RunRunLive 5.0 - Running Podcast

Episode Boston 2017 – A preview of the Boston Marathon with Coach  (Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epiBoston2017.mp3] Link   Folks, Friends, Marathon-wonks, this is a chat I had with my coach today about this year’s Boston Marathon, my training and what to expect.  I wanted to get something out to those of you who might find the information useful before race weekend. See you out there! Chris,   Coach Jeff ->   MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks -

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The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-362 – Rick Hoyt – a Running Life  (Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4362.mp3] Link MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks - Hello my friends and welcome to Episode 4-362 of the RunRunLive Podcast.  Chris here.  I am criminally behind in my production schedule.  As some of you may have divined, especially those of you on LinkedIn, I changed gigs over the last couple months and am now back in startup land.  It’s not my startup, but still the the urgency and lack of resources spills over.  (Humorous editor’s note: Microsoft word tried to change ‘divined’ to ‘deveined’ which is something totally different.  That combined with being in my last few weeks of marathon training for Boston creates less space and opportunity to write and record.  The company is out of Silicon Valley, (of course), and I’m out of Boston so there’s a 3-hour time change.  Even thought you’d think you’d be able to adjust your work days, it always seems to add 3 or more hours to the day.  It reminds me of when I had a job where I had to contend with Boston’s infamous traffic.  I devised a plan to go in a couple hours early to beat the traffic and then leave a couple hours early on the back end of the day to beat the traffic again.  What really ended up happening was I’d go in early, get caught up in the day, and end up going home late after the traffic.  I’m sure there’s some math we could use there to make everyone’s lives simpler.  The way we have arranged it everyone’s whims always line up.  For example, let’s say you’re sitting at work on a warm Friday in June and you think “I know, I’ll leave early and get a jump on driving to the Cape for the weekend!” You can bet that there are a couple hundred thousand people having that same thought at that same time and you will be soon sucking C02 with them on Route 6.  I’m sure all of this will be solved when the impartial Artificial Intelligence of the robot overlords takes over.  But, will we miss it?  Will we someday be writing long, sorrowful poems in praise of a good traffic jam?  How it brought our families together and made the fabric of society stronger?  How did I get down this rat hole? Oh, yeah.  It’s Saturday Morning and It’s snowing.  It’s been snowing for 24 hours and it’s April first.  Last time we got this kind of spring weather two weeks before the Boston Marathon was 2006.  It ended up being 85 degrees at the starting line that year.  Today I bring you a RunRunLive podcast exclusive.  An interview with Rick Hoyt.  Rick has run almost twice as many Boston marathons as I have and I’m running my 19th this year.  I am thrilled to be able to ask him questions directly.  My favorite Hoyt story is how Dick and Rick pushed their way into the Boston Marathon.  The Boston Athletic Association of the late 1970’s would not be considered an ‘open-minded’ organization.  They were steadfast in their belief that the Boston Marathon was a traditional race.  You had to qualify.  You had to be a man.  You had to pass a physical and be a ‘real’ able-bodied athlete to get in.  Dick tried to get in and they wouldn’t let him.  They thought they had a good barrier to entry that he wouldn’t be able to get over.  They told him that he had to qualify, not only in his age group, but in Rick’s age group as well.  At the time this meant Dick had to run better than a 2:50 marathon with Rick.  Dick didn’t whine about it.  He didn’t sue them.  Instead he trained and ran a 2:45 qualifying race pushing Rick.  This was before racing chairs existed.  This was before the first running boom.  These guys were breaking new ground.  They were all alone.  Their dogged persistence, their unassuming commitment to the sport, their grit earned them a spot on the starting line in Hopkinton.  The way they did it also earned the respect of the running world and opened a door for a generation of runners.  They were pioneers who caused change.  They caused change by living that change.  So that’s the context of our interview today.  In section one I’ll go deep into how I do a pace run on the treadmill.  In section two, I’m going to give you an audio recording of the 2nd most read blog post I ever wrote, a chapter from my first book, called “Running with Buddy”.  This will give you a good lead in for the sentiment going into our next show which will include an interview with Luaren Fern Watts about her new book, Gizelle’s Bucket List.    After we last spoke I attempted a 22 mile tempo run on the Boston course.  Frank and I did an out and back from Ashland, around mile 4, to Wellesley mile 15, right before the dip down into Newton Lower Falls.  This is the so-called ‘flat’ portion of the course.  I’m always surprised at just how not-flat it is.  It’s rolling hills.  Nothing major, but some good pulls when you’re racing.  I was rolling off a hard week with a lot of miles. The plan was to run an hour in zone 2, then drop to race pace -5 for an hour and a half then do 5 minute on/off zone 3 surges for the last half hour.  My legs were heavy going in from the big week.  I ran 7 miles the day before and a set of hill repeats on the Friday.  It was around freezing and overcast to drizzly.  We didn’t see as many runners out as we thought we might.  When we hit the hour mark I dropped into what felt like race pace to me, but my pacing ability proved to be clueless.  I was shooting for around 8 minute miles but we were clocking 7:30’s and 7:40’s.  At the end of each mile I’d say ‘Oh crap’ and let Frank lead for a while and we’d manage an 8:05.  Then I’d drop back into the 7:30’s.  It was a pacing disaster! We hung in there trying to find race pace until around the 18 mile mark my wheels fell off.  We were climbing a long hill and my legs just went dead and said ‘no mas’.  This was about an hour into the pace part of the run.  I let Frank go and tried to find a pace I could manage and recover a bit.  I managed some to bash it out in the low 8’s with a couple of walk breaks.  I finished up with over 22 miles and over 3 hours of decent effort.  I even recovered a bit in the last mile.  All-in-all I wasn’t horribly disappointed. It’s another brick in the wall and a good race-specific workout and a good reminder of just how deceptively nasty that Boston course is with its constant rolling hills. Then I jumped on a plane to Silicon Valley.  Spent the week out there that nicely coincided with a rest week, although I did manage to run up a 1,500 foot mountain behind my hotel twice.  Now I’m finishing up my last hard week and tuning up for the big show.  I’m off the beer and seeing how far I can get my weight down for the race, which adds to the stress of it all!  I made some poor nutritional choices in Cali and have been hovering around 180, which isn’t horrible for me.  This week I’ve stayed on top of it better and am down around 175.  Those 5-10 pounds make a huge difference for me on race day.  Especially where my current bottleneck is my legs not my engine.  Taking a few extra pounds off my quads will buy me a couple extra miles at race pace on Patriot’s day.  … And the weather continues to not cooperate.  We are in the midst of yet another storm here 2-weeks out.  My day got away from me yesterday and I ended up doing a hill repeat session at dusk in the slush.  Now normal people might think, “hey, the sun is setting, it’s 33 degrees out and alternating rain and snow, I think I’ll skip that hill workout.”  But, I think, “Here are the marathon gods putting another challenge in front of me.  Here is another opportunity for me to rise to the occasion.  To do what others will not.  And that has some merit to it.  I kitted up quickly, before I lost my nerve, and headed out through the trails to a secluded road behind my house with a nice hill.  The woods were quite peaceful.  The snow/ice was a couple inches deep but nice and granular, like running on beach gravel.  There was no wind, and it was quite beautiful with the hiss of the sleet in the tree tops.  The hill repeats themselves were a bit tricky.  I had 3 sets of 5 X 40 seconds.  It was snowing fairly hard.  There was slush on the road.  It was maybe an inch deep on the shoulders, but the tire paths from the occasional car were relatively clean with just a skim of icy slush.  There were parts where the melt water was running in streams down the hill.  The question in my mind was where would I get the most traction?  The tire tracks?  The slush?  The shoulders?  I opted for the tire tracks.  It was slick and I had to run a bit flat footed. I couldn’t really toe off with any vigor.  The trick was to find the places where the road was cracked or lined because these irregularities provided a bit of a traction point.  When the occasional car passed, I’d drift over to the slushy shoulder mid repeat.  That wasn’t bad either because there was barks and sticks and dirt under the slush on the shoulder that could give you some traction.  But you had to run through the deep stuff and got much wetter feet.  I switched back to my old Hokas for the outing so as not to abuse my race shoes. And you know what?  It wasn’t that bad.  I got my workout done and felt like a total stud.  I felt like I ‘won’ somehow.  That’s the lesson here my friends.  You make your own rules in this world.  Don’t let the slush storms of life cause you to miss a workout.  On with the show. I’ll remind you that the RunRunLive podcast is ad free and listener supported.  What does that mean? It means you don’t have to listen to yet another Blue Apron or Hello Fresh ad.  As a matter of fact, stop being lazy and go shop for your own food.  We do have a membership option where you can become a member and as a special thank you, you will get access to member’s only audio. I’ll also remind you that I have started raising money for team Hoyt for my 2017 Boston Marathon.  I would appreciate any help you can give.   The fundraiser is on Crowdrise (so I don’t have to touch any of the money) it goes straight to the Hoyts and supports acquiring equipment and supporting others who want to participate like the Hoyts do.  … The RunRunLive podcast is Ad Free and listener supported.  We do this by offering a membership option where members get Access to Exclusive Members Only audio and articles. Yes, we are still working on setting up the separate podcast feed for the member’s content.  Most recently I recorded and uploaded the first chapter of the zombie novel I’ve been writing for 30 years.  Member only race reports, essays and other bits just for you! Exclusive Access to Individual Audio Segments from all Shows Intro’s, Outro’s, Section One running tips, Section Two life hacks and Featured Interviews – all available as stand-alone MP3’s you can download and listen to at any time. Links are in the show notes and at RunRunLive.com … Section one – Treadmill pace run - Voices of reason – the conversation Rick Hoyt – Team Hoyt   The Early Years Rick was born in 1962 to Dick and Judy Hoyt. As a result of oxygen deprivation to Rick’s brain at the time of his birth, Rick was diagnosed as a spastic quadriplegic with cerebral palsy. Dick and Judy were advised to institutionalize Rick because there was no chance of him recovering, and little hope for Rick to live a “normal” life. This was just the beginning of Dick and Judy’s quest for Rick’s inclusion in community, sports, education and one day, the workplace. Dick and Judy soon realized that though Rick couldn’t walk or speak; he was quite astute and his eyes would follow them around the room. They fought to integrate Rick into the public school system, pushing administrators to see beyond Rick’s physical limitations. Dick and Judy would take Rick sledding and swimming, and even taught him the alphabet and basic words, like any other child. After providing concrete evidence of Rick’s intellect and ability to learn like everyone else, Dick and Judy needed to find a way to help Rick communicate for himself. With $5,000 in 1972 and a skilled group of engineers at Tufts University, an interactive computer was built for Rick. This computer consisted of a cursor being used to highlight every letter of the alphabet. Once the letter Rick wanted was highlighted, he was able to select it by just a simple tap with his head against a head piece attached to his wheelchair. When the computer was originally first brought home, Rick surprised everyone with his first words. Instead of saying, “Hi, Mom,” or “Hi, Dad,” Rick’s first “spoken” words were: “Go, Bruins!” The Boston Bruins were in the Stanley Cup finals that season. It was clear from that moment on, that Rick loved sports and followed the game just like anyone else. In 1975, at the age of 13, Rick was finally admitted into public school. After high school, Rick attended Boston University, and he graduated with a degree in Special Education in 1993. Dick retired in 1995 as a Lt. Colonel from the Air National Guard, after serving his country for 37 years. The Beginning of Team Hoyt In the spring of 1977, Rick told his father that he wanted to participate in a 5-mile benefit run for a Lacrosse player who had been paralyzed in an accident. Far from being a long-distance runner, Dick agreed to push Rick in his wheelchair and they finished all 5 miles, coming in next to last. That night, Rick told his father, “Dad, when I’m running, it feels like I’m not handicapped.” This realization was just the beginning of what would become over 1,000 races completed, including marathons, duathlons and triathlons (6 of them being Ironman competitions). Also adding to their list of achievements, Dick and Rick biked and ran across the U.S. in 1992, completing a full 3,735 miles in 45 days. In a triathlon, Dick will pull Rick in a boat with a bungee cord attached to a vest around his waist and to the front of the boat for the swimming stage. For the biking stage, Rick will ride a special two-seater bicycle, and then Dick will push Rick in his custom made running chair (for the running stage). Rick was once asked, if he could give his father one thing, what would it be? Rick responded, “The thing I’d most like is for my dad to sit in the chair and I would push him for once.” The 2009 Boston Marathon was officially Team Hoyt’s 1000th race. Rick always says if it comes down to doing one race a year he would like it to be the Boston Marathon: his favorite race. 2013 was going to be Dick and Rick's last Boston Marathon together, but they were not able to finish due to the bombings. They vowed to be back in 2014 to finish "Boston Strong" with all the other runners, which they did; stopping many times along the 26.2 distance to take photos and shake hands of the many well wishers, and finishing with several of the runners from their Hoyt Foundation Boston Marathon team. Dick and Rick will continue to do shorter distances races and triathlons together, and teammate Bryan Lyons will be taking over in pushing Rick in the 2015 Boston Marathon. Bryan and Rick ran some local races together this year, and will start training for Boston after the holidays, doing a half marathon in Carlsbad, CA in January, as well as, other local half marathons and races. Neither Dick or Rick are ready to retire yet. The Team Hoyt Theme Song “Run!” By the Ted Painter Band It's available for download at  as are other songs and information about the band.   It was written by yours truly and band members John Prunier and Kat Duffey, recorded in Nashville and Harford, CT. and performed by the Ted Painter Band.  Incidentally, I'm also a member of Team Hoyt and have been running with Nick Draper, a 27 year old man with a similar disability as Rick, for the last 3 and a half years.  This will be our 4th Boston marathon and 16th marathon.  We also do triathlons.  If interested, you can learn more about "Team In the Nick of Time" at  Thanks for your interest in the song, Chris.   Take care, Ted Section two Running with Buddy - The Mid-Packer's Lament: A collection of running stories with a view from the middle of the pack Paperback – November 21, 2005 by  (Author) Outro Alright my friends.  I’m running out of daylight so I have to get this show out the door! You have slip-slided through the snow and slush to the end of episode 4-362 of the RunRunLive Podcast.  Like I mentioned, next week we talk about dogs! Going to the dogs.  I love my old dog.  He’s lying on the floor by the door here with me as I write.  He’s bored.  He’s wearing one of the ridiculous shirts Teresa bought for him.   The music in the Rick Hoyt interview today was the The Team Hoyt Theme Song “Run!” By the Ted Painter Band.  I got permission to use it from Ted who also runs pushing Nick for Team Hoyt Boston Marathon team- they do sub 3 hour marathons and this will be their 3rd or 4th Boston together. It's available for download at  as are other songs and information about the band.   To learn more about Ted and Nick search for “Team in the Nick of Time” on Facebook – or find the link in the show notes. It was written by yours truly and band members John Prunier and Kat Duffey, recorded in Nashville and Harford, CT. and performed by the Ted Painter Band.  "Team In the Nick of Time" at  I just assume at this point that everyone knows what I’m talking about but I guess it wouldn’t kill me to give you a quick review.  I post the text of all these shows on my website, .  You can also click on the show in your podcast player and all the links and notes and text are in the actual show file.  That’s what I mean when I say – it’s in the show notes.  I would appreciate any contribution to my Team Hoyt fund you can make. The crowdrise link is ironically enough, in the show notes.    … I told you my hill-repeats-in-the-slush story.  Let me tell you another story from this week where the evil gods of marathon chaos beat me.  Tuesday I had one of those 13 mile pace runs on the calendar.  I had it scheduled for mid-morning. I had a gap in my schedule and weather window where it would warm up a little and before it started raining.  Of course calls got rescheduled and things went sideways and I couldn’t get out.  I repositioned it for early afternoon.  The challenge for me with this kind of run is I’m looking at close to 2 full hours out on the road.  It’s hard to squeeze into a day.  And that 2 hours is just the running part.  I should have done it early morning but I was still recovering from West Coast jet lag.  Early afternoon comes and I’m still at my desk.  Now it’s getting dark and it’s raining.  I’d squeeze in a regular run in these conditions but a 2 hour tempo run in the pitch black rain, not really.  I didn’t have the right clothes with me or a headlamp.  But, I had a flash of inspiration.  I still have the key card for the gym at my old office.  I had to pick up Teresa later so I would drive to the treadmill, knock out this run and get to the train.  I ended up getting to the treadmill after 6 and had to take some potty breaks, etc. but was getting the work out done.  Then around 8:00PM I’m 8 miles in, 2 miles into that last 5 hard zone 4 miles and I notice I’m the only one in there and the cleaning staff is in.  I look at the clock, and I look at the cleaning lady and it turns out the gym closes at 8:00!  That was it.  I got my 8 miles in and didn’t concede defeat as much as called it a draw.  The evil marathon gods of entropy and chaos didn’t let me complete my planned workout, but I did get an 8 mile tempo run in.  We’ll call it a tie. Because sometimes.  Even when you really hang in there.  When you make the extra effort.  The chaos and entropy still wins.  Just go down swinging. And I’ll see you out there. MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks -

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The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-361 – Zelus Craft Beer for Endurance  (Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4361.mp3] Link MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks - Hello my friends and welcome to Episode 4-361 of the RunRunLive Podcast.  Chris here.  I’m testing out a new recording space.  It’s got a lot of hard surfaces so it might be a tad echo-ey.  I’ll hang up a couple quilts and see if that softens it up.  We call them quilts now, but didn’t they used to be called tapestries?  Anyway – today we have an interesting interview with Geoff from Zelus beer who I reached out to because they are apparently targeting endurance athletes. I always wondered about the connection between beer and running – and it being St. Paddy’s Day today and all…it seems appropriate. In section one I’m going to dust off an old post I wrote on trail running.  Why?  Because I’ve had a rash of spam posts on my web site and all of them were in the comments of this trail running post so I took it as a sign.  In Section two I’ll share a post on Grit that I wrote a couple weeks back.  It’s been a crazy couple of weeks.  My training has been deep into the dark place and the weather hasn’t been cooperating.  It’s been cold on the weekends for my long runs and coach has been kicking the crap out of me.  For example he’s given me a couple mid-week 12-14 mile tempo runs that were crazy hard outside in the freezing cold.  Basically 3 hard workouts a week.  I did a 14 mile run with 10 at tempo two Sunday’s ago and it was 10 degrees out with a 14 mph wind.  I did another interval workout one night where I got all the weather in one workout – Freezing rain, wind, cold and blowing snow – all in the same hour. Last Sunday I did 2:45 long run with an hour of it at tempo, again in the teens with a wind.  It’s hard to get mentally geared up for these hard workouts when you’ve got the weather piling on.  But it’s ok. These are the workouts that make you stronger.  They make you mentally stronger and physically stronger. One of the things that Angela Duckworth talks about in the book Grit is the question “How do you get more Grit?”  and “Can you learn to be Gritty?”  And it turns out the answer is yes.  The science, the studies show that the way to learn how to do hard things is by practicing doing hard things.  I know that’s always been true for me.  I know running has always been that hard thing for many of us.  You learn how to do hard things by doing hard things.  That’s it.  Do something hard.  On with the show. … I’ll remind you that the RunRunLive podcast is ad free and listener supported.  What does that mean? It means you don’t have to listen to yet another Blue Apron or Hello Fresh ad.  As a matter of fact, stop being lazy and go shop for your own food.  We do have a membership option where you can become a member and as a special thank you, you will get access to member’s only audio. I’ll also remind you that I have started raising money for team Hoyt for my 2017 Boston Marathon.  I would appreciate any help you can give.   The fundraiser is on Crowdrise (so I don’t have to touch any of the money) it goes straight to the Hoyts and supports acquiring equipment and supporting others who want to participate like the Hoyts do.  … The RunRunLive podcast is Ad Free and listener supported.  We do this by offering a membership option where members get Access to Exclusive Members Only audio and articles. Yes, we are still working on setting up the separate podcast feed for the member’s content.  Most recently I recorded and uploaded the first chapter of the zombie novel I’ve been writing for 30 years.  Member only race reports, essays and other bits just for you! Exclusive Access to Individual Audio Segments from all Shows Intro’s, Outro’s, Section One running tips, Section Two life hacks and Featured Interviews – all available as stand-alone MP3’s you can download and listen to at any time. Links are in the show notes and at RunRunLive.com … Section one – Trails 101 - Voices of reason – the conversation Geoffrey Pedder – Zelus Beer Here is a bio for me (Geoffrey Pedder): Geoffrey founded ZēLUS in January 2015 after teaching himself how to brew beer the previous year. Since that time he has completed a brewing courses in California, Massachusetts and Vermont. Geoffrey either runs, bikes or swims almost daily and has competed in a multitude of running races and triathlons over many different distances, including marathons and half ironmans. Before starting ZēLUS Geoffrey worked in the shoe industry for 12 years, where he was primarily a brand builder and product developer. He also had corporate roles in production, financial analysis and marketing. Geoffrey is originally from the UK and has experience of working in a number of international markets. Here are a few links (sorry, there are a lot, the key ones are the website and Facebook I guess): Website:  Stockists:  Facebook:  Twitter:  Instagram:  Untappd:  Cheers, Geoff. Section two Grit, Practice and Flow -   Outro OK, my long suffering friends, Since it is St. Paddy’s Day maybe you have sipped a nice local craft IPA along to the finish of Episode 4-361 of the RunRunLive Podcast.  I told you I have not been racing this spring just hitting that training that the coach has been throwing over the wall.  Boston is the second Monday in April and we’ll see what that brings! The interesting thing is that I have been hitting paces on these tempo runs that I haven’t seen since 2011.  Let me back up for those of you who might not have been listening to this podcast for 10 years…After the marathon in 2011 I pulled up lame with a terrible case of plantar fasciitis that I just could not shake and I basically stopped running for 18 months.  I did a lot of biking and swimming but I stopped marathon racing almost entirely. I was just starting to train again in 2013 and we had a challenging year. Some yahoos decided to blow up the marathon and my Dad died of cancer and to be honest it knocked me sideways a bit.  So, I did this Forrest Gump routine where I ran a marathon a month from the Boston Marathon 2013 to the Boston Marathon 2014, including Marine Corp and New York and one I just made up myself.  I think I may have overshot a bit because the following season I came down with this heart problem called exercise induced AFIB.  That laid me low for another year until I went in and got it fixed in the spring of 2015.  Then, being the stubborn guy that I am, I started training again.  But, I had lost a solid 30 seconds a mile off my marathon times to all this foolishness and trials and tribulations.  I settled into a new normal and kept having adventures.  Now you’re up to speed.  So here we are.  2017.  Training for my 19th Boston Marathon.  Guess what?  I’m seeing paces that have seem to indicate that I’ve managed to get back 15 seconds of that 30 seconds I lost.  I was on the treadmill this week doing a 11 mile step up run and my zone 4 pace was 7:08 – 7:18 towards the end of that run.  It looks like I have my base back, my aerobic fitness or, in layman’s terms, my engine.  I’ve gotten a bit of the pace back.  I don’t have any real speed but I do have some solid tempo paces.  So as you raise your green tinted Guinness tonight think about saying a short prayer for me.  Pray for good weather on Patriot’s Day.  Pray that I’ll be graced with the common sense not to attack the course like I did last year.  Pray that I will find the courage to close those last 6 awful miles to Bolyston street.  You’d think that after all these years it would cease to scare me.  But the thought of racing Boston still fills me with an awful dread because I know what it is capable of and I’ve been beaten more times then I have won.  But, also pause to think about the Grit you need to have to hang in and keep pushing through 5 years of challenge.  Listen, I do this because I need to do it. It’s my passion in the true Latin sense.  There is nothing that can beat you unless you let it beat you.  All it takes is grit. I was down in Dallas last week.  I came back from my early morning run and was getting some coffee in the hotel breakfast buffet.  It was just me, one other lady guest and the lady working the buffet.  You know, one of those self-serve areas. The other lady guest stops the server who was going about her business, cleaning and checking, etc – and I’m thinking, “Whoop, here we go, she’s going to whine about the waffles being too salty or something…”, but no.  She stops the server and says, with a big smile, “I just wanted to let you know how great a job you folks are doing with this breakfast.  It is the best I’ve ever seen.  I just had to let you know how great a job you’re doing…” And that Server walked away with the biggest smile.  Ear to ear.  Don’t be stingy with your gifts.  You can make a difference.  And I’ll see you out there. MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks -

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Hello my friends, This is Chris.  I know, you’re used to hearing my voice and may be taken aback to see it coming out of my actual face, but I wanted to talk to you.  On April 17th of this year I’ll be running my 19th Boston Marathon.  My training’s going well – I should be able to give it a respectable effort.  And, of course, I’m running for Team Hoyt this year.  If you don’t know the story of the Hoyts, on a fateful day in 1979 rick Hoyt, who is about my age now and told his dad, Dick, that he wanted to run a local 5 miler.  That started an amazing story of Dick pushing Rick in his wheelchair through thousands of races.  Marathons, ironmans and in the process they broke barriers for the disabled in all walks of life.  They became heroes to a generation of athletes. So I’m asking for your help.  This isn’t to support me, or even the Hoyts, or even the 100’s of disabled athletes they encourage.  This is you and me supporting dreaming the impossible This is you and me supporting the courage to make a difference This is you and me creating a world that You and I want to live in.    There should be a link to my crowdrise page here somewhere. I’d appreciate donations of any size.  Thank you And I’ll see you out there.

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The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-360 – Dan Weston Runs to Work  (Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4360.mp3] Link MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks - Well hello my friends and welcome to Episode 4-360 of the RunRunLive Podcast.  This is Chris your host.  That’s 360 podcasts out there over the past 8-9 years.  Kind of amazing.  It’s been awhile since I re-jiggered the format maybe it’s about time for some fashionable new skins or something.  I’d like to do more but there just isn’t much money in yak farming.  There is plenty of money in being a hit man but I have to keep that in secret, offshore bank accounts.  Today we have a longish interview with Dan Weston who is one of our friends from the UK.  We talk through his running adventures.  In section one I’ve got a piece on some of the finer nuances of hill repeats.  In section two I’ve got a thoughtful piece on ‘hope’ that has been kicking around in my brain for about a decade so I’m glad it made itself known.  I published this piece on LinkedIn this week.  By the way a kudos to those of you who hunted me down on LinkedIn after I posted that piece about setting up your profile a couple episodes back.  I published another piece on ‘Grit’.  I’m reading that book by Angela Duckworth and I would recommend it.  Very good book.  Pulls together many of the concepts we’ve talked about here and, frankly, a very appropriate read for endurance sports aficionados. How’s my training been?  Am I still battling injuries?  I know I left you hanging with some knee pain and some foot pain and a couple week’s off?  Well the day after we last talked I went out and hit a hilly 18-miler with my buddies and felt great.  Coach has been beating the crap out of me but I’m hanging strong.  He gave me a 13 mile step up run with 50 minutes of it in zone 4-5 that I struggled with.  He gave me these hill repeats that I’m going to share with you.  Then last Sunday I knocked off a hilly 19-miler on my own in 2:45.  Yesterday he damn near killed me with a set of 7 7-minute intervals.  But, I’m getting it done and nothing hurts.  6 weeks out from Boston so this is the hard part.  The dark place.  For the remainder of this week he’s got me doing another set of hill repeats and then a tempo 14-miler with the middle 10 miles at faster than race pace.  So, yeah, the good stuff! … I’ve been trying out different guided meditations on Youtube as part of my morning routine.  Like I said you can search on “Meditation for _____” fill in the blank and you’ll find several.  Meditation for sleep, for studying, for energy, for anxiety, for dead possums…anything.  Most of these are just breathing meditation. Some have various relaxation and visualization techniques.  But some are actually very close to hypnosis, so you have to be careful.  They will do that thing where they talk you into a meditative state and then do the old “you are going down an elevator…deeper and deeper…when I count to three…” that sort of thing.  Just be careful, because in this state you are susceptible to suggestions.  Like I said it’s hard for me to meditation because Buddy the Wonder dog hates meditation and will invariably start his barking and whining when I’m deep in a meditative state.  He hates meditation.  Funny, I noticed I’ve been buying a lot of extra dog treats recently…and going for a lot of walks… Hmmmm…. On with the show! … I’ll remind you that the RunRunLive podcast is ad free and listener supported.  We have a membership option where you can become a member and as a special thank you, you will get access to member’s only audio. I’ll also remind you that I have started raising money for team Hoyt for my 2017 Boston Marathon.  I would appreciate any help you can give.   The fundraiser is on Crowdrise (so I don’t have to touch any of the money) it goes straight to the Hoyts and supports acquiring equipment and supporting others who want to participate like the Hoyts do.  … The RunRunLive podcast is Ad Free and listener supported.  We do this by offering a membership option where members get Access to Exclusive Members Only audio and articles. Yes, we are still working on setting up the separate podcast feed for the member’s content.  Most recently I recorded and uploaded the first chapter of the zombie novel I’ve been writing for 30 years.  Member only race reports, essays and other bits just for you! Exclusive Access to Individual Audio Segments from all Shows Intro’s, Outro’s, Section One running tips, Section Two life hacks and Featured Interviews – all available as stand-alone MP3’s you can download and listen to at any time. Links are in the show notes and at RunRunLive.com … Section one – Hill Repeats Nuance - Voices of reason – the conversation Dan Weston Short bio : I started running at the age of 26 and quickly progressed to running for North Wales.  I did well in 10ks, so moved up to half-marathons, then full marathons and Ultras often achieving a podium finish.  In the last year and a half I’ve been focusing on Ultra Marathons.  Representing my Country (Wales) in the last few.   My goals for the next year are to achieve a sub 2h30m marathon, win a few more UK Ultra Marathons.  Section two HOPE - Outro Yes, my friends, not only have you run to work but you have taken a shower and found yourself at the end of episode 4-360 of the RunRunLive podcast.  I will continue to train away for Boston.  I’m keeping my promise of not running any of the spring races and just focusing on the big race.  That will be my 19th Boston Marathon.  My club gets a hotel room at the finish with a massage / physical therapist. If you need a place to take a shower let me know and we can have a beer!  That is if you’re willing to wait until I drag my tired old bones across the finish line.  I am collecting for Team Hoyt and I’m a bit light so I could use the help – the link is in the show notes. My cross-training project for the summer is probably going to be to try to climb the 10 tallest mountains in New England.  Not sure I can do them all in one season but Teresa says she’s in.  … The days are noticeably warmer and longer.  I’ve been getting out in shorts the last couple weeks.  Spring is in the air.  I really like spring.  It’s a hopeful season. A season of rebirth.  A season of new beginning and promise.  It makes me think about how lucky I am.  How many podcasts I’ve been able to produce on this journey.  How many adventures we’ve had together.  How many great new friends I’ve made.  I’m a lucky person.  I really am.  I am grateful.  Thank you for hanging around with me.  Think about what you’re grateful for.  I bet it will make you smile when you’re doing hill repeats! And I’ll see you out there. MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks -

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The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-358 – Pam the TrailMomma  (Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4359.mp3] Link MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks - Well hello my friends and welcome to Episode 4-359 of the RunRunLive Podcast.  Today, for me is February 17 2017.  For you?  Who knows?  Through the miracle of time travel and temporal displacement you could be interfacing with my digital echoes thousands of years from now.  I’m going to keep my intro brief because I’ve got a couple longer pieces in this episode and I’m horribly behind schedule!  When we last talked my training was great and I was ramping up my volume and intensity.  Of course that was a great way to cures myself.  The next day I ran an easy run with my buddies and that night I had a noticeably sore knee. I couldn’t tell if it was from the running or from carrying some heavy crates up to the attic so I took a few days easy.    By mid week it was gone and turns out I probably tweaked something in a non-running activity.  Just goes to show you how terribly fragile a marathoner becomes in the run up to a road marathon.  As a result I missed a weekend long run.  Then this past weekend I got 17 and a half in with my buddies and my foot ended up being quite sore afterwards.  Feels like I aggravated my plantar fasciitis again.  It’s a combination of the high volume, the cold weather and my shoes are getting old.  But, I had to take most of this week off as well. I dragged my bike trainer in from the porch and set it up in the living room in front of the TV and have been spinning away.  I’m going to try an easy 18 tomorrow morning with my buddies.  One great development is that coming full circle I’m doing long runs with my old friend Frank who you might remember from episode 1!  He went through that same hip resurfacing thing and is back on the roads with me training for Boston!  Never say never! Never say die! We’ll be doing this when we’re 80! Today I chat about trail running and plant eating with the delightful Pam the “Trail Moma” – I think you’ll like her. Thanks to my friends out there for responding to my cry for help to get some new interviewees! It worked.  In section one I’ve got a long piece on how to survive the winter blues in your training and your life. In section two I’m going to test out piece on sales that I’d appreciate any feedback on.  Send me fistfulls of dirty cash in duffel bags, or just contribute, to my Team Hoyt fund. Yeah you.  I’m talking to you!  Do the right thing.  I know where you live.  I’m sending Buddy to break your legs for a contribution.  I’ve had to move 3 large helpings of winter storm snow this week and my back hurts! But we also got the winter moon which was wonderful! The days are getting longer.  Spring is coming.  … I’ll remind you that the RunRunLive podcast is ad free and listener supported.  We have a membership option where you can become a member and as a special thank you, you will get access to member’s only audio. I’ll also remind you that I have started raising money for team Hoyt for my 2017 Boston Marathon.  I would appreciate any help you can give.   The fundraiser is on Crowdrise (so I don’t have to touch any of the money) it goes straight to the Hoyts and supports acquiring equipment and supporting others who want to participate like the Hoyts do.  … The RunRunLive podcast is Ad Free and listener supported.  We do this by offering a membership option where members get Access to Exclusive Members Only audio and articles. Yes, we are still working on setting up the separate podcast feed for the member’s content.  Most recently I recorded and uploaded the first chapter of the zombie novel I’ve been writing for 30 years.  Member only race reports, essays and other bits just for you! Exclusive Access to Individual Audio Segments from all Shows Intro’s, Outro’s, Section One running tips, Section Two life hacks and Featured Interviews – all available as stand-alone MP3’s you can download and listen to at any time. Links are in the show notes and at RunRunLive.com … Section one – Winter Blues  - Voices of reason – the conversation Pam – The TrailMomma Links: Instagram: @Trailmomma Facebook:    As for a bio, feel free to use this or grab from my site - either is fine.   A New Jersey transplant that landed herself in California, Pam is a weekend warrior with a passion. She works full-time, is the mother of two and has a burning desire to see everyone achieve their best life by thriving on a plant-based diet. If she's not running the canyons of Northern California she is attending plant-based conferences or has her nose in a book reading the latest on the healing properties of plants. She finds pleasure in helping those that reach out to her for help in transitioning out of the Standard American Diet (SAD) and into one that will transform them inside and out.    Two more links. My YouTube channel and I realized I mentioned the Engine 2 group in our talk.    Happy Trails! Pam   Section two Sales and selling - Outro Yes, my friends, this particular trail is a dead end that you have followed, an impassable swamp of ideas that you cannot ford, but you have reached, at the end of the RunRunLive Podcast.  I’m still training away and a couple weeks isn’t going to affect me either way.  The lesson, for you, though, is, as I said in the first piece, pay attention and get in front of injuries early in your cycle.  Before they take you out.  I know in my experience there is never an immediate chronic injury, it’s always something that would have healed in a couple weeks or days if I had just been smart about it.  We’re about a month and a half out from Boston.  That gives me plenty of time to tune my racing. I’m already riding a good fitness base so I’m not worried about it.  I can lose those last ten pounds in 2 weeks if I have to! I’ve got a lot going on.  I’m short on time today and that’s ok.  That’s why we set deadlines. Deadlines and urgency are enabling.  As a matter of fact urgency is one of the preconditions for entering a flow state.  Translation: you do some of your best work when you don’t have any other choice and you don’t have time to think about it! I’m reading a great book, that I’ll write more about in the future, called ‘Grit’, by Angela Duckworth.  It talks a lot about how being successful is more related to sustained effort than intelligence and skill.  I love this concept.  I can see it in my running and career.  It also says that when you find something that you are passionate about, that becomes your obsession and purpose, it isn’t like being struck by lightning.  Most people don’t end up doing what they thought they would.  The path to success and passion and self-realization is a crooked one.  If you were to stumble across my personal journals you’d find them full of laments that I don’t know what I want to do with my life! The first phase is one of ‘interest’ of ‘discovery’ before people lock into that thing they love. So, don’t be afraid to try new things and shop around in your interest.  It’s an incremental process and a crooked road that never ends.  Please, enjoy the journey! And I’ll see you out there. MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks -

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The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-358 – Q&A with Chris  (Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4358.mp3] Link MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks - Well hello my friends and welcome to Episode 4-358 of the RunRunLive Podcast.  How are you doing?  We made it to February.  We’re on the other side of the equinox. The days are getting longer.  My training is going great.  I’ve been eating clean and I’m ramping up my miles for Boston.  I did a 1:20 step up on Sunday with a full 50 minutes of tempo at faster than race pace.  I did a hilly 10.5 on Tuesday and another hilly 10.8 on Wednesday.  I’m at close to 30 miles and I’ve got two more runs this week.  That’s good volume for me and my legs feel good.  I’m recovering well and nothing hurt.  Right on plan.  Today we have an interesting interview with a handsome, intelligent and compelling man.  No.  Not really.  Just kidding.  As I threatened I had my baby, future Neurosurgeon, Teresa ask me questions that you had sent in.  What can I say, they can’t all be great shows! Come o, we’re at episode 358 for heaven’s sake!  I get a gimme now and then. In part one I’ll focus in on how to execute a step-up run.  In section two I’ll share a piece that I wrote this week on how to tell your story on LinkedIn for my business blog.  Other than that it’s Friday night and I owe you a show! So let’s progress with alacrity before we freeze in this February evening.  … I’ll remind you that the RunRunLive podcast is ad free and listener supported.  We have a membership option where you can become a member and as a special thank you, you will get access to member’s only audio. I’ll also remind you that I have started raising money for team Hoyt for my 2017 Boston Marathon.  I would appreciate any help you can give.   The fundraiser is on Crowdrise (so I don’t have to touch any of the money) it goes straight to the Hoyts and supports acquiring equipment and supporting others who want to participate like the Hoyts do.  … Last week one of my runs was a 30-30 workout.  It’s a bit of a speed workout.  You warm up then you run 30 seconds hard, at 15-20 seconds faster than your 5K pace.  Then you recover for 30 seconds and repeat.  Do that 20 times and cool down.  It’s the type of workout that you should really do on the track, but the local tracks are all under snow right now so I did it in my neighborhood.  My neighborhood is almost exactly a 1K loop.  It’s sort of a slightly inclined 1K oval.  It’s good for this type of workout and my neighbors have long gotten over the fact that I’m THAT guy.  There’s a Montessori school at the end of road.  So I ran past the kids playing in the playground every 4-5 minutes.  I got out at lunch, to get some sun, so they were out playing in the snow.  These are little kids.  They were playing over the remains of a snow fort of some sort.  We got this weird ice-rain-snow-freeze that makes for some sturdy, crunchy snow.  I got these little windows of precocious organizational behavior as I ran by.  First time I passed they were trying to stop someone from destroying the snow fort.  There was a party that was actively pro-destruction and another that really didn’t want them to do that and a couple of moderators trying to find a middle ground. Next time I went by they had figured out some way to jump off or slide on the fort remains and now were working out the rules for doing so.  Much debate on the proper jumping and sliding protocols.  Next time they were all happily taking turns doing whatever it was they decided was the funnest thing to do, but since, apparently only one person at a time could do it, the moderators were now verbally enforcing who’s turn it was and how long they could go. No adults involved.  Just a gang of little kids on a snow fort.  And they self-organized to keep things moving along. Made me think about the nature of humans and how we are much stronger together than apart.  When we can work it out and find a way to move forward – everybody wins.  Maybe we could promote these kids up to run the world? On with the show. The RunRunLive podcast is Ad Free and listener supported.  We do this by offering a membership option where members get Access to Exclusive Members Only audio and articles. Yes, we are still working on setting up the separate podcast feed for the member’s content.  Most recently I recorded and uploaded the first chapter of the zombie novel I’ve been writing for 30 years.  Member only race reports, essays and other bits just for you! Exclusive Access to Individual Audio Segments from all Shows Intro’s, Outro’s, Section One running tips, Section Two life hacks and Featured Interviews – all available as stand-alone MP3’s you can download and listen to at any time. Links are in the show notes and at RunRunLive.com … Section one – Step-up run part 2 - Voices of reason – the conversation ME! Got nuthin to add! Section two Using LinkedIn to tell your story - Outro Alrighty my friends.  You stepped up to the end of episode 4-358 of the RunRunLive Podcast. Love you guys.  Don’t be afraid to send me questions or comments.  I do love the interaction.  I’m right on track in my training for Boston.  I received my entry confirmation today – so it’s real! Hopefully we’ll get good weather and I’ll be able to let the dogs out!  My nutrition has been super clean this week.  It’s been a good build week and I feel pretty good.  I’ll go out for an easy 7-8 with my buddies tomorrow and then 15-16 on Sunday.  As I promised I skipped Derry this year and am not signing up for any of the spring races.  I may decide to do Eastern States.  But I’m trying to focus my training and keep it simple.  … I had two back to back 1:30 runs this week.  I did them on a hilly course around my house over into the next town on the back roads.  We’ve got snow on the ground and it’s in the mid-20’s. Tuesday I couldn’t get the run done until it was dark out.  I went out into the cold, quiet New England winter night.  It’s really special in the winter at night when it’s cold out. It was a moonless night. It was super quiet.  When it gets cold the air gets really dry and crisp.  All you can hear is the pat pat pat of your feet on the pavement and the sound of your own breathing.    Even though there was no moon, because of the icy snow cover the woods and roads were lit up from the starlight.  When it gets dry like this the stars fight their way through the light pollution and stand out.  You can look up and see Orion the Hunter and the Big Dipper and Cassiopeia and the sparkling dust of the Milky Way.  Our home.  So don’t be afraid to get out and feel the cold air in your lungs and live the winter months with the verve and joie de vivre that I know you all possess.  And…I’ll see you out there!   MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks -

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The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-357 – Hip Re-surface with Joe  (Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4357.mp3] Link MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks - Hello my friends and welcome to episode 4-357 of the RunRunLive podcast. I wrote this sitting in the airport in San Jose waiting on a red-eye flight back east. I don’t mind sleeping on planes. I’m a good sleeper. It wasn’t a direct flight and there actually wasn’t much sleep. I’m a bit burnt out from a couple weeks of travel and some emotionally draining interactions. I got a run in. A morning run. I just headed out from the hotel and followed the trolley tracks and sidewalks up north 1st street. It was cold and rainy. Something very rare in California. They welcomed the rain but it messed people up. It caused extreme traffic problems. It was a bit surreal running past PayPal’s head quarters in the pre-dawn drizzle. I just did an out and back. It’s cold for them - in the 40’s and everyone is bundled up in down jackets and scarves. It was more like an April day for me and I was in shorts and a t-shirt. Today we are going to talk to Joe Hill a friend of the show who talks us through his hip resurfacing journey that ended, believe it or not, spoiler alert, very well. This is a continuation of the ‘overcoming serious injuries’ series. And I have no agenda here. I’m perfectly fine, training away, no aches and pains more than usual. I am unusually busy so I’ll apologize for being distracted! I have been collecting questions for a Q&A show and I’m going to get Teresa to interview me - that should be fun - so if you have questions for me about anything send ‘em on over. In the first section I’ve got a piece about how long should the long run be in your training plan. In the second section I’m going to share with you a verbal doodle I penned while sitting in a Starbucks in San Jose. Hey, take it for what it is. My form of poetry. Sorry. As the saying goes „Sometimes you’re the bird and sometimes you’re the windshield.“ Two self serving points. I am collecting for Team Hoyt for the Boston Marathon and would appreciate your support. A little bit from a lot of people makes a difference. Be kind. Help those who need it. The crowdrise Link in the show notes. The second thing is that the podcast is ad free and listener supported. I do this by offering a membership option. This isn’t a job for me, it’s a hobby and your membership helps keep the lights on. In exchange we put out some members only content. Go to my website to sign up. ... I watched a good movie last week. It’s one of the new releases on Amazon Prime and it’s called Gleason. It’s about Steve Gleason, an American football player, famous for bocking a punt in the post-Katrina New Orleans Superbowl. He finds out he has ALS, Lou Gerrig’s disease, and documents the whole process. This is the same disease Stephen Hawkings has. Most patients don’t last more than 3 - 5 years. Hawkings has somehow managed to live to 73 with it. It’s a terrible disease because it doesn’t really effect your mind but it wastes your body. It is a heart wrenching movie. In my house they girls usually fight over what to watch, but this had a football in it so my wife would watch it and had some neuro science in it so my daughter would too.   In the end it’s about struggle and courage. And that’s life in a microcosm, right? We all have struggles and we all need courage. On with the Show! The RunRunLive podcast is Ad Free and listener supported. We do this by offering a membership option where members get Access to Exclusive Members Only audio and articles. Yes, we are still working on setting up the separate podcast feed for the member’s content. Most recently I recorded and uploaded the first chapter of the zombie novel I’ve been writing for 30 years. o Member only race reports, essays and other bits just for you!  Exclusive Access to Individual Audio Segments from all Shows o Intro’s, Outro’s, Section One running tips, Section Two life hacks and Featured Interviews – all available as stand-alone MP3’s you can download and listen to at any time. Links are in the show notes and at RunRunLive.com … Section one – How long? - Voices of reason – the conversation Joe Hill’s Hip Re-surfacing journey or info on the procedure:    You can include my email address on the show notes, if you want:     I enjoyed chatting with you today! Thanks for your time!   Joe Section two Caffeine and Laptops - Outro Yes my friends you have slept sitting up between two strangers all the way across the country and to the end of Episode 4-357 of the RunRunLive Podcast. How about Joe,huh? New hip and he runs a PR and gets a BQ! The learning here is that you don’t have to train, just get new parts! I wonder how many years before sports are going to have to make a call on how much artificial augmentation you get to have in your body before you get disqualified or at least have a different standard for ‘augmented’ humans? It’s a science fiction world out there. I don’t think I’m going to race until Boston this year. I’m a bit tired of these races and they are all getting pricey as well. We’ll see. I might get the urge to run Eastern States or Stu’s but I’m going to skip Derry this weekend and just do my own long run. I don’t have any big plans for the summer yet. I just finished reading Thoreau’s “The Maine Woods” and I’m thinking about taking Teresa up to climb Kataddn. It still sounds pretty wild up there on the other side of Bangor and I do love the woods. I’ll write a review of ‘The Maine Woods’ this week. It was much more readable, narrative-wise, than Cape Cod or Walden. I might circle back to Walden, but I’ll work in some business reading first. With travel the last couple weeks I have fallen off the good-eating habits train, but I’ll get back on and do what I can. Life is life and you have to adjust to circumstance. With Boston only 90 days away my training will start getting more intense and more race specific. Longer runs and more tempo work, less easy base building. Buddy is doing great. I took him for a run in the woods this week and he loved it. 20 minutes in the cold and slush. He’s now the last of his cadre in the neighborhood. The last of his class, the black lab next door who taught him how to swim moved on to the great dog park in the sky after the holidays. Buddy is still up and reasonably mobile for a goofy old man. ... I was going to end this show by sharing some thoughts on the Hollywood blacklist. I’m listening to a history of it right now, and it’s top of mind. But it wasn’t the most positive thing so I’ll push it out to the member’s feed and avoid the hate mail. Instead let’s think about Joe’s journey, and Steve Gleason and all the others like them. We all have low points and challenges in our lives. When you’re inside them you can’t even imagine things getting better. You get overwhelmed by hopelessness and despair. Invariably when I look back at the really challenging times in my life, whether they be in my career or my training they were a gift. They caused me to stand up and take charge of my story. They caused me to take leaps of faith and make things happen. The lower the low point, the bigger the challenge, the more you learn from it and the bigger the bounce. You come the other side forged in the heat of the furnace. You become a much stronger and resillient person. But only if you are willing to try, to adapt, to learn - to get over yourself and move. Challenges become meaningful when you give them meaning. Low points become valuable when you wring the value from them. And as for you - Keep your heads up and your eyes open. Watch out for the sharp rocks and hanging branches of life... and I’ll see you out there. MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks -

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The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-356 – Talking Communities with Kevin Gwin of the Extra Mile  (Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4356.mp3] Link MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks - Hey there!  It’s a new year! I know we lost a lot of celebrities in 2016, but you and I made it, right?  So welcome to a new year.  And welcome to the extra-mile edition of the RunRunLive Podcast.  That’s right I grabbed our friend Kevin Gwin away from his Beatles albums and Galloway chatter to talk to me about communities of runners and how the world has changed since we started doing this a decade ago.  How was your 2016?  Glass half-full or tank half-empty?  I’m going to quote my favorite race ‘A’ goal.  “I didn’t die!”  The rest is gravy I guess! Let’s see what I can remember… I think we started the year running the Hangover Classic 10k on January first and jumping in the ocean.  Then in January didn’t trundle the wife off to Phoenix for a quick vacation that included the Rock ‘n Roll Marathon and a bunch of cool sight-seeing? Did I not run a bunch of the local races leading up to Boston?  Like Derry and Stu’s and Eastern States?  Did I not Have a great training cycle? The best in 5 years right?  Then we ran Boston and learned that lesson about going out too fast that somehow never gets learned.  But, we checked off our 18th Boston, didn’t die and raised some coin for the Hoyts.  Do I seem to remember capping off 10 years of Race Directorship of the Groton Road Race?  The race and the club managed to survive my term and handed it off to someone even more capable! There might have been a couple weeks in May where all that caught up with me and I slowed down with a small case of pneumonia, but you can’t get rainbows without rain.  I jumped out of that rough patch by running the Grand Canyon with my newly graduated Daughter.  How cool is that for a bucket list checkoff? The summer was a bit doldrum filled, but I capped it off with another nice vacation to Chicago, yes I did see a Cubs Game in Wrigley Field.  Apparently my good karma rubbed off on those fellows later in the year. I shook off the heat and placed in that trail marathon in Indy.  I returned to my old friend the Wapack Trail for a long outing in the rocks on Labor Day.  Then I turned around and spanked that Spartan Beast a couple weeks later, making a fair amount of young people cry.   Somewhere in there I lost 15 pounds and showed up for the Portland Marathon lean and light.  I got lucky with the weather and requalified.  I joined my club for the Ayer 5k tradition on Thanksgiving and our end-of-season shindig at the Mill Cities Relay.  This past Saturday I ran the 4th edition of my very own made up marathon and I’ll tell you about that later.  Goodreads tells me I read 27 books.  I know I wrote at least 52 articles.  I pushed out 26 podcasts.  I trained almost every day.  Pretty good year, right?  Was it perfect?  Was it filled with challenges and accidents and side turns?  Of course, it was.  If everything is smooth sailing and your life isn’t filled with challenges you’re not living, you’re waiting to die. I don’t know if any of that stuff would be considered worthy, or good or bad.  I try very hard not to waste time keeping score.  It’s simpler.  Get up and do stuff.  Do what you can do.  I have a sign by y desk that reminds me that consistency and practice are a reasonable substitute for genius, it says; “Work the Process.” Anyway, today we talk with Kevin.  In section one I’ll talk a bit about breathing.  I was thinking about this topic this week and wanted to poke at it a bit. In section two I’ll probably pull some more nuggets out of the Drucker book I’ve just finished.  (that would count as number one for 2017, if I was keeping score!) … BeforeI let you go I’ll remind you that the RunRunLive podcast is ad free and listener supported.  We have a membership option where you can become a member and as a special thank you, you will get access to member’s only audio. I’ll also remind you that I have started raising money for team Hoyt for my 2017 Boston Marathon.  I would appreciate any help you can give.   The fundraiser is on Crowdrise (so I don’t have to touch any of the money) it goes straight to the Hoyts and supports acquiring equipment and supporting others who want to participate like the Hoyts do.  My family and I go over to my Mom’s for Christmas Eve.  I was driving around in the truck with Buddy doing errands on Saturday and she called me to see what time I was planning to come.  I asked her who else was coming, because I had some nieces and nephews I was trying to get presents to. And she must have thought I was qualifying the gathering because she said “It’s not the number of people who show up, Chris, it’s the quality of the people who show up.” There ya go.  Happy New Year. On with the show. The RunRunLive podcast is Ad Free and listener supported.  We do this by offering a membership option where members get Access to Exclusive Members Only audio and articles. Yes, we are still working on setting up the separate podcast feed for the member’s content.  Most recently I recorded and uploaded the first chapter of the zombie novel I’ve been writing for 30 years.  Member only race reports, essays and other bits just for you! Exclusive Access to Individual Audio Segments from all Shows Intro’s, Outro’s, Section One running tips, Section Two life hacks and Featured Interviews – all available as stand-alone MP3’s you can download and listen to at any time. Links are in the show notes and at RunRunLive.com … Section one – Breathing - Voices of reason – the conversation Kevin Gwin from the ExtraMile Podcast The Extra Mile Podcast is a podcast for runners of all abilities from any part of the globe. In this podcast we encourage runners, no matter what their ability, to get in touch and send us their audio updates to tell us about their training, their races, or even if they've just taken up running. We welcome everyone in to our online community. Some runners choose to record themselves out on a run, whilst others like to record in the comfort of their own home. Whichever suits you, why not record us a message and let us know how your running is going? You can use your computer, your MP3 player or any type of audio digital recording device to record something and email  it in to us, we really would love to hear from you. This podcast is listened to by many runners around the globe who often take the show out on their training runs and just love to hear about how other runners are doing - a bit like having a group virtual running buddies to keep them company. Thanks for visiting the site and we hope you'll add your voice to our growing global community of runners on the Extra Mile Podcast! The Extra Mile Podcast-GALLOWAY EDITION is a podcast for runners of ALLabilities who want to learn everything they can about theGalloway RUN/WALK/RUNtraining method right from Jeff ! This podcast will Run/Walk you right through Jeff's 30 week marathon training schedule and gently get you to the finish line of your fall marathon "INJURYFREE"!!! Section two The Effective Executive - http://runrunlive.com/the-effective-executive-peter-e-drucker Outro Alrighty my friends.  New year, new lease on life, right?  Blank slate for us.  You my friend have diaphragmatically breathed your way through the end of Episode 4-356 of the RunRunLive podcast.  Strange cadence to the holidays this year.  It seems like everyone disappeared for 2 weeks on the business side.  I was trying to make calls and I couldn’t get a response out of anyone.  Now this week they are all emerging from the woodwork with a corresponding urgency! As of Monday I’m back on my clean eating wagon.  It feels good.  My goal is to see if I can get down to 165 pounds for the Boston marathon.  It’s ironic that the government BMI tables have always told me I should be between 155 and 165 for my height.  I always thought that was bull.  At that weight I’m going to be somewhere in the 6-7% body fat.  Should be able to see some of those ab muscles I’ve never seen! I’m healthy and my training is going well.  Coach has me in the build-2 stage, which means I’ll start ramping up the volume and working in some intensity.  I did one last idiotic thing to close out the year, well, actually two things.  I hosted the 4th annual Groton Marathon.  We made it more official this year.  We set up the clock and had people ‘register’.  We got some blank buttons with the club logo on them. I Left a piece of notebook paper on the tailgate of my truck and had people sign in their name, distance and make up a bib number.  The official bibs were the buttons.  I gave them a sharpie to write their numbers on the button.  Of course, given the geekiness of runners I didn’t just get numbers.  I got two pi’s, a mu, a natural logarithm and a tally mark five.  Then I had them write down their finishing time when they were done. So we could get results.  I handed out handmade holiday ornaments as medals.  I got about 24 people to come out and run various differences.  The ½ was very popular.  Two other guys joined me for the full.  Given the shape I was in it was probably about 4-6 miles more than I should have been running – but we got it done, finishing up around 4:09.  It hovered just below freezing for the whole day. I guess the lesson here is you don’t need to be a $150 Rock n Roll event to get out and have fun with your buddies.  Because of the odd way the holidays fell, the Hangover Classic was the next day.  I ran the 5K with Teresa and we all jumped in the Atlantic, as is our tradition.  It was interesting running the day after a marathon.  I just stretched out and let my legs do what they wanted.  I survived.  Now I’m back on the plan and ramping up for Boston.  It’s good to have a compass point to steer towards.  On a different note, Buddy the old Wonder dog is doing ok.  He can’t run much anymore because his his back hips are very weak now.  He’s not in any pain, he just has trouble getting up and down.  He still climbs the stairs and jumps up in the bed.  He’s still perfectly mobile, but I think his running days are over.  He’s started his new career as a lap dog to keep the girls warm at night.  Not a bad gig. … We had a warm day with rain this week and it washed most of the snow and ice from the trails.  I was able to get out for a run.  Out behind the pond I found a cell phone in the ground.  I brought it home.  It was a droid in an Otter case and it still had a charge on it.  It was locked so I couldn’t tell whose it was.  I brought it home and put it on the charge.  It rang a couple times, but I couldn’t get to it in time.  I ended up dropping it at the police station.  I hope the owner thinks to call down there.  I feel like I should put a sign up on the trail that says “I found your cell phone and left it with the Police.” I also tried to give blood.  Funny story.  The Red Cross were sending me desperate emails.  I tried to make an appointment on their website, but my experience is that making an appointment really has no impact on the process.  It’s not the most organized process. Of course the lady is taking my HR and I tell her it’s going to be low, but she enters it and the system flags it, and she has to call a doctor to get it overridden.  Crazy right?  I sometimes feel like we get penalized for being healthy. Then they hook me up, she can’t find a vein, because, I guess I ‘m a bit grissley.  She fishes around, calls the other guy over, he fishes around, they finally find some blood flow and get me going.  Couple minutes later the next person wanders by and notices that I’ve dried up.  She fishes around for awhile, then they give up.  They unhook me and I’m done. That’s it. They don’t get a bag of blood. I get a bottle of water, a t-shirt, a Dunkies gift card and a bruise.  So, I’m not complaining but there’s an hour and a half of my life I think we could make better use of! Anybody else have this challenge?  Seems like a process that could use a bit of effectiveness consulting, eh? … So my friends. Here we are in 2017.  Ten years in.  Remember when you were a kid and 10 years seemed like such a long wait?  Now it’s the blink of an eye. It’s up to you to slow it down.  You have to grab time by the tail and hold on tight, or as Ferrris said, you might miss it. We tend to get caught up and tied up by all the things undone, piled up and leering at us.  I think you have to actively counter that.  Especially in these early days of the calendar when we’re all thinking about goals and list and priorities.  I leave you with one of the sentiments from my daily practice. Focus on executing today, living now, being present in today’s tasks and let the outcomes take care of themselves. And.. I’ll see you out there in a healthy, prosperous and joy filled 2017. MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks -

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The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-354 – Heart Rate Training Refresher with Coach  (Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4355.mp3] Link MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks -   Hello my little elves and reindeer and welcome to the Saturnalia celebration of the RunRunLive Podcast.  We are at Episode 4-355 today.  I hope all of you are doing well.  Are you getting to spend some time with your families?  Maybe take a moment to be grateful and in the moment?  It’s all good.  Today we are going to do a little heart rate training refresher with coach.  I have been getting a lot of questions on heart rate training so I thought we’d take a couple beats to review some of that.  Maybe it will set you up for your next training cycle coming out of the winter solstice.  In section one I’m going to talk about Raynaud’s disease or syndrome – which is common in the cold weather months – and how it’s a different thing than just having cold hands.  In section two I’m going to wax philosophic about setting your own work/life balance rules. As you may have noticed from the sexy timber of my voice I am or have been sick.  Last week I had a sore throat that rapidly progressed into a sinus infection and I’ve been on antibiotics for a couple days.  I lost a week of training in the process and managed to eat 6 pounds worth of sugar cookies as well.  I’m getting fairly disgusted with myself!  I’m ready to get back on the training horse for…{dramatic pause here} the Boston Marathon!  Yes, I’m lucky enough to have received a waiver entry for the 2017 Boston Marathon.  It will be my 19th Boston.  I’m qualified for 2018, but not this year, I age up in November of 2017.  Unless they change the rules again.  It’s been a long ride.  Qualifying for that first Boston in 1997 damn near killed me.  I only needed a 3:15 at the time because I was already aging up in 1998.  But I trained for and ran a 3:09 just because that was the goal I set.  I set my PR at Boston that spring of 98 at the ripe old age of 35 running a 3:06 on a nice cool, drizzly day.  I remember that day.  I remember passing Rick and Dick Hoyt somewhere in the middle miles.  They weren’t as famous as they would become.  You could really see people back then, especially as a qualified runner, there were a lot less, like a tenth, the number of runners on course.  The crowds were the same but the course had a lot fewer runners. I clearly remember that day.  GPS watches didn’t exist yet, but I knew I was running over my head when I caught the Hoyts.  I positive splitted that race too.  Ran like an idiot.  The last two miles were a nightmare but I was in good enough shape to tough it out.  You can see the thousand-mile stare in my eyes in the race photo from Boylston street.  Good photo.  My form is beautiful.  I’ve got nice, big hair with a red bandana as a sweat band.  I’ve got those red high-cut shorts and a long sleeve tech shirt with a nice nipple blood stain.  You remember those things.  Those moments change your life. In the same way the Hoyts have changed thousands of lives.  Just by being out there.  I hear the stories.  They all start with some version of “Little Johnny saw Rick and Dick, turned to me and said “We can do that!”, and, Bam!, I life is changed, a dream is enabled.  That art of the possible.  The frame is broken. I can be part of that by supporting these guys.  So expect me to ask you for a contribution so I can help these guys continue to change the world.  You can do that. On with the show! The RunRunLive podcast is Ad Free and listener supported.  We do this by offering a membership option where members get Access to Exclusive Members Only audio and articles. Yes, we are still working on setting up the separate podcast feed for the member’s content.  Most recently I recorded and uploaded the first chapter of the zombie novel I’ve been writing for 30 years.  Member only race reports, essays and other bits just for you! Exclusive Access to Individual Audio Segments from all Shows Intro’s, Outro’s, Section One running tips, Section Two life hacks and Featured Interviews – all available as stand-alone MP3’s you can download and listen to at any time. Links are in the show notes and at RunRunLive.com … Section one – A couple words on Raynaud’s Syndrome - Voices of reason – the conversation Coach Jeff Kline PRSFit IT STARTS WITH THE DECISION TO TRY! At PRS FIT we provide training, motivation and camaraderie. When you become a part of our Team you quickly see we love what we do. (You also receive our first time finishers guarantee) We do it better because we care about you. The Team cares about you. We don’t go off the grid. When you need an answer we’re there to help you find it! OUR PHILOSOPHY Prs Fit is a community of athletes from all over the world. We are a team. Alone or together, from beginner 5k to Boston Marathon and 100 Miler, sprint triathlon to Kona, we strive and we conquer. Prs Fit lets you experience what we call Team and social fitness – connecting and motivating each through our one of a kind global team experience. No matter the weather, the circumstance, day after day, we provide a high quality training experience that produces results. Be Healthy. Train Smart. Have Fun. Section two Work the way you live your life - Outro Hey folks, merry Saturnalia and solstice to you…congratulations on having your heart continue beating through the course and to the end of episode 4-355 of the RunRunLive Podcast No races to report this week.  Just 6 extra pounds of Christmas cookie blubber and an amoxicillin chaser. I do have the Groton Marathon coming up.  As usually happens people tend to bail out as we get closer.  What seems like a swell idea in October becomes a dumb idea In December.  With my week off I’m in no shape to run it, but as the host I’m going to have to trundle my cookie-eating-butt out there and make a show of it.  Teresa wants to run the Hangover classic, which due to the way the holiday’s fall is the next day!  I guess a guy of my experience can go limp an easy 5k with an ocean dip… The water is warm this year; it’s in the mid-40’s.  That will cure any and all hangovers. As we kick off the new year, as we turn over the calendar, it’s a new season.  I’m going to focus on getting back into the shape I was in for Portland.  With that fitness and actually training for the target race I should be able to go down into the 3:20’s and I’d really like to do that as a vindication for these last five years of struggle before I age up and stop worrying about it.  I know.  As much as I like to act like I don’t care, I guess I do.  As much as I like to pretend I’m not compulsive in my need for book-end events, I am.  I guess we’re all compulsive in our own ways right? … I’ll keep it brief.  I hope you’re listening to this while you’re out in the winter trails at night under a waning moon.  The snow crunching and squeaking under your yaktrax.  The breath blooming large like a flower of life from your lungs.  A chrysanthemum of joyous exertion.  I’d like that.  I’ve been figuring out how to get out in the dark and the cold and the snow myself.  We got enough snow, and it stayed, to narrow the roads and make the trails dicey.  People in the cars around me are super angry.  We only get 4 hours of sunlight or something now, so, yeah, it’s a challenge to get out there, right? But you must get out there.  Out there is that other existence.  Out there is where life is.  So get out there.  Lean in…or maybe out…make someone’s day. Enjoy your holidays.  Be grateful.  Hug your family.  Cuddle the dog.  Relax.  Be in the moment. Thank you for 2016. I’ll see you out there in 2017. MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks -

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