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6 episodes with bryan lyons
Cratog Carabasirica is unimpressed with our electoral candidates, Shane [REDACTED] is being used to train Chinese AI, Bryan Lyons is back at the ‘office', and there's another live footy call. Monthly support | One-off support Merch Store | Official Website
Folks, I am re-releasing episode 4-310 where I interviewed Bryan Lions so we could all hear his voice and listen to his story. Chris, ... The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-310 – Bryan Lyons on Pushing Rick in 2015 (Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4310.mp3] Link Intro Bumper: Hello my friends, this is Chris your host and this is the RunRunLive Podcast episode 4-310. Welcome. We are in our final days of taper leading into the Boston Marathon. I’m ready. I’m right on my target race weight, I’m strong in the legs and I’ve done it a few times before. I’m starting from the back this year in the last charity corral. It will take me awhile to get to the starting line and it will be crowded. Looks like we’re getting decent weather, cool and rainy. That’s actually my favorite racing weather. One of my friends from the running club is getting a limo to take a bunch of us out to Hopkinton on Monday morning. There’s no checked bags from Hopkinton anymore so we’ll have to navigate the cool, wet weather on the morning with some throw away stuff. There will be a wind. I don’t know yet if it’s a head wind on not but as far back in the pack as I am there’s lots of shelter if you know what I mean. I don’t know if I’ll be carrying my phone or not. I’d love to be unplugged but I don’t know how to get it into Boston otherwise without being separated from it for a day. It turns out this new iPhone6 fits perfectly into one of those ½ size snack baggies and you can use the phone through the plastic. Today we have the great privilege to speak with Bryon Lyons who is taking over for Dick Hoyt in Pushing Rick this year. It’s a long one, but’s that’s ok. I think we cover some good ground. In the first section I’m going to muse on this year’s Boston from my perspective, as is my annual tradition. In the second section we’ll talk about how to use an external brain to get important stuff done. I’m good to go for Monday. I have a red Team Hoyt singlet that I’ll probably put a long sleeve shirt on underneath because of the weather. It’s also got some rough bits that I’d like to keep off my nipples! I still need to swing by Whole Foods and pick up some Hammer Gels for the race. I tried to cook up my own energy gels from organic peanut butter and cocoa powder but it was a disaster. It was like when you give a dog a spoonful of peanut butter and their mouth gets all stuck. I’ll have to keep working on that. Damn near choked me to death on my last couple long runs. We might go long today, but I’ll keep my comments short. On with the Show! Section one - Running Tips Tapering into Boston Voices of reason – the interviews Bryan Lyons From “Team Hoyt Racing at Boston With a Different Look For the first time since 1980, Dick Hoyt won’t run behind his son. But Bryan Lyons, a longtime supporter and runner, takes up the cause. By Liam Boylan-Pett; April 9, 2015 Rick and Dick Hoyt with Bryan Lyons Bryan Lyons (left, bib number 33864) at the 2014 Boston Marathon with Dick and Rick Hoyt. In 2014, Dick Hoyt completed the Boston Marathon for the 32nd time—each year pushing his son Rick, who’s a spastic quadriplegic with cerebral palsy, in a custom-racing wheelchair. After last year’s race, Dick wanted to retire. Rick, however, wanted to cover the 26.2 miles from Hopkinton to Boston again. He’s going to—this year with a new running partner. Dr. Bryan Lyons, a dentist in Billerica, Massachusetts, and a family friend of the Hoyts, will push Rick in the 119th running of Boston. “It was sort of shocking for [Dick] to ask me,” Lyons told the Lowell Sun. "My friends told me [the Hoyts] don't want the big name, they want the big heart. If that's the least that I can provide, I'm happy." This will be the seventh Boston Marathon for Lyons, 44, who has run for the Hoyt Foundation marathon team since 2008, with a best of 4:15:29, which he ran in 2010. Lyons does have some experience running with Rick, 53. Since January, the two have completed a few shorter local road races and gone on training runs together, according to the Lowell Sun. If Rick isn’t available, Lyons puts sandbags into the wheelchair to simulate his weight. Although Dick Hoyt, 74, won’t be running, he won’t absent from the marathon. He’s the race’s grand marshal, and will ride in a pace car ahead of the lead runners. The Hoyt’s story, chronicled by Runner’s World in 2007, has inspired many. Since 1977 when Rick asked Dick to push him through a 5-mile race, the father-son duo has completed more than 1,100 races, including Ironman triathlons. “Dick will continue to be at the head of the field, leading 30,000 runners on their trek to Boston,” Tom Grilk, Executive Director of the Boston Athletic Association, said in a press release. “Dick and Rick Hoyt will forever be synonymous with the Boston Marathon and the sport of running.” Now, Lyons’ name will be attached, too. Once Dick decided not to run, Lyons was an easy choice for the Hoyts. "Bryan will be out there, and he'll do his best, we know that," Dick Hoyt told the Lowell Sun. "He's a great athlete, a great person, and the type of person that we want to be pushing Rick. And Rick wants Bryan to be the one to do it." Section Two – Life Lessons Using an External Brain – Outro That’s it my friends. Episode 4-310 in the can. We’ll see what happens over the weekend. I may do a race report or not. It’s a lot of work to write something that I am proud of. You don’t really know the appropriate theme until the race has been run, so you can’t prepare that much. I’ve got the Groton Road Race coming up on the 26th and we’ve still got shirts if you want to register. We’d love to have you. Then I’m going in to get my heart fixed. Then…it will be summer time and the living will be easy. I was out in California this past week. I flew out Saturday and came back on the redeye Tuesday night. I was in Huntington Beach. You may or may not know that Huntington Beach is known as Surf City USA. This is one of the centers of the surfing culture from Southern California. There are surf shops and beach cruiser bikes and classic cars cruising in circles. It’s a surfer vibe. Sunday I was wandering around the resort, killing some time before dinner and ended up going into a surf shop, where they sell shirts, baggy shorts and flip flops to the tourists. There were a couple young guys lounging behind the counter. They were your surfer dude types. Being me, I figured I’d chat them up. I say “You guys look tired and bored.” To which the one guy replies, “Yeah, we’re the surf instructors but they make us work in here.” And the other dude says, “Yeah, man, Long night, ya know?” I nod, as if I can commiserate. He thinks I don’t understand. “I was up all night man, you know those Spanish girls…” I try to act like that’s something I can relate to as I stand there in my business suit and mid-life crisis look. He still thinks I don’t get it and says, “Ya know, man? The 6-2?” I agree and move on, wondering what the hell ‘the 6-2’ means. I tell the story to the guys I’m with and we come up with all sorts of theories around body type ratios and start-stop times. We Google it but the urban dictionary, while having some fairly unsettling definitions, doesn’t quite fit. We spend the next couple days asking people and not getting any good answers. I go back to the shop but the dudes aren’t working. At dinner that night I can see that the busboy is clearly a surfer dude cut from the same cloth. I call him over and tell him my story in a conspiratorial and hushed way, finishing with the big question. “What does ‘the 6-2’ mean? He says “Well bro, it’s kinda hard to explain…” I say “Just give it your best shot…” He continues. “Well it just mean he was tappin that shit all night long…” The mystery was solved. That’s all it meant. There were not ratios or timing or measurements involved. Now you know. You’ve got early access to some surf slang. I can see the ultra runners using this one. How was the middle 50 miles? “It was the 6-2, bro, all trail, all night…” With that I will leave you to your own adventures. Don’t wait. Step put the door and do it today. There will never be a good or convenient time to do epic stuff. Enjoy your race. I’ll see you out there. Closing comments
Folks, I am re-releasing episode 4-310 where I interviewed Bryan Lions so we could all hear his voice and listen to his story. Chris, ... The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-310 – Bryan Lyons on Pushing Rick in 2015 (Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4310.mp3] Link Intro Bumper: Hello my friends, this is Chris your host and this is the RunRunLive Podcast episode 4-310. Welcome. We are in our final days of taper leading into the Boston Marathon. I'm ready. I'm right on my target race weight, I'm strong in the legs and I've done it a few times before. I'm starting from the back this year in the last charity corral. It will take me awhile to get to the starting line and it will be crowded. Looks like we're getting decent weather, cool and rainy. That's actually my favorite racing weather. One of my friends from the running club is getting a limo to take a bunch of us out to Hopkinton on Monday morning. There's no checked bags from Hopkinton anymore so we'll have to navigate the cool, wet weather on the morning with some throw away stuff. There will be a wind. I don't know yet if it's a head wind on not but as far back in the pack as I am there's lots of shelter if you know what I mean. I don't know if I'll be carrying my phone or not. I'd love to be unplugged but I don't know how to get it into Boston otherwise without being separated from it for a day. It turns out this new iPhone6 fits perfectly into one of those ½ size snack baggies and you can use the phone through the plastic. Today we have the great privilege to speak with Bryon Lyons who is taking over for Dick Hoyt in Pushing Rick this year. It's a long one, but's that's ok. I think we cover some good ground. In the first section I'm going to muse on this year's Boston from my perspective, as is my annual tradition. In the second section we'll talk about how to use an external brain to get important stuff done. I'm good to go for Monday. I have a red Team Hoyt singlet that I'll probably put a long sleeve shirt on underneath because of the weather. It's also got some rough bits that I'd like to keep off my nipples! I still need to swing by Whole Foods and pick up some Hammer Gels for the race. I tried to cook up my own energy gels from organic peanut butter and cocoa powder but it was a disaster. It was like when you give a dog a spoonful of peanut butter and their mouth gets all stuck. I'll have to keep working on that. Damn near choked me to death on my last couple long runs. We might go long today, but I'll keep my comments short. On with the Show! Section one - Running Tips Tapering into Boston Voices of reason – the interviews Bryan Lyons From “Team Hoyt Racing at Boston With a Different Look For the first time since 1980, Dick Hoyt won't run behind his son. But Bryan Lyons, a longtime supporter and runner, takes up the cause. By Liam Boylan-Pett; April 9, 2015 Rick and Dick Hoyt with Bryan Lyons Bryan Lyons (left, bib number 33864) at the 2014 Boston Marathon with Dick and Rick Hoyt. In 2014, Dick Hoyt completed the Boston Marathon for the 32nd time—each year pushing his son Rick, who's a spastic quadriplegic with cerebral palsy, in a custom-racing wheelchair. After last year's race, Dick wanted to retire. Rick, however, wanted to cover the 26.2 miles from Hopkinton to Boston again. He's going to—this year with a new running partner. Dr. Bryan Lyons, a dentist in Billerica, Massachusetts, and a family friend of the Hoyts, will push Rick in the 119th running of Boston. “It was sort of shocking for [Dick] to ask me,” Lyons told the Lowell Sun. "My friends told me [the Hoyts] don't want the big name, they want the big heart. If that's the least that I can provide, I'm happy." This will be the seventh Boston Marathon for Lyons, 44, who has run for the Hoyt Foundation marathon team since 2008, with a best of 4:15:29, which he ran in 2010. Lyons does have some experience running with Rick, 53. Since January, the two have completed a few shorter local road races and gone on training runs together, according to the Lowell Sun. If Rick isn't available, Lyons puts sandbags into the wheelchair to simulate his weight. Although Dick Hoyt, 74, won't be running, he won't absent from the marathon. He's the race's grand marshal, and will ride in a pace car ahead of the lead runners. The Hoyt's story, chronicled by Runner's World in 2007, has inspired many. Since 1977 when Rick asked Dick to push him through a 5-mile race, the father-son duo has completed more than 1,100 races, including Ironman triathlons. “Dick will continue to be at the head of the field, leading 30,000 runners on their trek to Boston,” Tom Grilk, Executive Director of the Boston Athletic Association, said in a press release. “Dick and Rick Hoyt will forever be synonymous with the Boston Marathon and the sport of running.” Now, Lyons' name will be attached, too. Once Dick decided not to run, Lyons was an easy choice for the Hoyts. "Bryan will be out there, and he'll do his best, we know that," Dick Hoyt told the Lowell Sun. "He's a great athlete, a great person, and the type of person that we want to be pushing Rick. And Rick wants Bryan to be the one to do it." Section Two – Life Lessons Using an External Brain – Outro That's it my friends. Episode 4-310 in the can. We'll see what happens over the weekend. I may do a race report or not. It's a lot of work to write something that I am proud of. You don't really know the appropriate theme until the race has been run, so you can't prepare that much. I've got the Groton Road Race coming up on the 26th and we've still got shirts if you want to register. We'd love to have you. Then I'm going in to get my heart fixed. Then…it will be summer time and the living will be easy. I was out in California this past week. I flew out Saturday and came back on the redeye Tuesday night. I was in Huntington Beach. You may or may not know that Huntington Beach is known as Surf City USA. This is one of the centers of the surfing culture from Southern California. There are surf shops and beach cruiser bikes and classic cars cruising in circles. It's a surfer vibe. Sunday I was wandering around the resort, killing some time before dinner and ended up going into a surf shop, where they sell shirts, baggy shorts and flip flops to the tourists. There were a couple young guys lounging behind the counter. They were your surfer dude types. Being me, I figured I'd chat them up. I say “You guys look tired and bored.” To which the one guy replies, “Yeah, we're the surf instructors but they make us work in here.” And the other dude says, “Yeah, man, Long night, ya know?” I nod, as if I can commiserate. He thinks I don't understand. “I was up all night man, you know those Spanish girls…” I try to act like that's something I can relate to as I stand there in my business suit and mid-life crisis look. He still thinks I don't get it and says, “Ya know, man? The 6-2?” I agree and move on, wondering what the hell ‘the 6-2' means. I tell the story to the guys I'm with and we come up with all sorts of theories around body type ratios and start-stop times. We Google it but the urban dictionary, while having some fairly unsettling definitions, doesn't quite fit. We spend the next couple days asking people and not getting any good answers. I go back to the shop but the dudes aren't working. At dinner that night I can see that the busboy is clearly a surfer dude cut from the same cloth. I call him over and tell him my story in a conspiratorial and hushed way, finishing with the big question. “What does ‘the 6-2' mean? He says “Well bro, it's kinda hard to explain…” I say “Just give it your best shot…” He continues. “Well it just mean he was tappin that shit all night long…” The mystery was solved. That's all it meant. There were not ratios or timing or measurements involved. Now you know. You've got early access to some surf slang. I can see the ultra runners using this one. How was the middle 50 miles? “It was the 6-2, bro, all trail, all night…” With that I will leave you to your own adventures. Don't wait. Step put the door and do it today. There will never be a good or convenient time to do epic stuff. Enjoy your race. I'll see you out there. Closing comments
Conrad has a win, Neil has a find, Heathcote Shiraz has the identity of the lift bomber, and Tony has to call Bryan Lyons back, due to popular, if misguided, demand.
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 -
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 -
The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-341 – John “The Hammer” Young (Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4341.mp3] Link MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks - Hello my friends and welcome to episode 4-341 of the RunRunLive Podcast. Today we have a great chat with John “The Hammer” Young. John is a proud father, husband, teacher triathlete and marathoner. I hunted John down to get an interview when I passed him in the Boston Marathon this year. It was one of those flashes in time during the marathon. One of those ‘moments’ in the disjointed flow of images as you fade in and out of race consciousness. I remember looking at John, seeing his kit and thinking, “Jeez, that guy’s a stud. I bet he has a great story.” Then I saw him hamming for a picture with Bryan Lyons who pushes Rick Hoyt in the marathon now. I enquired. We connected and today you and I get to share the fruit of that conversation. As you listen to our conversation you’ll hear me circling around the subject at hand because, frankly we’ve got ourselves a bit of a Catch 22 situation. The reason I wanted to pick John’s brain is that he competes, is an athlete, with Dwarfism. And I don’t say ‘suffers from’ or ‘is afflicted by’ on purpose because John is way more than you or I or anyone could pigeon hole as a ‘little person’. In fact he’s just a great guy, a committed endurance athlete and we could all learn something from him. But, the fact that I wanted to talk to him about it is a bit at odds with John’s narrative of being an athlete. As with so many of us John doesn’t want to change the world or intrude a message into the conversation. Like all of us he just wants to pursue his sport; to swim bike and run. To test himself and set an example for his family and community. In section one I’m going to talk you through a speed workout that coach has me given me a couple times. I’ll talk through the execution and the purpose and hopefully give you another tool for your box. In section two I’ll give you a working example of some of the tricks and tools of writing a compelling speech or talk. … 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 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. Currently on the members feed is my Eastern States 20 miler race report and the 3rd installment of a 3 part series on the podcasts that I listen to. For the cost of a used DVD on Ebay of the Movie “Francesco” a 2:35 dramatic recreation of the story of the life of Saint Francis Assisi Made in 1998 staring a young Mickey Rourke before he got all weird and creepy and Hellen Bonam Carter, as, I guess the Saint’s teenage love interest? – Well – you can either have that or you can be a member of the runrunlive support crew. Links are in the show notes and at RunRunLive.com … I had a bit of a scare coming off that crazy May that I had with the travel and being under the weather. I had a couple easy long runs when I got back where my heart rate flipped on me in the 2nd half and I thought the AFIB might be back. But, everything seems to be cool now. I did call my heart doctor and they freaked out a bit. I just casually mentioned that I had a follow up appointment coming and, oh, by the way, it’s probably nothing, but I got a couple anomalous heart rate readings… And they freaked out. They wanted me to wear one of those 24 hour a day heart rate monitors. Luckily they seem to have lost their enthusiasm in their bureaucracy and I haven’t heard from them in a week. I’ll probably get a bill for the phone call. If you stop getting podcasts you may want to drive up to Massachusetts and start looking for me in the trails behind my house. I’ve been doing a lot of long trail runs. I’ve related to you before how in a span of 2-3 weeks where I live the forest explodes into verdancy. My woods ae all fairly mature trees and when they leaf out there is a dense canopy over and around the trail. It’s like running through green, living, soft and womb-like tunnels – or . The forest becomes a living entity and a nurturing character in my life play. I’ve got a new system where I take Buddy, the old Wonder Dog, out for the first 2 mile loop. Then I drop him at the house and head back out for the meat of my run. That’s enough for him to get a little freedom and pride of accomplishment without tweaking his hips. I even got my first mountain bike ride of the season in. I forgot how much fun it is to hit the trails on my 29er, Mr. Moto. And when I say ‘hit the trails’ I do usually end up face down in the mud bleeding at some point. But, I’m always surprised by how quickly the technique comes back…it’s like…well…wait for it…riding a bike. Makes me wonder if I shouldn’t do another mountain bike ultra this fall. I had a great run this past Sunday out in the trails. I did maybe 10 miles or so for a bit over 1:35 at a casual Z2 pace. It was overcast and sprinkling when I dropped Buddy and headed back out. It advanced to a steady rain and then to a downpour. But in the woods the rain is filtered through the canopy so it coagulates into these big, warm dollups of water that drain from the trees onto you. It’s glorious. When I got back I was totally soaked. Like wet t-shirt contest, just went swimming, soaked. I went upstairs to the master bath to strip off my wet stuff. I noticed that the gutter outside the window over the hot tub was clogged and not draining at all. I opened the window to see if I could reach up and get the leaves out of it. It’s still pouring buckets of rain that is cascading out of the clogged gutter down me and the house. I finally was able to tease it out with an appropriately MacGyver-ed coat hanger. Here’s the picture you won’t be able to get out of your mind. Stark naked, soaking wet man, hanging out a second story window in a driving rain storm fiddling at the gutter with a bent coat hanger. You’re welcome. On with the show. Section one – Change of pace speed workout - Voices of reason – the conversation John Young – The Hammer Twitter & Instagram @dwarfparatri Facebook John Young - The Hammer Run for TODAY: How running changed the life of a man with dwarfism As the More/Shape Women’s Half Marathon in New York, hosted by TODAY’s Natalie Morales and Erica Hill, approache... John Young Is Blazing A Trail For Triathletes With Dwarfism Since 2008, John Young has crossed the finish line of more than 30 triathlons, including four half-iron-distance... – Video of John’s 2013 / 2014 Boston experiences. Photo from start of marathon by WBUR and the other one is by Matthew Muise "Triathlon has become life in microcosm, a metaphor that gives truth to the wisdom passed from each generation to the next: work hard and you will be rewarded, have faith in yourself and you will excel; do not falter when an ill wind blows your way." Ashley Halsey Section two Telling a better story workshop - Outro Well my friends Your stride may be not be as long as mine and it may have taken you more steps but you have managed to make to the end of Episode 4-341 of the RunRunLive Podcast. Next episode will be our 9 year anniversary. Who would have imagined that? That first piece, for the first episode I remember recording in my old truck after running the Mount Washington Road Race and then running back down, which ironically is the just about the same as the Grand Canyon, just in reverses. Quite a ride. I signed up for a Spartan Beast in September. Hopefully we can get Joe on to talk about his new book at some point. The Beast is around a ½ marathon distance with 30+ obstacles in it. They have told me it takes people in decent shape 2 and a half hours. I can run 12 miles in an hour and a half so I don’t know what these Spartan people are doing with their extra hour J - must be a lot of standing around involved, right? Hey, I’ve been training hard and I can do almost 3 pullups now! They make you buy insurance when you sign up. This might not end well. But, that’s not until September so I have to find something else to train for. I’m thinking a nice technical trail 50K. I’ve never run the 50K distance officially so it’s an automatic PR for me! And, it will be good base training if I want to try to race a marathon in the fall. Let me know if you have an interesting trail 50K I can run in late July or August. I’m still trying to catch up from my May Madness. I feel good. I like the way the strength training makes you feel strong. I guess it’s probably a guy thing to like the feel of your new found muscles in your clothes as you walk around. I have not traveled the last couple weeks which has allowed me to catch up on sleep and get my diet and biorhythms back to normal. Whatever normal is. Running in my trails. Working in my garden. Mowing the lawn. The pollen has been really bad this year. When you come out in the morning the cars are covered in yellow dust. It’s given me a runny nose and headache but it’s ok. … We talked a bit about telling a good story today and being aware of your inner narrative. I had to learn this lesson again over the last couple weeks myself. I was in a situation where another person was asking me for details about some project I was working on. My inner narrative went nuts and I got really defensive. Why are they questioning me? Why do they care about what I’m doing? This is my responsibility. I’ll handle it. Why question me? Do you think I can’t do my job? Are you trying to make me look bad? I was really wrapped around the axle. I talked myself into being quite angry. I made up several scenarios in my head where I would wait for the next time this person asked for detail on something I was doing and I would call them out on it in front of our peers and put them in their place with a show of force. Luckily for me I had a chance to bounce the issue off a friend and quickly realized that I was letting someone else influence my inner narrative. What I do or don’t do is under my control. What other people do or don’t do isn’t. The solution is to keep doing what you think is right. Keep going on the path that is your path. At some point it might come to me saying something like ‘no, I’m not going to do that because it’s not a priority for me’ or ‘I’m doing this because I believe it’s the best path’ or whatever to keep someone from co-opting my agenda. But I’m not going to let someone else’s narrative intrude on my own or cause me to go on the defensive or change my approach. If I’m doing what I believe is the right thing, then I’ve got nothing to worry about. I can sleep at night. It’s your ship. You’re the captain. You can’t control the world. You can’t control other people. But you can control your own inner narrative and the way you react to the world and other people. Choose to tell a better story. And I’ll see you out there. MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks -
The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-341 – John “The Hammer” Young (Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4341.mp3] Link MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks - Hello my friends and welcome to episode 4-341 of the RunRunLive Podcast. Today we have a great chat with John “The Hammer” Young. John is a proud father, husband, teacher triathlete and marathoner. I hunted John down to get an interview when I passed him in the Boston Marathon this year. It was one of those flashes in time during the marathon. One of those ‘moments' in the disjointed flow of images as you fade in and out of race consciousness. I remember looking at John, seeing his kit and thinking, “Jeez, that guy's a stud. I bet he has a great story.” Then I saw him hamming for a picture with Bryan Lyons who pushes Rick Hoyt in the marathon now. I enquired. We connected and today you and I get to share the fruit of that conversation. As you listen to our conversation you'll hear me circling around the subject at hand because, frankly we've got ourselves a bit of a Catch 22 situation. The reason I wanted to pick John's brain is that he competes, is an athlete, with Dwarfism. And I don't say ‘suffers from' or ‘is afflicted by' on purpose because John is way more than you or I or anyone could pigeon hole as a ‘little person'. In fact he's just a great guy, a committed endurance athlete and we could all learn something from him. But, the fact that I wanted to talk to him about it is a bit at odds with John's narrative of being an athlete. As with so many of us John doesn't want to change the world or intrude a message into the conversation. Like all of us he just wants to pursue his sport; to swim bike and run. To test himself and set an example for his family and community. In section one I'm going to talk you through a speed workout that coach has me given me a couple times. I'll talk through the execution and the purpose and hopefully give you another tool for your box. In section two I'll give you a working example of some of the tricks and tools of writing a compelling speech or talk. … 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 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. Currently on the members feed is my Eastern States 20 miler race report and the 3rd installment of a 3 part series on the podcasts that I listen to. For the cost of a used DVD on Ebay of the Movie “Francesco” a 2:35 dramatic recreation of the story of the life of Saint Francis Assisi Made in 1998 staring a young Mickey Rourke before he got all weird and creepy and Hellen Bonam Carter, as, I guess the Saint's teenage love interest? – Well – you can either have that or you can be a member of the runrunlive support crew. Links are in the show notes and at RunRunLive.com … I had a bit of a scare coming off that crazy May that I had with the travel and being under the weather. I had a couple easy long runs when I got back where my heart rate flipped on me in the 2nd half and I thought the AFIB might be back. But, everything seems to be cool now. I did call my heart doctor and they freaked out a bit. I just casually mentioned that I had a follow up appointment coming and, oh, by the way, it's probably nothing, but I got a couple anomalous heart rate readings… And they freaked out. They wanted me to wear one of those 24 hour a day heart rate monitors. Luckily they seem to have lost their enthusiasm in their bureaucracy and I haven't heard from them in a week. I'll probably get a bill for the phone call. If you stop getting podcasts you may want to drive up to Massachusetts and start looking for me in the trails behind my house. I've been doing a lot of long trail runs. I've related to you before how in a span of 2-3 weeks where I live the forest explodes into verdancy. My woods ae all fairly mature trees and when they leaf out there is a dense canopy over and around the trail. It's like running through green, living, soft and womb-like tunnels – or . The forest becomes a living entity and a nurturing character in my life play. I've got a new system where I take Buddy, the old Wonder Dog, out for the first 2 mile loop. Then I drop him at the house and head back out for the meat of my run. That's enough for him to get a little freedom and pride of accomplishment without tweaking his hips. I even got my first mountain bike ride of the season in. I forgot how much fun it is to hit the trails on my 29er, Mr. Moto. And when I say ‘hit the trails' I do usually end up face down in the mud bleeding at some point. But, I'm always surprised by how quickly the technique comes back…it's like…well…wait for it…riding a bike. Makes me wonder if I shouldn't do another mountain bike ultra this fall. I had a great run this past Sunday out in the trails. I did maybe 10 miles or so for a bit over 1:35 at a casual Z2 pace. It was overcast and sprinkling when I dropped Buddy and headed back out. It advanced to a steady rain and then to a downpour. But in the woods the rain is filtered through the canopy so it coagulates into these big, warm dollups of water that drain from the trees onto you. It's glorious. When I got back I was totally soaked. Like wet t-shirt contest, just went swimming, soaked. I went upstairs to the master bath to strip off my wet stuff. I noticed that the gutter outside the window over the hot tub was clogged and not draining at all. I opened the window to see if I could reach up and get the leaves out of it. It's still pouring buckets of rain that is cascading out of the clogged gutter down me and the house. I finally was able to tease it out with an appropriately MacGyver-ed coat hanger. Here's the picture you won't be able to get out of your mind. Stark naked, soaking wet man, hanging out a second story window in a driving rain storm fiddling at the gutter with a bent coat hanger. You're welcome. On with the show. Section one – Change of pace speed workout - Voices of reason – the conversation John Young – The Hammer Twitter & Instagram @dwarfparatri Facebook John Young - The Hammer Run for TODAY: How running changed the life of a man with dwarfism As the More/Shape Women's Half Marathon in New York, hosted by TODAY's Natalie Morales and Erica Hill, approache... John Young Is Blazing A Trail For Triathletes With Dwarfism Since 2008, John Young has crossed the finish line of more than 30 triathlons, including four half-iron-distance... – Video of John's 2013 / 2014 Boston experiences. Photo from start of marathon by WBUR and the other one is by Matthew Muise "Triathlon has become life in microcosm, a metaphor that gives truth to the wisdom passed from each generation to the next: work hard and you will be rewarded, have faith in yourself and you will excel; do not falter when an ill wind blows your way." Ashley Halsey Section two Telling a better story workshop - Outro Well my friends Your stride may be not be as long as mine and it may have taken you more steps but you have managed to make to the end of Episode 4-341 of the RunRunLive Podcast. Next episode will be our 9 year anniversary. Who would have imagined that? That first piece, for the first episode I remember recording in my old truck after running the Mount Washington Road Race and then running back down, which ironically is the just about the same as the Grand Canyon, just in reverses. Quite a ride. I signed up for a Spartan Beast in September. Hopefully we can get Joe on to talk about his new book at some point. The Beast is around a ½ marathon distance with 30+ obstacles in it. They have told me it takes people in decent shape 2 and a half hours. I can run 12 miles in an hour and a half so I don't know what these Spartan people are doing with their extra hour J - must be a lot of standing around involved, right? Hey, I've been training hard and I can do almost 3 pullups now! They make you buy insurance when you sign up. This might not end well. But, that's not until September so I have to find something else to train for. I'm thinking a nice technical trail 50K. I've never run the 50K distance officially so it's an automatic PR for me! And, it will be good base training if I want to try to race a marathon in the fall. Let me know if you have an interesting trail 50K I can run in late July or August. I'm still trying to catch up from my May Madness. I feel good. I like the way the strength training makes you feel strong. I guess it's probably a guy thing to like the feel of your new found muscles in your clothes as you walk around. I have not traveled the last couple weeks which has allowed me to catch up on sleep and get my diet and biorhythms back to normal. Whatever normal is. Running in my trails. Working in my garden. Mowing the lawn. The pollen has been really bad this year. When you come out in the morning the cars are covered in yellow dust. It's given me a runny nose and headache but it's ok. … We talked a bit about telling a good story today and being aware of your inner narrative. I had to learn this lesson again over the last couple weeks myself. I was in a situation where another person was asking me for details about some project I was working on. My inner narrative went nuts and I got really defensive. Why are they questioning me? Why do they care about what I'm doing? This is my responsibility. I'll handle it. Why question me? Do you think I can't do my job? Are you trying to make me look bad? I was really wrapped around the axle. I talked myself into being quite angry. I made up several scenarios in my head where I would wait for the next time this person asked for detail on something I was doing and I would call them out on it in front of our peers and put them in their place with a show of force. Luckily for me I had a chance to bounce the issue off a friend and quickly realized that I was letting someone else influence my inner narrative. What I do or don't do is under my control. What other people do or don't do isn't. The solution is to keep doing what you think is right. Keep going on the path that is your path. At some point it might come to me saying something like ‘no, I'm not going to do that because it's not a priority for me' or ‘I'm doing this because I believe it's the best path' or whatever to keep someone from co-opting my agenda. But I'm not going to let someone else's narrative intrude on my own or cause me to go on the defensive or change my approach. If I'm doing what I believe is the right thing, then I've got nothing to worry about. I can sleep at night. It's your ship. You're the captain. You can't control the world. You can't control other people. But you can control your own inner narrative and the way you react to the world and other people. Choose to tell a better story. And I'll see you out there. MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks -
The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-309 – Bryan Lyons on Pushing Rick Hoyt in 2015 (Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4310.mp3] Link epi4310.mp3 Intro Bumper: https://www.crowdrise.com/TeamHoytBoston2015/fundraiser/christopherrussell Hello my friends, this is Chris your host and this is the RunRunLive Podcast episode 4-310. Welcome. We are in our final days of taper leading into the Boston Marathon. I’m ready. I’m right on my target race weight, I’m strong in the legs and I’ve done it a few times before. I’m starting from the back this year in the last charity corral. It will take me awhile to get to the starting line and it will be crowded. Looks like we’re getting decent weather, cool and rainy. That’s actually my favorite racing weather. One of my friends from the running club is getting a limo to take a bunch of us out to Hopkinton on Monday morning. There’s no checked bags from Hopkinton anymore so we’ll have to navigate the cool, wet weather on the morning with some throw away stuff. There will be a wind. I don’t know yet if it’s a head wind on not but as far back in the pack as I am there’s lots of shelter if you know what I mean. I don’t know if I’ll be carrying my phone or not. I’d love to be unplugged but I don’t know how to get it into Boston otherwise without being separated from it for a day. It turns out this new iPhone6 fits perfectly into one of those ½ size snack baggies and you can use the phone through the plastic. Today we have the great privilege to speak with Bryon Lyons who is taking over for Dick Hoyt in Pushing Rick this year. It’s a long one, but’s that’s ok. I think we cover some good ground. In the first section I’m going to muse on this year’s Boston from my perspective, as is my annual tradition. In the second section we’ll talk about how to use an external brain to get important stuff done. I’m good to go for Monday. I have a red Team Hoyt singlet that I’ll probably put a long sleeve shirt on underneath because of the weather. It’s also got some rough bits that I’d like to keep off my nipples! I still need to swing by Whole Foods and pick up some Hammer Gels for the race. I tried to cook up my own energy gels from organic peanut butter and cocoa powder but it was a disaster. It was like when you give a dog a spoonful of peanut butter and their mouth gets all stuck. I’ll have to keep working on that. Damn near choked me to death on my last couple long runs. We might go long today, but I’ll keep my comments short. On with the Show! Section one - Running Tips Tapering into Boston http://runrunlive.com/boston-taper-time Voices of reason – the interviews Bryan Lyons From Runners World “Team Hoyt Racing at Boston With a Different Look For the first time since 1980, Dick Hoyt won’t run behind his son. But Bryan Lyons, a longtime supporter and runner, takes up the cause. By Liam Boylan-Pett; April 9, 2015 Rick and Dick Hoyt with Bryan Lyons Bryan Lyons (left, bib number 33864) at the 2014 Boston Marathon with Dick and Rick Hoyt. In 2014, Dick Hoyt completed the Boston Marathon for the 32nd time—each year pushing his son Rick, who’s a spastic quadriplegic with cerebral palsy, in a custom-racing wheelchair. After last year’s race, Dick wanted to retire. Rick, however, wanted to cover the 26.2 miles from Hopkinton to Boston again. He’s going to—this year with a new running partner. Dr. Bryan Lyons, a dentist in Billerica, Massachusetts, and a family friend of the Hoyts, will push Rick in the 119th running of Boston. “It was sort of shocking for [Dick] to ask me,” Lyons told the Lowell Sun. "My friends told me [the Hoyts] don't want the big name, they want the big heart. If that's the least that I can provide, I'm happy." This will be the seventh Boston Marathon for Lyons, 44, who has run for the Hoyt Foundation marathon team since 2008, with a best of 4:15:29, which he ran in 2010. Lyons does have some experience running with Rick, 53. Since January, the two have completed a few shorter local road races and gone on training runs together, according to the Lowell Sun. If Rick isn’t available, Lyons puts sandbags into the wheelchair to simulate his weight. Although Dick Hoyt, 74, won’t be running, he won’t absent from the marathon. He’s the race’s grand marshal, and will ride in a pace car ahead of the lead runners. The Hoyt’s story, chronicled by Runner’s World in 2007, has inspired many. Since 1977 when Rick asked Dick to push him through a 5-mile race, the father-son duo has completed more than 1,100 races, including Ironman triathlons. “Dick will continue to be at the head of the field, leading 30,000 runners on their trek to Boston,” Tom Grilk, Executive Director of the Boston Athletic Association, said in a press release. “Dick and Rick Hoyt will forever be synonymous with the Boston Marathon and the sport of running.” Now, Lyons’ name will be attached, too. Once Dick decided not to run, Lyons was an easy choice for the Hoyts. "Bryan will be out there, and he'll do his best, we know that," Dick Hoyt told the Lowell Sun. "He's a great athlete, a great person, and the type of person that we want to be pushing Rick. And Rick wants Bryan to be the one to do it." Section Two – Life Lessons Using an External Brain – http://runrunlive.com/the-power-of-the-external-brain Outro That’s it my friends. Episode 4-310 in the can. We’ll see what happens over the weekend. I may do a race report or not. It’s a lot of work to write something that I am proud of. You don’t really know the appropriate theme until the race has been run, so you can’t prepare that much. I’ve got the Groton Road Race coming up on the 26th and we’ve still got shirts if you want to register. We’d love to have you. Then I’m going in to get my heart fixed. Then…it will be summer time and the living will be easy. I was out in California this past week. I flew out Saturday and came back on the redeye Tuesday night. I was in Huntington Beach. You may or may not know that Huntington Beach is known as Surf City USA. This is one of the centers of the surfing culture from Southern California. There are surf shops and beach cruiser bikes and classic cars cruising in circles. It’s a surfer vibe. Sunday I was wandering around the resort, killing some time before dinner and ended up going into a surf shop, where they sell shirts, baggy shorts and flip flops to the tourists. There were a couple young guys lounging behind the counter. They were your surfer dude types. Being me, I figured I’d chat them up. I say “You guys look tired and bored.” To which the one guy replies, “Yeah, we’re the surf instructors but they make us work in here.” And the other dude says, “Yeah, man, Long night, ya know?” I nod, as if I can commiserate. He thinks I don’t understand. “I was up all night man, you know those Spanish girls…” I try to act like that’s something I can relate to as I stand there in my business suit and mid-life crisis look. He still thinks I don’t get it and says, “Ya know, man? The 6-2?” I agree and move on, wondering what the hell ‘the 6-2’ means. I tell the story to the guys I’m with and we come up with all sorts of theories around body type ratios and start-stop times. We Google it but the urban dictionary, while having some fairly unsettling definitions, doesn’t quite fit. We spend the next couple days asking people and not getting any good answers. I go back to the shop but the dudes aren’t working. At dinner that night I can see that the busboy is clearly a surfer dude cut from the same cloth. I call him over and tell him my story in a conspiratorial and hushed way, finishing with the big question. “What does ‘the 6-2’ mean? He says “Well bro, it’s kinda hard to explain…” I say “Just give it your best shot…” He continues. “Well it just mean he was tappin that shit all night long…” The mystery was solved. That’s all it meant. There were not ratios or timing or measurements involved. Now you know. You’ve got early access to some surf slang. I can see the ultra runners using this one. How was the middle 50 miles? “It was the 6-2, bro, all trail, all night…” With that I will leave you to your own adventures. Don’t wait. Step put the door and do it today. There will never be a good or convenient time to do epic stuff. Enjoy your race. I’ll see you out there. https://www.crowdrise.com/TeamHoytBoston2015/fundraiser/christopherrussell http://www.grotonroadrace.com/ Closing comments http://runrunlive.com/my-books
The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-309 – Bryan Lyons on Pushing Rick Hoyt in 2015 (Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4310.mp3] Link epi4310.mp3 Intro Bumper: https://www.crowdrise.com/TeamHoytBoston2015/fundraiser/christopherrussell Hello my friends, this is Chris your host and this is the RunRunLive Podcast episode 4-310. Welcome. We are in our final days of taper leading into the Boston Marathon. I'm ready. I'm right on my target race weight, I'm strong in the legs and I've done it a few times before. I'm starting from the back this year in the last charity corral. It will take me awhile to get to the starting line and it will be crowded. Looks like we're getting decent weather, cool and rainy. That's actually my favorite racing weather. One of my friends from the running club is getting a limo to take a bunch of us out to Hopkinton on Monday morning. There's no checked bags from Hopkinton anymore so we'll have to navigate the cool, wet weather on the morning with some throw away stuff. There will be a wind. I don't know yet if it's a head wind on not but as far back in the pack as I am there's lots of shelter if you know what I mean. I don't know if I'll be carrying my phone or not. I'd love to be unplugged but I don't know how to get it into Boston otherwise without being separated from it for a day. It turns out this new iPhone6 fits perfectly into one of those ½ size snack baggies and you can use the phone through the plastic. Today we have the great privilege to speak with Bryon Lyons who is taking over for Dick Hoyt in Pushing Rick this year. It's a long one, but's that's ok. I think we cover some good ground. In the first section I'm going to muse on this year's Boston from my perspective, as is my annual tradition. In the second section we'll talk about how to use an external brain to get important stuff done. I'm good to go for Monday. I have a red Team Hoyt singlet that I'll probably put a long sleeve shirt on underneath because of the weather. It's also got some rough bits that I'd like to keep off my nipples! I still need to swing by Whole Foods and pick up some Hammer Gels for the race. I tried to cook up my own energy gels from organic peanut butter and cocoa powder but it was a disaster. It was like when you give a dog a spoonful of peanut butter and their mouth gets all stuck. I'll have to keep working on that. Damn near choked me to death on my last couple long runs. We might go long today, but I'll keep my comments short. On with the Show! Section one - Running Tips Tapering into Boston http://runrunlive.com/boston-taper-time Voices of reason – the interviews Bryan Lyons From Runners World “Team Hoyt Racing at Boston With a Different Look For the first time since 1980, Dick Hoyt won't run behind his son. But Bryan Lyons, a longtime supporter and runner, takes up the cause. By Liam Boylan-Pett; April 9, 2015 Rick and Dick Hoyt with Bryan Lyons Bryan Lyons (left, bib number 33864) at the 2014 Boston Marathon with Dick and Rick Hoyt. In 2014, Dick Hoyt completed the Boston Marathon for the 32nd time—each year pushing his son Rick, who's a spastic quadriplegic with cerebral palsy, in a custom-racing wheelchair. After last year's race, Dick wanted to retire. Rick, however, wanted to cover the 26.2 miles from Hopkinton to Boston again. He's going to—this year with a new running partner. Dr. Bryan Lyons, a dentist in Billerica, Massachusetts, and a family friend of the Hoyts, will push Rick in the 119th running of Boston. “It was sort of shocking for [Dick] to ask me,” Lyons told the Lowell Sun. "My friends told me [the Hoyts] don't want the big name, they want the big heart. If that's the least that I can provide, I'm happy." This will be the seventh Boston Marathon for Lyons, 44, who has run for the Hoyt Foundation marathon team since 2008, with a best of 4:15:29, which he ran in 2010. Lyons does have some experience running with Rick, 53. Since January, the two have completed a few shorter local road races and gone on training runs together, according to the Lowell Sun. If Rick isn't available, Lyons puts sandbags into the wheelchair to simulate his weight. Although Dick Hoyt, 74, won't be running, he won't absent from the marathon. He's the race's grand marshal, and will ride in a pace car ahead of the lead runners. The Hoyt's story, chronicled by Runner's World in 2007, has inspired many. Since 1977 when Rick asked Dick to push him through a 5-mile race, the father-son duo has completed more than 1,100 races, including Ironman triathlons. “Dick will continue to be at the head of the field, leading 30,000 runners on their trek to Boston,” Tom Grilk, Executive Director of the Boston Athletic Association, said in a press release. “Dick and Rick Hoyt will forever be synonymous with the Boston Marathon and the sport of running.” Now, Lyons' name will be attached, too. Once Dick decided not to run, Lyons was an easy choice for the Hoyts. "Bryan will be out there, and he'll do his best, we know that," Dick Hoyt told the Lowell Sun. "He's a great athlete, a great person, and the type of person that we want to be pushing Rick. And Rick wants Bryan to be the one to do it." Section Two – Life Lessons Using an External Brain – http://runrunlive.com/the-power-of-the-external-brain Outro That's it my friends. Episode 4-310 in the can. We'll see what happens over the weekend. I may do a race report or not. It's a lot of work to write something that I am proud of. You don't really know the appropriate theme until the race has been run, so you can't prepare that much. I've got the Groton Road Race coming up on the 26th and we've still got shirts if you want to register. We'd love to have you. Then I'm going in to get my heart fixed. Then…it will be summer time and the living will be easy. I was out in California this past week. I flew out Saturday and came back on the redeye Tuesday night. I was in Huntington Beach. You may or may not know that Huntington Beach is known as Surf City USA. This is one of the centers of the surfing culture from Southern California. There are surf shops and beach cruiser bikes and classic cars cruising in circles. It's a surfer vibe. Sunday I was wandering around the resort, killing some time before dinner and ended up going into a surf shop, where they sell shirts, baggy shorts and flip flops to the tourists. There were a couple young guys lounging behind the counter. They were your surfer dude types. Being me, I figured I'd chat them up. I say “You guys look tired and bored.” To which the one guy replies, “Yeah, we're the surf instructors but they make us work in here.” And the other dude says, “Yeah, man, Long night, ya know?” I nod, as if I can commiserate. He thinks I don't understand. “I was up all night man, you know those Spanish girls…” I try to act like that's something I can relate to as I stand there in my business suit and mid-life crisis look. He still thinks I don't get it and says, “Ya know, man? The 6-2?” I agree and move on, wondering what the hell ‘the 6-2' means. I tell the story to the guys I'm with and we come up with all sorts of theories around body type ratios and start-stop times. We Google it but the urban dictionary, while having some fairly unsettling definitions, doesn't quite fit. We spend the next couple days asking people and not getting any good answers. I go back to the shop but the dudes aren't working. At dinner that night I can see that the busboy is clearly a surfer dude cut from the same cloth. I call him over and tell him my story in a conspiratorial and hushed way, finishing with the big question. “What does ‘the 6-2' mean? He says “Well bro, it's kinda hard to explain…” I say “Just give it your best shot…” He continues. “Well it just mean he was tappin that shit all night long…” The mystery was solved. That's all it meant. There were not ratios or timing or measurements involved. Now you know. You've got early access to some surf slang. I can see the ultra runners using this one. How was the middle 50 miles? “It was the 6-2, bro, all trail, all night…” With that I will leave you to your own adventures. Don't wait. Step put the door and do it today. There will never be a good or convenient time to do epic stuff. Enjoy your race. I'll see you out there. https://www.crowdrise.com/TeamHoytBoston2015/fundraiser/christopherrussell http://www.grotonroadrace.com/ Closing comments http://runrunlive.com/my-books
The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-309 – Anne – Laura and 50 states by age 25 (Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi439.mp3] Link epi4309.mp3 Intro Bumper: https://www.crowdrise.com/TeamHoytBoston2015/fundraiser/christopherrussell Man, what a week! I'm tired. I raced the Eastern States 20 miler on Sunday. It was the 20th anniversary race and they were back to the original course which starts in Kittery Maine, crosses over into Portsmouth, runs the entire coastline of New Hampshire and ends in Massachusetts. You get 3 states in one race. I didn't really know how to manage the race going in. I have been logging 40ish miles a week for a while and have done several 3 hour long runs but I've done almost no tempo or speed. The summary would be that I'm in really good aerobic shape but lacking the sharp edge of racing. And, for those of you not paying attention, the reason I can't do the tempo and speed is that I have a heart condition, ‘exercise induced' A-fib that I've developed over the last couple years where later in a workout, under load my heartbeat becomes irregular. I'm going in to get that fixed in May but I have to drag my old self through the Boston Marathon course first! And, for those of you really not paying attention, this is Chris, your host, and this is the RunRunLive Podcast where we consider the transformational power of endurance sport. From now on, try to pay attention. There were 5 of us from my club at the race but we weren't running together because we were at different goal levels. I planned to just sort of hang back and let the race come to me and keep a watchful eye on the heart rate. But, any of you who have raced with me know how that usually goes. I'm an excitable boy, and, as usual I struggled to stay slow and knocked off the early miles 45 – 50 seconds a mile faster than my ‘safe' goal. I was worried I'd fall apart at the end but I felt great. The A-fib did kick in for the last few miles but I never crashed and my legs were solid and I wasn't sore at all on Monday. We got a great day for racing. It was sunny and mid-30's. There was a bit of a head wind, but nothing that was unmanageable. This course is nice and flat. I've probably run this race a dozen times. All-in-all it was an excellent outing. I had a blast. I have to be careful with my exuberance. Even though it was a good 20 mile run, that only gets you to the base of Heartbreak Hill and for the last 10k my heart was whacking around in my chest like a deranged hamster. While I was sorting through the race photos this week I actually paid for one it was so good. I usually don't bother with race photos. The camera isn't that kind to me in general and I'm too cheap to pay the exorbitant prices, but this was a great picture that captured how much fun I was having and was only $10 for the digital. We have a great show for you today. In the first section I'm going to look at how road races have changed over the 25 years I've been running them and what that may or may not mean for us. In the interview we have the final guest interview that was recorded for me at the end of last summer (sorry Anne and Laura for the delay in getting it out!) Anne interviews Laura who set the record as the youngest person to run all 50 US states. She did it by the age of 25. She recounts how she started as an adamant ‘non-runner' just trying to get to one mile and some of the wonderful, transformative life lessons she learned along the way. The final section is a super interesting (and maybe creepy) social experiment that I was running on strangers while traveling this week using the tools of the Pick Up Artists. Props to my coach, Jeff from PRSFit. I told him in January that I couldn't so any speedwork but I still wanted to race Boston and we figured out how to work with what we had. All long, slow, build, aerobic training. I can feel the results in my runs over the last 3 weeks and I can see the strength in my body. Just goes to show you folks, where there is a will there's a way. On with the Show! Section one - Running Tips 7 ways road races have changed in a generation http://runrunlive.com/7-ways-road-races-have-changed-in-one-generation Voices of reason – the interviews Laura @50by25 Management consultant who became the youngest woman to run a marathon in all 50 states, while still enjoying her margaritas. Sometimes simultaneously. I began writing this blog in December 2007 under the title “Absolut(ly) Fit.” I chose the name to reflect a belief that I had then (and still have today): the best way to live a healthy and happy lifestyle is to maintain balance. Of course it's good for your body to work out and eat healthy food most of the time, but it's also good for your spirit to eat the foods you enjoy. Perhaps you want to set an ambitious goal like training for a marathon – but in the pursuit of that, you don't need to give up everything else in order to succeed. Case in point – heading straight from my 2nd marathon to visit my favorite winery, Chateau Ste. Michelle I didn't always have this philosophy of balance. Growing up, I preferred musical theater to sports, and never understood how someone could do both. In my mind, you were either artsy or sporty – but never both. I began to challenge this and other assumptions while doing a college internship in Sarasota, Florida. Finding it difficult to make friends in a strange place, I told myself that I could either be miserable and have a terrible summer, or I could make the best of it and spend the time trying to improve myself in some way. I decided that I was going to do two things I had previously thought impossible: learn to cook and learn to run. Lounging and drinking in the ocean? Don't worry, I still made time for that! The cooking was easy; the running was a bit harder. I had defined my goal as being able to run one mile without stopping, and lacking any better running equipment, I drove my car in a loop around the neighborhood until the odometer read one mile – that was how far I needed to go. For two months I pounded the pavement, working my way up to running more and walking less of that distance. By the end of the summer I had not only been able to run my one mile “course ” without stopping, but I also completed a 5K race (though that was with plenty of walk breaks)! I was so proud of myself, and told everyone I knew. But after running one mile, I wondered – could I run two miles? How about three? I gradually increased my distance, completing a 5 mile race, then a 10K (6.2 miles), and eventually a 10 miler. In December 2007, shortly after starting “Absolut(ly) Fit”, I decided it would be my New Year's resolution to complete a half marathon by the end of the year. I smashed that resolution before the end of the month when I ran theManhattan Half Marathon in Central Park. I was shocked that I had been able to complete it – I thought for sure I was pushing my limits further than I could go. But I did it, and now I wondered – could I somehow complete a full marathon? I started adding more miles on to my “training sessions” (which were actually just early Saturday morning attempts to burn off the calories of the alcohol and late-night pizza/tacos/etc I had consumed with my friends the night before). I didn't follow a real training plan, but typically tried to add five to ten minutes onto whatever I had done the last time I went for a run, and that gradual increase helped me to progress injury-free. I didn't worry about how fast I was going, and instead focused on enjoying the gorgeous views and surprisingly quiet calm of Manhattan on a weekend morning. But while it wasn't too hard to do just another five to ten minutes than I had done the week before, the extra mileage was adding up – until one weekend morning, I ran 22 miles! Although I hadn't been following a formal training plan, I had read enough to know that most marathon training plans stopped around 22 miles… so it seemed that I was ready to go the full distance. I signed up for the Vermont City Marathon a few weeks later, selecting it in large part because it was sponsored by Ben and Jerry's and promised free ice cream at the finish. If anything was going to get me to run 26.2 miles, it was ice cream! My mom and my best friend came to cheer me on, holding signs that said “run to the ice cream, Laura!” That motivation certainly helped – whenever I saw their signs, you can bet that I ran a little faster! Of course I had some soul-searching, “why did I sign up for this” moments in the last few miles (what first-time marathoner doesn't?), but within a few minutes after the finish line, the memories of the tough times were completely replaced by pride of accomplishment. I did it! Proud marathoner with ice cream in hand! In fact, I was so elated that instead of wanting to stop there, I decided to run another marathon. And another after that. To this day, no matter how many marathons I've run, there is nothing like that feeling of conquering the impossible I get when I cross a marathon finish line. It never gets old! I set a new ambitious goal for myself – to run a marathon in each U.S. state by my 25th birthday – and completed it on June 6, 2010, just two years and one week after I completed my first marathon. In doing so, I broke the world record as the youngest woman to run a marathon in all 50 states. I didn't stop there, though – in November 2013, I ran my 100th marathon to become the youngest member of the 100 Marathon Club. As of this writing (December 2014), I've run 105 marathons in 50 US states, one US territory, and six countries. Seconds after achieving my 50by25 goal, I'm in disbelief. While I was working toward my “50 marathons by my 25th birthday” challenge, I picked up the 50by25 moniker – and now that I'm a bit older and perhaps not quite so focused on college drinking games and the NYC bar scene, I thought rebranding my blog to 50by25 would make more sense. Yes, I've already completed the 50by25 goal and want to move onto new challenges. However, I think the short-and-sweet 50by25 phrase is a great example of how to set a goal, break it up into manageable chunks, and achieve it. It's quantifiable, it's timebound, and for me, it provided something inspiring enough to work toward that I didn't give up even when things got tough. 50by25 is a huge part of who I am today, and a reminder that I can do the “impossible.” Of course I hope to accomplish more in my life and not just rest on my laurels from here on out, but 50by25 was really the perfect quest and serves as a great template for future endeavors. Though I still run marathons (and write about them on the blog), you'll find that my blog now focuses a lot on goal setting, productivity, and travel in addition to the usual health and fitness topics. I think mastering these activities is the best way to enjoy life and attain true happiness, and I'm eager to learn and share as much as I can about those topics! If you're not sure where to start, check out my top posts page that I put together for new visitors. Thanks for coming by, and if you have any questions, always feel free to leave a comment on a post or contact me anytime :) Section Two – Life Lessons Make them smile - http://runrunlive.com/one-powerful-easy-small-habit Outro Oi! Oi! Oi! Come on! Let's have some energy! Pick it up buttercup! Mmmmm… Got a little bit of rumbly in my tumbly today. Had to make not one, but two pit stops in the woods on my run. Feeling a bit jet lagged. I've got a funky playlist going now and I'm tapping out this semi-screed for you. Or, I guess for us. I had a funny idea for a short story based in the not-so-distant future where the people who come in last in the race get all the prizes and praise. No one wants to win because the winners get tied to a post and stoned for being un-feeling bastards. I forgot to tell you folks that I've been steadily upgrading my hardware. I got the new iPhone 6 and I really like it. Not the super big one the ‘just a little bigger' one. And I replaced my laptop with a Surface Pro 3 a couple months ago and I've grown to like it, especially for travel. And finally, I lost those Bluetooth headphones that Hilton sent me, ironically by leaving them in a Marriott. I like the no-strings attached option though and I've bought another pair. These are called an Mpow Cheetah Sport Bluetooth 4.1 Headphone. They are good but they go all the way into the ear canal which can be uncomfortable and dangerous because you really can't hear anything else. So far my toxic body juices haven't killed them but the battery life seems to be maybe 4 hours. And of course the microphone sucks if you wanted to use them to talk on the phone. When I was up at the start I had a great chat with Team Hoyt. Rick and Dick were there as well as Bryan Lyons who is pushing Rick in the longer races now. I was talking to Dick, who still pushes Rick in the shorter races. Dick was telling me how he was having back pain and now that he was retired he's got a physio coach and has been doing core work every day and he feels great. Does it ever feel to you like everyone is having the same conversations at the same time? Dick was telling me about how great having a strong core is. He's 75 years old! I wanted to thank all of you who helped me make my goal for fund raising for Team Hoyt for Boston. I hope to get Bryan on before the race, in the next show. He was nervous, telling me he's not good with ‘media' – makes me laugh – like I'm Geraldo or something. Did some math and figured out that I've got somewhere around 5-600 miles on these Hokas. They still feel fine but I can feel them getting a little ‘loose'. Time to start looking for a new pair of something. I'm not going to change horses before Boston. But, as a lesson, don't do what I do, which is to run in a pair of shoes until your knees start hurting. You should always have a couple pair in rotation and switch back and forth so you don't get ‘repetitive' injuries. Well my lovelies I have to let you go. I'm so far behind in my work that I may never dig out and it's Friday afternoon. My motivation and energy flows from me and spreads like a dark puddle across the hardwood floor. The warmth of a comforting bed, the friendly embrace of the couch and the warm dopamine drip of procrastination are sucking at my mind. Last week I played hooky one weekday afternoon and went into China town with my daughter. We had a blast knocking around the Chinese shops and eating at a Shabu Shabu place. We didn't roll back home until around 8:00 PM. I had still had to get my run in. The weather had taken a turn from the better. It wasn't snowing and the hulking drifts had retreated from the roads a bit. There was not a cloud in the sky. There was not a breath of wind. There was a 1/4 moon and a sky full of stars. It was about 28 degrees – warm enough to allow some freedom from the atrocious and common winter bulk of accoutrements of the past 3 months. A soundless night. I made my way over through the old neighborhood where I bought my first little house and settled with my new bride in 1985 at the age of 22. I remember struggling to run a 2 mile loop there as I started my fitful return to fitness in my late 20's. I ran down the sidewalks of my life and looked in the windows of my memories and felt at peace and full of joy. I remembered the nights like this when all is effortless and joyful are the reason I train and race and strive. It's the quiet and beautiful moments that sneak up on you while you are busy living that teach you how precious living is. I'll see you out there. https://www.crowdrise.com/TeamHoytBoston2015/fundraiser/christopherrussell http://www.grotonroadrace.com/ Closing comments http://runrunlive.com/my-books
The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-309 – Anne – Laura and 50 states by age 25 (Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi439.mp3] Link epi4309.mp3 Intro Bumper: https://www.crowdrise.com/TeamHoytBoston2015/fundraiser/christopherrussell Man, what a week! I’m tired. I raced the Eastern States 20 miler on Sunday. It was the 20th anniversary race and they were back to the original course which starts in Kittery Maine, crosses over into Portsmouth, runs the entire coastline of New Hampshire and ends in Massachusetts. You get 3 states in one race. I didn’t really know how to manage the race going in. I have been logging 40ish miles a week for a while and have done several 3 hour long runs but I’ve done almost no tempo or speed. The summary would be that I’m in really good aerobic shape but lacking the sharp edge of racing. And, for those of you not paying attention, the reason I can’t do the tempo and speed is that I have a heart condition, ‘exercise induced’ A-fib that I’ve developed over the last couple years where later in a workout, under load my heartbeat becomes irregular. I’m going in to get that fixed in May but I have to drag my old self through the Boston Marathon course first! And, for those of you really not paying attention, this is Chris, your host, and this is the RunRunLive Podcast where we consider the transformational power of endurance sport. From now on, try to pay attention. There were 5 of us from my club at the race but we weren’t running together because we were at different goal levels. I planned to just sort of hang back and let the race come to me and keep a watchful eye on the heart rate. But, any of you who have raced with me know how that usually goes. I’m an excitable boy, and, as usual I struggled to stay slow and knocked off the early miles 45 – 50 seconds a mile faster than my ‘safe’ goal. I was worried I’d fall apart at the end but I felt great. The A-fib did kick in for the last few miles but I never crashed and my legs were solid and I wasn’t sore at all on Monday. We got a great day for racing. It was sunny and mid-30’s. There was a bit of a head wind, but nothing that was unmanageable. This course is nice and flat. I’ve probably run this race a dozen times. All-in-all it was an excellent outing. I had a blast. I have to be careful with my exuberance. Even though it was a good 20 mile run, that only gets you to the base of Heartbreak Hill and for the last 10k my heart was whacking around in my chest like a deranged hamster. While I was sorting through the race photos this week I actually paid for one it was so good. I usually don’t bother with race photos. The camera isn’t that kind to me in general and I’m too cheap to pay the exorbitant prices, but this was a great picture that captured how much fun I was having and was only $10 for the digital. We have a great show for you today. In the first section I’m going to look at how road races have changed over the 25 years I’ve been running them and what that may or may not mean for us. In the interview we have the final guest interview that was recorded for me at the end of last summer (sorry Anne and Laura for the delay in getting it out!) Anne interviews Laura who set the record as the youngest person to run all 50 US states. She did it by the age of 25. She recounts how she started as an adamant ‘non-runner’ just trying to get to one mile and some of the wonderful, transformative life lessons she learned along the way. The final section is a super interesting (and maybe creepy) social experiment that I was running on strangers while traveling this week using the tools of the Pick Up Artists. Props to my coach, Jeff from PRSFit. I told him in January that I couldn’t so any speedwork but I still wanted to race Boston and we figured out how to work with what we had. All long, slow, build, aerobic training. I can feel the results in my runs over the last 3 weeks and I can see the strength in my body. Just goes to show you folks, where there is a will there’s a way. On with the Show! Section one - Running Tips 7 ways road races have changed in a generation http://runrunlive.com/7-ways-road-races-have-changed-in-one-generation Voices of reason – the interviews Laura @50by25 Management consultant who became the youngest woman to run a marathon in all 50 states, while still enjoying her margaritas. Sometimes simultaneously. I began writing this blog in December 2007 under the title “Absolut(ly) Fit.” I chose the name to reflect a belief that I had then (and still have today): the best way to live a healthy and happy lifestyle is to maintain balance. Of course it’s good for your body to work out and eat healthy food most of the time, but it’s also good for your spirit to eat the foods you enjoy. Perhaps you want to set an ambitious goal like training for a marathon – but in the pursuit of that, you don’t need to give up everything else in order to succeed. Case in point – heading straight from my 2nd marathon to visit my favorite winery, Chateau Ste. Michelle I didn’t always have this philosophy of balance. Growing up, I preferred musical theater to sports, and never understood how someone could do both. In my mind, you were either artsy or sporty – but never both. I began to challenge this and other assumptions while doing a college internship in Sarasota, Florida. Finding it difficult to make friends in a strange place, I told myself that I could either be miserable and have a terrible summer, or I could make the best of it and spend the time trying to improve myself in some way. I decided that I was going to do two things I had previously thought impossible: learn to cook and learn to run. Lounging and drinking in the ocean? Don’t worry, I still made time for that! The cooking was easy; the running was a bit harder. I had defined my goal as being able to run one mile without stopping, and lacking any better running equipment, I drove my car in a loop around the neighborhood until the odometer read one mile – that was how far I needed to go. For two months I pounded the pavement, working my way up to running more and walking less of that distance. By the end of the summer I had not only been able to run my one mile “course ” without stopping, but I also completed a 5K race (though that was with plenty of walk breaks)! I was so proud of myself, and told everyone I knew. But after running one mile, I wondered – could I run two miles? How about three? I gradually increased my distance, completing a 5 mile race, then a 10K (6.2 miles), and eventually a 10 miler. In December 2007, shortly after starting “Absolut(ly) Fit”, I decided it would be my New Year’s resolution to complete a half marathon by the end of the year. I smashed that resolution before the end of the month when I ran theManhattan Half Marathon in Central Park. I was shocked that I had been able to complete it – I thought for sure I was pushing my limits further than I could go. But I did it, and now I wondered – could I somehow complete a full marathon? I started adding more miles on to my “training sessions” (which were actually just early Saturday morning attempts to burn off the calories of the alcohol and late-night pizza/tacos/etc I had consumed with my friends the night before). I didn’t follow a real training plan, but typically tried to add five to ten minutes onto whatever I had done the last time I went for a run, and that gradual increase helped me to progress injury-free. I didn’t worry about how fast I was going, and instead focused on enjoying the gorgeous views and surprisingly quiet calm of Manhattan on a weekend morning. But while it wasn’t too hard to do just another five to ten minutes than I had done the week before, the extra mileage was adding up – until one weekend morning, I ran 22 miles! Although I hadn’t been following a formal training plan, I had read enough to know that most marathon training plans stopped around 22 miles… so it seemed that I was ready to go the full distance. I signed up for the Vermont City Marathon a few weeks later, selecting it in large part because it was sponsored by Ben and Jerry’s and promised free ice cream at the finish. If anything was going to get me to run 26.2 miles, it was ice cream! My mom and my best friend came to cheer me on, holding signs that said “run to the ice cream, Laura!” That motivation certainly helped – whenever I saw their signs, you can bet that I ran a little faster! Of course I had some soul-searching, “why did I sign up for this” moments in the last few miles (what first-time marathoner doesn’t?), but within a few minutes after the finish line, the memories of the tough times were completely replaced by pride of accomplishment. I did it! Proud marathoner with ice cream in hand! In fact, I was so elated that instead of wanting to stop there, I decided to run another marathon. And another after that. To this day, no matter how many marathons I’ve run, there is nothing like that feeling of conquering the impossible I get when I cross a marathon finish line. It never gets old! I set a new ambitious goal for myself – to run a marathon in each U.S. state by my 25th birthday – and completed it on June 6, 2010, just two years and one week after I completed my first marathon. In doing so, I broke the world record as the youngest woman to run a marathon in all 50 states. I didn’t stop there, though – in November 2013, I ran my 100th marathon to become the youngest member of the 100 Marathon Club. As of this writing (December 2014), I’ve run 105 marathons in 50 US states, one US territory, and six countries. Seconds after achieving my 50by25 goal, I’m in disbelief. While I was working toward my “50 marathons by my 25th birthday” challenge, I picked up the 50by25 moniker – and now that I’m a bit older and perhaps not quite so focused on college drinking games and the NYC bar scene, I thought rebranding my blog to 50by25 would make more sense. Yes, I’ve already completed the 50by25 goal and want to move onto new challenges. However, I think the short-and-sweet 50by25 phrase is a great example of how to set a goal, break it up into manageable chunks, and achieve it. It’s quantifiable, it’s timebound, and for me, it provided something inspiring enough to work toward that I didn’t give up even when things got tough. 50by25 is a huge part of who I am today, and a reminder that I can do the “impossible.” Of course I hope to accomplish more in my life and not just rest on my laurels from here on out, but 50by25 was really the perfect quest and serves as a great template for future endeavors. Though I still run marathons (and write about them on the blog), you’ll find that my blog now focuses a lot on goal setting, productivity, and travel in addition to the usual health and fitness topics. I think mastering these activities is the best way to enjoy life and attain true happiness, and I’m eager to learn and share as much as I can about those topics! If you’re not sure where to start, check out my top posts page that I put together for new visitors. Thanks for coming by, and if you have any questions, always feel free to leave a comment on a post or contact me anytime :) Section Two – Life Lessons Make them smile - http://runrunlive.com/one-powerful-easy-small-habit Outro Oi! Oi! Oi! Come on! Let’s have some energy! Pick it up buttercup! Mmmmm… Got a little bit of rumbly in my tumbly today. Had to make not one, but two pit stops in the woods on my run. Feeling a bit jet lagged. I’ve got a funky playlist going now and I’m tapping out this semi-screed for you. Or, I guess for us. I had a funny idea for a short story based in the not-so-distant future where the people who come in last in the race get all the prizes and praise. No one wants to win because the winners get tied to a post and stoned for being un-feeling bastards. I forgot to tell you folks that I’ve been steadily upgrading my hardware. I got the new iPhone 6 and I really like it. Not the super big one the ‘just a little bigger’ one. And I replaced my laptop with a Surface Pro 3 a couple months ago and I’ve grown to like it, especially for travel. And finally, I lost those Bluetooth headphones that Hilton sent me, ironically by leaving them in a Marriott. I like the no-strings attached option though and I’ve bought another pair. These are called an Mpow Cheetah Sport Bluetooth 4.1 Headphone. They are good but they go all the way into the ear canal which can be uncomfortable and dangerous because you really can’t hear anything else. So far my toxic body juices haven’t killed them but the battery life seems to be maybe 4 hours. And of course the microphone sucks if you wanted to use them to talk on the phone. When I was up at the start I had a great chat with Team Hoyt. Rick and Dick were there as well as Bryan Lyons who is pushing Rick in the longer races now. I was talking to Dick, who still pushes Rick in the shorter races. Dick was telling me how he was having back pain and now that he was retired he’s got a physio coach and has been doing core work every day and he feels great. Does it ever feel to you like everyone is having the same conversations at the same time? Dick was telling me about how great having a strong core is. He’s 75 years old! I wanted to thank all of you who helped me make my goal for fund raising for Team Hoyt for Boston. I hope to get Bryan on before the race, in the next show. He was nervous, telling me he’s not good with ‘media’ – makes me laugh – like I’m Geraldo or something. Did some math and figured out that I’ve got somewhere around 5-600 miles on these Hokas. They still feel fine but I can feel them getting a little ‘loose’. Time to start looking for a new pair of something. I’m not going to change horses before Boston. But, as a lesson, don’t do what I do, which is to run in a pair of shoes until your knees start hurting. You should always have a couple pair in rotation and switch back and forth so you don’t get ‘repetitive’ injuries. Well my lovelies I have to let you go. I’m so far behind in my work that I may never dig out and it’s Friday afternoon. My motivation and energy flows from me and spreads like a dark puddle across the hardwood floor. The warmth of a comforting bed, the friendly embrace of the couch and the warm dopamine drip of procrastination are sucking at my mind. Last week I played hooky one weekday afternoon and went into China town with my daughter. We had a blast knocking around the Chinese shops and eating at a Shabu Shabu place. We didn’t roll back home until around 8:00 PM. I had still had to get my run in. The weather had taken a turn from the better. It wasn’t snowing and the hulking drifts had retreated from the roads a bit. There was not a cloud in the sky. There was not a breath of wind. There was a 1/4 moon and a sky full of stars. It was about 28 degrees – warm enough to allow some freedom from the atrocious and common winter bulk of accoutrements of the past 3 months. A soundless night. I made my way over through the old neighborhood where I bought my first little house and settled with my new bride in 1985 at the age of 22. I remember struggling to run a 2 mile loop there as I started my fitful return to fitness in my late 20’s. I ran down the sidewalks of my life and looked in the windows of my memories and felt at peace and full of joy. I remembered the nights like this when all is effortless and joyful are the reason I train and race and strive. It’s the quiet and beautiful moments that sneak up on you while you are busy living that teach you how precious living is. I’ll see you out there. https://www.crowdrise.com/TeamHoytBoston2015/fundraiser/christopherrussell http://www.grotonroadrace.com/ Closing comments http://runrunlive.com/my-books
RunRunLive 4.0 Episode 4-302 - Roxanne and Paula 2014-08-07 17.53.12(Audio: link) Link epi4302.mp3 Intro: Hey. How are yah? Welcome my friends. To the RunRunLive Podcast. Episode 4302. How ya been? Maybe you’re a new friend? Maybe you got one of those brand new shiny i-devices for Christmas and you’re just dipping your toe into the podcast world? By the way I like your nail polish. Matches your eyes. But, that tattoo must have hurt, no? Anyway, this is Chris your host. We have been sharing a podcast in and about running and endurance sport for a few years now. Welcome. I’m coming to you from the grassy steppes of Independence Kansas where I run a feral yak farm in between professional gigs. The running is challenging out here. The wind cutting across the plains in the winter is a bit biting, but you get used to it. And you know the toughest warriors are from the Steppes, the Scythians, the Huns and the Mongols all rode down on ‘civilization’ from the windy grasslands. There’s something going on with the yak herd. I think it might have something to do with the Government Neuro Toxin research facility a couple miles up Spring Creek. Some of the yaks don’t look so good. They look disoriented. “Disoriented yak” would be a good name for a ska band… … I didn’t make it down to Atlanta for the Jeff Galloway 13.1. I just couldn’t swing it. Sounds like Kevin and friends had a fun time. I’ve been actually getting some decent base building in. I’m too old to run every day without breaking something. I’ve stabilized at 4 days a week which seems like the right balance. I worry whether I can get the volume of miles in to race well at the marathon distance at only 4 days a week. Coach has extended my weekday runs out to 1:20-1:30 which helps. The good news is that it gets me out long enough to build some base fitness and get the mileage up. Right now he’s got me doing Tuesday, Thursday, Friday. That gives me an automatic base in the mid to high 20’s. Then you lay the Sunday long run on and I can get up into the 40’s. That’s the compromise. It’s enough to get the fitness I want without pushing me over the edge into injury. The training impact from that extra 20-30 minutes in my weekly runs really makes a difference. It’s a challenge when I’m busy, but I feel like I’m building base that will support me in the run up to Boston this spring. GMMy friend Brian and I reprised the Groton Marathon last weekend. This is a marathon we made up last year to get a December marathon. The way it works is Brian and I lay out a course around town, invite all the crazy people we know and go run a marathon. I count it as an official marathon because, my game, my rules. That’s my 48th marathon. We changed the course this year so it looped through Groton, Ayer, Shirley and a few hundred feet of Harvard Massachusetts. Part of the fun, and the challenge is to create a course through New England towns that stays off the main roads and isn’t overwhelmingly difficult. It was about 32 degrees with a light snow fall for the whole time. Pretty good running weather. There’s no snow on the ground up here and the roads were clear. We started at 8:00 and got back after noon. We had a dozen or so people join us for some part of the route and we had one person go the distance with us. A big crew ran the first half with us and cut back. Another couple of our club friends picked us up at mile 17 and ran us in. We dropped water and Gatorade every 4-6 miles. iceI’m sorry to report that I didn’t come in first this year. I had gapped Brian by a good 2-3 minutes after mile 20, but I waited for him at one of our water stops and he got a 2nd wind at mile 24 and took off. I didn’t have the mental or physical closing speed to chase him down. It was a great run. It always scares me a little to just show up and run a marathon, but this one was easy. We went super slow and stopped every couple miles to get refreshed. It ended up having about 1,000 feet of elevation gain, but nothing horrible. I was able to keep good form and my HR was solidly in zone 2 the whole distance. I did end up getting some strange chaffing. I got welts on, as Forest Gump would say, ‘My Buttocks’, somehow from the new ASICS tights I was wearing. Never had chaffing there before. It looked like someone took me to the woodshed. How’d you like the first episode of the 100% recycled RunRUnLive 4.0 Podcast? I’m going to keep tweaking it but I wanted to get it out. Action is better than inaction and progress is better than perfection. It’s not supposed to be professional, but it is supposed to have high enough quality content presented in such a way as not to annoy you! In today’s show, which, with any luck should drop on Boxing Day, we will have a piece on how to turn your winter doldrums into an investment in your running. I also bring you a rousing piece on how to set Big Hairy Ass Goals the right way to transform your life in the life transformation section. The interview is a bit of an experiment. Back at the end of the summer I had some guest interviews done by some friends of the show. So today we bring you an interview of Roxanne by Paula. I haven’t even listened to it yet and I know it’s going to be utterly fabulous. Paula and I go way back to the inception on Twitter where we quickly became virtual friends because of our mutual love of writing and speaking and many things other things. So, we’ve been virtual friends since Twitter was for cool kids. Go visit Paula’s blog at www.BigGreenPen.com and consider helping her fundraising efforts for the NYC half she’s got coming up. Roxanne is another one of our long time Twitter friends. She is one of those stars of our endurance community. Thankfully, we hear stories like Roxanne’s more each year. She’s a Mom who was seriously overweight, she took her life into her own hands and became a marathoner, an Ironman and transformed into a happier, healthier and better person. I hope you learn as much from these two energetic ladies as I have. That’s it my friends. Enjoy your holidays and be nice to your family – you only get one shot at that. Before I let you go I’m going to give you a quick tip that I’ve been using to get my writing done. You know I wrote a new book, right? Anyhow to get this stuff written I need to hide from distractions like social media while I’m creating. I’ve developed a very simple trick to do this. I just set the timer on my iPhone for 30 minutes and commit to writing without distraction until the timer goes off. It’s just like working out. The hardest part is getting started. But once you get started it has a momentum of its own. When something pops up or beeps for my attention I don’t take the bait until the 30 minutes is up. At 30 minutes I give myself permission for a little bit of wandering, but, frankly by that point I’m neck deep in my topic and don’t want to stop! I’ll compliment this by going into YouTube and spinning up some meditation music. It helps calm your mind without distraction. Give that a try. I know this is not a new idea. There are official methodologies and software solutions for this if you want to go down that rabbit hole, but this is a simple solution for a common problem without over-engineering it. Which, you and I could stand more of, no? On with the Show! winter-funSection one - Running Tips http://runrunlive.com/winter-fun Voices of reason – the interviews Interviewee -> Roxanne Camirand Wife, mother of three, elementary school principal, marathoner and now Ironman. I am 5 feet tall, was once tipping the scale at 225pounds only 8 years ago. I was overweight and sedentary all my life. Then life happened and I decided that I wanted to be around to see my grandchildren grow up. So I started by losing some weight through changes in my diet and that triggered a series of events that led me to live an active healthy lifestyle and be a role model for my family and my students. All the choices I made in my life led me to where I am today. I do not regret one of them. As if I would not have been unhealthy and obese, I would have never felt the need to change my life so drastically, which in turn, made me who I am today: a wife, a mom, a marathoner and an ironman. Guest Interviewer -> Paula Kiger Paula is a Fitfluential Ambassador and a Charity Miles All Star. She trains with KR Endurance. She worked for almost twenty years for Florida’s State Child Health Insurance Program. She is currently doing freelance work in the communications industry. Her Twitter bio describes her best: wife of one, mom of two, friend of many. Blog/Site: Perspicacity at www.biggreenpen.com Facebook Personal: https://www.facebook.com/biggreenpen Facebook Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Perspicacity/255384144580651?ref=hl Twitter: https://twitter.com/biggreenpen G+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+PaulaKiger/posts Instagram: http://instagram.com/biggreenpen/ DailyMile: http://www.dailymile.com/people/paulakiger#ref=tophd Fundraising Site for Team in Training (NYC Half March 3/15/15 -- if there's any way to work this one in I would be super grateful because I have to raise what is for me a load of $$$$): http://pages.teamintraining.org/li/halfnyc15/pkiger Bhags-2015 Section two – Life Skills http://runrunlive.com/break-your-frame-in-the-new-year Outro Well, my friends that was fun, right? It’s different for me to be writing and recording for you at home instead of in a hotel or an airplane! I hope I don’t lose the fun caustic edge I bring when I’m being chased by stress balls out in the world. We’ll see. Thanks for listening to the second episode in the 4.0 series. I went back to my website and fixed the Index page so you can see and download all the audio I’ve ever produced. The Index is a cool Wordpress plugin. You just tell it which categories to include and it rounds up all the links and puts them on one page. It’s an alphabetical sort, which isn’t the best but it’s workable. I suppose I could go out and add some meta-data around guests and topics but, ‘nice to have’ doesn’t usually make it to the top of my list! If you have any suggestions, love, hate or any kind of feedback I would love love love the feedback. Drop a comment on the website on any of these posts, or shoot me an email or drop a note on the RunRunLive FaceBook page or tweet me at CYKTRUSSELL. Especially if there is some running, racing or training question you’d like me to write on for the show. I kinda sorta feel like it’s all been discussed but I don’t mind repeating stuff you’re interested in. The big, big, news this week is that I’m not crazy! Well, not totally crazy. The Cardiologist found a bug in my heart. They think I have exercise induced arrhythmia. That’s exactly what I described to them. Losing power at the end of a workout when I push it. This particular bug, they think is electrical. One of the little electrical conduits in one of my ventricles decide to short out and cause the arrhythmia when I go hard. Oddly I see this as excellent news because it exactly maps to what I’ve been experiencing. It means I’m not crazy and I do know my machine. I picked it up as an athlete where they wouldn’t normally. What it is not is a physical abnormality of the heart. You may hear a lot about ‘athletes’ heart’ where the heart becomes asymmetrically developed – it aint that. It’s also not a blockage like Dave had. It won’t kill me. This type of thing isn’t the precursor to a massive heart attack. It could potentially cause blood pooling a clotting in the ventricle that could lead to stroke if it were to get bad enough or happen chronically. But the doctor said ‘keep doing what you’re doing, just be smart about it’. How do they treat it? I’m going to see a specialist in the electro-cardio realm. They will try to isolate the bad ‘wire’ in the heart muscle and potentially ‘ablate’ it. Which means cut that wire so it stops doing the funky chicken with my ventricle when I’m training. This week coach has me on a rest week. He’s such a worrier. Yeah so I went out and ran 4 hours on the road with my friends, I feel fine! But I’ll take it. He’s got me doing some bike work and some easy shorter runs. I set up my old road bike, Fuji-san, on the Trainer out on my porch and put a new cheap tire on the back to take the trainer abuse. I’ve been watching my way through Marco Polo on Netflix on my trainer rides. I started watching it because I though the actor was Adrian Greneir from Entourage, but it’s not him, it’s some other pretty boy. I like it. It’s like a Game of Thrones rip off in Mongolia. There are naked women and sword fights in every episode. I particularly like the fact that Hollywood is using actual Mongolian and Chinese actors as far as I can tell. They have a history of just casting any vaguely Asian looking actors and thinking that we don’t know the difference between an ethnic Chinese or a Philippino or a Korean! My new book MarathonBQ is taking shape nicely. The editing is progressing apace and I should be able to start promoting it in the New Year. I’ll be asking you folks for help with that. I’ll be setting up my Boston Marathon campaign training plan soon and with that will come my request for financial support for Team Hoyt. I found out through them that a friend of theirs Dr. Bryan Lyons will be pushing Rick this year. I’m going to try to get him on for an interview. I’ve got a couple assignments for you. First thing is to give something healthy to your local food bank. The challenge here is that they only want packaged foods, which by definition narrows your healthy options. Here’s a couple suggestions. Buy a bunch of dried beans to donate, or some brown rice. It’s cheap and healthy. Or some shelf stable Almond Milk. Or a jar of almond butter. Think about it. Something packaged and healthy. There’s no reason we should be forcing the food pantry people to eat crap. Second assignment is more of a suggestion. You know all your friends are going to be asking you for donations this year. Create an annual donation budget. Maybe for you it’s $100 or maybe you’re one of those lucky people who can set aside $10,000. Then you can decide how many donations you parse that up into. Maybe it’s 5 donations of $20. Then you can donate through the year according to your budget. Takes the stress out of it. You can see all of this stuff written out in the show notes of the podcast. It’s all on my website (which needs to be refurbished, I know) at www.runrunlive.com. I do have an email list but all it does it automatically send you a notice and the show notes when the podcast drops, actually the day after it drops. You can reach me at CYKTRUSSELL at Gmail dot com etc. etc. That’s it for me. Enjoy your holidays. Don’t forget to smile. Smiling makes a great gift. I’ll see you out there in the New Year. Closing comments
RunRunLive 4.0 Episode 4-302 - Roxanne and Paula 2014-08-07 17.53.12(Audio: link) Link epi4302.mp3 Intro: Hey. How are yah? Welcome my friends. To the RunRunLive Podcast. Episode 4302. How ya been? Maybe you're a new friend? Maybe you got one of those brand new shiny i-devices for Christmas and you're just dipping your toe into the podcast world? By the way I like your nail polish. Matches your eyes. But, that tattoo must have hurt, no? Anyway, this is Chris your host. We have been sharing a podcast in and about running and endurance sport for a few years now. Welcome. I'm coming to you from the grassy steppes of Independence Kansas where I run a feral yak farm in between professional gigs. The running is challenging out here. The wind cutting across the plains in the winter is a bit biting, but you get used to it. And you know the toughest warriors are from the Steppes, the Scythians, the Huns and the Mongols all rode down on ‘civilization' from the windy grasslands. There's something going on with the yak herd. I think it might have something to do with the Government Neuro Toxin research facility a couple miles up Spring Creek. Some of the yaks don't look so good. They look disoriented. “Disoriented yak” would be a good name for a ska band… … I didn't make it down to Atlanta for the Jeff Galloway 13.1. I just couldn't swing it. Sounds like Kevin and friends had a fun time. I've been actually getting some decent base building in. I'm too old to run every day without breaking something. I've stabilized at 4 days a week which seems like the right balance. I worry whether I can get the volume of miles in to race well at the marathon distance at only 4 days a week. Coach has extended my weekday runs out to 1:20-1:30 which helps. The good news is that it gets me out long enough to build some base fitness and get the mileage up. Right now he's got me doing Tuesday, Thursday, Friday. That gives me an automatic base in the mid to high 20's. Then you lay the Sunday long run on and I can get up into the 40's. That's the compromise. It's enough to get the fitness I want without pushing me over the edge into injury. The training impact from that extra 20-30 minutes in my weekly runs really makes a difference. It's a challenge when I'm busy, but I feel like I'm building base that will support me in the run up to Boston this spring. GMMy friend Brian and I reprised the Groton Marathon last weekend. This is a marathon we made up last year to get a December marathon. The way it works is Brian and I lay out a course around town, invite all the crazy people we know and go run a marathon. I count it as an official marathon because, my game, my rules. That's my 48th marathon. We changed the course this year so it looped through Groton, Ayer, Shirley and a few hundred feet of Harvard Massachusetts. Part of the fun, and the challenge is to create a course through New England towns that stays off the main roads and isn't overwhelmingly difficult. It was about 32 degrees with a light snow fall for the whole time. Pretty good running weather. There's no snow on the ground up here and the roads were clear. We started at 8:00 and got back after noon. We had a dozen or so people join us for some part of the route and we had one person go the distance with us. A big crew ran the first half with us and cut back. Another couple of our club friends picked us up at mile 17 and ran us in. We dropped water and Gatorade every 4-6 miles. iceI'm sorry to report that I didn't come in first this year. I had gapped Brian by a good 2-3 minutes after mile 20, but I waited for him at one of our water stops and he got a 2nd wind at mile 24 and took off. I didn't have the mental or physical closing speed to chase him down. It was a great run. It always scares me a little to just show up and run a marathon, but this one was easy. We went super slow and stopped every couple miles to get refreshed. It ended up having about 1,000 feet of elevation gain, but nothing horrible. I was able to keep good form and my HR was solidly in zone 2 the whole distance. I did end up getting some strange chaffing. I got welts on, as Forest Gump would say, ‘My Buttocks', somehow from the new ASICS tights I was wearing. Never had chaffing there before. It looked like someone took me to the woodshed. How'd you like the first episode of the 100% recycled RunRUnLive 4.0 Podcast? I'm going to keep tweaking it but I wanted to get it out. Action is better than inaction and progress is better than perfection. It's not supposed to be professional, but it is supposed to have high enough quality content presented in such a way as not to annoy you! In today's show, which, with any luck should drop on Boxing Day, we will have a piece on how to turn your winter doldrums into an investment in your running. I also bring you a rousing piece on how to set Big Hairy Ass Goals the right way to transform your life in the life transformation section. The interview is a bit of an experiment. Back at the end of the summer I had some guest interviews done by some friends of the show. So today we bring you an interview of Roxanne by Paula. I haven't even listened to it yet and I know it's going to be utterly fabulous. Paula and I go way back to the inception on Twitter where we quickly became virtual friends because of our mutual love of writing and speaking and many things other things. So, we've been virtual friends since Twitter was for cool kids. Go visit Paula's blog at www.BigGreenPen.com and consider helping her fundraising efforts for the NYC half she's got coming up. Roxanne is another one of our long time Twitter friends. She is one of those stars of our endurance community. Thankfully, we hear stories like Roxanne's more each year. She's a Mom who was seriously overweight, she took her life into her own hands and became a marathoner, an Ironman and transformed into a happier, healthier and better person. I hope you learn as much from these two energetic ladies as I have. That's it my friends. Enjoy your holidays and be nice to your family – you only get one shot at that. Before I let you go I'm going to give you a quick tip that I've been using to get my writing done. You know I wrote a new book, right? Anyhow to get this stuff written I need to hide from distractions like social media while I'm creating. I've developed a very simple trick to do this. I just set the timer on my iPhone for 30 minutes and commit to writing without distraction until the timer goes off. It's just like working out. The hardest part is getting started. But once you get started it has a momentum of its own. When something pops up or beeps for my attention I don't take the bait until the 30 minutes is up. At 30 minutes I give myself permission for a little bit of wandering, but, frankly by that point I'm neck deep in my topic and don't want to stop! I'll compliment this by going into YouTube and spinning up some meditation music. It helps calm your mind without distraction. Give that a try. I know this is not a new idea. There are official methodologies and software solutions for this if you want to go down that rabbit hole, but this is a simple solution for a common problem without over-engineering it. Which, you and I could stand more of, no? On with the Show! winter-funSection one - Running Tips http://runrunlive.com/winter-fun Voices of reason – the interviews Interviewee -> Roxanne Camirand Wife, mother of three, elementary school principal, marathoner and now Ironman. I am 5 feet tall, was once tipping the scale at 225pounds only 8 years ago. I was overweight and sedentary all my life. Then life happened and I decided that I wanted to be around to see my grandchildren grow up. So I started by losing some weight through changes in my diet and that triggered a series of events that led me to live an active healthy lifestyle and be a role model for my family and my students. All the choices I made in my life led me to where I am today. I do not regret one of them. As if I would not have been unhealthy and obese, I would have never felt the need to change my life so drastically, which in turn, made me who I am today: a wife, a mom, a marathoner and an ironman. Guest Interviewer -> Paula Kiger Paula is a Fitfluential Ambassador and a Charity Miles All Star. She trains with KR Endurance. She worked for almost twenty years for Florida's State Child Health Insurance Program. She is currently doing freelance work in the communications industry. Her Twitter bio describes her best: wife of one, mom of two, friend of many. Blog/Site: Perspicacity at www.biggreenpen.com Facebook Personal: https://www.facebook.com/biggreenpen Facebook Fan Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Perspicacity/255384144580651?ref=hl Twitter: https://twitter.com/biggreenpen G+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+PaulaKiger/posts Instagram: http://instagram.com/biggreenpen/ DailyMile: http://www.dailymile.com/people/paulakiger#ref=tophd Fundraising Site for Team in Training (NYC Half March 3/15/15 -- if there's any way to work this one in I would be super grateful because I have to raise what is for me a load of $$$$): http://pages.teamintraining.org/li/halfnyc15/pkiger Bhags-2015 Section two – Life Skills http://runrunlive.com/break-your-frame-in-the-new-year Outro Well, my friends that was fun, right? It's different for me to be writing and recording for you at home instead of in a hotel or an airplane! I hope I don't lose the fun caustic edge I bring when I'm being chased by stress balls out in the world. We'll see. Thanks for listening to the second episode in the 4.0 series. I went back to my website and fixed the Index page so you can see and download all the audio I've ever produced. The Index is a cool Wordpress plugin. You just tell it which categories to include and it rounds up all the links and puts them on one page. It's an alphabetical sort, which isn't the best but it's workable. I suppose I could go out and add some meta-data around guests and topics but, ‘nice to have' doesn't usually make it to the top of my list! If you have any suggestions, love, hate or any kind of feedback I would love love love the feedback. Drop a comment on the website on any of these posts, or shoot me an email or drop a note on the RunRunLive FaceBook page or tweet me at CYKTRUSSELL. Especially if there is some running, racing or training question you'd like me to write on for the show. I kinda sorta feel like it's all been discussed but I don't mind repeating stuff you're interested in. The big, big, news this week is that I'm not crazy! Well, not totally crazy. The Cardiologist found a bug in my heart. They think I have exercise induced arrhythmia. That's exactly what I described to them. Losing power at the end of a workout when I push it. This particular bug, they think is electrical. One of the little electrical conduits in one of my ventricles decide to short out and cause the arrhythmia when I go hard. Oddly I see this as excellent news because it exactly maps to what I've been experiencing. It means I'm not crazy and I do know my machine. I picked it up as an athlete where they wouldn't normally. What it is not is a physical abnormality of the heart. You may hear a lot about ‘athletes' heart' where the heart becomes asymmetrically developed – it aint that. It's also not a blockage like Dave had. It won't kill me. This type of thing isn't the precursor to a massive heart attack. It could potentially cause blood pooling a clotting in the ventricle that could lead to stroke if it were to get bad enough or happen chronically. But the doctor said ‘keep doing what you're doing, just be smart about it'. How do they treat it? I'm going to see a specialist in the electro-cardio realm. They will try to isolate the bad ‘wire' in the heart muscle and potentially ‘ablate' it. Which means cut that wire so it stops doing the funky chicken with my ventricle when I'm training. This week coach has me on a rest week. He's such a worrier. Yeah so I went out and ran 4 hours on the road with my friends, I feel fine! But I'll take it. He's got me doing some bike work and some easy shorter runs. I set up my old road bike, Fuji-san, on the Trainer out on my porch and put a new cheap tire on the back to take the trainer abuse. I've been watching my way through Marco Polo on Netflix on my trainer rides. I started watching it because I though the actor was Adrian Greneir from Entourage, but it's not him, it's some other pretty boy. I like it. It's like a Game of Thrones rip off in Mongolia. There are naked women and sword fights in every episode. I particularly like the fact that Hollywood is using actual Mongolian and Chinese actors as far as I can tell. They have a history of just casting any vaguely Asian looking actors and thinking that we don't know the difference between an ethnic Chinese or a Philippino or a Korean! My new book MarathonBQ is taking shape nicely. The editing is progressing apace and I should be able to start promoting it in the New Year. I'll be asking you folks for help with that. I'll be setting up my Boston Marathon campaign training plan soon and with that will come my request for financial support for Team Hoyt. I found out through them that a friend of theirs Dr. Bryan Lyons will be pushing Rick this year. I'm going to try to get him on for an interview. I've got a couple assignments for you. First thing is to give something healthy to your local food bank. The challenge here is that they only want packaged foods, which by definition narrows your healthy options. Here's a couple suggestions. Buy a bunch of dried beans to donate, or some brown rice. It's cheap and healthy. Or some shelf stable Almond Milk. Or a jar of almond butter. Think about it. Something packaged and healthy. There's no reason we should be forcing the food pantry people to eat crap. Second assignment is more of a suggestion. You know all your friends are going to be asking you for donations this year. Create an annual donation budget. Maybe for you it's $100 or maybe you're one of those lucky people who can set aside $10,000. Then you can decide how many donations you parse that up into. Maybe it's 5 donations of $20. Then you can donate through the year according to your budget. Takes the stress out of it. You can see all of this stuff written out in the show notes of the podcast. It's all on my website (which needs to be refurbished, I know) at www.runrunlive.com. I do have an email list but all it does it automatically send you a notice and the show notes when the podcast drops, actually the day after it drops. You can reach me at CYKTRUSSELL at Gmail dot com etc. etc. That's it for me. Enjoy your holidays. Don't forget to smile. Smiling makes a great gift. I'll see you out there in the New Year. Closing comments
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