RunRunLive

The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-421 – Coach Talk About the Off Season (Audio: link) audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4421.mp3] Link epi4421.mp3 MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks - http://www.marathonbq.com/qualify-for-the-boston-marathon-in-14-weeks/ Hello and welcome to episode 4-421 of the RunRunLive Podcast.    Today we have a good show for you – I talk to the coach about how to manage the off-season which is what most athletes treat this time of year as.  Good practical stuff. In section one I’m going to review the science / opinion on fasting and how it interacts with endurance sports.  In section two I’m going to talk about how to actively cultivate peacefulness – because I think it’s a message we need to hear this time of year.  We are also going to talk about testicles or the lack thereof.  Because that’s just where I am in the never-ending carnival that is daily life.  Ollie the collie is doing well.  He had surgery on Monday and is officially neutered.  You would think that would slow him down.  It did for about a day but he is quickly back to his maniac ways.  I’ve been hunting around now for our next training opportunity.  He’s a great, smart, athletic boy but I need him to learn some simple stuff – like come when called or we are both going to get in trouble.  He also loves to destroy anything laying around the house if we’re not watching.  And, he’s very mouthy.  He loves the taste of human flesh.  I mean, who doesn’t?  But it can get annoying, especially in mixed company.  When I was at the vet this week for the ‘adjustment’ I asked for recommendations on training.  They gave me a contact that they highly recommended.  I conversed with this trainer.  Their program was to take the dog for 3 weeks and deliver him back fully trained.  No muss, no fuss.  Sounds good, right?   They just show up 3 weeks later and hand you the keys to the car.  The only problem I had was that they want $3500 for the process, which I’m sure is quite reasonable, but above my price bracket.  Clearly, I’m becoming that old guy who expects everything to cost a quarter.  We are going to another consultation with a trainer today and we’ll see where that goes.  Another funny story is when I try to do yoga or core work Ollie thinks this is a great opportunity to wrestle on the floor with me.  It’s impossible. It’s funny, but it’s impossible.  Again, who doesn’t’ love a good wrestle on the floor?  Continuing our theme of testicles, I had a fairly hilarious sponsorship opportunity this week.  I got an email from one of those outfits that is trying to make money off podcasts by aggregating niche shows like mine and selling them as a package to sponsors.  This story might be considered a bit PG-13 so you’ve been warned.  Now, I don’t do sponsorship in general, because a) I hate commercials in my podcasts with the burning hate of a thousand suns and b) I just don’t have enough downloads to move the needle money wise.  I mean it would be hatefully annoying to you folks, a big hassle for me all for something like $20 a month.  But the example sponsor they held out to me as attractive commercial bait was a company called Manscaped.  Intrigued I looked them up and yes, they are a new company offering everything you need to create lovely topiaries in your nether regions.  Which is a bit amusing, but the names of their products had both my wife and I howling with laughter.  Their main product is an electric shaver called, wait for it, ‘The Lawn Mower’.   A body wash called ‘The Crop Cleanser’, a hydrating toner called ‘Crop Reviver’ , subtitled ‘Ball Toner’ and an anti-chafing product called ‘Ball Deodorant’.  And the website copy is just a delight to read. So there you go.  A gift for the man who has everything… and they didn’t even have to pay me.  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 me trying to sound sincere about Stamps.com or Audible.. (although, fyi, my MarathonBQ book is on audible) 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. There are book reviews, odd philosophical thoughts, zombie stories and I curate old episodes for you to listen to.  I recently added that guy who cut off is foot so he could keep training and my first call with Geoff Galloway.   “Curated” means I add some introductory comments and edit them up a bit.  So anyhow – become a member so I can keep paying my bills.   … 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. Member only race reports, essays and other bits just for you! Links are in the show notes and at RunRunLive.com Become a member … Section one – Fasting and endurance athletes - http://runrunlive.com/on-fasting-for-athletes Voices of reason – the conversation Coach Jeff Kline Team PRSFit https://teamprsfit.com/ Support ZERO for Prostate Cancer What I bring to the individual is 25 years of experience. My  approach to training is individual focused and comprehensive. I believe that coaching is about educating my athletes not just giving you a schedule. Communication, structure, guidance and motivation is the complete package that I offer to everyone I work with. I limit the number of athletes I work with to 20. This ensures you get the attention and high quality coaching you need to achieve your goals. “No individual is too big, too small, or too slow not to be coached.”. Ironman U Certified Lydyard Level II Certified Certified Natural Running Coach Certified Total Immersion Swim Coach Certified Nutrition and Wellness Coach Certified Personal Trainer In addition the coach completed his studies in nursing with a specialty in orthopedics and nutrition. He was published by the Colorado Nurses Association. The Coach only works with 20 athletes. Section two – Peace and Action – http://runrunlive.com/inner-peace Outro   Well, my friends, you have made it, hopefully without any undo chafing or stinkiness, to the end of the RunRunLive Podcast episode 4-421.    Peace be with you.  Go in Peace.     I’m still in my down phase.  Running 2-4 days a week.  Keeping my miles in the mid-30’s a week.  Started working some core work and yoga back in on the off days and boy it is amazing how fast you lose your fitness when you take a couple weeks off.  For those first couple of core workouts I was sore as heck afterwards.  I raced the Mill Cities Relay last week.  I took the first leg.  It’s about 5 ½ miles.  The challenge was that we woke up to very cold weather.  It was about 1-2 degrees F when my leg kicked off.   It was sunny and there was no wind, so it was not uncomfortably cold.  But the air was super dry and hard to breathe. As is my habit I went out too fast and struggled a bit in the middle miles.  Not my best race ever.  But, I just kept reminding myself how lucky I am to be able to get out and do this.  How there are plenty of people in my age group who would kill to be able to do it.  My team ended up averaging 7:07’s across the 27 miles, which is respectable for our over-50 crew but still only put us 5th in our age group.  Most importantly we had a blast and it was a beautiful day.  Really a privilege to be able to run with those guys.  Next up for me is the Groton Marathon, an entirely made up race on the morning of the last Sunday in December.  The story is that when I was running my marathon a month in 2013/2014 in response to the Boston Marathon incident that year, my December marathon got canceled due to weather.  So I made up my own marathon, grabbed some running buddies and just did it myself.  My life, my rules.  Now we’re 7 years in and still doing it.  I’ve got a handful of folks signed up.  It’s a casual run around the towns on back roads with no fuss.  I’m not in any kind of shape this year so it will be slow.  But, we’ll have some good cheer, some good conversations, take some pictures and celebrate that we live in a world where you can make up your own marathon and have people show up. And with that, Ollie and I will see you out there.    MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks - http://www.marathonbq.com/qualify-for-the-boston-marathon-in-14-weeks/ Http://www.marathonbq.com http://runrunlive.com/my-books Rachel -> http://www.nextlevelnutrition.fitness/contact-appointment/ Coach Jeff -> https://dailyfitbook.com/  

The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-420 – Kicksology (Audio: link) audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4420.mp3] Link epi4420.mp3 MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks - http://www.marathonbq.com/qualify-for-the-boston-marathon-in-14-weeks/ Hello and welcome to episode 4-420 of the RunRunLive Podcast.    It is the week of Thanksgiving up here in New England.  We haven’t gotten any snow yet at my house.  The trails are very runnable. Ollie the Collie and I are getting out 2-3 times a week.  He’s still a menace.  I won’t be able to get away with the ‘Oh, sorry, he’s just a puppy…’ line much longer.  He’ll knock out 8 to 10 miles easy with me in the trails.  I like to let him off leash so he can burn some energy.  It’s takes about 4 ½ miles for him to settle down.  Until that point he’s sprinting up and down the trail.  It’s a challenge because he has no manners and won’t come when he’s called and just loves to meet and greet people we run into.  He’s got another gear now and when he goes, I can’t catch him.  I’ve started referring to him as the ‘monochrome menace’.  But he’s a good runner and he minds well when he’s on leash.  He’ll be a good partner but I’m going to have to break him, like a wild stallion.  He’ll be my Bucephalus.   (Editor’s note: all classical references will be linked to Wikipedia in the show notes) Today we have a good show for you.  Yeah you.  You know who you are.  But first an advertisement for a new cologne that I’m producing for the holidays.  It’s called RunRunLive and it is the pleasing scent of sweat and dog ass.  Buy yours today at the RunRunLive web store.  Comes in a 16-ounce pop-top tall boy.  Today we chat with Brian Metzler about his new book Kicksology which is all about the evolution and lore of the running shoe.  Brian is a veteran running journalist.  Chances are you’ve read something that Brian has created or touched.  He has been a frequent contributor and started or edited a few of your favorite running publications.     What I liked about the book was that it was a trip down memory lane for me.  We love our shoes.  We have an irrational passion for a good pair of shoes.   Brian does a good job of tapping into that. In section one we are going to talk about breathing.  In section two we’re going to talk about memory and redemption.  Since we last talked, you and I, I went for my annual check up.  Apparently, I’m still healthy.  I’ve been working hard on overeating and drinking too much beer for a couple months.  I’m up 8-10 pounds, but it’s part of my natural cycle.  I can already feel the tug of the pendulum in the other direction. I have some good news for you men.  They have determined that the manual test for prostate problems has no efficacy.  No more fingers up the poop chute.  My doctor was reflective.  He said of all the hundreds of these tests he’s done he only ever found 6 anomalies and none of those turned out to be actual problems.  Thanks again to Peter for reading that piriformis bit into audio last episode.  I got some great feedback on that.  I told you I’m trying to make November the month of gratitude.  I have so much to be thankful for.  I’ve been trying to get my morning routine in line by meditating a bit.  I’m going to share a technique I learned that might help you in this season of thanks giving. This is apropos given that we will be talking about breathing next.  Here’s the technique, and you can do this while you’re meditating, or running or sitting in the car.  Inhale gratitude.  Exhale that gratitude out into the world.  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 me trying to sound sincere about Stamps.com or Audible.. (although, fyi, my MarathonBQ book is on audible) 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. There are book reviews, odd philosophical thoughts, zombie stories and I curate old episodes for you to listen to.  I recently added that guy who cut off is foot so he could keep training and my first call with Geoff Galloway.   “Curated” means I add some introductory comments and edit them up a bit.  So anyhow – become a member so I can keep paying my bills.   … 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. Member only race reports, essays and other bits just for you! Links are in the show notes and at RunRunLive.com Become a member … Section one – Breathing and running - http://runrunlive.com/breathing-and-running Voices of reason – the conversation Brian Metzler Kicksology https://www.velopress.com/books/kicksology/ Brian Metzler is a freelance journalist who covers running, running gear, and related sports. A running shoe geek since his prepubescent cross-country team days, Metzler has run more than 75,000 miles in his life, tested more than 1,500 pairs of running shoes, run focus groups for several running shoe brands, raced every distance from 50 yards to 100 miles, raced to the top of the Willis (Sears) Tower in Chicago, run a marathon on top of the Great Wall of China, completed two high-altitude 100-mile ultraruns, completed four Ironman triathlons, and regularly races with donkeys in Colorado. Metzler was the founding editor and associate publisher of Trail Runner and Adventure Sports magazines and was a senior editor at Running Times as well as Editor-in-Chief of Competitor magazine and Competitor.com. He has written about endurance sports for Outside, Runner’s World, Triathlete, Inside Triathlon, Men’s Health, and Men’s Journal. He is the author of Running Colorado’s Front Range and co-author of Natural Running with Danny Abshire and Run Like a Champion with Alan Culpepper. https://www.velopress.com/velopress-author/brian-metzler/ https://muckrack.com/brianmetzler   Section two – Memories and Redemption – http://runrunlive.com/on-memories-and-redemption Outro   Well, my friends, you have made it with gratitude to the end of the RunRunLive Podcast episode 4-420 in those brand new running shoes that you are thankful for.  Like I said I’m just doing 2-4 runs a week right now with Ollie.  Not training for anything specific.  I ran the local Thanksgiving 5k with my running club friend yesterday.   I had planned to walk it with Teresa but her foot was too hurt still.  That put me in a bit of a bind because I wasn’t planning on running Thursday and I definitely wasn’t planning on racing a 5K.  I ran with Ollie in the woods on Monday and Wednesday. It worked out ok.  I just lined up in the 8:00 min mile section and eased into it.  I ran easy and got pulled along by the crowd.   Ended up being surprised to average a 7:26 pace.  Since I wasn’t hammering it I was being chatty with the other runners.  I’m a new level of annoying when you are running all out and I pull up beside you and start chatting. Next up, next weekend is the Mill Cities Relay.  I’ve got a good Men’s 50+ team and we’re going to have fun.  Then of course since I choose to live in a world where you can make up your own marathon and just show up without training on the last Sunday of December, we will be holding the 7th edition of the Groton Marathon.  I’ve got a handful of loonies signed up.  All are welcome.  Like I said earlier I’ve been putting in a lot of miles with Ollie.  Thursday was a long day for Ollie.  We had a lovely long walk in the Shaker conservation land in the bright, cold morning.  I was able to let him off leash so that he could sprint about through the swampy underbrush.  We were out for almost 2 hours.  Then we worked all day at Katie’s new house painting the walls and ceilings.  Ollie’s role in this is supervisorial.  He tests the quality of the painting by licking the freshly painted walls.  He enforces a schedule of mandatory puppy wrestling breaks. In this way we all stay limber for the work at hand. Later in the day he and I managed to beat the setting sun to a nice trail run.  We ambled through the soggy leaves for 6.5 more miles.  I was tired too.  My body was heavy from the unaccustomed time on my feet all day and the strange angles and dangles of honest work. We stood there steaming in the winter leaves and watching the sun melt into the trees.  I asked Ollie, “How you feeling?  Is this too much work, too much training?” He turned to me with his sharp brown eyes, considered me for a few long moments and responded, “No, Old-one, it is right that we train long.  For we must be prepared.  The day is coming when we will need to fight.  We will need our aerobic capacity and strength.” “Really”, I said, “How so?” He suppressed a small growl and pawed at the soft leaves and continued, “Grey-one, the time is coming soon when all will be ruin.  When the last remaining humans will be confined to carpeted cubicles and forced to ‘cuddle’ (here he seemed to sneer the word) and scratch behind ears and speak baby talk…We must be prepared.  We few remaining working dogs and humans for the Doodle Apocalypse.” And with that he trotted off up the trail with a seriousness and purpose no 6 month old dog should be forced to carry. And… I will see you out there. MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks - http://www.marathonbq.com/qualify-for-the-boston-marathon-in-14-weeks/ Http://www.marathonbq.com http://runrunlive.com/my-books Rachel -> http://www.nextlevelnutrition.fitness/contact-appointment/ Coach Jeff -> https://dailyfitbook.com/  

The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-419 – Dawn’s Wisdom (Audio: link) audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4419.mp3] Link epi4419.mp3 MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks - http://www.marathonbq.com/qualify-for-the-boston-marathon-in-14-weeks/ Hello and welcome to episode 4-419 of the RunRunLive Podcast.  So – I’m a week late with this one, but it’s great show.  Think about it this way – we gave it an additional week to marinate, to grow, to rise like rustic bread or age like fine wine.  Last week I was all lined up to get the show out for Friday. Thursday was my birthday.  I took Thursday and Friday off from work to recuperate a bit and was working on the show.   Then, ironically as I was writing the hero’s journey piece that is in section two, that talks about how life is not a straight line, and it seldom goes as you expect it to, my old computer ceased to turn on.  I’ve had this Microsoft surface since at least 2015 and it’s been the best computer I ever.  It was powerful enough to do all the audio editing for the show, it has a great form factor for traveling.  Just a great machine that matches my need.  End of this story is that I spent all day Friday in the Microsoft store and ended up buying a new surface that I am happily tapping away on now.  I didn’t loose any data, just some time – and oh by the way – I’m about $2,000 lighter so you might want to consider becoming a member of the RunRunLive Podcast to help defray unexpected expenses.  So with that excuse out of the way let me take you back to the primordial jungles of North America where strange and dangerous beasts roam dark, dank forests…. (Fade in Jungle music) Our old friend Peter Herridge everyone with that excellent dramatic reading.  That piece of writing has been kicking around in my head or a few years.  Probably since I first heard the word ‘piriformis’ and thought, that sounds like the name of a nasty dinosaur.  I immediately thought of Peter who has such a great voice.  Peter was a good runner in his day and one of the original podcasters from a decade ago when we all got online and met each other.  Peter does a podcast every once in a while called ‘spikes’. Today we have a really good, timely chat with Dawn.  I have been following Dawn for a few years but never had her on the show.  She is a heavy social media poster and for some reason I see her posts on LinkedIn a lot.  I have always treated LinkedIn as a professional network and haven’t let this ‘hobby’ side of my life bleed over into it.  She stands out, because you’ve got all these businesspeople talking about business stuff and then there’s Dawn talking about empowerment and Joy.  This time of year, in the northern hemisphere anyhow, we all get stressed out.  The weather turns.  The days get shorter.  If you have kids their schedule ramps up.  It’s budget-setting time and trade show season at your work.  The end of the year is approaching with holidays and deadlines and sales quotas.  It tends to push people into anxiety and depression.  I was there myself this month.  With my work having challenges, me getting older and an unruly puppy to train.  Things just felt awful and closed in and trapped.  My mind started repeating a scarcity narrative of how much I don’t have and how much I’ve lost.  Which, I know is ridiculous, because I’m one of the most blessed and lucky people you’ll ever meet, but that’s how your brain works, especially this time of year. Then I stumbled across one of Dawn’s posts talking about gratitude and abundance.  By the way, one of the symptoms of this downward-spiraling mental malaise is you start trying to distract yourself online.  Whether it’s FB scrolling or too much news or video games.  That’s a bad way to avoid life.  Anyhow, I took a deep breath and declared November a month of gratitude.  In section one I’m going to suggest two useful ways you can use your off-season training to learn some new skills and add to your running assets.  In section two we are going to take the hero’s journey together.  Because one of the most effective way to contextualize your experience in this world is to see it as a journey.  Tell your narrative as a journey.  And that is what we are going to talk about today.  Gratitude and journeys.  Because, my friends, no matter how low or shitty it gets the hero in you always knows the way.  Without the shitty parts there can be no hero.  I saw a great post this week that said ‘failure is like stepping in manure, it stinks when you do it but it makes for great fertilizer!” 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 me trying to sound sincere about Stamps.com or Audible.. (although, fyi, my MarathonBQ book is on audible) 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. There are book reviews, odd philosophical thoughts, zombie stories and I curate old episodes for you to listen to.  I recently added that guy who cut off is foot so he could keep training and my first call with Geoff Galloway.   “Curated” means I add some introductory comments and edit them up a bit.  So anyhow – become a member so I can keep paying my bills.   … 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. Member only race reports, essays and other bits just for you! Links are in the show notes and at RunRunLive.com Become a member … Section one – Using your in-between time - http://runrunlive.com/what-to-do-when-you-have-some-time-between-races Voices of reason – the conversation Dawn Ciccone Make your day a new & exciting adventure! Discover your incredible life. Dawn Ciccone http://www.attainyourbestlife.com A marathoner, writer, personal trainer, nutrition and running coach, Dawn offers methodologies learned from experience!  Her passion is to help people face challenges, dIscover the gifts they bring and trust themselves as the beautifully powerful person you’re meant to be.   Dawn has conquered abusive relationships, addiction, disordered eating and came through a tragic accident that left her helpless. Dawn has been where you’re at and knows how to turn challenges into opportunities!   Credentials Certified RRCA &   USTAF coach   American Red Cross Health & Safety Instructor   Certified Nutritional Health Educator and Personal Fitness Trainer   Certified Master Reiki Practitioner, intuitive, empath, lightworker, transformational speak.   Section two – Your Hero’s Journey– http://runrunlive.com/your-heros-journey Outro Well, my friends, you have Made it with gratitude to the end of the RunRunLive Podcast episode 4-419.  Okey – Dokey – I’m in a down phase in my training.  Which is another, kinder way of saying I’m not training much.  Much for me that is.  I’m just doing 3 days a week in the trails with Ollie the Collie and then a longer run with the boys on Sundays – somewhere in the 20-30 miles a week.  I’ve fattened myself back up with some poor nutritional choices as well, but I think we need to take these breaks to rebalance the humors every once in a while.  I know discipline is power but that can burn you out and I’ve got a lot going on right now.  I’m noticing that I’m starting to get the bug again to do something epic.  Got any suggestions?  I’m not sure if I’ll get into Boston this year.  If I don’t that opens up the spring for something.  Coming up is our traditional Thanksgiving 5k.  But, Teresa hurt her foot, so I’m going to walk it with her.  Maybe we’ll start early and take the dog.  After that the first week of December is the Mill Cities Relay.  I was running with my buddies Brian and Frank and we came up with a the bright idea of entering our own team.  You only need 5 people and we already had 3 so how hard could it be?  As I started reaching out to some of our old running friends, (in our age group), I found that many of them were no longer running at all due to age-related injuries.  In a weird Schadenfreude way they made me feel pretty good about the fact that I’m still getting out there.  It also reminded me to be kinder to myself. Finally, I am planning to run the Groton Marathon, and organize it, for the 7th edition on December 29th this year – please come up and run with us.  It’s fun.  What about Ollie the collie? We were asked not to come back to puppy training.  It started as we were sitting patiently, waiting for class to start.  Ollie the border collie puppy and myself in the big box pet store.  It was our 3rd class.  Ollie was doing well, learning quickly.  The dopey brown doodle came in with it’s handler all stupid and goofy, doh do doh.  The dopy doodle’s exuberance overruled the owners’ ability to control it and it pulled its way over into our space to check out Ollie. Ollie was not happy about this.  He turned to look at me and said  “Dad, what is this madness?   These doodles and snoodles and snickerdoodle caboodles?  What right do they have to play with the canine DNA of pure breeds for their own amusement?  These freaks!  These aberrations! This cannot stand! I draw the line here! I must stop this madness!  Foul abomination I strike at thee! I will blot your aberration from this world!” At least that’s what I thought he said, because it was at this point he went berserk and tried to murder the doodle.  But, since I was holding him by the collar he turned and sunk his teeth into my hand.  As I was bleeding and shaking with fear, that’s when the nice lady said maybe we should leave and not come back.  On the one hand Ollie is mental and that has its challenges.  But, on the other hand, I’m kinda jealous because that’s exactly the kind of punk-rock, hard core mental many of us tried to be as teenagers! He’s just coming up on 6 months old and he’s already 31 pounds of muscular athlete with a big brain to boot.  He’s running 20 – 30 miles with me off leash in the woods each week and he’s scary fast and strong.  He’s not much on cuddling, but as they say, he’s someone you’d want to share a fox-hole with. I just have to train him up.  He’s going to be a great dog.  And remember, as Ollie says, Death to Doodles! I will see you out there. MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks - http://www.marathonbq.com/qualify-for-the-boston-marathon-in-14-weeks/ Http://www.marathonbq.com http://runrunlive.com/my-books Rachel -> http://www.nextlevelnutrition.fitness/contact-appointment/ Coach Jeff -> https://dailyfitbook.com/  

The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-418 – Matt’s Long Ride (Audio: link) audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4418.mp3] Link epi4418.mp3 MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks - http://www.marathonbq.com/qualify-for-the-boston-marathon-in-14-weeks/ Hello and welcome to episode 4-418 of the RunRunLive Podcast.  It’s been a busy couple of weeks since we last talked.  I did jump on the Ferry out of Hyannis to Nantucket for that half marathon.  It was kind of fun but also a bit of a struggle.  When I first signed up for it, I thought it would be a fun outing.  Maybe take my wife along or some of my running buddies.  In the end it was just me.  I met up with the other pacers on the ferry and met some nice people in the race.  It was a nice sunny day.  It was a pretty big race considering it was out on an island.  This race fell a week before my target race, the BayState Marathon, and I planned to use it just as a final easy run.  That was the plan.  With how inconsistent my training has been this summer I wasn’t feeling very excited about it.  I offered to run the 2:00 pace group, but they had a greater need for the 1:50 and I acquiesced.  I don’t run a lot of ½ marathons, and my math gets fuzzy.  A 1:50 half is the equivalent of a 3:40ish full marathon, and while not super challenging for where I am right now, it wouldn’t be the lark that a 2:00 would.  It works out to a 8:23 ish pace versus a 9:09 pace.  I went in tired.  My week was weird and my tempo run slipped to Friday, which was probably too close to the race.  My whatever-it-is pain in my butt wasn’t helped by the long ride down to the Cape.  I made the morning ferry with no issues and had no issues finding the pace team at the start. I lost my pace group early.  The first part of the course is a lot of sand roads.  They had had a storm for the previous couple days before the race that dumped a lot of rain and left numerous large puddles straddling the road side-to-side.  It turned those early sections into a bit of a steeplechase.  As a pacer I’m supposed to maintain pace no matter what – so I did and lost everyone who was trying to keep up with me.  I was trying to run by the overall average pace on my watch.  Which was a mistake.  I figured if my overall average was an 8:22 – 8:23 I’d be right on that 1:50 finishing time.  I ended up right on an 8:23.  I slowed down a little at the end because I was all alone and thought I might be a bit too fast.  That turned out to be the mistake and I crossed about 30 seconds too slow – which is a cardinal sin in the pacing biz.  I’ll probably get excommunicated.  Pacing isn’t as easy as it sounds.  Even though my average pace was exactly where it needed to be based on my watch, I missed the clock time.  It’s a bit befuddling.  My watch is always off a little on the distance and I guess that could be worth 30 seconds.  It looks like the only strategy that works is to have your mile splits written out, hard copy and check every mile – old school pacing.  And then plan to be a minute early on top of that to make up for variability.  I got it done, but I didn’t feel great.  Another small racing failure in what has been several months of disconsolate results and discontent.  My whatever-it-is pain in my butt was screaming in the car-ride home.  I was in a bit of a blue mood rolling into the last week of taper for BayState.  And that, my friends is what we will talk about in section one!  In our interview today we talk with Matt about his recent experience of riding his bike unsupported across the TransAm route and then writing about it.  In section two I’m going to rant a little on the current ‘hustle’ culture.  As I was lined up in the starting corral in Lowell, the city of my birth, a city that I have some history with.  I had one of those pure moments that I love about racing.  When you are there, on race morning, all the waiting is over.  The decisions have all been made.  It’s a pure moment.  The expectations and worrying are washed away by the rising sun.  The volunteer singing the national anthem fills your soul and dampens your eyes.  It is a pure place without affectation, without choice and filled with the energy of being set free onto the course.   How many pure moments like that are left in our world? 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 me trying to sound sincere about Stamps.com or Audible.. (although, fyi, my MarathonBQ book is on audible) 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. There are book reviews, odd philosophical thoughts, zombie stories and I curate old episodes for you to listen to.  I recently added that guy who cut off is foot so he could keep training and my first call with Geoff Galloway.   “Curated” means I add some introductory comments and edit them up a bit.  So anyhow – become a member so I can keep paying my bills.   … 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. Member only race reports, essays and other bits just for you! Links are in the show notes and at RunRunLive.com Become a member … Section one – BayState 2019 - http://runrunlive.com/baystate-half-marathon-2019 Voices of reason – the conversation Matt Hi Chris,  I’ve been a listener to your podcast for years now. You’ve been a constant source of entertainment and motivation in my life. I really enjoyed your Marathon BQ book, and used it for my marathon. Though most of my training has been more in the ultra-cycling world, geared towards 24 hour cycling events, and last year I raced Trans AM, a 4200 mile ride from Astoria Oregon to Yorktown Virginia. One of the things that saw me through those 16 hours of riding every day was listening to your podcasts.  Riding across country was a profound enough experience that I wrote a book about my journey “As Fast As You Can: How I Biked Across The U.S. In Duct-Taped Shoes” and there’s a quote from you in there from the podcast when you were talking about your 100 mile race “Here’s the uncomfortable truth.  There is no strategy that is going to allow you to stretch the effort over the distance to make things sunshine rainbows and unicorns.  You are going to be uncomfortable.  At some point, things are going to suck.  And not just for a few minutes like a 5K or 10K.  It’s going to suck for hours on end.  Your goal is to acclimate to the suck.  You can keep going with raw bleeding patches of skin.  It just sucks.” ~ Chris, from the “Run Run Live” Podcast. That was one of my favorite things that you’ve said, and it helped keep me going. If you’re interested, I’d love to work with you, maybe talk with you on your podcast. I have a modest facebook following and would do everything in my power to help promote your show, to add what support I can. Let me know if you’re interested. And thank you for being an inspiration. Regards, Matt Kovacic https://www.facebook.com/matt.kovacic.5 https://www.amazon.com/As-Fast-You-Can-Duct-Taped/dp/1733492100   Section two – Hustle– http://runrunlive.com/hustle Outro Well, my friends, you have peddled non-stop across the country to the end of the RunRunLive Podcast episode 4-418.  Time to put some nut-butter on those saddle sores.  I was flying back from Miami this week and looking out the window when the following words bubbled to the top of my brain: “Clouds boil up out of the southeast humidity escaping from the cauldron of the world.” That’s how my brain works sometimes.  It paints pictures with words.  But, let’s talk about something important.  Ollie the Collie.  Last week we started puppy class.  Which is a very good thing because he is a wild man.  Technically I could just train him myself without class but this, as in all things, is better with a coach.  Going in I was pretty sure Ollie would be the crazy, uncontrollable puppy in puppy class.  He’s got so much energy and he’s really busy.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that Ollie was the smartest, calmest puppy in class.  It’s a border collie thing.  When it’s time to work they fall in line.  He picked up the commands right away and he didn’t cause any trouble.  He’s going to be a good dog. I forgot to mention last show that I met up with Tim when I was in Chattanooga a couple weeks ago and we went for a trail run up on Signal Mountain.  It was good to see him.  He’s retired now and is planning to through-hike the Appalachian Trail next summer.  These long endurance events like the AT and Matt’s Trans AM can be game changers.  Matt’s a great example of just deciding to do something and doing it in a way that changes your life.  It’s one of those things that will become a fulcrum for his life journey.  If you think about your life’s trajectory, we tend to fall into a path and either consciously or unconsciously build the conditions that keep us on that path.  One of these big events is a great lever, to pry yourself out of that rut.  I’ve got a funny story about Matt’s interview.  As you may or may not know I have an editor for these interviews.  One of the most time-consuming and hard to automate parts of the podcasting process is the audio editing of the interviews.  The process is that you have to play the interview and cut out the bad bits.  By definition it’s a hard thing.  You have to understand what is being said to know whether it is pertinent or not.  I do my best to be consistent, but some interviewees are harder than others.  Sometimes we go down non-value-added (re: boring) rat holes that need to be ferreted out.  Sometimes I get a real talker or I lose track of time and the interview has to be significantly shortened.  I have had many good interview editors over the last many years that we’ve been in business.  Currently I work with Dimitry who live in Moscow.  He does a good job and seems to have learned my method well enough to make these tricky edits.  I pay him for each show – and that is one of the things I use subscription money for.  It doesn’t seem to bore him too badly.  I have had other editors quit on me, basically saying “I can’t take any more of this!”  Sometimes he’ll comment on what he thought was an interesting topic or person.  With Matt’s interview, Dimitry was very enthusiastic.  He said that he, himself, was a “Bike-Packer” as well and wondered how he could get a copy of Matt’s book.  So here’s a guy I work with every week.  That knows a shitload about my life.  That I’ve never met.  In Moscow.  That’s the world we live in today!  And as weird as that sounds, this conversation with Matt resonated and made a connection.  Think about that.  You never know which conversation or which thing you do is going to make a connection. So keep doing epic stuff and keep having conversations and I will see you out there. MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks - http://www.marathonbq.com/qualify-for-the-boston-marathon-in-14-weeks/ Http://www.marathonbq.com http://runrunlive.com/my-books Rachel -> http://www.nextlevelnutrition.fitness/contact-appointment/ Coach Jeff -> https://dailyfitbook.com/  

The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-416 – Nate Does Form (Audio: link) audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4416.mp3] Link epi4416.mp3 MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks - http://www.marathonbq.com/qualify-for-the-boston-marathon-in-14-weeks/ Hello and welcome to episode 4-416 of the RunRunLive Podcast.  Yes, I did that thing where I published two episodes out of order.  Last week was episode 417 and next week will be episode 418. Today we wrap up our series on running form. We talk with Nate who commands the Run Experience in California and is an expert of form.  You may hear some odd noises in the background towards the end of the interview.  I was trying to do too much and was walking the puppy in the woods behind my house at the same time I was interviewing Nate.  We got going a bit later than planned and I realized I had to get back to my house for another call.  I went off trail to take a shortcut.  Anyhow. How are you folks doing.  Got some new members. In the last couple weeks.  When I ask them what I can do for them they say ‘just keep doing the podcast’ – I guess I can handle that.  Set’s the bar pretty low.  I am sitting in my Cape Cod house.  In the morning I’m going to get up and drive over to Hyannis, catch the 6:10 highspeed ferry to Nantucket where I will pace the 1:50 pace group at the Nantucket half marathon.  They were having trouble finding pacers.  1:50 is a little quicker than I would usually volunteer for, but they needed that more.  It shouldn’t be a problem.  It’s only a 8:23ish pace, and it’s only a ½ marathon distance.  Meh.  We’ll see if we have anyone looking for that pace.  I’m not feeling great.  I took a couple weeks off after Beantown, but it didn’t help my sore butt at all.  It really hurts when I sit for a long while, which is basically the definition of my life.  I have Baystate next week but at this point I’m thinking about switching to the half because I have serious doubts about my fitness and ability to race. I feel like my body is telling me to stop running for a while.  My thinking is to switch to some other fitness routine for the rest of the year and try to get my flexibility and core strength back.  I’m also loath to lose the fitness I’ve built up.  I’d need to find something aerobic to replace the running.  When I took those two weeks off I did do a medium effort bike workout on the Peleton in the gym.  That still aggravated the whatever it is.  I guess I could swim but logistically that is such a pain.  I’d have to join a club, rebuy all the stuff, etc.  I’d love to get into some sort of class that could give me the core strength and flexibility but I’m not confident I’d be able to find anything that fit me.  Cross fit?  Yoga classes?  I don’t know but I need to find something different.  I’m a bit rudderless.  In section one we’ll wrap up our form discussion.  In section two I’m going to talk about brown rice.  Yeah, why not?  Let me share a story I forgot to share last time from the Beantown marathon… Late in the race, after I had crashed and was limping home I had something amusing happen.  It was a loop course so later in the race I was lapping the slower runners. I passed a lady pushing a double stroller with two toddlers in it.  Good for her pushing two kids, I’m assuming her kids, for a marathon distance.  As I pass the stroller and pull ahead one of the kids yells out “Dadda!”  That gave me a chuckle. 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 me trying to sound sincere about Stamps.com or Audible.. (although, fyi, my MarathonBQ book is on audible) 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. There are book reviews, odd philosophical thoughts, zombie stories and I curate old episodes for you to listen to.  I recently added that guy who cut off is foot so he could keep training and my first call with Geoff Galloway.   “Curated” means I add some introductory comments and edit them up a bit.  So anyhow – become a member so I can keep paying my bills.   … 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. Member only race reports, essays and other bits just for you! Links are in the show notes and at RunRunLive.com Become a member … Section one – Finishing up on form - http://runrunlive.com/finishing-up-on-form   Voices of reason – the conversation Nate Helming BIO: Co-Founded The Run Experience in 2014 with the goal of reaching a broader audience of runners and outdoor enthusiasts who want to be able to run and enjoy the outdoors and remain injury-free. He has helped athletes finish their first races, conquer new distances, overcome pre-existing injuries, set new PRs, reach the podium, and qualify for national and world level events. New Training App: (just launched this August) https://therunexperience.com/app Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/TREtherunexperience/ Section two – On Brown Rice– http://runrunlive.com/on-brown-rice Outro Well, my friends, you have used that perfect form to stroll nonchalantly to the end of the RunRunLive Podcast episode 4-416.  I read a couple books this week.  I finished the David Goggins book, “Can’t Hurt Me”.  It was a decent read.  Very inspirational made you feel like you could do anything.  I didn’t see him, but he was out at Leadville.  He likes the ultra-running.  Likes to suffer.  One of the things he talked about that I found useful was using your past successes as proof that you can do whatever new thing you’re attempting.  You make an invent tory of those times when you broke through and when you succeeded and you pull those out when things get hard. I’m not in a great place in any of the aspects of my journey right now.  And it is useful for me to be able to go back through the inventory of all the amazing things I’ve been able to do in my life.  It gives me patience, and gratitude and even a bit of courage.  We all need courage. The other book I read last week was “Flow my tears the policeman said” by Philip K Dick.  I found it in Starbucks.  They have a little basket of books that people leave and take. If you’re listening to me you probably already know who Phillip K Dick is.  He was one of the most unique science fiction writers of our time.  You’ve seen his stories in the movies.  Most famously his story, “Do Android Dream of Electric Sheep” became the cult classic “Blade Runner” with Harrison Ford.  But also, “The man in the high castle”, “A Scanner Darkly”, “Minority Report”, “Total Recall” and “The Adjustment Bureau”.  It’s hard to describe a PKD book.  They are all richly tailored alternate universes.  But, close enough to our own reality to make us uncomfortable.  I would recommend you read through his notable works.  This one won the Campbell award.  It was hilariously set in 1988 – which was 15 years in the future from where Dick was writing.  The thing with PKD is that the themes are science fiction-y, but it’s more philosophical fiction.  It’s not all spaceships, ray guns and beautiful women.  The alternate universes are abstractions for him to ask very reasonable questions about unreasonable things and things that matter. Nantucket in the morning.  BayState next weekend then slow things down for the winter months and try to get my kinks straightened out.  Ollie the border collie is doing great. He’s still a terror.  He’s turning into a teenage.  He’s learning how to chase the ball and sometimes even bring it back.  He loves to run on the trails with me.  I run and he zooms around.  He’s a good dog but he has way more energy than any of us do.  I take him to work with me sometimes and let him bother me there.  I have to go up and down 3 flights of stairs to walk through the basement to the loading dock to get him outside.  I suppose it’s god for both of us.  He’s making friends with the ladies in the smoking area.  When I went to the dump this morning the lady there was asking where he was.  He’s such a cutie pie and loves everyone so much he draws a crowd wherever he goes. That’s it for me.  I’m cooked and have to get up super early.  Reach into that cookie jar of past achievements that you are proud of and I will see you out there. MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks - http://www.marathonbq.com/qualify-for-the-boston-marathon-in-14-weeks/ Http://www.marathonbq.com http://runrunlive.com/my-books Rachel -> http://www.nextlevelnutrition.fitness/contact-appointment/ Coach Jeff -> https://dailyfitbook.com/