll hear Rachel and I talk about this.  My daughter taught me how to use the rice cooker.  It’s awesome.  It is like a big crock pot.  

You throw in a couple cups of brown rice and a few cups of water, then you put some veggies in the steamer rack, then you close the lid, hit the button and walk away.  It beeps when it’s done.  No waiting for water to boil.  No having to watch the heat or stir.  It just cooks perfect rice and veggies all by itself with no intervention.  

It cooks beans too.  Those dry beans that you can get for $1 a bag in the supermarket. You don’t have to soak them, just throw them into the rice cooker with some water and you get beans for a week.  

One of the keys to my dieting success is brown rice, beans, quinoa and steamed veggies of all sorts – even sweet potatoes.  It’s a marvelously filling dinner and you can stuff yourself on 600 calories. 

Rice cooker. 

On with the Show. 

…

You should really sign on to my email list.  Rather than basking in safe obscurity you can declare your allegiance to RunRunLive and get my drivel directly in your inbox.  I mean, really, you’ve made it to 294 episodes and sucked the vital life force out of my narrative for 5+ years you should subscribe or at least join the RunRunLive Facebook group.  

https://www.facebook.com/groups/46620307582/ or just search FaceBook for “RunRunLive”. 

On with the show!

Section one:

The Secret to Self Esteem - http://runrunlive.com/the-secrets-of-self-esteem

Featured Interview:

Rachel Shuck

Hey Chris,

Thanks for the interview! Not sure I got you the info you were looking for, but if not, we can always do it again lol. 

Here are my links www.rachelshuck.com or www.flygirlsforever.com (it's the same site)

www.facebook/FlyGirlsForever.com

Twitter: Fly Girls Forever  and of course my fitnesspal is also flygirlsforever

Health: Information to help you live a healthier, and in turn, more full life. Offering couching and counseling for nutrition and health. - See more at: http://flygirlsforever.com/#sthash.wSHFOnAN.dpuf

Food: Discover easy, real food recipes to start your day off right with the Learning To Fly One Season at a Time: Summer Breakfast Season Cookbook. Clean eating breakfast recipes for anyone that is looking to get fit and stay there - See more at: http://flygirlsforever.com/#sthash.wSHFOnAN.dpuf

Motivation: Find out how to look and feel good naked in this entertaining and easy to understand book, The "Shucking" Truth: Those Extra Pounds are NOT Your Fault! - See more at: http://flygirlsforever.com/#sthash.wSHFOnAN.dpuf

.

Section two: 

Pocatello 2014 - http://runrunlive.com/pocatello-2014

Outro:

Bah-dum-dum – I’ve got a number of irons in the fire now – so I fully expect to experience a nervous breakdown in the coming weeks – be prepared.  No it’s all good, I’ve got nothing to complain about.  All of my stress and likewise my pleasures and opportunities are a bit self-made so I can turn them on and off if needed.  

I had a three day session in New Jersey this week after getting back from Pocatello.  I do travel a lot.  Sometimes it gets tiring.  I went off my Rachel Diet for a few days this week, but I think I’ve got the basics any time I need to go back to it.  I’ve learned about coconut water and rice cookers and all sorts of other things I wouldn’t have eaten before. 

Coming up, I’m doubling down on the 13th and running the Grand Rapids Last Chance to BQ marathon with Eric Strand.   Then I’ve got a month to train for Marine Corp and the following week NYC with the ASICS Editor’s Challenge team.  I got accepted and apparently they are going to pay for my flights and hotels for 4 days and give me VIP transport – which I can’t believe but I’m going to play along and have fun with it. 

I am collecting for Prostate Cancer research for MCM.  I’m up to $150.  Could use your help.  $10-20 is all it takes.  I have a very modest goal.  I’ll tell you what.  I will give my Pocatello Adidas Race bag to the first person to donate $100 after I drop this podcast.  And anyone who gives me $50 or more can have a lightly used men’s large race T-shirt of their choice.  How’s that?  (I’m not guaranteeing that I can ship outside the US so be warned.  I’ll look into it but if it’s crazy expensive I’m not doing it.)

Onwards and upwards! 

I think I still have some good races in me and I’m willing to keep trying, but I’ve gotten to a point in my life that I’m super happy to be still in the game and every race is a blessing.  I’d just like to race as well as I’ve trained! 

You know from listening to me that I read a lot.  I usually have 5 books going at any point in time.  Last week I finished 4 books.  

One was the evolution of a cromag book from John Joseph that you can only get on kindle.  I’d recommend it. The guy is a living graphic novel. 

Another was Hemmingway’s to have or have not.  I thought I had read through all of Papa’s books but I must’ve missed this one.  It wasn’t particularly interesting or beautiful, but ironically Lauren Bacall who starred in the movie version with Humphrey Bogart dies the same day I finished it.  

I also read a Fredrick Pohl SciFi novel which I already don’t remember anything about.  He died in the last couple years too I think.  Prolific writer but was always a bit too fantasy leaning for me.  This one felt more like a Philip K Dick story, but the writing wasn’t super compelling. 

And I finished a New York Times best seller called “The Game” by Neil Strauss about the international society of Pick up Artists – which may explain the hooker girlfriend dream.  It was about 200 pages too long but fascinating, sad and troubling all at the same time.  I kept seeing parallels to sales techniques and the social dynamics in play with business situations. . 

Finally I finished “Running with the Mind of Meditation” by Sakyong Mipham.  I really didn’t get into the message of this book until he got into the later phases of running and meditation maturity.  But the last couple chapters on the Garuda, Dragon and Windhorse running very much resonated.  Here is an exceprt. 

“In the Windhorse contemplation, we contemplate our basic goodness.  When all the plans, worrying, and speed dissolve, when we are just sitting there feeling a deep sense of space and well-being, we are resting in the indescribable feeling of basic goodness.  It is ‘basic’ in that this is fundamentally who we are.  It is ‘good’ in that we are complete, intact, and good. 

An amazing thing about being human is that we can connect with that long-forgaotten goodness that we have.  It is very powerful to feel that sense of goodness: having confidence and bravery in our innermost being.  … 

After feeling it in ourselves, we begin to see it in everyone and everything.  We can see it in a small child.  We can see it in an old person.  We can see it in a beautiful mountain.  We can feel it when we hug someone.”

And that is what running does for me!

Thank you for listening

Cheers, 

I am accepting donations for the race if you want to throw some coin at me but only if you’re sick of losing friends to cancer and you can afford a couple bucks.  The link is on my website and right here in the show notes. 

http://www.m2epc.com/chris-russell.html 

Thank you for listening. 

Cheers, 

 https://www.facebook.com/groups/46620307582/ or just search FaceBook for “RunRunLive”. 

Outro Bumper

  …

Thanks for listening folks I appreciate your support.  RunRunLive is a free service for you because I like writing and telling stories.  

I also love to meet folks so feel free to reach out to me at Gmail or any of the other social networking sites.  I’m CYKTRussell.  And as you know that’s Chris-Yellow-King-Tom-Russell with two Esses and two Ell’s. 

My Website is http://www.runrunlive.com and most if not all of this content is posted out there.   If you want the show notes to magically show up in your inbox when I publish a show in a beautiful HTML wrapper you can subscribe to the mailing list at my site.  It’s a useful thing if you are moved by something I say and would like to see if what I wrote is the same thing! It also has all the links to everything and everyone I talk to and about. 

Other than that, thank you for your attention, do epic stuff and let me know if I can help. 

Ciao

Happy Song – Super Hero - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Superhero

Other products from Chris Russell you may be interested in

The Mid-Packer’s Lament

On Amazon

On Kindle

On Audio (Read by the author) – http://www.runrunlive.com

The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy

On Kindle

Standard Links:

http://www.runrunlive.com

http://www.runeratti.com

Http://www.coolrunning.com

http://www.Grotonroadrace.com

http://www.SQRR.org

www.midpackerslament.com

Contact:

Cyktrussell At gmail and twitter and facebook and youtube

Bio

Chris Russell lives and trains in suburban Massachusetts with his family and Border collie Buddy.  Chris is the author of “The Mid-Packer’s Lament”, and “The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy”, short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack.  Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at www.runnerati.com.  Chris’ Podcast, RunRunLive is available on iTunes and at www.runrunlive.com. Chris also writes for CoolRunning.com (Active.com) and is a member of the Squannacook River Runners and the Goon Squad. 

…

Tags -> Running  Podcast, podcasts for running, podcast for runners, free podcast for runners, Running Blog, marathon, triathlon, mileage, sprinting, run, track, training, running clubs, running groups, running shoes, exercise, health, 5k, running, swimming, sports, injuries, stretching, eating, jogging, biking, trail race, 5K, 10K, Ultramarathon, jogging a good exercise, road runner, jogging tips, benefits of jogging, free running, running shoes, marathon training, running, jogging, health and fitness, runners, runner, Boston qualification, Marathon BQ, Boston marathon

The RunRunLive 3.0 Podcast Episode 3-296 – Prostate Cancer – Coach and a Training Cycle Case Study

(Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi3296.mp3]

Link epi3296.mp3

Support RunRunLive; Purchase an audio book of running stories.  Written and performed with love by Chris Russell  ------------->>>>>>>http://bit.ly/1cH2Fr7<<<<<<<-----------

Introductory Comments:

I’m talking to you now not from the dark place but from the crazy place.  The crazy place is the taper and I’ve got full on taper madness with about 8 days to my target race. 

How do you manage taper madness?  You know me.  I’ve run 44 marathons including 15 Bostons.  But whenever I’m shooting for a specific time and I’ve invested this much in the campaign I go bonkers in those last two weeks. 

I wrapped up my campaign with a 24 mile pace run last Sunday and now I’m cutting the mileage way back.  Coach’s theory on tapering and mine are similar.  If you’ve done the training you back off the mileage but keep up the intensity.  

This week I did a 4 X 1 mile on the road for a workout and this morning did a set of 16 50M surges along the White River Trail in Indianapolis.  Saw my pace drop into numbers starting with 5’s which is pretty amazing.  Mostly short hard efforts now.  Rest and tuning.  

Other than that I just try to keep my brain in my head with a daily routine of stretching, light core work, meditation and some race specific affirmations and visualization.  

Following up on my old-man rant about the people at the track…There was a guy in lane one last week wearing those big, over-the-ear headphones like he was planning to wave jets in for landings on an aircraft carrier later.   I also saw a lady walking while working on her iPad.  I don’t know how she kept from walking into the fence.  

And, of course, since I’ve lost so much weight I’m back to horrifying the local populace by working out shirtless in my 1980’s shorty shorts.   My rule for shirtless is you either have to be attractive or over 50.  You can guess which I am. 

How’s my diet going?  Actually very well.  For the most part I’ve stabilized under 180 pounds which is exactly where I want to be and I’m going to focus on staying healthy and fueled for the race.  My clothes are falling off me and I feel like that guy in the big suit from the Talking Heads video.  Still the same body, just 20 pounds less of it since June. 

 

I touched 175 pounds after my 24 miler this past weekend – but that was mostly water.  In this weather I’ll lose 7-8 pounds in a long run even though I’m taking in about a gallon of water.  That’s about 16 pounds of sweat in a marathon.  

Some people are contacting me for advice on weight loss and training.  I have to reiterate that I’m not a nutritionist or a coach.  I don’t want to break anyone – so I can point you to my coaches if you like. 

In section one today we’ll talk about the perils and advantages of being the odd man out.  In section two I’ll toss around the question “Can you qualify for the Boston Marathon?”  

It’s funny because I don’t write posts for link bait.  You know what I mean.  All those “5 simple ways to lose weight” or “How to do XYZ without any effort” – you know those posts.  I write what I happen to be thinking about.  I put up the “Can you qualify for Boston?” post today and it’s getting a bunch of traffic – so much so that I had to go back and fix all the typos! I guess people are interested in that. 

 On with the Show. 

…

You should really sign on to my email list.  Rather than basking in safe obscurity you can declare your allegiance to RunRunLive and get my drivel directly in your inbox.  I mean, really, you’ve made it to 294 episodes and sucked the vital life force out of my narrative for 5+ years you should subscribe or at least join the RunRunLive Facebook group.  

https://www.facebook.com/groups/46620307582/ or just search FaceBook for “RunRunLive”. 

On with the show!

Section one:

Odd Man Out - http://runrunlive.com/odd-man-out

Featured Interview:

Coach PRSFit

About PRS FIT

Our Objective: The objective of the staff at PRS FIT is to design and develop affordable fitness and training programs, while providing the coaching and team support to make those programs work for each individual.

 

Our Philosophy: Prs Fit is a community of athletes from all over the world. We are a team. Alone or together, we strive and we conquer. Prs Fit lets you experience what we call Team and social fitness – connecting and motivating each through our one of a kind global team experience.  No matter the weather, the circumstance, day after day, we provide a high quality training experience that produces results.

 

At Prs Fit we provide training, motivation and camaraderie. When you become a part of our Team you quickly see we love what we do.

 

Be Healthy. Train Smart. Have Fun.

 

The PRS FIT Difference :: Personalized Service!!! When you become a PRS FIT team member you get the dedicated services of the entire staff. We are here for you!

 

We place an emphasis on personalized service. The day you join our team or purchase a pre-built training program, we take it to the next level. Our coaching staff gets involved! Our lines of communication are always open and we encourage your questions as you make strides in your training. We encourage you to contact us as often as you need, with any need you may have.

 

With more than twenty years of training, racing and coaching athletes, we have learned there are many different approaches to achieving athletic success.

 

The only consistent variable is each athlete is unique.

 

With that in mind there is not a “one and only” training program out there today that will guarantee success. However, there are basic fundamentals of training. When those fundamentals are followed and combined with an individual’s potential, lifestyle and experience, success is right around the corner.  These fundamentals are easy to follow and will help every team mate achieve the goals they are seeking.

 

We truly believe that by getting to know and understanding our athletes’ lifestyles, we can develop a training program that will help anyone achieve their individual goals and set their personal best.

 

Contact Us: Please email us to learn more or visit our contact page to connect with us both online and offline.

 

Coach Jeff and the entire PRS FIT Coaching Staff.

Section two: 

Can you qualify for Boston?  - http://runrunlive.com/can-you-qualify-for-boston

Outro:

Well – that was fun, wasn’t it?  I’m bugging out with taper madness.  Having trouble sleeping.  Grumpy and snappy.  You know the drill – I just want to get there and race! 

I’m feeling confident but anything can happen.  

So – My big announcement, drum roll, is that Jeff had some people bail on him so I decided to take a number for the Marine Corps Marathon.  I’ve run it before and it’s an awesome race.  Eddie Marathon is going to be down there too.  

I did this mostly because I’m sick of losing friends to cancer.  Maybe it’s my age group but every couple weeks someone else I know is being diagnosed or going under the knife. It’s not fair. 

I can’t do anything about it but I can help raise awareness.  Especially for Prostate cancer because if you catch it early it’s curable.  All you have to do is get tested.  I know a lot of my listeners are guys in my general age group and I’m talking to you – right now – today – make an appointment to go get tested.  Read about the tests, read about the symptoms because I don’t want to lose you. 

I am accepting donations for the race if you want to throw some coin at me but only if you’re sick of losing friends to cancer and you can afford a couple bucks.  The link is on my website and right here in the show notes. 

http://www.m2epc.com/chris-russell.html 

Thank you for listening. 

I got an email last week from the ASICS guys wondering if I wanted to be considered for a comp entry to the NYC Marathon.  They’d kit me out and give me a number and all I’d have to do is wear their stuff and blog about it.  I was like, “Gee, I dunno I’d have to think about….YES!!! Of Course!!! Where do I sign!!!” 

Coming up next week I button-holed Rachel my nutrition coach to chat through a case study on eating healthy.  I also have a few listener created interviews in the can for when we switch to the new format! 

Next time we speak I’ll either be celebrating or making up excuses but either way I’ve had an awesome summer and I’ll have a story to tell. 

Cheers, 

 https://www.facebook.com/groups/46620307582/ or just search FaceBook for “RunRunLive”. 

Outro Bumper

Ahhhhhhhh….Yes…My friends another RunRunLive podcast up in the can. Somewhere in the last couple months we passed the 6 year anniversary I think.  Near as I can figure we started in July of 2007.  And we have consistently delivered an invaluable stream of mediocre running related content to you that whole time.  

I’m refreshing the format of the show at 300 episodes.  I’m going to try to bring in more user generated content and some fresh voices.  I have a number of guest interviews queued up which will give some of our community an opportunity to practice their interview skills but mostly just save me work! 

In the last few shows I’m going to bring coach on to talk through my training cycle and strategy for Pocatello.  I’ve also brow beat Rachel to come on and drop some nutrition smarts on us.  

I’m in the midst of writing up a review on a couple things that were sent to me.  First was the Salomon folks sent me a some shoes, shirt and shorts from their #CityPark campaign.  I didn’t really understand the point of these products at first until I realized that they are in response to the Park Run movement.  

I also got a pair of shoes from ASICS.  I selected a light neutral racer. I did a couple tempo runs in them and they are nice.  

Have you heard the inspirational starfish story?  Would you like to? Well it goes like this…

A man was walking down the beach and thousands of starfish had been washed up on the shore by a storm.  A child was throwing them back in the water.  The man says ‘What are you doing?  You can’t make any difference with these thousands of starfish.” And the Child responds, while throwing a starfish, “I made a difference for that one!” 

Now I have heard this story told by many self-help gurus.  But they never finish the story.  

To continue…it turns out that particular starfish was on the shore because it was sick.  It had the great starfish plague, similar to starfish Ebola, and when it was thrown back it infected the rest of the starfish populations causing a global mass extinction of starfish.  

This in turn caused the ocean ecosystem to collapse.  But, in an ironic twist, great white sharks, due to the extreme evolutionary pressure, rapidly evolved into mutant land dwelling carnivores and proceeded to depopulate the cities. 

So really, the moral of the story is don’t tell me pithy morality tales because I’ll just ruin it for you. 

I’ll see you out there. 

  …

Thanks for listening folks I appreciate your support.  RunRunLive is a free service for you because I like writing and telling stories.  

I also love to meet folks so feel free to reach out to me at Gmail or any of the other social networking sites.  I’m CYKTRussell.  And as you know that’s Chris-Yellow-King-Tom-Russell with two Esses and two Ell’s. 

My Website is http://www.runrunlive.com and most if not all of this content is posted out there.   If you want the show notes to magically show up in your inbox when I publish a show in a beautiful HTML wrapper you can subscribe to the mailing list at my site.  It’s a useful thing if you are moved by something I say and would like to see if what I wrote is the same thing! It also has all the links to everything and everyone I talk to and about. 

Other than that, thank you for your attention, do epic stuff and let me know if I can help. 

Ciao

Happy Song – Super Hero - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Superhero

Other products from Chris Russell you may be interested in

The Mid-Packer’s Lament

On Amazon

On Kindle

On Audio (Read by the author) – http://www.runrunlive.com

The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy

On Kindle

Standard Links:

http://www.runrunlive.com

http://www.runeratti.com

Http://www.coolrunning.com

http://www.Grotonroadrace.com

http://www.SQRR.org

www.midpackerslament.com

Contact:

Cyktrussell At gmail and twitter and facebook and youtube

Bio

Chris Russell lives and trains in suburban Massachusetts with his family and Border collie Buddy.  Chris is the author of “The Mid-Packer’s Lament”, and “The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy”, short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack.  Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at www.runnerati.com.  Chris’ Podcast, RunRunLive is available on iTunes and at www.runrunlive.com. Chris also writes for CoolRunning.com (Active.com) and is a member of the Squannacook River Runners and the Goon Squad. 

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Tags -> Running  Podcast, podcasts for running, podcast for runners, free podcast for runners, Running Blog, marathon, triathlon, mileage, sprinting, run, track, training, running clubs, running groups, running shoes, exercise, health, 5k, running, swimming, sports, injuries, stretching, eating, jogging, biking, trail race, 5K, 10K, Ultramarathon, jogging a good exercise, road runner, jogging tips, benefits of jogging, free running, running shoes, marathon training, running, jogging, health and fitness, runners, runner, Boston qualification, Marathon BQ, Boston marathon

My friends.  What follows is a piece I constructed specifically for my friend Eric who is running his third Leadville 100 this week.   But, you are welcome to enjoy it on any of your endurance races or workouts.  I had in mind a modern, endurance sports version of a Pilgrim’s Progress or Dante’s Journey or any other spiritual journey metaphor you like. 

Those spiritual journeys that strip away the dirt and fluff of life and lay bare the soul.  It’s a bit of performance art, an endurance poem or prayer and I hope it makes you think, or, even better, makes you feel. 

…

Breath deep the gathering Gloom

…

Is everybody in?  Is everybody in? 

The Ceremony is about to begin

Awake! 

…

Let me tell you a story. 

A story not about a runner but about a soul.  The core of a transient being that strives and learns and grows and fights is the soul – the spirit, the essence, that thing which is unbreakable and infinite within each of us. 

…

Picture if you will a small house nestled closely in the jack pines.  A rustic fence runs close by.  The grass is tall and wild, not with neglect, but in keeping with the nature of the place.  There is a sense of warmth and comfort and homey-ness.

This soul awakes in a comfortable, warm bed in a homestead on the edge of the prairie to the shout of bird song and glow of a rising sun.  The bad is warm and well-worn with the wakings of many morns. 

But today after many years of comfort the soul is restless.  The soul sense an emptiness.  Nothing particular, just a ghostly nag of a feeling that tugs at the fabric of the mind like a cat clawing the curtains. 

…

The kitchen is warm and the coffee soothing. The wooden chairs creak with comfort.  The soul’s gaze crosses the prairie to the great purple mountains.  The one forbidding peak majestic among the rest, rising from the prairie like a great cruel master.  Restlessness and the stirrings of wanderlust climb up the soul’s spine.   

…

The soul is a searcher.  The searcher could stay here behind the gnarled fence posts of day to day existence but the purple mountains call.   A whispering buzz on the wind like the cooing of a seductress – the mountains song a sirens paean that is stitched into our souls.   

The soul could stay but the searcher cannot.  To stay is to give away that unknown part of life that calls us.  To stay is to give up.  To choose an empty comfort over a fulfilling hardship is for the weak and equivocating – the cold and timid souls.  

The searcher puts on shoes and socks and wraps in skins.  The searcher stuffs some sustenance in a bag and strides forth into the dry grass of the Prairie.  Pausing at the fence the searcher is filled with the joy of adventure.  Not the completion of the adventure, not the embarking of adventure – the searcher is filled up to the brim with the ambition of adventure.  

For in the ambition of adventure is infinite possibility. 

The searcher does not know what is out there. The searcher does not know how the mountain will be climbed.  The searcher does not know how to survive.  The searcher knows only that the kinetic joy of moving forward into the unknown greatly outweighs the pain of sleeping through life.  

…

Hours into the journey to the mountain the searcher is tired and thirsty.  The feet are hot and the back is sore.  There is doubt.  There are those small voices that nag and promise to forgive all if only we can turn back now.  But the die is cast and there is only one way out. There is only one way through.  That way is forward. Forward into the unknown heights of perilous adventure.  

The searcher stops to slake at a cold clear stream the cuts the prairie mounds. Stooping to splash cold water on a hot neck and head.  The great refreshment of effort and rest well earned.  The great trial not yet beginning, not yet known.  The searcher is filled with joy.  The joy cascades through the body like the cold water running down the neck and back.  

It is the joy of freedom.  The joy of tossing away constraints and assumptions.  The joy of throwing all caution to the wind and swaggering like a fool into a fight with an adversary bigger and meaner than oneself. The joy of passion and the joy of the fight. To give oneself fully; truly fully in a worthy fight. That is to know Joy. 

…

As the ground begins to rise up to the purple mount the sun p high and hot.  This day will come and go on this quest with this loss of self and the searcher is at peace.  The ground begins to slope steeply into a rough trail filled with loose rock and bounded by dry, prickly chaparral.

Sweat drips from the eyebrows and runs down dusty arms in brown rivulets tracing ancient waterways.  Feet slip and knees grind with hands for purchase in the dust.  The searcher pauses and looks upwards into the purple mist, in the moment unsure.  

And in that moment the seed is found and the searcher becomes the climber.  Serenity falls like a great dark carpet and the climber pulls upward with purpose.  To do this thing, to do this work. From one crumbling foothold to the next with the metronome cadence of labored breath – the climber climbs on.  The honest purity of the work cleanses sin and absolves the climber of all earthly dues and in the moment the climber is alone against the mountain and free. 

Hands on knees, bracing, pushing the mountain into the gravity of the earth, climbing towards the purple summit.  Peacefulness and serenity in the motion.  First one leg, first one foot, followed by the next over and over in peaceful communion with the mountain.  

The simplest thing in the world is to defy gravity and climb.  The climber is in the moment.  The climber does not see or imagine the top of the mountain or the other side the climber simply climbs and in that climbing is truth and beauty and soul. 

…

The summer sun is now falling into the horizon, slipping like a raw egg into the purple void.  Long shadows lick the trail and sweat chills in the small of the back in memory of the climber’s efforts.  Afternoon insects lift up their voices and afternoon birds shake the heat from their wings. 

The trail hooks upwards behind and ancient outcrop of reddish-brown sandstone heaved up for the bottom of some forgotten sea swarming with trilobites and fairy creatures.  The climber is tiring.  The sweat has wrung the water from the soul.  Humanity is stretched thin as a silk thread and an aching tiredness fills the body and soul and brain.  

Adventure is fine.  Ambitions is great. But the body is a physical thing and has its limits.  The muscles run out of fuel.  The tendons tire and lose their elasticity.  The joints creak from the repetitive impact and strain.  Fluid filled blisters grow in shoes as the feet swell and rub with each labored push.  

In a flash a tired foot fails to raise a tired foot and a tired toe is caught on a wayward root concealed in the mottled sun of the afternoon.  Before conscious mind can engage the ground rushes up.  Knee impacts rock and dirt.  Hands and elbows reach out feebly to save the climber.  

The dust settled around with a rush of adrenaline and clarity.  Red, red blood, rich and wonderful drips from the knee and the elbow like some ancient sacrificial right.  The climber sits in the dirt and collects thoughts and emotions and feelings to weigh and balance the event.  The climber smiles then curses and laughs.  The climber pushes erect to tired legs and spits, wiping the excess grit off. 

The Climber rears back and straightens up in the trail, hand on hips, expelling a great weary sigh of breath to the gods.  But the climber knows that the truth lies, not on the other side of the purple mountain but on the other side of tiredness and exhaustion.  The truth can only be found by striving through the haze of exhaustion, through the veil of the known and into the sweet pain of the unknown.  

The climber let’s out another great tired breath and with that the Striver bends and begins to push through the loose dirt upwards.  Beyond the tiredness of exhaustion is the goal which has ceased to become a thing but has been lost in the simple act of moving forward.  

…

The Striver grimly and gamely puts one foot in front of the other pushing forward up the trail.  

The striving is cut at times with a weird and senseless euphoria.  At times the cloud of tiredness will break with great rain storms of laughter.  Snippets of half remembered songs from the past will emerge with have broken trebles croaked up as offerings.  The act of striving replaces the point.  The means become the end. 

Stunted trees give way to gnarled bushes and the trail becomes rougher and broken.  The Striver with sweat dried dirt and clotted blood works onward.  Above the tree line the altitude starts the thin the air and life comes in gasping breaths.   At times the trail drops precipitously down into the scrub and rocks waiting for the miscalculated step. 

Beside the trail are the sun-blanched bones of some pack animal long dead.  That animal lost its bet with adventure.  That animal’s contract was collected here on the hot dry slope of the mountain.  The final commitment.  The striver pauses and wonders about final thoughts as that animal gave up the fight. 

The striver has spent all that can be spent and stops to drink warm water from a carried flask.  It soothes but slightly the burned lips and throat and lungs.  Doubt now hangs in the air like a fetid smog.  Sadness comes and the great joy of adventure, the peacefulness of striving is subsumed in a great brown wave of emotional exhaustion.  

Dirty and drawn the Striver fights the tears and mumbles nonsense vitriol into the gravel.  Until sadness and defeat tickle the depths of a third emotion – Anger.  Anger like a great bomb explodes into the body and mind.  The anger of the trail.  Angry at yourself.  Angry at the world.  Angry at this stupid quest and this stupid mountain.  

…

Anger fills the void where exhaustion has left a hole.  Anger fills the void with a red energy and the Fighter is born.  Cursing the trail, cursing the heavens, cursing the world the fighter drives numb legs and feet into the dirt and pushes an uncooperative shambling body forward. 

The purple peak looms near now.  The purple has grown into black as the evening expands across the barren steeps.  A pale moon hints in the low horizon of the night sky.  Night breezes push unbroken against the landscape chilling the fighter’s core.  

The fighter laughs maniacally and curses the wind.   Clawing with angry tenacity at the storm and slope the fighter feels nothing and rejoices in the numbness of pain and effort.  The dirt and fluff of life is stripped away and inconsequential.  The fighter is left bare at the core punching out against the force of gravity and nature.  

In this battle, victory and failure hang in the balance with each tired swing of the leg, each angry punch of the hand and each stubborn movement.   There is a purity in thought and motions when all humanness is stripped away by effort.  There is a suppleness found in wandering deep past physical boundaries, deep past exhaustion and deep into the pit of trial.  To have a great endeavor hang in the balance and not care, just fight, that is honesty in the human animal.  

…

In the cold gloom of the evening the summit solidifies in the climber’s field of vision.  It is a surreal march, the last few meters, after these many hours of ricocheting between suffering and joy, between sadness and euphoria, between the wretched sands of defeat and the golden shores of triumph.

At the summit is triumph.  A golden shower of self-affirmation that when all is said and done you have the strength and power to rise about petty things of this existence and do the impossible.  Triumph in the knowledge that we can do anything we set our minds to and cannot be constrained by what is known. 

We are have risen above the common.  We have shirked off the skin of comfort and adventured far from our warm cabins and tender beds.  We are Spartans to our sport and to our world.  What can challenge us? What can beat us?  What are we afraid of?  Nothing.  

The soul is indestructible.  The will transcends the body.  The journey of the spirit transcends the mind.  We are indestructible.  

…

Indestructible.

The RunRunLive 3.0 Podcast Episode 3-295 – Michael Wardian  – American Distance Runner

(Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi3295.mp3]

Link epi3295.mp3

Support RunRunLive; Purchase an audio book of running stories.  Written and performed with love by Chris Russell  ------------->>>>>>>http://bit.ly/1cH2Fr7<<<<<<<-----------

Introductory Comments:

Hello my summertime comrades.  How is it going?  Perhaps we find you jogging along limply on a sweltering August morn sweating your humanity into the thick sultry air?   Or maybe we find you on a treadmill in the health club horrifying the jaded Yentas with your dynamic rainbows of sweat filled efforts? 

No matter where you are, we are here together once again for episode 3-295 of the RunRunLive Podcast.  And as Buckaroo Bonzai said, “No matter where you go…there you are.”  (Buckaroo Bonzai, by the way is a great campy scifi movie with Peter Heller of the original RoboCop, John Lithgow, Christopher Lloyd, a young Jeff Goldblum and Rasta-Far-I aliens from 1984)

And the plot is…” Dr. Buckaroo Banzai, a physicist, neurosurgeon, test pilot, and rock musician, [has to] save the world by defeating a band of inter-dimensional aliens called Red Lectroids from Planet 10”.  That has me written all over it, right? 

Back on topic – Today we have along chat with Mike Wardian American distance runner who has been having an awesome run lately.  I follow Mike on Facebook and he’s been doing tons of races and always looks super happy.  There’s nothing like being in shape and healthy and being able to just run with passion and joy and you can see it in Mike’s eyes.  

In section one I’ll share a review of a book I read recently about “Challenger Sales” and in Section two I’ll talk about my dieting success over the last few weeks. 

My training has been going very well.  I’m getting all my workouts in and nothing overtly hurts.  This will be a modern miracle because it looks like I’m going to get through this hard training cycle without injuring myself – knock on wood.  

I’m starting to get confident about my chances at Pocatello at the end of the month.  I’ve done my work and controlled all the variables that I can control – so now I just have to hold on to the end, stay health, consolidate my gains and hope the circumstances are fortuitous for battle. 

Either way I’m super proud of this cycle.  I really focused, kept my eye on the goal, executed some very difficult training and stayed healthy.  A worthy effort. 

I had an interesting week working down in Atlanta.  I stayed in one of those extended-stay format hotels so I could buy groceries and cook my own dinners and have access to a fridge.   I also got a rental car so I could get to a track for my workouts.  

If you follow me on Facebook you know that I had to jump the fence at a Middle school on Thursday morning to get my workout in.  A bit of an adventure.  I’ve also been getting a fair number of my hard workouts in on the treadmill which has its pros and cons.  

I’m almost finished reading ‘Evolution of a Cromag” by vegan crazy man John Joeseph.  It’s quite a story and I would recommend picking it up.  It’s only available on Kindle.  It’s hard to believe some of the stuff he’s been through – frankly I was reading it before bed and it was giving me nightmares. Very hard to describe – you’ll have to read it for yourself. 

I’m going to get rid of a ½ dozen or so pairs of shoes this weekend. I’ll give my brother some and ship the rest off to my sister in Indy.  My wife was complaining about not being able to get to the washing machine in the laundry room.  How did I end up with 15 pair of running shoes?  How does that happen? 

Another issue I have in the summer is my running shoes get soaked with sweat in these hard runs and end up stinking like nuclear workout waste. Here’s a tip for you – just throw them in the washing machine.  It doesn’t hurt them.  There’s nothing in a running shoe that’s going to shrink or get bent or broken in the wash.  Just air-dry them and they will be ready to go. 

By the way my sister Jody has been training away this summer to shoot for a qualifier this fall in her second marathon.  

So, my friends, you know what they say, If life give you lemons you can use them to create salon quality highlights in your hair. Add 1/4 cup lemon juice to 3/4 cup water and rinse your hair with the mixture. Then, sit in the sun until your hair dries. To maximize the effect, repeat once daily for up to a week.

On with the Show. 

…

You should really sign on to my email list.  Rather than basking in safe obscurity you can declare your allegiance to RunRunLive and get my drivel directly in your inbox.  I mean, really, you’ve made it to 294 episodes and sucked the vital life force out of my narrative for 5+ years you should subscribe or at least join the RunRunLive Facebook group.  

https://www.facebook.com/groups/46620307582/ or just search FaceBook for “RunRunLive”. 

On with the show!

Section one:

Challenger Behavior Set - http://runrunlive.com/6-things-that-non-sales-people-can-learn-from-challenger-sales

Featured Interview:

Michael Wardian

http://mikewardian.com/

Michael Wardian

40 years old, Arlington, VA-United States of America, Father of 2 young boys (Pierce-7 years old & Grant-5 years old)

Sponsors (2014) :

•Hoka One One: http://www.hokaoneone.com/

•UVU Racing: http://www.uvuracing.com

•MarathonGuide.com: www.marathonguide.com

•Vitargo: http://www.vitargo.com

•Succeed: www.succeedscaps.com

•Petzl: www.petzl.com/us

•110% Compression & Ice: http://110playharder.com/

•Sweetgreen: www.sweetgreen.com

•Julbo: www.julbousa.com

•High Cloud: www.highcloud.org

•The Stick: www.thestick.com

•Injinji: www.injinji.com

•Suunto: www.suunto.com/us

•Nathan: www.nathansports.com/gear/performance-gear

•Udo's Oil: www.oilthemachine.com

•Motion Geek: www.motiongeek.com

+++

Current 2014 Results:

•1/9/14-The Dopey Challenge, Walt Disney World, FL-5K-16:18-2nd place

•1/10/14-The Dopey Challenge, Walt Disney World, FL-10K-33:58-2nd place

•1/11/14-The Dopey Challenge, Walt Disney World, FL-1/2 Marathon-21K-1:13:11-5th Place

•1/12/14-The Dopey Challenge, Walt Disney World, FL-Marathon-2:35:23-6th place

•*Overall Winner of the Dopey Challenge for fastest time for all four (4) events

•2/3-8/14-The Coastal Challenge, Costa Rica-143 miles-23:26:23-1st place overall

•2/16/14-The GW Birthday 50K-Alexandria, VA-10K-33:07-5th place

•2/23/14-The Cowtown Marathon 50K-Fort Worth, TX-3:00:21-1st place

•3/02/14-The USATF 50K National Championships-2:59:31-2nd place

•3/15/14-The Tarawera Ultra Marathon-Rotorua, New Zealand-6:28:46-8th place

•3/30/14-The Runners Marathon on Reston, Reston, VA -2:44:44-1st place

•4/9/14-The UVU North Pole Marathon-North Pole-4:07:40-1st place

•4/12/14-The Stroud Foundation 5K, Washington, DC-18:56-1st place

•4/13/14-GW Parkwary 10 Miler, Alexandria, VA-52:36-6th place / 1st Master

•4/21/14-The 118th BAA Boston Marathon, Boston, MA-2:23:32-44th place / 3rd Master

•4/27/14-The Big Sur Marathon, Carmel, CA-2:27:45-1st place / Set Master Course Record

•5/04/14-Wings for Life World Run, Sunrise, FL-1st place overall-35.88 Miles / 1st Master

•5/25/14-The KeyBank Vermont City Marathon, Burlingon, VT-2:27:37-6th place overall / 1st Master

•6/01/14-The 89th Comrades Marathon, Durban, South Africa-6:08:23-36th place overall / 1st USA

•6/08/14-The Ethiopian Marathon-Race 4 Ever, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia-1st place overall

+++

Previous Results:

•December 7, 2013-The North Face Endurance Challenge-San Francisco-7:14:44-16th place

•November 24, 2013-Kinhaven 5k-17:39-1st place

•November 23, 2013-JFK 50 Miler-5:55:37-3rd place

•November 17, 2013-Rock & Roll Las Vegas-2:57:56-10th place

•November 17, 2013-Rock & Roll San Antonio-2:31:19-1st place

•November 10, 2013-Woodrow Wilson Bridge 1/2 marathon-1:10:09-13th place

•October 27, 2013-38th annual Marine Corps Marathon-2:27:05-5th place

•October 22, 2013-The North Face Endurance Challenge, Chile-8:44:18-2nd place

•October 13, 2013-Lower Potomac 10 Miler-56:26-1st place

•October 12, 2013-Freedoms Run Marathon-2:33:14-1st place

•September 28, 2013-Ultra Race of Champions (UROC)-100K-13:22-23rd place

•September 14, 2013-Bays Mountain Trail Race 15 miles-1:38:56-1st place

•September 8, 2013-Parks 1/2 Marathon-1:12:01-15 place

•September 1, 2013-Kauai Marathon-2:37:58-3rd place

•August 18, 2013-Hartwood 10 Miler-54:48-1st place

•August 17, 2013-Gary Brown 5 Miler-26:40-5th place

•August 10, 2013-Health Focus of Southewest Virginia Salem Distance Run 10K-33:29-1st place

•July 27, 2013-SpeedGoat 50K-6:34:33-25th overall

•July 14, 2013-Grant Pierce Indoor Marathon & 50K-1st overall Marathon & 50K (50k World Record): 3:12:13

•July 7, 2013-Ivy 5K-16:25-2nd place overall

•July 6, 2013-Seashore Striders 5K-16:27-1st place overall

•June 29, 2013-The North Face Endurance Challenge Ecuador-50 miler-8:44:18-2nd place overall

•June 22, 2013-The North Face Endurance Challenge Costa Rica-50 miler-6:58:55-1st place overall

•June 16, 2013-The Wipro San Francisco Marathon-2:30:18-3rd place overall

•June 2, 2013-The North Face Endurance Challenge 10K-Washington, DC-36:01-2nd place overall

•June 2, 2013-The North Face Endurance Challenge 5K-Washington, DC-19:02-1st place overall

•June 2, 2013-The North Face Endurance Challenge-Gore-Tex 50 Miler-6:45:36-1st place overall

•May 27, 2013-The Vermont City Marathon-2:30:15-5th place overall

14th place at Empire State Building Run Up

1st place at 2011 Lower Potomac Marathon-set Guinness World Record-Fastest Marathon as Superhero (Spider Man)

3rd place at 2011 Shamrock Marathon

1st place at 2011 National Marathon (5 time winner)

19th place at Two Oceans Marathon (56K)-First USA

11th place at Comrades Marathon (87K)-First USA

3rd place at The North Face Endurance Challenge-50 Miler

1st place at The North Face Endurance Challenge-1/2 Marathon

13th place and Olympic Trails Qualifier (2:17:49)-Grandma's Marathon

3rd Place at Badwater Ultra Marathon

1st Place at Grant and Pierce Indoor Marathon (4 days after Badwater)

1st Place at San Francisco Marathon

1st Place at The North Face Endurance Challenge 50K-Kansas City

1st Place at The North Face Endurance Challenge 1/2 Marathon-Kansas City

2nd Place at the Kauai Marathon

2nd Place and Silver Medalist at 100K World Championships and First ever Team Gold Medal for 100K World Team for USA-The Netherlands

2nd Place at the Ultra Race of Champions (UROC) 100K

3rd place at 2011-ING Miami Marathon

2nd place at 2011-Disney Marathon

1st at 2010 ING Miami Marathon

1st at 2010 Delaware Marathon

1st at 2010 National Marathon-Washington, DC

Bronze Medal at 2009 & 2010 50K World Championships-Gibraltar, Gibraltar

3rd Place at 2010-100K World Championships-Gibraltar, Gibraltar

6th Place at 2009-100K World Championships-Torhout, Belgium

USATF National Champion: 2008, 2009, 2010 USATF 50K National Championships

USATF National Champion: 2008-USATF 50 Mile Trail Championships

USATF National Champion: 2008-USATF 100K

Accolades:

IAU Ultra Runner of the Year 2010

USATF Ultra Runner of the Year-2008 & 2009 & 2010 & 2011

New York Road Runners Ultra Runner of the Year: 2009

Charities:

http://www.crowdrise.com/michaelwardian/member/post

 

 

Section two: 

How I made race weight - http://runrunlive.com/lean-and-mean

Outro:

Cheers, 

 https://www.facebook.com/groups/46620307582/ or just search FaceBook for “RunRunLive”. 

Outro Bumper

Ahhhhhhhh….Yes…My friends another RunRunLive podcast up in the can. Somewhere in the last couple months we passed the 6 year anniversary I think.  Near as I can figure we started in July of 2007.  And we have consistently delivered an invaluable stream of mediocre running related content to you that whole time.  

I’m refreshing the format of the show at 300 episodes.  I’m going to try to bring in more user generated content and some fresh voices.  I have a number of guest interviews queued up which will give some of our community an opportunity to practice their interview skills but mostly just save me work! 

In the last few shows I’m going to bring coach on to talk through my training cycle and strategy for Pocatello.  I’ve also brow beat Rachel to come on and drop some nutrition smarts on us.  

I’m in the midst of writing up a review on a couple things that were sent to me.  First was the Salomon folks sent me a some shoes, shirt and shorts from their #CityPark campaign.  I didn’t really understand the point of these products at first until I realized that they are in response to the Park Run movement.  

I also got a pair of shoes from ASICS.  I selected a light neutral racer. I did a couple tempo runs in them and they are nice.  

Have you heard the inspirational starfish story?  Would you like to? Well it goes like this…

A man was walking down the beach and thousands of starfish had been washed up on the shore by a storm.  A child was throwing them back in the water.  The man says ‘What are you doing?  You can’t make any difference with these thousands of starfish.” And the Child responds, while throwing a starfish, “I made a difference for that one!” 

Now I have heard this story told by many self-help gurus.  But they never finish the story.  

To continue…it turns out that particular starfish was on the shore because it was sick.  It had the great starfish plague, similar to starfish Ebola, and when it was thrown back it infected the rest of the starfish populations causing a global mass extinction of starfish.  

This in turn caused the ocean ecosystem to collapse.  But, in an ironic twist, great white sharks, due to the extreme evolutionary pressure, rapidly evolved into mutant land dwelling carnivores and proceeded to depopulate the cities. 

So really, the moral of the story is don’t tell me pithy morality tales because I’ll just ruin it for you. 

I’ll see you out there. 

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Thanks for listening folks I appreciate your support.  RunRunLive is a free service for you because I like writing and telling stories.  

I also love to meet folks so feel free to reach out to me at Gmail or any of the other social networking sites.  I’m CYKTRussell.  And as you know that’s Chris-Yellow-King-Tom-Russell with two Esses and two Ell’s. 

My Website is http://www.runrunlive.com and most if not all of this content is posted out there.   If you want the show notes to magically show up in your inbox when I publish a show in a beautiful HTML wrapper you can subscribe to the mailing list at my site.  It’s a useful thing if you are moved by something I say and would like to see if what I wrote is the same thing! It also has all the links to everything and everyone I talk to and about. 

Other than that, thank you for your attention, do epic stuff and let me know if I can help. 

Ciao

Happy Song – Super Hero - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Superhero

Other products from Chris Russell you may be interested in

The Mid-Packer’s Lament

On Amazon

On Kindle

On Audio (Read by the author) – http://www.runrunlive.com

The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy

On Kindle

Standard Links:

http://www.runrunlive.com

http://www.runeratti.com

Http://www.coolrunning.com

http://www.Grotonroadrace.com

http://www.SQRR.org

www.midpackerslament.com

Contact:

Cyktrussell At gmail and twitter and facebook and youtube

Bio

Chris Russell lives and trains in suburban Massachusetts with his family and Border collie Buddy.  Chris is the author of “The Mid-Packer’s Lament”, and “The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy”, short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack.  Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at www.runnerati.com.  Chris’ Podcast, RunRunLive is available on iTunes and at www.runrunlive.com. Chris also writes for CoolRunning.com (Active.com) and is a member of the Squannacook River Runners and the Goon Squad. 

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