RunRunLive 4.0 - Running Podcast

The RunRunLive 3.0 Podcast Episode 3-294 – Jaquie Millet – Late Bloomer Success

 

(Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi3294.mp3]

Link epi3294.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 friends and welcome to episode 3-294 of the RunRunLive 3.0 Podcast.  We’re here today to continue our convivial conversations around the efficacy and transformational power of endurance sports.  Welcome.  This is Chris, your transient poet laureate here to drop some smahts on yah about training and work and life in general.  

I got some great feedback from my 5 core listeners from last week’s show with the essays on work and the dark place.  Obviously I was in the throes of a hard week when I scribbled those missives.  It pleases me mightily that they helped you or resonated somehow harmoniously within the universe. 

I’m on a plane across the country as I speak to you and I was trying to figure out what I could eat here that wouldn’t blow up my training diet.  Delta has something called “All Natural Cran-Blueberry Crunch” – so I got a bag of that.  I read the nutritional information and it says 172 calories per serving – that’s not too bad.  Servings per container 5! Damn! That’s 860 calories !  

I know in the past I have happily eaten a whole bag of these. I guess it’s not a bad choice if you could just make it into 5 snacks.  110 of those 172 calories are from the fat in the nuts.  Which proves that you shouldn’t read the labels because it will only make you unhappy. 

I’m seeing some life in my training.  I barely survived that last dark week I was in when we last talked.  But I hung in there and it’s starting to suck a little less and my confidence is building.  I’m going to talk about that process in Section Two with “The Big Bounce”.  

In Section One I’m going to give you my take on the classic self help advice of affirmations.  And in today’s featured interview I have a great chat with Jaquie Millet who started running later in life – a couple years ago actually – and just won her age group at Comrades.  She is a super nice person and give some great insight into what’s possible. 

We have to thank Alex, the Assistant Vice Chancellor of Residential Life in the UK Division of the RunRunLive Corporate Enterprises for chatting her up at Boston and making the introduction. 

As I was getting into the dark place in my training a couple weeks ago, I really had to narrow my focus and remove the variables.  I took my long step up run onto the treadmill to avoid the heat and the hills. I took my tough long interval workout down to the track so I could measure the effort without variability. This really helped me get my head wrapped around these hard workouts.  Control the variability so I could focus on the form, the effort and the pace. 

I’ve also started getting serious about my weight.  Traditionally, historically, as I get into these hard weeks of the training cycle my weight adjusts down naturally to race weight.  I Figure it’s ok to go into the first couple build cycles a little chunky because it’s like weight training for the strength building phase.  

This cycle it wasn’t working.  I got through my first hard cycle and didn’t lose a gram.  This is a problem because due to the injuries and the time off and the beer I’ve managed to grow the bottom line up to around 196+ pounds.  This is way too heavy to be doing speed work.  This is beyond heavy and squarely in ‘Jiggly’ territory. 

I don’t stand a chance of running my goal pace if I’m over 185 and I’m only 6-7 weeks out from my goal race – corrective action was required. 

I connected with Rachel, one of my PRSFit teammates who does nutritional counseling.  I asked her to look at my diet and help me, not just slim down, but optimize my nutrition for training.  Obviously if what I’ve been doing isn’t working it’s time for a bit of intervention.  

I started logging all my food in MyFitnessPal again – (and if you care I have no problem friending you and giving you access to my log) She looked at it for the week and said “You eat really clean”.  Of course she wasn’t looking at the previous weeks where I had Chinese food, Mexican Food and an entire pizza as my meal plan 3 days in a row and a 12 pack of wonderfully full-bodied craft ales with potato chips and cheese on top! 

When we get a few weeks into it I’ll write it up for you.  The biggest challenge she has given me is when she said, “Do you really drink 6-8 cups of coffee a day?”  That’s like when you spouse says “Are you really going to put that there?”  Sell your coffee futures – Mad Dog is cutting back.

After a week of clean eating I’m down under 187 pounds and training feels so much easier.  If I can keep up this focused nutrition for the next 5-6 weeks I’ll walk into the target race lean and mean.  No Jiggles.  Like Maverick said, “I feel the need for speed.” 

I’ve got heavy travel over the next few weeks so we’ll see if I can stay away from the 1,000 calorie snack bags and keep it focused while rolling out of bed at the crack of dawn to push that rock up the hill.  At least an eagle isn’t eating my liver while I sleep.  

(Come on, I know you folks are all well read and will get my obtuse Greek mythology references.)  

When life gives you lemons…give ‘em back and get some limes, limes are better and they cure scurvy. 

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:

Affirmations - http://runrunlive.com/new-agey-woo-woo-solutions-for-your-angst

Featured Interview:

Jaquie Millett

 

https://twitter.com/JacquieMillett - Marathon runner with freedom pass - late start! Lots to fit in 2014. Boston & Comrades btb done. Berlin, SVP100k, progress towards 100 club. LFC YNWA! Have fun!a

Section two: 

The Big Bounce - http://runrunlive.com/the-big-bounce-in-your-training-cycle

Outro:

Cheers, 

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

Outro Bumper

Alrighty then, pump those brakes and let’s move it to the exit of Episode 3-294.  

To summarize, everything is going pretty well.  I’m busy as heck, especially when you throw in travel and two-hour workouts!  There is much more I want to do.  I have to work on my ability to not do some things so I can wrestle more of the ideas in my head into existence.  

One of the key things about this training cycle is my ankle pain, Achilles pain and general achiness is getting much better.  It’s probably the less inflammatory diet combined with a lot of self massage early in the training cycle.  Isn’t it nice to talk when things are going well? 

I’ll tell you a couple stories since we last talked.  

First are my track stories.  I do my track work down at the local middle school. They recently re-finished the track and it’s beautiful.  I’ve been training on this track for 18 years and I see many of the same people down there who walk in the early evenings.  

I suppose I might be a bit of a strange presence when I’m down there running 1600’s at tempo pace.  I know I probably look like I’m giving birth to a cow as I’m trying to hang on and relax into the effort.  I’m a runner.  I’m at the running track and I’m running.  I think that’s as close to the intended purpose of the track as you can get – but I still have, not issues, per se, but situations. 

I’ve told you before about how the soccer Moms used to yell at me for trying to run in lane 1 while they were setting up their lawn chairs to watch practice.  “Why can’t you run in the other lanes?”  

I guess I could run in the other lanes but then my 1600’s are no longer 1600’s. they are 1650’s or some other mathematical construct that I’m unable and unwilling to fathom as I’m dipping deep into the dark place.  I have enough trouble holding it together to get my butt around the oval without having to swerve around people and do simple geometry.  

Last week I was doing a set of 400’s at faster than 5K pace, so pushing it fairly hard.  Some folks came out to walk.  This one guy insisted on walking in the middle of lane 1.  Why?  I don’t even need all of lane 1. Just give me 12 inches to squeeze by on the inside when you hear me coming, because believe me, you’re going to hear me coming.  

But, no, Mr. Fitness walker-guy would give an inch.  I had to step off the track into the grass to pass him.  I’m thinking to myself, “Great, all this work and I’m going to roll an ankle trying to get around this dude”. 

After a few 400’s in the set I was doing I changed direction to keep my leg muscles balanced in the work.  Now I’m running straight at this guy in lane 1.  I had one of those ‘aha’ moments and just aimed straight for his chest.  It woke him up to see my 190+ pounds of sweaty meat baring down on him and he did flinch and give way a bit, but he never moved over. 

Then one night I was down there and I guy comes in while I’m doing my workout.  He’s got one leg and he’s on crutches.  Guess where he insists on crutching around the track?  Yup, Lane 1. Just inserts himself into my workout and crutches away, glaring at me every time a pass.  I mean, the guys got one leg so I guess he gets the right of way but what is it about me that pisses these people off? 

I’m going to choose to celebrate the fact that I’m down their doing the work, but these are the kind of things that are going through my head as I struggle through the dark place.  

On the lighter side, during one of my 1:30 step-up runs that I chose to do on the treadmill at the gym a lady with a nice bum got on the elliptical machine directly in front of me.  She could have gotten on any of those machines and I’d just like to publicly thank her for choosing the one in front of me.   

Frankly that should be a service that the club offers – and I’m sure the women would it too – attractive athlete inspiration and incentive program – unfortunately I have nothing to trade with in this regard.  

Ce’st la vie,  

As we get closer to episode 300 I’m looking for guest blog posts to read and I’m also going to experiment with other voices doing interviews.  So if you’d like to conduct some interviews either with some of my guests or people you know and you think will be educational and inspirational – let me know – we’ll set it up.  

Have a great week, 

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. 

…

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 3-293 – Boston Marathoner Jill Maguire Trotter

           

(Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi3293.mp3] Link

Support RunRunLive; Purchase an audio book of running stories.  Written and performed with love by Chris Russell  -------------à>>>>>>>

Introductory Comments:

Hello my friends.  We find ourselves once more together to share an episode, episode 3-293 of the RunRunLive Podcast. 

It’s been busy few weeks training-wise since we last talked.  I made the mistake of telling my coach that I wanted to qualify and was willing to do the work.  He reciprocated by hammering me with hard, long workouts that have kicked my running life out of balance in a good way. 

I’m still only running 4 times a week but last week that included an 8 mile tempo run, a 10 mile tempo run and a 20 mile long run.  This week is more of the same.  I’m hanging on by my fingernails but it’s all good.  It’s a great way to narrow your focus. 

I was down the Cape over the 4th of July holiday.  Nothing really eventful but it’s a different climate down there.  Very hot and humid.  I think it is somehow closer to the sun.  It’s all well and good when you’re snoozing on a beach towel but not so much when you’re trying to hammer out a run.

Today we are going to chat with a local marathoner and running friend of mine Jill Maguire Trotter.  I was interested in getting her take on running because she’s one of those people who manages to live her life, train and compete at a high level. 

In section one I’m going to share an essay I wrote about work.  And in Section two I’m going to get you fired up to face the daemons of discomfort.  I didn’t travel this week so I got some good Miracle Morning time to cogitate on these themes.

That first week of getting back into the hard work of training was discouraging.  I’m heavy and my legs are slow. But I know that I can do it.  I believe that all I have to do is battle with the effort and keep bringing my best work and have patience.  I believe it will turn around and the fitness will come and the training effect will kick in. 

I’m beginning to see signs of life.  I’m completing these workouts successfully and it’s encouraging.  It’s tempting to declare victory and just walk away from the hard training at my age and ability level.  I’m never going to be more than average no matter how hard I train.  I’ve got nothing to prove.  But it just feels worthy to be training to exhaustion.  It feels right. 

My garden is coming in nicely.  I’m eating cucumbers and chard and kale.  The hops are budding up.  The berries are ripening and soon I’ll be sharing fresh tomatoes with the squirrels. 

Buddy doesn’t like the squirrels.  He doesn’t like the rabbits either.  For some reason we have a proliferation of rabbits this year.  And they are a brazen lot.  They sit in the yard and mock the dog, smugly devouring my parsley.  I wonder where all the local hawks and eagles and coyotes got off to? 

We are through the nice part of summer up here in New England.  Now we are into the hot and humid, turn on the AC time of year.  The dog hates it.  I can’t take him running.  He’s exhausted by going to a walk.  The mosquitoes and deer flies are out in full force.  It’s a quiet and languid season.  The dog days.

Toss your fresh salads and let’s Get 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 289 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. 

or just search FaceBook for “RunRunLive”.

On with the show!

Section one:

Work -

Featured Interview:

Jill Maguire Trotter

From Level Runner ->

 

Jill Maguire Trotter has hopped for east coast to west and back east again, getting a little bit faster with each successive leap. Growing up in the Worcester suburb of Millbury, MA, Trotter played youth soccer, softball, and most notably field hockey. She intended to play the latter sport in college (Babson) just like she did in high school (Notre Dame Academy), but those plans never came to fruition. After a brief stint as a sedentary person, Trotter became antsy and joined not the field hockey team but the cross country one. Although she “lacked the mental toughness” (her words) to be competitive, she stuck with it up to and through graduation.

After moving to San Francisco in 1995, she joined the Leukemia Society’s Team in Training and starting ramping up for her first marathon on the trails of Mt. Tam. In June of 1996, she ran 3:33 at the Mayor’s Midnight Sun Marathon in Anchorage, Alaska and qualified for Boston. Of course, this led to a return trip to the east coast in both ‘97 and ‘98 where she ran 3:33 and 3:30, respectively.

Finally, in 1998, after all those trips from the City by the Bay to the City of the Beans, she settled for good (so far, at least) in the Merrimack Valley. She married, started a family, and took a break from marathons but not running.

She gave birth to her first son in 2001, then a daughter in 2003. Having missed the 26.2 distance, she started up again and ran a 3:22 at the 2005 Boston Marathon while unknowingly pregnant with her 3rd child, and a mere 9 months after giving birth to #3, she won the 2006 Baystate Marathon in 3:11. Three children under the age of 5 led to the purchase of a treadmill, and like many a dedicated runner/parent she snuck in her runs while the kids napped.

In 2007, with her children almost out of diapers, Trotter got serious. Encouraged by her Baystate performance, she joined the Greater Lowell Road Runners and recruited Nate Jenkins for coaching duties. Her goal: run sub 3:00. About enlisting Jenkins as coach Trotter says, “I credit Nate for teaching me how to train for the marathon; he instilled in me that it is about hard work and I should have confidence in my marathon goal times since they are based on results that I’ve achieved during workouts.” Her hard work paid off. Trotter ran 3:00 at the Vermont City Marathon in 2008 and then 2:58 at Cal International later that year. In addition to Jenkins, she credits Jim Rhoades with a valuable assist as they did most of her long runs together.

Trotter turned 40 in 2012 and has been one of the best master runners in the region. She considers her best event the marathon, and her competition would likely agree as she placed 1st in the masters division at the USATF-NE GPS Manchester City Marathon. Her time: 3:09. She is inspired by Kara Haas, Trish Bourne, Liane Pancoast, Nancy Corsaro, Cathy Pearce, and Barbara McManus and credits them for contributing to her success. She says, “I find that while I like to be competitive with women from other clubs, I also want them to succeed in their own goals; the New England running community is amazingly supportive.” Beyond running, Trotter aspires to be a good influence on her 3 children. Above all, she wants to teach them that if they work hard they can achieve their goals. I’d say that’s on The Level.

PRs 5k – 18:42 @ Hollis 10k – 39:55 @ Tufts 15k – 61:37 @ Boston Tune-up Half – 1:28 @ Hyannis Full – 2:58 @ Cal International

 

Section two:

The Dark Place revisited at middle age -

Outro:

That’s all we have for you today.  Hope you’re all fired up to go throw yourself at some tempo workouts.  But, seriously you draw your own line.  Don’t base your self-image on what I say.  If you have never done speed or tempo training then give yourself 3-4 weeks to ease into it with strength training.  Make sure you’re form is right.  Do your stretching and physical therapy before you hit it hard. 

Any weak spot or chink in your armor will turn into a injury when you go to the dark place.  Your ability to figure out what’s a real injury and what’s another bothersome niggle will be needed to stay with it.  When I’m in the throws of one of these hard, big bounce cycles something always hurts. 

There were a couple days last week where I had trouble sleeping due to the exhaustion of my leg muscles.  Pain is a signal but it’s neither good nor bad and you have to be able to figure out what’s real and what’s not.  There’s no black and white. 

If you’re going to drop into crazy big workouts make sure you stretch and warm up well.  Make sure you fuel well before and after.  Make sure you stretch and massage and ice where necessary.  Because all the fitness in the world can’t help you unless you make it to the starting line. 

If you have the discipline to do not only the workouts but also the whole package of things you need to do to stay healthy then the dark place is the shortest path to your goals. 

I successful moved the RunRunLive website over to a new hosting service.  I’m still working out some bugs and I haven’t gotten a chance to back update the episodes and articles that fell into the gap.  I’ll get to it over the next couple weeks.  At some point I’ll revamp the whole site because it is getting a little long in the tooth. 

For the next iteration of the show I’m collecting blog posts from others.  I’m going to read them.  So if you have a post you’d be willing to share with me just send it along.  I’m also going to look for some guest interviewers to add some new voices in as well – if you’re interested in doing an interview for me let’s talk. 

Get ready for RunRunLive 4.0.

Just trying to spread the RunRunLive love.

Cheers,

  or just search FaceBook for “RunRunLive”.

And I do have an email list that I shoot the shows out to.  I’ve been writing some extra posts on my website RunRunLive and I may start recording them as a bonus for those of you who are paying attention!

Happy Mother’s Day people. 

Be good to each other – party on.

Cheers,

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 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 -

Other products from Chris Russell you may be interested in

The Mid-Packer’s Lament

On Audio (Read by the author) –

The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy

Standard Links:

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 , and short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack.  Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at .  Chris’ Podcast, is available on and at . Chris also writes for () and is a member of the and the

…

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 3-292 – Amy Chavez and the Marathon Monks Myth

 

(Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi3292.mp3]

Link epi3292.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, for the first time in a long time I feel like a runner again.  I feel like I’m training correctly and gaining fitness.  Since the last time we talked I’ve brought my running up to around 30 miles a week.  Coach started me out doing two mid-week runs, an easy speedwork session on Saturday and a longish run on Sunday, with core and a bike ride on the other days to build my base. 

The midweek runs are 1:15 zone 2 – which roughly translates to 8ish miles.  

The beginner speedwork sessions aren’t really speedwork in the sense that I’m used to historically but more like a preliminary warm up to get ready for some harder stuff to come.  It’s a good workout that I have put my own spin on and I’ll give you my rendition of it in today’s section two.  

I got Buddy out into the trails with me Tuesday morning for an easy run.  He handled it just fine.  It’s the best time of year to trail run in New England because it’s still cool in the mornings and the deer flies aren’t out yet.  The mosquitoes are as thick as smoke but only bother you if you stand still too long.  

I’ve been using the new Garmin 310XT I bought.  It’s basically a next generation of the Garmin 305 I had before.  In fact, I’m using the old 305 heart rate strap.  It seems to work but I think I need to replace the strap because it’s giving me some odd heart rate data.  

The 310 is a solid device.  I haven’t delved into all the features yet but it seems a bit less clunky than the 305 interface.  It picks up satellites much faster, especially when I move a few hundred miles sideways between my runs.  It has up to 4 data display screen for each sport which I like.  The screens are for the most part readable. 

The interface is called an ANT Stick which is a USB stick about the size of your thumbnail.  I know I’m going to lose this tiny thing.  Maybe I should tether it to a cricket bat or something like they do for the restroom keys at gas stations?  

The interface works well enough.  As soon as you walk within 3 meters of your computer it senses a new workout, uploads it to Garmin connect and resets the watch.  You’re ready for your next workout.  The battery life is stated to be over 10 hours, but I don’t have any plans to workout for over 10 hours any time in the near future.  I did wear the old 305 for a 50 miler and it just made it to 10 hours.  

Somehow I managed to turn off the interface or it turned itself off this week and I had to spend some time diagnosing why my workouts wouldn’t upload.  Somehow the pairing got switched off about 3 menus deep into the setup and I really can’t see how I did that by accident? 

It’s a good device and does what I need it to do.  There is no client software on your computer anymore.  It is all run through the cloud on the Garmin Connect website.  Which of course you have to register for and is a bit proprietary.  You can view your heart rate, distance, time, pace etc on all your workouts there and export them to other logs, etc.  

It’s also much easier to build workouts with the online interface.  At first I found the interface mystifying.  Let’s say you want to build a workout with a 10 minute warm up in zone 2, 7X800 at marathon pace, and a 10 minute cool down.  That sounds pretty straight forward but I had to resort to a youtube video to figure out how to drag and drop the repeats, etc on the Garmin connect site.  Then you export the workouts to the watch.  

When you’re ready to go you hit the ‘Do workout’ menu selection on the watch and it prompts you through your work out.  It has different chimes for when you are over target pace, on pace or under pace and the same for Heart rate.  Which is super helpful for doing interval work.  

Holy cow, I was just going to mention in passing that I have a new watch and then it turned into a review.  

Well today we speak with our old friend from Japan Amy Chavez who makes a habit out of running medieval Japanese pilgrimage routes.  You remember her book on running the Shikoku pilgrimage?  Good read – I quite enjoyed it.  

We talk about the iconic Marathon Monks of Mt. Heie and how there may be some misconceptions in our mythology. 

In section one I’m going to talk about a flow states and in section two I’m going to walk you through a beginner speed and strength work out.  

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 289 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:

Flow States - http://runrunlive.com/flow-states

Featured Interview:

Amy Chavez

I started researching the Marathon Monks of Mt. Hiei in 2011 for my own book " 

"Running the Shikoku Pilgrimage: 900 Miles to Enlightenment" about my 900 mile run on one of Japan's ancient walking routes (see RunRun Live Episode 239). I wanted to know if any other people had run the Shikoku Pilgrimage or any other pilgrimages in Japan. At that time I came across a book by John Stevens called The Marathon Monks of Mt. Hiei" where he suggests the monks are better than Olympic athletes because of the rigorous mental and physical feats they accomplish, among them running 30 to 40 km every day for 100 days in a row. They continue this for seven years, running up to 60 to 84 km a day in some years. I had heard of this book before and found out it had a bit of a cult following in the 90's among runners. 

So I decided to include this in my book to give credit to the marathon monks and to show that I was not the first person to run pilgrimages. I even contacted the author of the Marathon Monks book, and asked him to check the parts of my manuscript that dealt with the monks' running. He said everything was right and only made a suggestion about the wording of one of the sentences. 

After my book was published, (luckily, I had only a few lines about the monks in it) I started doubting some of the things in John Stevens's book. So many things just didn't seem right about these "Running Buddhas" as the author called them. How could they run in robes, wearing (or carrying) a large oblong hat, and carrying a lantern? for example. And why would they run the course when they clearly didn't need to (there was no expectation to run it, nor any time constraints)? Contrast that to the Tarahumara in Mexico, who needed to cover long distances just to get into town, and thus running provided a practical mode of transporting themselves that was faster than walking. But for these Tendai monks, there was no obvious reason or justification for wanting more blisters or wear and tear on their joints than necessary. As a matter of fact, finishing the daily route too quickly was frowned upon. 

I also talked to the Tendai monks on Mt. Hiei myself, and watched documentaries interviewing the marathon monks in Japanese. Nothing really added up to what Stevens had said in his book when it came the running parts. 

In the following 2-part series published in RocketNews24, I bust the myth of the marathon monks. 

Marathon Monks of Mt. Hiei: Better than Olympic Athletes? Part I

busts the myth that they run and explains what the Tendai Buddhist monks are all about.

In Marthon Monks of Mt. Hiei: Better than Olympic Athletes? Part II, I run the monks' 30 km course myself and reveal its secrets. 

You can also read the articles on RocketNews24's site, like them on Facebook and/or follow them on Twitter. 

Amy Chavez lives and runs in Japan and is a writer for the Japan Times, Huffington Post and RocketNews24. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter. 

Section two: 

An Entry Level Speed Workout - http://runrunlive.com/an-entry-level-speed-workout

Outro:

It’s been a busy few weeks for me.  I’ve always got a lot going on but with ramping up my training and work travel I’m feeling a bit old and used up! 

I’ll tell you a couple stories from the last couple weeks.  

With work travel I’m usually starting my day by meeting someone at 7:00 or 7:30 for breakfast.  This means my miracle morning mostly consists of rolling into my shoes at 5:00 AM and getting out the hotel door before I have a chance to come to full consciousness and realize how little sense it makes.  

It sucks to get up early and workout on jetlagged legs, little sleep and no nutrition but if you don’t do it in the morning it won’t get done.  It gives you one thing that, even if the rest of the day goes poorly, you got that one thing done.  

I was working in last week in New Jersey - this was the nice part of New Jersey- in Basking Ridge. I got up and into my shoes for a 1:20 run and just headed down the road.  After a mile or so I ran by the entrance to a park.  The sign said “Pleasant Valley”. I went in the park figuring it would just be one of the postage stamp sized urban parks but at least I’d get a ¼ respite from the highway.   

I made my way through the parking area and tennis courts and a pond and came upon the one thing that brightens every road-warrior-runner’s heart and soul – functioning, unlocked park toilets!  After this I was able to lighten the load, so to speak, and continued exploring.  

As I continued a clockwise loop of the pleasant valley I noticed a trail entrance.  Of course I turned into the trail.  That’s a life lesson for you.  Always take the trail.  What’s the worst that can happen? You have to turn around and come back.  

The trail turned out to be a well groomed 8 foot wide bark mulched beauty of a trail.  I continued to follow it up the side of the valley.  The day was going to be warm and humid but at 5 in the morning the valley was indeed pleasant with a slight mist in the air and the sun not yet over the horizon.  The braod mulch trail was overarched with a cathedral of trees.  More like a dark gree misty tunnel than a trail.

As I continued wend my way up the trail  saw a silent figure standing in the middle of the trail ahead.  Some sort of four-legged friend that I could just make out standing in the middle of the trail facing my approach.  As I got closer it resolved into a fawn; a little Bambi, ears twitching, curiously watching this old bear struggle up the trail with NJ story.  I got within 25 feet before Bambi scampered into the underbrush. 

The trail came out on playing fields and I saw worn track in the grass around them so I followed it and entered another trail on the other side. It turned out to be about a mile and a half of groomed trail the cricled the park. I ran the trail loop twice.  I saw bright red cardinals and flushed a great blue heron from the pond and mildly alarmed several rabbits for good measure. 

I ran back to the hotel to finish up my run, but had managed to trade 3 miles of New Jersey highway for a respite in the middle of my run in the pleasant valley.  Why? Because I was curios and took the unknown path. 

This past week Coach threw some real training at me and I had a 7 X 800 at race pace to do on Thursday morning.  I was staying down in Buckhead.  If any of you know Buckhead you know there is not a flat piece of ground to be found anywhere to do a tempo workout on.  

After rolling into my shoes at 5:00 AM and getting out the doors I went in search of somewhere to get some 800 meter repeats in.  I first made my way to the local little league fields in Franky Allen Park but these were carved into the side of the hill and not really conducive for intervals. 

Then I had a brain storm.  I ran back over to the Lennox Mall and climbed to the roof of the parking garage!  I did my final 4 repeats on the roof of the garage.  It turned out to be about a 1/6th of a mile loop.  

I did manage to consolidate my websites all onto one hosting provider.  You may notice some things broken or missing from RunRunLive but I’ll work through it as I have time.  I’m blessed with lots of ambition but seldom the time or focus to actually do anything about it! 

Interesting interview with Amy today.  The marathon monks, it turns out, are a myth.  But they are such a great myth we want to believe it.  We want to believe it because it supports our worldview as runners.  These guys are proof positive that running is a vehicle to transcend. 

But they aren’t.  It’s all a myth.  Since it’s such a good myth and we want it to be true we resist the facts when they come to light.  We believe what we want to believe especially if it supports our world view.  That’s how religions get started.  That’s how people start codifying myth into dogma and soon we’re shooting RPG’s at each other.  

Not me man.  It’s summer time and the livin is easy.  The cat fish are jumpin and the tomatoes are high. 

Cheers, 

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

And I do have an email list that I shoot the shows out to.  I’ve been writing some extra posts on my website RunRunLive and I may start recording them as a bonus for those of you who are paying attention! 

Happy Mother’s Day people.  

Be good to each other – party on. 

Cheers, 

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 3-291 – Life Events with David Hollingsworth

(Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi3291.mp3]

Link epi3291.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 friends.  I think I’m supposed to say ‘welcome to the RunRunLive Podcast” or something like that.  Really – It’s like we’ve been married for 30 years, right?  I can’t even bother to introduce myself anymore?  Where are my manners?  Ah well...

I think it might because writing these intro and outro pieces are actually the final step in my creation process.  I write the other bits when I’m fresh.  I usually leave these last bits for just before my deadline when I’m brain dead – or more brain dead than usual.   

I’m still experimenting with the miracle morning and I get this killer energy loss around 3:00 in the afternoon.  I’m going to go try running instead of trying to work through it.  It seems like a bit of an artificial tradeoff – a zero sum game if you will – trading a couple hours of super clear productivity in the morning for a walking dead fugue state in the afternoon.  

I just feel like taking a nap! 

Took Buddy to the groomers this week and got him his summer cut.  He looks like a puppy.  They made me sign an ‘elderly dog’ waiver because he’s 11.  They said he was ok with everything until they tried to blow-dry his face.  He didn’t like that at all.  Understandable.  

Since we last talked I have started running!  I’m up to 3 times a week and it’s a bit grueling.  I was out Tuesday, at lunch and it was a bit hot.  I was trying to keep it in zone 2 but my heart rate monitor just wouldn’t stay down no matter how slow I went.  But I could talk in full sentences…and wasn’t breathing hard.  

Picture me barely moving down the sidewalk, looking at my watch and shaking my head, repeating “the quick red fox jumped over the lazy brown dog”.  It was either a monitor malfunction or a quadruple bypass event.  I just stopped looking at it and ran easy.  

Then I thought about it.  I’m running along worrying about my heart rate and it occurred to me that I’m just an idiot.  And I broke into a big smile because I was out running on a beautiful spring day.  That’s our theme today.  Stop worrying about the race you have in 3 months and the race you had 3 months ago and just enjoy the fact that you are here and can do what you love to do. 

In other news -  last week I learned how to play Sidoku! So there you go.  Old dogs can learn new tricks.  And I’ve gotten part way through the Rubiks cube.  Gotta keep your mind active with different things.  It turns out the Cube is just repeatable algorithms.  Some kid in Australia can solve it in 5 seconds. 

Since my Plantar Fasciitis has resolved itself I‘ve switched to wearing barefoot shoes most of the time to strengthen my feet.  Don’t get me wrong – I’m not running in barefoot shoes, I’m just walking around in them.  I have a pair of vivobarefoot dress shoes that are super light and comfy that I wear on the road now and an old pair of Altra Lone Trails that I can wear around the yard.  

I think it helps with foot strength and balance and making you mindful of your foot plant.  You just have to be careful not to come down too hard on anything because they don’t have much protection and you can bruise your foot – especially the heel.  Every little bit helps!

I’m harvesting lettuces already from my garden!  There you go.  $200 bucks worth of plants and seeds, a few thousand dollars worth of my time and I get $1.29 worth of lettuce!  It coming on great and with any luck and another few thousand dollars worth of my time I might harvest $10 -$20 worth of fresh produce by the end of the summer.  

My berries are all coming back strong from last year, I’m going to get big crop of blueberries and red raspberries.  The strawberries didn’t come back.  That seems to be the way they are.  You get 2 good years and then they don’t come back.  

I’ve planted beans, corn, kale, tomatoes, chard and peppers.  We’ll see what grows.  If I shift my base of operations down to the Cape I’ll have to find someone to water and weed for me. 

I also was quite proud of myself this past weekend because I replaced a shower valve without causing a major plumbing disaster in the house.  What did we do before YouTube? 

That’s it people.  I’m ramping up my running and looking forward to some high-quality suffering this summer. 

In today’s show we have a chat with David Hollingsworth who talks about a life event that changed him and how that impacted his endurance sports and life outlook.  In part one I’m going to talk about living an action centric life and in section two I’m going to give you some tips on how to maintain your sanity when you’re on the comeback trail! 

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 289 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 Action Habit - http://www.runrunlive.com/why-action-is-the-most-important-habit

Featured Interview:

David Hollingsworth

www.holliworks.com 

"I'm a full-time dad, technology executive, speaker and part-time athlete, constantly trying to challenge myself to grow and improve. 

 

I'm a spinal injury survivor, having recovered from a severe accident in 2004. I had to learn to stand and walk all over again. Since then, I've moved from a wheelchair to walking, running, cycling and swimming. I've ran a half-marathon, completed a triathlon and one of the toughest bike rides in the country. 

 

I write and speak about overcoming obstacles and getting past fear to the fun on the other side." 

 

Hope this is what you need...let me know if you need anything else.. 

 

Thanks! 

 

David 

www.holliworks.com

Section two: 

Coming Back - http://www.runrunlive.com/coming-back

Outro:

Had a great run with Buddy in the woods last night.  I ignored my heart rate monitor and just ran easy.  The legs were sore from a leg workout on Wednesday, but it was a real joy to be out on the trails with my dog.  7 miles was a bit long for Buddy and he’s getting up a little slowly today.  He’ll sleep it off today.  He’s up in my bed right now, recovering.   

It was 66 degrees and misty – perfect trail running weather. 

If you were one of the 361 people on my mailing list you got the a link to the meditation piece I did last show.  I edited it stand alone with some zen music from podsafe.  You can also find the post on my website RunRunLive.   

If you have issues with the website just keep trying.  I’m trying to move my site over to a different hosting provider and it’s taking forever.  After 5 years we’ve accumulated a lot of stuff.  Once I get it up and running I’m going to revamp it.  It’s time.  

Since we are closing in on 300 podcasts I’ve been thinking about a new theme and a new format.  If you were one of the 93 members on the RunRunLive Facebook group you’d know I’ve been batting around some ideas and looking for feedback. 

Our current theme is the transformational power of endurance sports.  I think the next theme will be ‘Service through endurance sports – to change the world’.  I would interview people who are making an impact in our community.  I would work the questions towards “How can we, through our own running and training change the world?”  And I’m not just talking about charity running – I’m talking about setting an example and building a sphere of influence.  What do you think? 

For the other two segments I’m considering some combination of 1) reading other people’s impactful blog posts, 2) some more comedic pieces, 3) a Q&A session with a guest host. 

Let me know your thoughts.  Oh yeah…My core followers – you know, those folks on the email list and Facebook group – they want the punk rock back.  I know, right?  

Come on! Doesn’t that lift your spirits? Heh, heh… Come on! I kinda remember the 70’s 

Sorry – back to running.  Yup I’m up to 7 miles or so 3X a week and climbing. I’m sore but structurally sound.  Mark Robert Sands – you remember Mark from the 366 project interview - he had the same perroneal tendonitis in his ankle that I have and he sent me a video on how to work the trigger points to keep it at bay – it seems to be working.  

I haven’t actually signed up for any races yet, but I’m looking for something to take a late summer swing at a qualifier – I might go back to Pocatello – A bunch of people I know are going there this year.  

I’m also in the midst of investigating a Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim run.  It’s on my bucket list.  The way I would do it is run across on the first day, stay at the lodge, and then run back the next day.  Anyone interested?  It would be in late April/Early May of 2015.  It’s about a marathon distance each way, with drastic weather changes and about 4500 feet of loss and gain.  I hear the scenery is beautiful. 

Life is good.  

That’s one of the secrets.  Being able to live in the present and celebrate it.  

Part of it is simply having a positive outlook and looking for the abundance instead of complaining and looking for the scarcity.  

Part of it is being ok with the fact that there are things that you cannot change, things that are out of your control.  You pour your energy and spirit into those things that you can influence and you make a decision to accept and not worry about those thinks you can’t.  

Part of it is being aware and awake in the present.  Why continue to suffer about events in the past?  You can’t change them.  Why let yourself be worried about events in the future?  They are in the future and you’re mortgaging today in the process.  Take the time to smile and enjoy the hard work that is life. 

You only have one today. Celebrate it. 

Cheers, 

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

And I do have an email list that I shoot the shows out to.  I’ve been writing some extra posts on my website RunRunLive and I may start recording them as a bonus for those of you who are paying attention! 

Happy Mother’s Day people.  

Be good to each other – party on. 

Cheers, 

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 3-290 – Ken Lubin and the Executive Athlete

(Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi3290.mp3] Link

Support RunRunLive; Purchase an audio book of running stories.  Written and performed with love by Chris Russell  -------------à>>>>>>>

Introductory Comments:

Hello my friends – How are we doing? Enjoying your spring?  I certainly am enjoying mine. 

I got my garden in this weekend.  It’s always a good time to turn over the black soil and get the little plants plugged in.  Remember we talked about deer ticks last time. Well I picked up a couple more before my trip to Phoenix a couple weeks ago.  The nurse keeps giving the same answer: watch for symptoms.

The problem is that all these parasitic diseases have the same symptoms, right?  Fatigue and achiness?  I can’t actually recall a time when I WASN’T fatigued and achy. 

I’m coming towards the end of my month off.  I saw my Ortho, Dr. Hester, and we had a kinda funny conversation.  He said, “What happened to the plantar fasciitis?”, and I was like “Nah, I fixed that now it’s something else…”

He says I have .  Not Perennial tendonitis, which comes once a year, or periodontal tendonitis, which gives you a sore jaw, or prefrontal tendonitis which gives you a headache… No Peroneal Tendonitis which runs up the outside of your leg and attaches to you ankle. 

Nothing serious.  Just need a little rest and ice and anti-inflammatory.

I’ve been working on biking and stretching and core.  Bit of a vacation for me.  I’m looking forward to getting back into some good hearty training this summer – something I can sink my teeth into.  Maybe even spend a little time in the dark place J

I was down in Phoenix for the week and it was pretty much all out with breakfast starting at 7:00 AM and dinner till 9:00.  Not a bunch of room for training or practicing my miracle morning routine. 

Today we have a chat with Ken Lubin who manages a group on LinkedIn called “Executive Athletes” that has 15,000 members and lots of interesting interaction to see if we can learn something about the role of the amateur athlete in today’s company culture.

Now, I don’t have a linkedIn group for RunRunLive, but I do have a facebook group and you should go join and say hi.  Or join my email list so I know where to find you when the authorities question me.

In section one I’m going to give you some tips on how to act in small talk situations and in section two I’m trying an experiment in combining running with guided meditation.  You should really listen to that bit while you’re out on a long run. 

It’s interesting because the universe has been pointing out meditation to me recently.  As part of my miracle morning routine the first thing I do is 5ish minutes of guided breathing meditation.  I don’t know what it is doing but that simple 5 minutes kicks my ass and changes my frame and puts me into a flow state for a couple hours.  It’s really amazing. 

Then a bunch of the podcasts that I have been listening to all seem to be talking about meditation.  From Rich Roll to Tim Ferris – it just seems to be coming up all the time into my radar field.  Then last week ZenRunner put out an instructional podcast on meditation. 

I figured I’d stop fighting the universe and see if I could create a running meditation for you to use.  Tell me how it works out.  Let me know if I hit the mark or missed. 

I love this time of year.  I have so much energy and everything seems to have so much potential. 

Now all we need to do is take some action!

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 289 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. 

or just search FaceBook for “RunRunLive”.

On with the show!

Section one:

Mastering Small talk -

Featured Interview:

Ken Lubin – Executive Athletes

Chris,

Good Morning and once again, thanks for taking the time to chat

The links are

Please let me know if you need anything else.

Cheers

Ken

Section two:

Running Meditation -

Outro:

Did a great interval workout on Fuji-san on the Rail trail Memorial Day weekend.  I took the speedplay peddles off and put some old flat, teethy metal platform peddles on because the clip-ins tweaked my ankle when I pulled up on them. 

Picture me puffing away on the rail trail spinning as hard as I can.  A blur of rusted true-temper terrifying the walkers and children.  I’ve been putting on weight so I’ve got a nice, great belly swinging away under my bike shirt bumping into my knees on the upstroke. 

And somehow my iPhone decided to shuffle into 100% live Grateful Dead music and it seems strangely fitting in this weird alternate universe of non-running exercise among the frightened populace.

Buddy is doing fine.  I had to get up in the middle of the night last night.  There were thunderstorms and he wanted to be let into the basement.  I guess he feels safer down there.  He’s still got all his faculties and he’s the sweetest old man. 

I think his serious running days are over but we still enjoy the brief odd trot in the woods together.  He’s been a devoted friend to me.  This morning as I was up early in my home office in a meditative state he sneaks up behind me a lets out one sharp bark to get my attention and it just about causes my head to explode. 

Crazy old dog. 

Towards the end of our conversation you heard Ken and I talk about not letting yourself get too comfortable.  Life is supposed to be full of ups and downs and if you’re not having them then you’re not living. 

Go out and do something that scares you.  Expect to succeed but be ok with failing because that’s how we grow.  We are never too young and we’re never too old to learn some new tricks.

I expect to see you in the facebook group.  It helps me test out some half baked thoughts and stuff.  I’ve been posting some of the thoughts that boil up out of my morning sessions and some of them are fairly interesting. 

Cheers,

  or just search FaceBook for “RunRunLive”.

And I do have an email list that I shoot the shows out to.  I’ve been writing some extra posts on my website RunRunLive and I may start recording them as a bonus for those of you who are paying attention!

Happy Mother’s Day people. 

Be good to each other – party on.

Cheers,

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 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 -

Other products from Chris Russell you may be interested in

The Mid-Packer’s Lament

On Audio (Read by the author) –

The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy

Standard Links:

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 , and short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack.  Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at .  Chris’ Podcast, is available on and at . Chris also writes for () and is a member of the and the

…

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 3-289 – Ann Brennan and the Challenges of Depression

(Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi3289.mp3]

Link epi3289.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 friends – And welcome to the RunRunLive Podcast.  It sure was nice to not have to do anything over the last couple weekends.  No long runs and no races.  I’ve been running around as much as ever, but I feel like the pressure is off.   

That’s not quite true – I actually hosted an episode of the Runner’s Rountable Podcast last week from my hotel in Atlanta where we had a group of Boston Runners tell their Boston 2014 stories.  I wasn’t sure how it would go, because some people aren’t good stories tellers, but OMG these folks told some emotionally impactful, wonderful stories.  

If you ran Boston, or just want a glimpse of what this year’s race meant to people you should go download that  - it’s the runner’s roundtable on itunes.  It’s actually hard to find by Googling Runner’s Roundtable because you get a bunch of furniture ads!

Runners Round Table

…

There is a brief window in April in New England where spring is in the air but has not yet enforced its will.  It is like a great inhaling of breath that will blow in the warmth and chaos of summer.  During this interregnum the trees haven’t leafed out but the flowering shrubs explode.  Crab apples, forsythia, and cherry trees bursting forth with sweet flowers in the cool mornings.  

The tulips, and asphodels and grapey things push up through the hard clay and announce the incoming season.  The suburbs are a-bustle with men fertilizing lawns and spreading  pungent mulch.  For it is in this window that man has the advantage over chaos.  Before the wild grapes snare your perennials or the wild roses enmesh you daylilies.  It is your two-week chance to tear the weeds and beat back the burgeoning wild and establish, once again, domestic order on the verdant chaos. 

Yeah – I did some yard work. 

In the process I picked up some ticks.  Or the dog brings them in.  Most of the time I’ll strip off my work clothes, throw them in the washer and take a shower to make sure I get all the critters off me.  But sometimes they get by my defensive vigilance.  I had a deer tick in the back of my thigh last week when I woke up Sunday.  It was dead, so it probably came off the dog. 

I posted a picture of the bite on Facebook and I wanted to thank you all for freaking out about Lyme disease, like I need more things to be stressed out about.  And, before you start to lecture me again, I know all about Lyme.  It has impacted my family and friends and I’m all too aware of the debilitating long term effects.  

I recommend the same strategy I used when I worked in Mexico and India:  chase everything with four strong drinks and the parasites can never take hold.  Besides, you know I’m indestructible.  Bacterium can’t take me out. 

It’s just something we have to live with up here, but I would recommend if you aren’t familiar with deer ticks and Lyme disease you should do a little research.  It can change your life and not in a good way if you miss it.  I think I’m ok – I’ll let you know if I die.  It will make a great story.  I might even get into Runner’s World. 

I didn’t travel for a couple weeks and as nice as that was it also meant I managed to stay in place long enough to get allergies.  I was full of phlegm for a week.  It didn’t really bother me I just went through all the Kleenex in the house and ended up carrying a roll of toilet paper around with me. 

I failed miserably in my miracle morning habit last week traveling in Atlanta.  I was up late reading and couldn’t get into the 5 AM habit with the travel.  We’ll see if I can turn it around this week.  

I got an email from Kevin from the extra mile/extra Galloway podcast wondering what to do about that mid afternoon sleepiness that happens when you get up early.  It’s interesting because by getting up a couple hours earlier you are affecting the rhythm of the whole day.  

What Hal says to do is to manage your energy throughout the day with your nutrition.  Have a bunch of small, clean meals-  like super smoothies and raw fruits and veggies – and spread them out across your day to maintain your energy level.  

This gets me when I’m traveling because you have large expanses of time where you’re fasting broken by large quantities of not-so-great nutrition.  If you eat a big lunch for example it sucks energy out of your system to digest it in the afternoon.  The relationship between eating and energy level is something to be mindful of. 

With the sun coming out I finally got to ride my old road bike Fuji-san.  It was a blast but shortly after my ride I realized that being clipped into the peddles hurts my ankle – so that was a bit of a setback.  The stationary bikes in the gym are ok because I’m not clipped in, but pulling up aggressively on the speed-plays on Fuji-san tweaks it and makes it angry.  

I’m going to go visit my orthopedic surgeon next week and see what he thinks it is.  I know I’m an active guy but 6 months is a long time for something to hurt.  

Today we have an important conversation with my old friend and collaborator Ann Brennan who had a hard year.  We talk about dealing with stress and depression and doing the things you have to do to stay mentally healthy and keep your loved ones safe. 

In section one I’m going to talk about another tool from business that you can perhaps put to good personal use and in section two I’ll talk about how to create and manage a recovery phase in your training. 

It’s been a long year.  In the pre-industrial era this time of year was known as ‘the starving time’ because the new crops weren’t in yet and you had eaten through last year’s supplies.  But you know what they say, If life give you lemons, use the acidic juice to reveal hidden codes on the back of revolutionary war documents.  It’s true.  I saw it in a movie.  

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 289 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:

Mapping an organization for fun and profit - http://www.runrunlive.com/mapping-an-organization-for-fun-and-profit

Featured Interview:

Ann Brennan

http://www.annsrunningcommentary.com/

In the summer of 2005 I ran a race with my nine-year-old daughter, Meg. It was to become a pivotal moment in my life. Because I was so in awe of her first real race performance, I decided to write it all down. I did not want to ever forget a single detail.

A couple of days later I shared what I had written with my husband who was shocked. Maybe a little too shocked.

“You can write,” he said.

With that one shocked statement I realized that I had all but given up on writing as a career.

As a child I loved books. I read anything and everything I could get my hands on and I dreamed of one day being a writer. But in 2005 I was no longer even writing in a journal.

That day I decided to change that. I sent my story, Raising A Runner, to a couple of magazines and set about on the next great adventure in my life.

Shortly after, my sister-in-law Angie Brennan emailed me a link to this blog.

“I set up a blog for you,” she wrote, “you can change the photo and the password and then just start writing.”

By the way, Angie is the one I have to thank for the cleverly named Ann’s Running Commentary.

Today, I continue to write at Ann’s Running Commentary. I have written one unpublished novel and am in the process of completing my first self-published book on my thoughts on the run.

I host my own YouTube channel and a new podcast.

I am also the editor of Beyond Limits Magazine, an adventure magazine for people who want to change their lives.

Who would have guessed that one little race would change my life in so many ways?

- See more at: http://www.annsrunningcommentary.com/about/#sthash.mszzZdOL.dpuf

Section two: 

Working the recovery phase of your training - http://www.runrunlive.com/the-recovery-phase-as-part-of-your-training-discipline

Outro:

A few weeks ago we talked about the concept of ‘white space’ in our lives and how to leave enough room in your busy existence for some ‘you time’.  A few months back we talked about the Gaelic concept of ‘thin places’ which were physical or mental places where the margin between you and the other world was thin.  

As I was working with the 5AM Miracle Morning routine I came to think of it as a sacred place.   A place and time that is sacred to me.   A place where it is all about me and I am free.  I am unencumbered from expectations and deliveries.  Sitting at my desk in my house early in the morning, working through my aspirations and affirmations is a sacred place.  

Having a sacred place is a powerful thing.   It is that place or time where you can go and be you.  Be wholly you.  Do you have that sacred place in your life?  I found that in my sacred place I drop into a flow state and time passes without me knowing it.  Ideas and concepts flow from me.  

That’s worth getting up for in the morning! 

What’s next for me?  Still in recovery.  Still fighting off all my codependent friends who daily have brilliant ideas for difficult races and relays in beautiful places.  But I have to be strong.  I have to recover.  No messing around.  

I went through my stuff and pulled all the race shirts from the last 13 months. I gave them to my mom to see if maybe she could fashion a quilt for me.  A bit like one of those medieval tapestries that tells the story of an epic battle. 

Don’t forget to go listen to the Runner’s Roundtable episode with the Boston Stories.  It’s quite powerful.  And for those of you who might want a safe way to dip your toe into podcasting it’s an open forum just waiting for you to volunteer.  Like open mike night at the running podcast café. 

I wasn’t joking, I do have a RunRunLive Facebook page that I post stuff to.  You should join.  It’s free and easy. 

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

And I do have an email list that I shoot the shows out to.  I’ve been writing some extra posts on my website RunRunLive and I may start recording them as a bonus for those of you who are paying attention! 

Happy Mother’s Day people.  

Be good to each other – party on. 

Cheers, 

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 3-288 – Yo Pal Hal Elrod and the Miracle Morning

(Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi3288.mp3]

Link epi3288.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 friends – welcome to the end of my running calendar!  Some people have a yearend calendar, some people have a fiscal calendar and I have a running calendar.  It’s not based on the sun or the moon or some Claudio-Julian calculations. It is based on having finished the Boston Marathon and the Groton Road race.  That’s the end of my running year. 

Today we have a long interview with Hal Elrod, the author of The Miracle Morning.  He’s a character and loves to talk.  I’ll try to compensate by keeping my comments short. 

In section one we have a post on how to deal with aggressive, angry people and in section two we talk about some strategies to recover from your marathon. 

I’m having fun with the miracle morning.  For the most part I’ve been getting up at 5:00 AM every day and working through my exercises.  On those days when I don’t set the alarm I wake up anyhow because I’m used to it now.  I’m finding that I’m getting a bunch of high quality work done in the morning.  However I tend to start to lag in the afternoon, getting sleeping and not getting much creativity done. 

I’m testing an app on the iPhone called ‘Sleep Cycle’.  You put the iPhone on the mattress when you sleep and it tracks your movements and deduces what part of the sleep cycle you’re in.  You can set the alarm for a certain time, plus or minus 15 minutes let’s say, and the app will try to wake you when you are not in a deep sleep cycle.  I don’t have enough data yet but it’s kinda fun and it’s free. 

I ran the Boston Marathon and had a great time.  As you know I was pretty beat up coming out of the long winter and my marathon a month program.  I spent the last month just working on strength and flexibility.  I knew I’d have to have a race strategy that was very conservative and careful.  

I decided to run a 5 – 1 cadence.  Run five minutes then walk a minute.  I was worried that I might have a repeat of my hard miles at the Umstead Marathon.  I brought 4 bottles of GenuCan that I took every 45 minutes or so.  

Once I made it over Heartbreak Hill without any issues I knew I had it.  I just started celebrating and working with the crowds from that point in.  It was a blast.  It wasn’t about time for me.  It was about closure.  As I came down Boylston my quads started to go so that tells me I played it out almost perfectly for the fitness (or lack thereof) that I brought into the race. 

Some people complained about it being hot but I thought it was a beautiful day.  With the extra waves this year the charity runners didn’t get off the line until after 11:00 AM.  It was a lot like it used to be in the old days when the race started at noon.  You get the hottest part of the day in the middle of the race and then get cooled off when you drop down the slump into Boston. 

As you know I went into the race fairly unhappy and stressed about how much the recent years have impacted the character of the event.  But, as soon as I was out on that course, among my people it was glorious. 

Just 6 days later I had the honor of helping put on the Groton Road Race.  The weekend was a whirlwind of activity.  There are always a few last minute crises to deal with but it came off successfully with no major problems.  Overall the year over year registration numbers were down, probably due to the cold winter.  

The weather was overcast and cold for the race which was tough on the fans but great for the runners.  We had a new course record.  The same guy won the 5K and the 10K and set a course record. 

My year is over.  Time to move on to my next adventure.  It takes a lot of stress off of me.  Not that I can’t deal with it but it just made for a long year with all the stuff going on in my life. 

On with the show!

Section one:

How to deal with angry and aggressive people - http://www.runrunlive.com/dealing-with-aggressive-negative-people

Featured Interview:

Hal Elrod

Hal Elrod

BIO

Hal Elrod died at age 20. He was hit head on by a drunk driver at 70 mph, was dead for 6 minutes, broke 11 bones, suffered permanent brain damage, and was told by doctors that he would never walk again. 

 

Defying the logic of doctors and the temptations to be a victim, Hal went on to become an ultra-marathon runner, a hall of fame business achiever, international success coach, award winning motivational speaker, hip-hop recording artist, husband, father, and #1 Best-selling Author what is now being hailed as one of "the most life-changing books of all time" -- The Miracle Morning: The Not-So-Obvious Secret Guaranteed To Transform Your Life... (Before 8AM). 

 

LINKS

>> Get Hal's #1 Best-selling book: The Miracle Morning

www.MiracleMorningBook.com

 

>> Get 2 FREE Chapters of Hal's book + FREE Video + FREE Audio: 

www.MiracleMorningBook.com

 

>> Hal's website: 

www.HalElrod.com

 

Section two: 

Recovery tips after a marathon - http://www.runrunlive.com/9-steps-to-recovery-after-a-marathon

Outro:

That’s it my friends you have daintily peeled back the page on another running year with me.  So what’s next ?  Well, my friends, next is not running for a month.  May is going to be my recovery month.  I’m doing some yoga, some swimming, some core and some biking.  

My back is sore, my ankle has a tweaked ligament of some sort and I’ve got some pain and numbeness in my left knee.  All of this doesn’t prevent me from running but it has limited my ability to train and race at the level of quality that I’d like.  So we’ll give it some time and see if we can get healthy before anything else. 

I’ve been reading, as usual.  I read Chrissie Wellington’s book and it was interesting because I remember that Kona she won while all bruised up from a bike crash.  Mostly I took away that she is bat-shit crazy.  Not that I have anything against crazy people – I just don’t want to be trapped in an elevator with them.  

I also read The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver.  I had listened to her other book Pigs in Heaven a few years ago and really liked it.  She is an incredible writer.  I very much enjoy her prose. 

I’m working through a business book I’m quite enjoying called Die Empty by Todd Henry who does the Accidental Creative podcast.  Really good stuff for people who have to deliver creative work.  

Of course I read Hal’s book.  He sounded a little offended when I told him I read it in one airplane ride.  Well, you know, I read some books for the prose and others for the content and adjust my reading speed accordingly.  

Last but not least I was looking through the Kindle store and saw that all the Edgar Rice Burroughs books were free.  So I downloaded a bunch and read Tarzan of the Apes!  This was an enjoyable surprise.  What a bodice ripper!  To see the original work that spawned a pop cultural hero was awesome.  

It is a very engaging story.  Quite awfully racist and classist at times but if you can laugh that stuff off it’s quite entertaining.  I think I’ll move on the some of his Mars books next. 

What’s my plan going forward?  No running in May,  then see how I feel and maybe train to run a qualifier at end of summer because I’ve got some unfinished business. 

Cheers, 

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

Unicorns-1.6

Introductory Comments:

http://go.liverfoundation.org/goto/cyktrussell

[audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/unicorns16.mp3]

Unicorns16.mp3

Hello and welcome my friends.  This is Chris and this is the fifth and final in my series of personal podcasts that I am doing, to air out my brain and deal with my father’s cancer and passing and report in on my run for the Liver Foundation at the Boston Marathon this year. 

Note:  Even though this is on the RunRunLive Podcast feed, this is NOT the RunRunLive podcast.  You have fair warning to skip now because I’m not talking about running.  Standard RunRunLive episodes will be labeled as such. 

As part of this project, whatever this project is, I’m collected donations for the American Liver Foundation to layer on some purpose for the event and make it more personal.  

The donation links are in the show notes and at http://go.liverfoundation.org/goto/cyktrussell

My story is that I already had a number for this year’s race.  I Didn’t need to fundraise, but with my Dad’s health declining I thought it would be a decent thing to do to dedicate this to him and my family. 

…

The Boston Marathon.  Monday I ran the Boston Marathon.  It was a glorious day.  Not because I was fast or set a PR, I did not.  It was glorious because it capped the end of a long and sometimes arduous year for me and my friends and my family.  

I look back on the year and I see what I have done and it seems like something.  Maybe not the perfect body of work, but something, maybe even something worthy. 

My nuclear family had our internment ceremony for my Dad at the Groton Town Ceremony on Tuesday morning after Patriots Day.  It was a beautiful spring day.  My Mom, my brother, my nephew and my sisters had a very peaceful and thoughtful time wandering around the stones and remembering families and people we have known.  

My Dad is at rest nowhere Hollis Street meets Martins Pond Road and Chicopee Row, among his peers and friends. 

Monday I finished my 13th marathon in 13 months – Boston to Boston.  It was a wonderful day with wonderful crowds and support.  We took back our finish line.  I’m no hero, but I do what I can do with the gifts I’ve been given and if I can keep doing that I think my Dad would be satisfied with my efforts.  

Today I’m going to bring you some audio that I recorded on Marathon Monday.  I won’t contextualize it too much but let me give you some hints of what’s going on.

The first recording is riding the bus into Hopkinton with my Buddy Brian.  Then there are people I met and talked to at Athlete’s village – including Bree who was the local TV reporter for WBZ.  Next there are some clips on the way to the start and in the corrals.  Following that you’ll hear us cross the starting line.  

During the race you’ll here a couple clips with some interesting people I met.  You’ll here a long loud section in the middle that is the Wellesley College girls or as we call it the ‘scream tunnel’.  

As we get closer to the finish I start trying to help people who are struggling and I start having fun with the crowds.  The USA chant is the tipsy coeds at Boston College. 

Finally I talk to some people after the finish line as we are getting our medals. 

I don’t know when the appropriate time would be to listen to this. Hopefully you can feel the vibe and celebration.  

Close your eyes and put yourself on that course you may be transported.  

The air is warm and there is a spring sun pouring it’s warmth on your back and shoulders.  The brilliant blue sky is streaked with wispy cirrus clouds.  There is a slight and intermittent breeze from the far reaches of the Atlantic Ocean that kisses your face every now and again.  The trees and bushes are brown with winter but tufted at the tips with the first outpouring of buds.  

There are the light footfalls of thousands of runners marching towards Boston.  There are struggles and striving of the average Jill and Joe.  There are the hearty New England crowds in Red Sox hats and black Bruins Hoodies.  They lean in and offer us orange slices, tissues and beer.  And they thank us!  They thank us for running this race! We who are the most privileged to do so are being thanked.  

The entire 26.2 miles of spring sunshine cordoned by adoring, grateful and thankful compatriots – that’s something you should do before you die. 

…

Featured Interview:

Sounds of the Boston Marathon

Summary Article: 

Thank you for joining me in my Journey.  As I wrap up my campaign for the Liver foundation I want to thank all of my friends who supported me and the Run for Research Team for letting me iron my Jolly Roger patch to one of their shirts.  I hope my small efforts save someone’s life or the life of someone they love.  

Thank you.  

The best way out is through and the best way through is to pick up your feet and run.  

May you have peace and prosperity on your journey.

Ciao, 

New Orleans Funeral March.

 

Go to: 

http://go.liverfoundation.org/goto/cyktrussell

Thank you for joining me on my journey with purpose. 

Chris,

Music by Bridge Underwater - “sad song”

The RunRunLive 3.0 Podcast Episode 3-287 – Zoe Romano kicks it up a notch !

(Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi3287.mp3]

Link epi3287.mp3

To donate to my liver foundation fund for the Boston Marathon -> http://go.liverfoundation.org/goto/cyktrussell

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 friends and welcome to episode 3-287 of the RunRunLive podcast.  

Well my friends here we are.  With any luck I’ll be pushing this show out on the Friday before the 2014 Boston Marathon.  Or should I say the “International melodramatic circus that has replaced the Boston Marathon”?  

Let me stop right here and tell you that the first version of this intro was a whiney, negative speech about how my version of the Boston Marathon, that was very sacred and personal to me has been high-jacked by clueless national media a-holes.  But bitterness is not how I want to roll! 

So let’s back that up and ask a different question.  What is going to be good about this year’s Boston Marathon?  What beyond all the distasteful and idiotic melodrama… sorry, back that up, what will this year’s race mean to us and how will it positively impact the world.  

BTW – I’ll leave the original text in the show notes if you really need a good whine….

What’s going to be good about this year’s race is that the attention of the world will be focused on our sport, and our community and our premier event.  The world will get a glimpse of the running community I know.  They might get to see the heroes of my life that have very little to do with bombs and deaths.  These are the people that I’ve shared the roads of New England with for the last twenty years.  Through twenty long cold winters we plied our craft on our roads, by our seashores, up our mountains and around our islands.  

Look closely you’ll see the old veterans with their calm, ironic smiles relaxing in the field at Hopkinton High.  Their faces are wan and hollow and hardened by long miles in the early morning in the biting cold.  They come here because they can.  They come here because there just happens to be a local marathon in April – not because it’s some monumental or overblown apparition.  

These are my friends.  These are my quiet heroes.  Engineers, teachers, artists and, yes if the opportunity arises, men and women of insurmountable courage.  They come into this thing not to prove anything.  They come into this thing because it is sacred to us and we respect it and do our best to honor it. 

With any small parcel of luck the frothing international press corps will get a glimpse of my heroes and they will take that with them from this year’s race.  And we will change the world just by being who we are and doing what we do. 

Un-deleted Rant here…

I mean, I get it.  Everyone is all emotionally wrapped up in our race this year.  Every TV I walk by has someone sobbing.  I get it, but this is not the race I qualified for 15 years’ ago.  That has been taken.  

That race was a sacred and emotional exercise for me each year.  It was the culmination of 3-4 months of lonely striving in a cold dark place with my friends.  It was the celebration of this thing that was very hard, and very honest and very scarce and very good.  Now it’s the simpering mediocrity of ‘Good Morning America’ and their sister evils.  

My Boston Marathon is gone. 

I will be dragging my old, tubby, broken body out to the starting line on Monday morning and accepting whatever comes with a good natured smile.  I’m going to let the race come to me with whatever comes with it.  Will there be dark moments?  Will there be tears? Will there be smiles and laughter?  I don’t know. Maybe a little bit of each. 

The world is drawn to our raw emotions like predatory vampires.  They want to share in the pain and suffering and yes the celebration too.  They’ll all forget about us in a few years.  

But, you know what?  The Boston Marathon has always been a sweet, private time of suffering and celebration for me.  

…

It’s going to be a long day for me.  I’m not in the kind of shape I should be in to respect the distance. I’m still pretty beat up.  But over the last 8 weeks I have focused on becoming less fragile and more flexible.  These efforts combined with my knowledge of the course and my experience should get me across the line with a modicum of well-deserved suffering. 

People have started to gather in the city.  The streets are lined with media trucks.  I’ve been fending off blog and media requests for comment these weeks.  It doesn’t seem right.  It feels like we’re having a rugby party in a church.  

I don’t know what I expect.  I’m sure this ennui is a personal problem.  Different people grieve in different ways.  There is no rule book.  Different people celebrate in different ways.  There are no rules.  

…

Today we’ll be having a follow up chat with Zoe Romano who ran a tour de force on the Tour de France course last year.  It’s a fascinating discussion with a person who, as we know, has a deep, inner strength.  In Section one I’ll talk about my 5AM life hack project and in section two we’ll talk some more about this year’s Boston Marathon. 

Let’s get this party started. 

On with the show!

Section one:

The 5AM Life Hack - http://www.runrunlive.com/the-5am-life-hack

Featured Interview:

Zoe Romano

website: www.zoegoesrunning.com

Twitter: @zoeromano

Facebook: "Zoe Goes Running"

Photos and videos can be seen at www.alexanderkreher.com, although the trailer link is not live yet. 

Zoe Romano is an innovative ultra runner and adventure philanthropist. She first fell in love with running while a student at the University of Richmond, from where she graduated in 2009 with degrees in International Studies and Spanish. She recently became the first person to ever run the entire 2,000 miles of the Tour de France route, averaging thirty miles - over a marathon - a day, and raising nearly $200,000 for a children's charity. She encountered wild animals, rock slides, and four weeks of rain; and overcame injury, illness, and sun poisoning. This endeavor came at the heels of a successful run across the USA in 2010, during which Romano, at age 23, became the first female to complete a transcontinental run unsupported. Safely recovered from both feats, she now shares her story as a dynamic writer and speaker and provokes others to reconsider personal and professional limitations. Romano began training for each journey by running just six miles a day, a fact which she hopes demonstrates that we're all capable of more than we think. 

 

Section two: - http://www.runrunlive.com/my-boston-marathon-routine

More Boston Marathon

Outro:

It snowed on me this week in Chicago, and then again in Detroit and finally it followed me home to lay an inch or so of hard icy stuff on my home in Massachusetts.  It was in the 20’s with snow on the ground when I woke up a couple days in a row for me.  

That’s just not right in the middle of April.  I had to go down and do my run on the treadmill Tuesday.  I had no idea that it would be too cold to run when I packed.  This weather has been something.  

Like I said last week, I’ve been focusing on just getting a little bit stronger.  Since the Umstead Marathon at the beginning of March.  I’ve had about 8 weeks.  

My ankle is almost healed, but still lurks.  I did something to a ligament in there in December.  I haven’t been doing any speed work and didn’t get much volume in.  I’ve been limited to running 3 days a week.  Over the last 2-3 weeks I’ve been able to get out in the woods with Buddy and our body, minds and souls have very much appreciated the change.  

I’ve been doing a Abs, shoulders, back and arms workout on Mondays.  I’ve been doing a solid leg strength workout on Wednesdays.  I’ve been spinning on the stationary bike on Friday nights with some core thrown in and I’ve been getting 1250 meters in the pool every Saturday morning.  

I’ve been at it fairly consistently. I should have some core strength built up and maybe a little healing.  

Interestingly enough, I developed that same back pain that I had for last year’s marathon.   I went to the chiro and he said it’s just the muscle that runs down from my clavicle.  It hurts when I stop to walk and then start running again.  My upright, hands-high, run-tall form actually makes it hurt because it scrunches up the back.  But, as long as I know it’s just a pulled muscle of some sort I can ignore it. 

Next week is the Groton Road Race.  We’ve got everything lined up and sorted out for the most part.  Registration is off a bit and I think it’s because the weather was so bad for so long.  We made some improvements this year.  We are having gender specific shirts for the women – because even though our art is fantastic t the women don’t like to wear generic shaped tees.  

I’m quite looking forward to summer.  I plan to take some time off from running to get my body healthy and then we’ll see what I feel like doing.  I need to find a new adventure.  Something the challenges and fulfills me.  I’m thinking about spending some extended time down in Cape Cod – because I can work from anywhere really.   

I need to recharge my batteries and re-find myself after this year.  

Is your life meaningful? 

How much of your day do you spend doing work that is important to you? 

If today were the last day of your life would you do what you have planned today?  Perhaps you would but you wouldn’t go through it like a mindless robot.  You would try to life this day and do this work with purpose. 

What’s stopping you from that today?  Regardless of what you have on the schedule, what do you choose to do and how do you choose to do it? 

You’ve got choices. 

-You could continue this day and do it like you would have if you and I hadn’t had this conversation. 

-You could come to the realization that you have a day planned that is not one that you would have chosen in your right mind – and you can choose to do something else. 

-Or, you can look at you day and decide to use your unique gifts to make whatever you do today special and meaningful for whatever it is you do. 

You’ve got nothing to lose.  Today may or may not be the last day of your life, but either way we are all going to die and this life will be over before you know it.  Today is really all you have.  Your life is a series of todays that you need to make special and meaningful to you and the people you live with. 

What about the job and the mortgage and the family and the adult responsibilities of our lives?  You don’t have to pack your rucksack and wander off to live with the Sherpas in Nepal.  But you don’t have to just show up either.  

Today is an opportunity to change only one thing, the way you approach that work and life.  This is completely under your control.  Approach today’s mundane task with gratitude and, dare I say it, love.  

Make them meaningful to you and you will notice something amazing and fulfilling happening.  You will notice that they become fulfilling to those others that you interact with.  Your purpose and intent will spread with a warm glow into your circle of influence. 

Another wonderful symptom of making today meaningful is that it will open up access within you to your unique gifts.  Your strengths will come to the surface in response to your meaningful and grateful approach to life.  Those things that make you special, that have been hiding like scared bunnies under the desk in the routine of life will start to blossom. 

Make today meaningful. If you want to follow me in the big circus my number is 25840 and I’m in Wave 3 corral 8.  You shouldn’t have any problem because I’ll be out there for a long time. 

So that’s it.  We’ll chat again soon. 

Cheers, 

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

Unicorns-1.5

Introductory Comments:

http://go.liverfoundation.org/goto/cyktrussell

[audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/unicorns15.mp3]

Unicorns15.mp3

Hello and welcome my friends.  This is Chris and this is the fourth in my series of personal podcasts that I am doing, to air out my brain and deal with my father’s cancer and gear up to run for the Liver Foundation at the Boston Marathon this year. 

Note:  Even though this is on the RunRunLive Podcast feed, this is NOT the RunRunLive podcast.  You have fair warning to skip now because I’m not talking about running.  Standard RunRunLive episodes will be labeled as such. 

As part of this project, whatever this project is, I’m collecting donations for the American Liver Foundation for my running of the Boston Marathon this year.  I wanted to layer on some purpose for the event and make it more personal.  

The donation links are in the show notes and at http://go.liverfoundation.org/goto/cyktrussell

My story is that I already had a number for this year’s race.  I Didn’t need to fundraise, but with my Dad’s health declining I thought it would be a decent thing to do to dedicate this to him and my family. 

…

Life is an adventure and adventures are not planned.  They start early in the morning when you have had very little sleep.  They are not planned.  They are flowed into, organically.  They build experiences like a bubbling pot on the stove. 

I told my Dad the story of the Persian king who asked his wise men to come up with an answer that could be used to answer any question.  (This was one of those rare occasions where I actually got a story out before he interrupted me to tell me he already knew it or to correct my version of it!) The wise men, after much deliberation, came back with the answer that could be used for any question.  

The answer was: “This too shall pass.” 

My Dad said something like, “I suppose it will.” 

Maybe it’s just a symptom of old age but I find the solution to most things is perseverance.  In long distance running we have the concept of continuous forward motion.  If you just keep moving you’ll eventually get to the finish line.  That’s life.  

You have had times in your life when you think that you can’t go on.  You have been beset upon by difficulties and challenges and burdens that weigh you down to such an extent that you feel crushed.  We all have.  

In these situations you just have to keep moving.  It doesn’t take strength to keep moving.  It sometimes takes more strength to stop.  But it’s all we can do.  And those of us who get good at it realize that there is a certain joy in the movement itself.  

It is one of the defining aspects of humanity that we hope.  We always think that there is a better place and we keep moving.  We move forward on hope and faith, because that’s all we have sometimes, right?  

I posted a copy of the classic Robert Crumb cartoon ‘Keep on Truckin’.  You youngsters can think of it as a counter-cultural internet meme from 1967.  The cartoon was born of a blues song and show’s four happy bums marching in a line into the future.  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keep_on_Truckin'_(comics)

That’s us my friends.  Happy bums marching into the future.  We have faith and hope in our pockets. 

Today I’m going to let my sister Mary Lou interview me.  I warned you it would get personal. 

Cheers, 

…

Featured Interview:

Summary Article: 

Thank you for joining me in my Journey.  I achieved my, rather arbitrary, donation goal but will leave the donation page open until after the marathon if the spirit move you.  

I haven’t been able to train as much as I wanted to for the marathon this year.  But this year’s marathon isn’t really about time and I’ll just get out there and keep on truckin through the finish.  It will be a nice bookend for my year. 

Hopefully these off-center forays into my personal life haven’t skewed (or skewered) anyone’s impression of me.  I would much rather be a likeable avatar than a real person.  Real people, like you and me have spaghetti strands of chaos in our lives and it’s messy.  

You and I are and are not the smiling picture displayed on the shelf in the den.  We are the sweaty mess that we wake up to every day too.  But that’s ok.  We are what we are.  We are made of clay.  But that clay can be molded as well as broken.  

Life is what it is.  You and I can’t control it.  Enjoy it while you can, because as the wise men will tell you ‘this too shall pass’. 

Go to: 

http://go.liverfoundation.org/goto/cyktrussell

Thank you for joining me on my journey with purpose. 

Chris,

Music by Bridge Underwater - “sad song”