RunRunLive 5.0 - Running Podcast

The RunRunLive 3.0 Podcast Episode 3-285 – Akshay Nanavati – Epic Running(Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi3285.mp3]Link epi3285.mp3To donate to my liver foundation fund for the Boston Marathon -> http://go.liverfoundation.org/goto/cyktrussellSupport RunRunLive; Purchase an audio book of running stories.  Written and performed with love by Chris Russell  ------------->>>>>>>http://bit.ly/1cH2Fr7

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Unicorns-1.3Me-and-DadIntroductory Comments:http://go.liverfoundation.org/goto/cyktrussell[audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/unicorns13.mp3]unicorns13.mp3Hello and welcome my friends.  This is Chris and this is the third 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/cyktrussellMy 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.…I’m the youngest of 4.  I have two older sisters and an older brother.  We didn’t always get along with each other as siblings do but we are close and working through my Dad’s cancer has given us the opportunity to spend more time together.  It’s been fun to talk through shared family experiences and memories.As the youngest I don’t have the depth of memories as my brother and sisters, but they are there and as we spend time together they are unearthed like the quite turnings of some dusty album.  There’s nothing bad there.  There is some funny stuff.  Mostly it is bits and pieces and vignettes that we can compare notes on.I remember my Dad coming home from work one day with a full size electric organ for the living room.  My sisters were both taking piano lessons and I guess he thought this would give them some additional enablement.At some point we acquired a full size piano as well at some point.  My Mom taught my girls how to play songs on it when they went for visits.My Dad designed a built a giant two story car garage out of pre-stressed concrete beams and I can remember helping shingle the roof with cedar shakes.  Snapping the chalk lines, as a kid, and knocking the shingle nails true, row by row, all day long.He and my brother would work on cars together in that garage.  They had every tool and machine needed to do anything.  I remember one time in the 80’s I dropped my car off at the house.  It needed a universal joint in the front end. I was going to help them replace it (which for me meant handing them tools).  I went for an errand and by the time I came back they had it done already.My Dad and I would go for walks in the woods in New England.  I don’t remember the walks so much as the trees. I still can identify every tree in New England by its leaves and bark.  If pressed I could make a serviceable whistle from a young willow sapling with a jackknife – which was one of our spring rituals.The red oak, the white pine, the ash – used for axe handles and hockey sticks – the poplar, the white and grey birch, the pignuts and shagbark hickories – whose bounty we would collect in the fall for fireside cracking and snacking – the hawthorn and elderberry.  My connection to the natural world that I treasure so dearly was born in those New England summers.My Dad loved to chop wood to feed the wood stove all winter long.  He taught me how to swing an axe.  His favorite axe was a light, thin-bladed axe for limbing the felled trees, and he would grind the cheeks of splitting axes to create the perfect tool.He taught me how to swing a maul to split the green hard wood and how to stack the split logs so that they would dry.  He showed me that you could split any log with a sledge hammer and wedges.The wedges in my garage came from his collection.  I use them every year as I relive the pure visceral joy of bringing the heavy maul down on the yielding log in the sultry autumn afternoons.  There is nothing I enjoy more than becoming lost in a large woodpile with my axe, maul, hammer and wedges.And that’s the lesson here.  There is peace and honor in a job well done.  It doesn’t matter that you can pay someone $100 bucks to mow your lawn or drop a cord of presplit wood in your driveway.  That takes the honor out of it.  The pride and honor of reducing a pile of logs to a neatly stacked and tarped pile of BTU’s for the coming winter is a feeling of intellectual freedom that I am thankful for.Today I’m going to share with you a chat I had with a friend of mine and fellow Goon Squad runner Michael Robertson about running for charity.After that I’m going to read a story my brother wrote recently about something funny from our childhood.  I never realized how good a writer my brother was until he began to comment on the Caringbridge site my sister set up for my Dad’s friends to check in.  He was always the best story teller in our family.  He could spin the tallest tales with a straight face and get away with almost anything.Cheers,……Featured Interview:Michael Robertsonshots of whiskey for the plow driversWritten Feb 13, 2014 3:46pm by Dave RussellBeing that it is a cold and snowy day today, I thought I would relate a story of how our Father (Russ) attacked problems head on with simple and imaginative solutions.Shots of whiskey for the plow driversThe Russells were the original Skyfields Drive hilltop residents of Groton. When we moved in, no other residents shared the top of the hill and during heavy snow we were pretty much on our own. This was the mid sixties; a time long before the advent of DSS when kids were considered free labor for the menial physical tasks. For example “Adults run the chainsaw and split logs. Kids carry wood and drag brush”.To shorten the response time of the town plow crews, Dad came up with the brilliant but elegantly simple plan to bribe the plow drivers with hot coffee or shots of whiskey to encourage them to come by our neighborhood first. It was this type of imaginative thinking and direct approach that made him a legend and our “go to guy”.We would usually see the plows start up the hill from 119 through the windows off the deck and have about 5 minutes to prepare.Since Mary Lou was the oldest but couldn’t go out alone, she and I usually got the nod. We had to wear dark clothing to contrast with the snow and flag down the plows without getting plowed into a snow bank ourselves. Over time, we learned that it was best to stand across the street and approach from the driver’s side door as the plow traveled slowly up the hill. Each driver usually downed one on the way up and stopped for a second on his way back down.As expected, the shots of whiskey were far more popular than the hot coffee. In fact, if we tried to offer only coffee, the drivers would ask if the whiskey was already “in there”. It did not take the DPW long to learn that there was free whiskey available up on Skyfields Drive and there was not a quicker or better plowed road in town.Often, we had to service a whole line of snow removal vehicles waiting for their whiskey and make multiple trips back to the house for re-fills. Mom would count the trucks by looking down towards 119 and have our resupply ready. I think this serving experience prepared both of us for work later on at Johnson'sWe were also expected to keep track of repeat clients and inform them that “Our parents say you’re shut off” when they reached their 3-shot limit..One morning years later, my friend Jason and I decided to surprise the paper delivery man with a free shot of whiskey around 5:00AM. When he saw us coming, he drove away in terror. By that time, life in Groton had changed forever.Dave RSummary Article:Thanks for listening if you have been.  I know this is entirely self serving but too often we seal off the past and look to the future.  As we get older we begin to unwrap those packages.Last time I checked I’m at about $1700 of my $2000 goal.  The Boston Marathon looks like it is going to be crazy this year.  Thank you for all my friends who have helped.Go to:http://go.liverfoundation.org/goto/cyktrussellThank you for joining me on my journey with purpose.Chris,Music by Bridge Underwater - “sad song”

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The RunRunLive 3.0 Podcast Episode 3-284 – David Mills and the Average Joe Ironman(Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi3284.mp3]Link epi3284.mp3Support RunRunLive; Purchase an audio book of running stories.  Written and performed with love by Chris Russell  ------------->>>>>>>http://bit.ly/1cH2Fr7

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Unicorns-1.2Introductory Comments:http://go.liverfoundation.org/goto/cyktrussell[audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/Unicorns12.mp3]Unicorns12.mp3Hello and welcome my friends.  This is Chris and this is the second in my series of personal podcasts that I am doing, essentially to air out my brain as I deal with my father’s cancer and gear up to run for the Liver Foundation at Boston. 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/cyktrussellMy 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. I’ll tell you my fundraising experience so far – it’s a funny story. As I came out of back to back marathons in January and February it became obvious to me that I wouldn’t be racing Boston this year. My body was too beat up to put the necessary quality training in to run competitively. (I’m sure it was obvious to everyone else but I have a knack for obstinacy and denial when it comes to my running).I looked around for a Boston sanctioned charity to lend my energy to.  The Liver foundation was the closest thing to my Dad’s cancer that I found.  I sent them a nice letter (actually a form letter through the ‘contact us’ form on their website) that basically said; “Is it ok if I give you money?  I don’t need anything from you. I’ve run Boston 15 times and I have an existing network that makes reasonable fundraising relatively painless.”To which they replied with a hearty and cheery form letter asking me to sign a contract, pay a $75 admin fee, commit to at least $1,000 and give them a signed credit card slip. I let out a small mental sigh and embarked on the paperwork.  I signed all the forms, sent them $75 and planned my campaign launch.  I know these poor folks have to deal with a lot of crazies so I’m not surprised by the barriers they put up.  I think actual members of their charity team have to raise over $7,000 to get a bib number for Boston. Then, after I registered they sent me 37 emails. These were all the new member information things and week’s worth of newsletters that I had missed.  The other fundraisers had been going at it hard for months. Here’s my punch line.  I covered their $1,000 minimum in less than 24 hours after my launch.  I know some excellent, high-quality, decent people in our running community. And I did allow myself one, small, passive aggressive ‘I told you so’ email to the director of the charity team. Why am I running for charity?  Why does anyone? You’d be tempted to say we do it for, or in memery of a loved one.  I don’t think that’s really why. I think we do it for ourselves.  It’s a selfish act with positive social overtones and consequences. We do it because our brains are screaming and we need a physical and emotional release.  We need a physical channel for the demonstration of the chaos, grief, sadness and fear in our lives as things happen that we cannot control, cannot understand and are not understandable. That’s what the whole charity thing is.  It’s not to help a cause, that’s a symptom.  It’s to keep us from running screaming into the wilderness to hide. It’s to keep us from punching our co-workers and clients. It’s a valve, a salve and a release.But, perhaps it’s more.  Perhaps it matures into an altruism to our fellow humans.  Perhaps it is a selfish act that chrysalises into an act that enriches our souls. Look at the person next to you.  What do you see?  Is it a calm or placid countenance?  You have no idea what spinning chaos is in their minds behind that façade. It is through charity, this physical manifestation, that turns thought into action.  This is how we get a glimpse into the inner workings of the human’s mind.  It is through charity that we look into the black box of their soul.  And we shall know them through their acts. …I don’t have an interview for you this time around show I’ll just share a piece I did on fundraising tips.  I’m a rookie fundraiser compared to the other ‘official’ Liver people.  They are throwing parties and holding auctions and robbing bank and raising thousands of dollars.   I do know some things about building a social network though so maybe there is some value in my words. Featured Interview:Raising funds for Charity - http://www.runrunlive.com/thoughts-on-collecting-for-charitySummary Article: I think this will be my last Boston Marathon.  I will make up excuses to justify my decision and many of them will be valid, but I think it just a question of moving on.  I’ve gotten whatever grace that it can give me and it’s time for other adventures.  All things have a beginning and an end.  We cannot deny that.  We cannot slavishly cling to things from the past.  In fact we need to clean things out of our closets to make room for other things.  It is neither good, nor bad.  It just is.  The risk of hanging on is the sin of desire.  We want stability in our lives.  We get to a good spot and we want things to stay the same.  The longer we have these things the more we own them and the more they own us.  At some point this becomes desire and, as the Buddha tells us, desire corrodes our freedom.  Make a habit of letting things go, of cleaning your closets.  This prepares fertile ground for the adventures to come.  Next year I will not run the Boston Marathon.  Not because I can’t.  Not because I don’t want to. Simply because it is time. When we deal with loss, the loss of a parent for example we can’t understand the impact it will have on us.  That’s what I have realized.  I don’t know what I’m doing.  I have no experience in these things.  In response I’m letting go.  I don’t own the process.  I’m just a rider, caught in the flow.  Instead of trying to control, which is my intellectual default, I’m going to try to just be present and aware.  One of the best ways to give up control is to share.  And that my friends is why we are having this conversation.  Thank you for your prayers and support. Speak to you again in a fortnight or so. Chris,Go to: http://go.liverfoundation.org/goto/cyktrussellThank you for joining me on my journey with purpose. Chris,Music by Bridge Underwater - “sad song”

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The RunRunLive 3.0 Podcast Episode 3-283 – Scott Forrester – the Aging Athlete(Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi3283.mp3]Link epi3283.mp3Support RunRunLive; Purchase an audio book of running stories.  Written and performed with love by Chris Russell  ------------->>>>>>>http://bit.ly/1cH2Fr7

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Unicorns-1.0Introductory Comments:[audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/Unicorns10.mp3]Unicorns10.mp3Hello and welcome my friends.  This is Chris and this a new series of podcasts that I’m doing that I’m going to call ‘Unicorns’.  Let me explain.  Be warned this is a bit of departure from what I’ve done in the past.  I’ will try to give you enough information so that you can decide whether you want to get on this particular bus and share this personal journey with me.This series is going to be about my current life events and journey.  It involves running and the Boston Marathon, but only tangentially.  If you’re looking for marathon tips you should stop now and switch to one of the main RunRunLive episodes or any of the other fine marathon podcasts out there.If you have been listening to my show for any of the last 5 years and 282 episodes you know that I have chosen not to share much about my personal life.  You could if you listened carefully tease out some of the background noise from my sanitized avatar but for the most part I’ve isolated you from my job and my family. I did this for two reasons.  First I didn’t want the show to be about me – I wanted it to be about you and your journey with running and endurance sports.  Second, I suppose I was afraid to trust the internet with too much personal information.  That’s the way we were raised.  It’s part of our culture in New England.  We keep the shades drawn and we give our neighbors their peace and privacy.Well, my friends, today, and in the unicorn series I’m going to throw open the curtains of my personal life a bit.  I’m going to do so to bring purpose to this year’s running and to let you help me in my journey.First we’ll have a 15-20 minute interview with Nick from the American Liver Foundation and then I’ll share with you what I’m doing and invite you to get on my bus as things get weird over the next 9 weeks or so.Cheers,Chris,Featured Interview:Nick Giordano is a 13 time marathoner.  He has been the chair of the American Liver Foundation's  Run for Research Marathon on two occasions. Nick serves on the Board of Directors for the American Liver Foundation's New England Chapter. ALF- The American Liver Foundation's Run for Research® program is the oldest and one of the largest marathon teams in the Boston Athletic Association's official charity program. For over two decades we have helped thousands of runners compete in the historic Boston Marathon while raising funds for the fight against liver disease.  The organization's mission is this one of advocacy and education while raising important funds for research. Myfinishline link:   Summary Article:I said I’d get personal and here we go…A year ago during the holidays my Dad wasn’t feeling well.  He began to look Jaundiced.  After a few visits and trips to Boston we discovered that he had an inoperable tumor on a bile duct in his liver.  They were able to put a stent in to relieve the bile duct and he went through a round of chemo to keep the cancer at bay. Over the last year he has had a series of setbacks and infections and now is ready to leave us in the near future. My Dad was a runner.  My dad introduced me to the concept of running to get in shape when I was quite young.  He never ran a marathon or any of that he just set the example of running to stay in shape.  My Dad was and is a strong man.  My parents have been very active in their social circle and teaching dance lessons and being an inspiration into their 80’s. I’m the youngest of 4 children who all turned out well, thanks in no small part to the direction our parents set us on.  Their belief in education, in learning, in being a better person and making the difference you can have been lessons that have guided us well.My parents supported me and encouraged me when I started racing marathons.  They came to my races and passed me bottles and cheered me on in my success. My parents were always there for me.  In a short while my father won’t be there for me anymore. To honor my family, my parents and my family I have decided to run this year’s Boston Marathon for the American Liver Foundation.  I am going to track my journey through this Unicorn series and I need your help. Please go to my page at the American Liver Foundation and Donate.As an extra incentive, if you donate $50 or more I will write and record a personalized inspirational audio message for your next event.  This is not some throw away kindness.  I will write you something powerful and poetic that you can carry with you forever my friends.Go to:Thank you for joining me on my journey with purpose.Chris, - “sad song”

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(Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi3282.mp3] Link Support RunRunLive; Purchase an audio book of running stories.  Written and performed with love by Chris Russell  -------------à>>>>>>>

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(Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi3281.mp3] Link Support RunRunLive; Purchase an audio book of running stories.  Written and performed with love by Chris Russell  -------------à>>>>>>>

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(Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi3280.mp3] Link Support RunRunLive; Purchase an audio book of running stories.  Written and performed with love by Chris Russell  -------------à>>>>>>>

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The RunRunLive 3.0 Podcast Episode 3-279 - Lisa Hamilton the Conscious RunnerlisaRunning(Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi3279.mp3]Link epi3279.mp3Support RunRunLive; Purchase an audio book of running stories.  Written and performed with love by Chris Russell  ------------->>>>>>>http://bit.ly/1cH2Fr7

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