The RunRunLive Podcast Episode 222 – Sue Kenney Pilgrim

Show intro by:

Raymond King – Geeks in Running Shoes - 

RunRunLive – Podcast Intro

http://www.runrunlive.com/home/read-the-runrunlive-podcast-intro

Intro:

Hello and welcome to Groton Road Race addition of the Podcast.  Yup. You get this one early because I have to be the powerless figurehead for a local road race this week.  It’s actually a great joy for me to be able to be part of something that is such a positive influence on our community.  

We scouted the courses on Sunday morning and they are in fantastic shape.  The long term forecast looks good and everything is under control.  All we need to do now is hang around and wait for Murphy to show up so we can start earning our pay, not that we get paid, but you know what I mean.  

So- Anyhow, This is the RunRunLive Podcast Episode 222 and today we have a great show for you.  I speak with mystical pilgrim Sue Kenney about all sorts of high-fallutin stuff.  She is a writer, speaker, pilgrim and barefoot enthusiast.  

I feel good coming off a week of no training after Boston. I’ve managed to shake off my doldrums and come up with a plan.  As if you didn’t already know.  I am so easy to figure out.  I’m going to start training and re-qualify this summer.  There, I said it. 

I’ve got to find the right balance and work on strengthening my feet – but I’m confident I can pull a rabbit out of my hat. 

I had an epiphany this week. I was back in my office and mounting the cool medal rack that I got from IronSportWorks.  As I started to hang up all those medals I was a bit taken aback by all I have done in the last few decades.  It made me feel good. Confident. 

I’ve got a couple stories from last week to share with you.  First one is kind of funny.  I was eating dinner in the Marriott Sports Bar last week and writing in my notebook. Which is actually funny side story. I told the maitre de that I needed somewhere I could write while I ate my dinner and she said they didn’t have electrical plugs.  Then I held up my notebook, made from honest-to-God dead trees and gave her a sheepish shrug. 

But, back to my original story.  

I’m writing and eating and watching the hockey game and the lady next to me ask me, get ready for it…if I’m the Actor from ‘House’.  I’m befuddled and reply “Hugh Laurie?  No, he’s British.”  I guess any bearded Caucasian guy with a limp…

Then for my second story… I’m sitting having lunch on Saturday in my living room and Buddy is out in the front lawn. I have him on a lead so he can’t go exploring.  He starts barking.  Now, that is not uncommon because on nice days there is a constant stream of people and dogs entering and exiting the conservation property that abuts my yard. 

He’s still barking when I go out to work in my garden.  That’s when I see there’s something in the front lawn.  I walk out there and sure enough there’s a reasonably sized snapping turtle making its way across the yard towards Buddy.  And Buddy thinks this is wrong. 

She wasn’t a giant, maybe 10 inches across.  And I say she, because this time of year the females come up out of the ponds and bogs to lay their eggs. 

Our snapping turtles in New England are mean.  They have a leather shell and look like something from the age of the dinosaurs.  I used to catch them by accident when I went bass fishing.  

I take a couple pictures and go off to work in my garden figuring that the turtle isn’t going to walk into a barking dog.  But I keep looking up and it’s getting closer.  Finally I go over and grab it by the tail and carry it around to the back yard.   There just is no good that would come from the snapping-turtle vs border collie cage match. 

How about that?  You learned a couple new things about me this week.  

On with the show!

Audio clips in this episode:

Anne Brennan – http://www.annsrunningcommentary.com/

Dr. Mark Cucuzzella 3_  A Smorgasbor from the Trail Runner Nation Podcast

Liberty Loco Promo - http://resurrectedrunner.blogspot.com/

http://www.runrunlive.com/products-page/midpackerslament

RunRunLive » Audio Products » MidPackersLament » The Mid-Packer's Lament Audio Book

 

It took me a few months...but I kept at it and now can present to you The Mid-Packer's Lament Audio book.  This is ~50 running stories read into audio by the author (me) and ends up being 6-8 hours of audio.

The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.

Hope you enjoy consuming it as much as I enjoyed recording it!

Ciao, thanks, and I'll see you out there.

Chris,

Skits, commercials and parodies in this episode:

Story time:

Boston Marathon 2012 

Equipment Check:

Featured Interview:

I am a pilgrim.

Sue Kenney walked 780 kilometers on a medieval pilgrimage route in Spain known as the Camino de Santiago de Compostela. She went alone in the winter on a spiritual quest and then became a best-selling author of the book My Camino. Sue is an internationally acclaimed speaker and life coach who applies the Camino as a metaphor for life. She often walks barefoot, grounding with Mother Earth for radiant health and healing.

Twitter is caminoperegrina FB suekenneysmycamino website www.suekenney.ca 

 

Youtube 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHf4IYzvVT4&feature=colike 

Sue Kenney | Inspirational Speaker | Coaching | My Camino | Pilgrim

suekenney.ca

Quick Tip:

 Outro:

OK my friends you walked the camino del RunRunLive to the end of yet another compelling and endearing show – episode 222 in the can.  

I’ve jumped back on the horse, so to speak.  I had great run Sunday morning. I ran both the 5k and the 10k courses of the Groton Road Race with Buddy and some of the club. It ended up being 9.35 miles according to my Garmin.  Buddy and I were both tired and it seemd to be the right distance for us. 

Monday I did a great total body weights work out at the gym.  I worked up a sweat and felt good.  I know it was a good workout because I was sore for 3 days! Especially my glutes from doing weighted squats.  

I did a great speed session down at the track Tuesday.  I did 2 miles worth of 400’s and 200’s at a sub-6 pace.  I’m trying to learn some speed back.  

Before I did my workout I did some 100m strides barefoot in the grass of the infield. I have to tell you that the barefooters are right when they say it’s impossible not to smile when you’re running barefoot in the grass on a sunny day! 

There was a middle school girls soccer club there practicing.  I remember all the years I coached my girls in that soccer league and how much fin the kids were to hang around with. 

The two coaches saw my Groton Road Race Sweat shirt and started telling me how they were going to run and how much they loved the race.  I shared that I was the race director.  It feels good to be associated with something people love. 

Next week we have a great chat with Steve Auerbach who is the producer of the Bicycle dreams movie about the RAAM.  Very cool. 

…

Outro post “It’s the Journey Stupid” - http://www.runrunlive.com/its-the-journey-stupid

…

My trip happens at Twitter, Facebook, DailyMile, YouTube, Google, Tumblr and Pinterest as cyktrussell that’s Chris yellow king tom Russell with two esses and two ells.  

Since you have to stop to use the rest room on your journey anyhow why not call 206-339-7804 …Leave a message there it sends us an audio file.  

Keep reading those intro’s for me – How to submit one is in the show notes and on the web site –- you will find all the other content on the website www.runrunlive.com 

To take you out I have a longish blues tune by gregg_martinez-called mark_my_words.  It’s a tad over 4 minutes long so pace yourself and enjoy. 

Ciao

Great news my running friends – my book of running stories “The Mid-Packer’s Lament” is now available in Kindle format at the Kindle store on Amazon.com!  Just search on “Mid-Pack”.  It’s a bargain at an easy $5 and all proceeds go towards supporting the underfunded pension plan of the retired cleaning staff at the RunRunLive world headquarters. I recently got a kindle myself and I love it.  It does reading very well. 

The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.

Music:

From Podsafe:

All music used in the show is from the Podsafe music network found at Music Alley.  Please support the starving, socially minded artists sampled herein by purchasing some!

Songs sampled from Podsafe:

the_pierces-boring

ron_wiseman-mystical_mood

Outro music:

gregg_martinez-mark_my_words

Outro Artists Bio:

Bio:

Standard Links:

http://www.runrunlive.com

http://www.runeratti.com

Http://coolrunning.com

http://Grotonroadrace.com

http://SQRR.org

www.midpackerslament.com

Cyktrussell At gmail and twitter and facebook and youtube

Chris’ book on Amazon – > http://www.amazon.com/Mid-Packers-Lament-collection-running-stories/dp/141961584X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228687012&sr=8-1

Mid-Packer’s Lament E-book

Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy E-Book

Dial in number for RunRunLive is - 206-339-7804

Chris Russell lives and trains in suburban Massachusetts with his family and Border collie Buddy.  Chris is the author of “The Mid-Packer’s Lament”, and “The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy”, short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack.  Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at www.runnerati.com.  Chris’ Podcast, RunRunLive is available on iTunes and at www.runrunlive.com. Chris also writes for CoolRunning.com (Active.com) and is a member of the Squannacook River Runners and the Goon Squad.  

Email me at cyktrussell at Gmail dot com

Running  Podcast, podcasts for running, podcast for runners, free podcast for runners, Running Blog, marathon, triathlon, mileage, sprinting, run, track, training, running clubs, running groups, running shoes, exercise, health, 5k, running, swimming, sports, injuries, stretching, eating, jogging, biking, trail race, 5K, 10K, Ultramarathon, jogging a good exercise, road runner, jogging tips, benefits of jogging, free running, running shoes, marathon training, running, jogging, health and fitness, runners, runner, Boston qualification, Marathon BQ, Boston marathon

The RunRunLive Podcast Episode 221 – Dominic OneBikeOneWorld

Show intro by:

Anne Brennan - http://www.annsrunningcommentary.com/

RunRunLive – Podcast Intro

http://www.runrunlive.com/home/read-the-runrunlive-podcast-intro

Intro:

Hello and welcome to the sleep deprivation podcast where we get up each day and push on beyond the bounds of sanity, stressing our mind, body and soul. 

I’ve had a long and interesting week so far and it’s not over yet.  It will be a miracle of no small proportions if this podcast sees the light of day! 

I went for a long, hot hike from Hopkinton to Boston on Monday, Patriot’s Day.  I had to jump on a plane to Toledo on Tuesday where I gave a rousing presentation to a crowd at the University there.  I met Eddie Marathon for a couple beers and some good conversation later that night as I stopped in Detroit to sleep.  

I flew back to Boston on Wednesday, stopped in at my office to pick up my new iPhone and the medal rack the Maddy’s husband made for me and do a little work.  

I turned around and drove back into the airport on Thursday morning to fly to Atlanta for a client meeting.  Then a flight back to Boston to my office at the dawning of Friday to do some calls, hopefully put up this cast and cap it all off with a coference call for the Groton Road Race Friday Night. 

Makes me tired just writing it down.  But God gave us all gifts and mine is the strength of travel. 

Besides all that, this is Chris and this is the RunRunLive Podcast and we have a great show for you today, if I get it out.  I talk with Dominic from OneBikeOneWorld, who I caught up with as he is cycling around the country.  Dominic is an interesting study in minimalist living.  His story may open your minds to just what is possible when you decide to do something. 

On top of that I’ve got to spin up a race report for you and our friend Anne, who by the way is considering becoming a more frequent dropper of content into our stew pot, has a piece on the joy of running. 

What ever it takes folks! 

On with the Show! 

Audio clips in this episode:

Anne Brennan – http://www.annsrunningcommentary.com/

Liberty Loco Promo - http://resurrectedrunner.blogspot.com/

http://www.runrunlive.com/products-page/midpackerslament

RunRunLive » Audio Products » MidPackersLament » The Mid-Packer's Lament Audio Book

 

It took me a few months...but I kept at it and now can present to you The Mid-Packer's Lament Audio book.  This is ~50 running stories read into audio by the author (me) and ends up being 6-8 hours of audio.

The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.

Hope you enjoy consuming it as much as I enjoyed recording it!

Ciao, thanks, and I'll see you out there.

Chris,

Skits, commercials and parodies in this episode:

Story time:

Boston Marathon 2012 

Equipment Check:

Featured Interview:

Dominic - http://onebikeoneworld.com/

Links

Going Slowly - www.goingslowly.com – Tara + Tyler’s page about their adventure. My favourite tour blog. Tyler is a coder so has made an awesome website that I got a lot of inspiration from. They have a gear list which helped me a lot with my choices and also a unique “Behind the scenes” section where they have data from every day of touring. As well as the more obvious distance and elevation gain they also tracked all their spending. Want to know how much they spent on average for a day in Vietnam? No problem. Price of a hotel in Greece? There too. Amazing site.

Crazy Guy on a Bike – www.crazyguyonabike.com – The most popular website for cycle tourists. Choose from over 5,000 journals and articles about trips all over the world and the gear they used. Got a question? It can probably be answered here.

TravellingTwo – www.travellingtwo.com – Page of Friedel and Andrew who record a podcast about bike touring and have a website full of articles and information for cycle tourists. Also authors of The Bike Touring Survival Guide, a very reasonably priced ebook. €5 gets you both the pdf and mobi copy. A must read.

Tired of IT – www.tiredofit.ca – An interesting page of a guy who originally had a similar route planned to me. He’s a good few thousand km ahead of me in to the ride though!

Freewheelin – www.freewheelin.info – We met Seth while we were in eastern WA. He’s on a wonderful journey too.

Adventure Cycling Assocation – www.adventurecycling.org – Want suggestions for good routes in the US with either maps to buy or GPS routes to download? A forum of cyclists that can suggest alternatives? This is the place to go. Helped me a lot when working out where to go.

Thorn Cycles – www.thorncycles.co.uk – The bicycle shop I got my Thorn Raven from. Experts when it comes to Rohloffs and the premier shop in the UK when it comes to touring.

Quick Tip:

 Outro:

OK my friends you  have taken that long, hot, hike to the end of yetanother RunRunLive Podcast, episode 220 is riding off into the sunset.  

Next week we have a interview that I have been waiting for, we talk with mystic pilgrim and barefoooter Sue Kenney who has some sort of empathic aura that swept me off my feet. 

When you hear this I should have successfully uploaded the video I took at Boston.  Video processing is something that my poor laptop struggles with.  

I also finished Meb’s book on kindle this week.  It was good, if you are a runner you’ll get it. I had tears in my eyes reading his account of winning the NYC Marathon.  But, as a book it tries to do too many things.  It’s about running, it’s about an immigrant’s life in America, and it’s about God – all the facets of Meb’s life, Meb’s story, but then for some inexplicable reason they try to shoe horn in random running tips and student talking points like it’s some sort of Sunday School reader. 

I’m now halfway through a book on barefoot running.  And I’m working through an excellent book of O Henry Prize short stories.  

You know, sometimes,  when I read through all the stuff I I’m doing I feel like some type ‘A’ nutball. But I’m just me.  

Next weekend is the Groton Road Race and I’ll be taking a couple days off for that.  I think some of my Mojo-loco friends are swinging by, like Steve and Nic and Dan. 

…

You smart folks may have already inferred this, but I’m not going to follow through on an Iron Man this year.  For a number of reasons that I may discourse at greater length on in a later post, but primary to those are I just can’t get the swimming where I want, I don’t see how I’m going to find the time and opportunity to bike and swim enough with my travel schedule and it’s obscenely expensive.  

Truthfully I could work through all of these challenges if I was passionate about it.  Which I’m not. It was mostly a foil to retain fitness and structure while I was injured through the winter months. 

Where does that leave me?  Well I am not in very good shape, fitness-wise and I need to run a qualifying marathon by September if I want to go back to Boston next year.  I think I’d like to go back.  15 is a nice round number, like 250.  

I’m thinking hard about spinning up a quality training campaign now if I can keep my injuries in check.  The Plantar Fasciitis still hurts but I think I can work through it.  I will probably start working in some barefoot running for foot strength and form.  

This week I haven’t done any workouts, just ride on planes and eat.  That’s not going to work for the long term! 

We’ll see. 

…

Small kindnesses. 

The magnitude of the gift is amplified by the situation of the recipient. 

I was hiking on Monday and I overheard two ladies who were hiking in the same direction.  One was telling the other about an incident in a race where the spectator support had made a big difference, had made her day.  

I don’t remember what it was, whether it was some small morsel of food, a popsicle, or a drink or a kind word – but whatever the spectator gave her was the perfect thing at the critical time that allowed her to push on, to struggle through a rough patch and overcome. 

As I listened to the story I thought about how that spectator never knew that they had done this thing to change the outcome of this other person’s day and life.  

I’d like you to think about that.  As you go through life you have the choice to hand out small kindnesses.  (You could also be one of those people who hands out small evils).  I’d also likeyou to be aware of the power you have to change other people’s lives with these throw away gestures.  These small kindnesses.  

It’s a bit awe inspiring and scary if you think about it.  You have the power to change someone’s day but with that power you also have the responsibility to be mindful of this power and to be careful about what you leave in your wake as you hike through life. 

What I overheard on that long, hot hike was an example of the butterfly’s wing beat causing a small hurricane. 

So, my friends, let’s spend today, this week, focusing on how our small kindnesses our positive actions can be largely, hugely, leveraged beyond our scope of knowing to change the lives of other travelers who momentarily cross our path on this great journey. 

And as you are doing that I’ll see you out there. 

…

You can find creating a wake of destruction, chaos and confusion, with mostly snide and somewhat exotic and occasionally scatological commentary at Twitter, Facebook, DailyMile, YouTube, Google, Tumblr and Pinterest as cyktrussell that’s Chris yellow king tom Russell with two esses and two ells.  

I beseech you to turn on your phone right now-and program in  206-339-7804.  This way when you’re out running or driving and listening to me and something particularly interesting pops into your mind you can just hit speed dial and …Leave a message there it sends us an audio file.  

I had an emergency this week and ran out of intros – so at the very least read one for me – it’s fun – How to submit one is in the show notes and on the web site –- you will find all the other content on the website www.runrunlive.com 

The music clips earlier were from the band one shot one kill, and I think they were in French, but with most punk rock I can’t understand the words anyhow.  Music to take you out is “She Hot”  Which refers to Monday and the wonderfully beautiful female athletes who kept me company at the back of the pack this week. It’s by the Fabulous Hats. 

I’ll see you next week – maybe… bahahahahahaahh 

Great news my running friends – my book of running stories “The Mid-Packer’s Lament” is now available in Kindle format at the Kindle store on Amazon.com!  Just search on “Mid-Pack”.  It’s a bargain at an easy $5 and all proceeds go towards supporting the underfunded pension plan of the retired cleaning staff at the RunRunLive world headquarters. I recently got a kindle myself and I love it.  It does reading very well. 

The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.

Music:

From Podsafe:

All music used in the show is from the Podsafe music network found at Music Alley.  Please support the starving, socially minded artists sampled herein by purchasing some!

Song1

screeching_weasel-get_off_my_back

Song 2-3

screeching_weasel-outside_of_you

Outro music:

screeching_weasel-veronica_hates_me

Outro Artists Bio:

Bio:

Standard Links:

http://www.runrunlive.com

http://www.runeratti.com

Http://coolrunning.com

http://Grotonroadrace.com

http://SQRR.org

www.midpackerslament.com

Cyktrussell At gmail and twitter and facebook and youtube

Chris’ book on Amazon – > http://www.amazon.com/Mid-Packers-Lament-collection-running-stories/dp/141961584X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228687012&sr=8-1

Mid-Packer’s Lament E-book

Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy E-Book

Dial in number for RunRunLive is - 206-339-7804

Chris Russell lives and trains in suburban Massachusetts with his family and Border collie Buddy.  Chris is the author of “The Mid-Packer’s Lament”, and “The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy”, short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack.  Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at www.runnerati.com.  Chris’ Podcast, RunRunLive is available on iTunes and at www.runrunlive.com. Chris also writes for CoolRunning.com (Active.com) and is a member of the Squannacook River Runners and the Goon Squad.  

Email me at cyktrussell at Gmail dot com

Running  Podcast, podcasts for running, podcast for runners, free podcast for runners, Running Blog, marathon, triathlon, mileage, sprinting, run, track, training, running clubs, running groups, running shoes, exercise, health, 5k, running, swimming, sports, injuries, stretching, eating, jogging, biking, trail race, 5K, 10K, Ultramarathon, jogging a good exercise, road runner, jogging tips, benefits of jogging, free running, running shoes, marathon training, running, jogging, health and fitness, runners, runner, Boston qualification, Marathon BQ, Boston marathon

The RunRunLive Podcast Episode 220 – Dr. James Stoxen

Show intro by:

Tim Porter (Russ’ son) - http://breakfastmiles.blogspot.com/

RunRunLive – Podcast Intro

http://www.runrunlive.com/home/read-the-runrunlive-podcast-intro

Intro:

Hello and welcome to the blue grass of Kentucky podcast, where the grass isn’t really blue, but it is a very comforting shade of green.  From the air coming into Lexington much of it looks like a high-end golf course, without greens or sand traps. There is a meandering river that has carved itself into the landscape and you can see the layers of clay rock, the bed of some ancient ocean, on the steep bluffs. But, as you get closer to the city the bucolic scene resolves itself into the usual ordered sacks and rows of suburban sprawl that wraps around all out cities. 

But I digress.  This is the RunRunLive Podcast. And, for now, this is Chris your host, and we have a great show for you today.  

We chat with an interesting dude, Dr. James Stoxen who will enlighten us on many interesting things from his role as doctor to performing artists, including some relevant revelations that may help you with your running, or at least your wiggling. 

It’s a long interview so the other segments will probably shrink to fit – good news for you less of me talking. 

I continue to recover and run lightly into the 2012 version of the Boston marathon.  I have been traveling this week so I got a couple runs in on the road.  One in Atlanta that was a struggle and gave me no confidence and another in Lexington KY that was wonderful, and gave me hope.  

My goals for Boston are as follows. 

1. Finish. 

2. Have fun.

3. Try to break 4 hours. 

This will be my 14th Boston marathon.  It hasn’t always been easy.  A full third of them were disasters where I went out too fast ande suffered in the last few miles, swearing I would never race a marathon again.  A precious few were marvelous races where I paced from tape to tape like a pro, toughed it out and made myself proud including a marathon PR many years ago.  More recently I have discovered the joy of negative splits and had some respectable and enjoyable races.  Some of these you and I have shared. 

But, this year I just want to survive.  I’m working with almost a year off and 6-7 weeks of sketchy training.  

Logistically it’s going to be hard because I will be getting passed by thousands of runners.  My qualifying time slots me in with the 7:45 pace but I’ll be lucky to turn in 9:00’s.  I’m going to have to walk early and often and that is going to make people mad.  It would make me mad!  Especially in the first few miles when all the rookies impale themselves on the down hills.  

But, we’ll manage, as we always do. 

On with the Show! 

Audio clips in this episode:

Paula Kiger the Big Green Pen with the Courtney’s run blog post. 

Blog: www.waytenmom.blogspot.com

 FB: https://www.facebook.com/#!/biggreenpen

 Twitter:  https://twitter.com/#!/biggreenpen

 G+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/?tab=wX#111091829470349354760/posts

Liberty Loco Promo - http://resurrectedrunner.blogspot.com/

http://www.runrunlive.com/products-page/midpackerslament

RunRunLive » Audio Products » MidPackersLament » The Mid-Packer's Lament Audio Book

 

It took me a few months...but I kept at it and now can present to you The Mid-Packer's Lament Audio book.  This is ~50 running stories read into audio by the author (me) and ends up being 6-8 hours of audio.

The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.

Hope you enjoy consuming it as much as I enjoyed recording it!

Ciao, thanks, and I'll see you out there.

Chris,

Skits, commercials and parodies in this episode:

Story time:

Equipment Check:

Guest post by Big Green Pen - 

Featured Interview:

About Dr. James Stoxen DC

 

 www.teamdoctorsblog.com

www.teamdoctors.org

How I Got My Wiggle Back (Amazon.com) 

http://www.amazon.com/How-Got-My-Wiggle-Back/dp/1118019334

  Dr. James Stoxen DC Facebook 

  Dr.James Stoxen DC Twitter 

Dr. James Stoxen, D.C. (Video Bio), owns and operates Team Doctors Chiropractic Treatment and Training Center. Team Doctors is one of the first care centers in the world to combine chiropractic care, therapy, active rehabilitation and strength training for world class athletes in a private rehab training center for competitions.

Dr. Stoxen also provides “on-site” chiropractic care and anti-aging consultation and care to numerous top celebrity entertainers. Read more…

Dr. Stoxen also has an extensive background in sports medicine. In 2008, he was inducted into the prestigiousNational Fitness Hall of Fame. He has been the meet and team chiropractor at many national and world championships. He has personally trained many athletes to win national or world championships. Read more…

Dr. Stoxen is a sought after speaker internationally in the fields of sports medicine, anti-aging medicine and other specialized areas of health. Dr. Stoxen has organized over 1000 live presentations all over the world and has lectured on his treatment and training approaches to doctors and scientists at medical CME / ACME accredited medical conferences around the world.  Read more…

He is an avid athlete and at 50 years old, competes in races as a barefoot runner. To read how he discovered the Human Spring Model and approach to examination, treatment, training and progressive prevention of aging and why he is a barefoot athlete read this blog post:   Why Barefoot?

He has appeared on numerous television and radio specials and news programs such as on CBS, NBC, ABC, WGN and many cable news programs.  Read more…

Quick Tip:

Turkeys? 

Outro:

OK my friends you’ve ridden your thoroughbreds, your colts, fillies and studs, to the end of another RunRunLive Podcast, episode 220 is riding off into the sunset.  

Next week we chat with this really interesting British dude who just chucked everything and started riding his bike around the world.  

I haven’t gotten any applications to take over the podcast hosting duties, so should I assume that it really isn’t that important of an endeavor?  We’ll see!

…

Communication article:  - Horizontal communication in teams

I read a great article in the Globe this week that talked about some Harvard B school research.  The research was on communication in teams – but that gives away the punch line.  The actual goal of the research was to find out what were, as I always like to say, ‘the top three things’ or the low-hanging fruit.   

They asked the question what are the simplest attributes of successful organizations that anyone can do.  What are simple things that make a huge documented difference? 

What they found was communication in teams.  When teams, or peers are allowed, encouraged and enabled to share their thoughts and ideas the whole organization becomes simply ‘better’.   

Humans naturally come together and synergize.  When given the opportunity to freely communicate they align with the company’s business goals and get more done and have more impact. 

They gave an example of call centers that were engineered for efficiency by having the different workers stagger their break times.  This way, theoretically the service level of the call center wouldn’t go down because all the team wouldn’t be on break at the same time.  

But, when they changed it so that the people could take break at the same time they communicated more and the centers did better business.  

The worst models were the very hierarchical models with the boss communicating down and none of the teams communicating horizontally. 

Therefore; it’s perfectly ok to go hang out at the water cooler and chat up your cubical mates.  You’ll end up doing business better.  

Just don’t gossip about the boss. 

    

And as you’re communicating with your peer for the betterment of the world… those I’ll see you out there. 

…

You can find me slaughtering turkeys at Twitter, Facebook, DailyMile, YouTube, Google, Tumblr and Pinterest as cyktrussell that’s Chris yellow king tom Russell with two esses and two ells.  

Communicate with us-call  206-339-7804.  Leave a message there it sends an audio file.  

I’m always looking for folks to read the intro – you don’t have to have anything interesting to talk about, just call in and say hi. It’s really low risk and high reward.  – How to submit one is in the show notes and on the web site –- you will find all the other content on the website www.runrunlive.com 

Today’s podcast was brought to you by the band Screeching Weasal! I found a treasure trove of their music on Podsafe and this one to take you out is called Veronica Hates Me and it’s 2 minutes and 50 second long so have fun!

I’ll see you next week – maybe… bahahahahahaahh 

Great news my running friends – my book of running stories “The Mid-Packer’s Lament” is now available in Kindle format at the Kindle store on Amazon.com!  Just search on “Mid-Pack”.  It’s a bargain at an easy $5 and all proceeds go towards supporting the underfunded pension plan of the retired cleaning staff at the RunRunLive world headquarters. I recently got a kindle myself and I love it.  It does reading very well. 

The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.

Music:

From Podsafe:

All music used in the show is from the Podsafe music network found at Music Alley.  Please support the starving, socially minded artists sampled herein by purchasing some!

Song1

screeching_weasel-get_off_my_back

Song 2-3

screeching_weasel-outside_of_you

Outro music:

screeching_weasel-veronica_hates_me

Outro Artists Bio:

Bio:

Standard Links:

http://www.runrunlive.com

http://www.runeratti.com

Http://coolrunning.com

http://Grotonroadrace.com

http://SQRR.org

www.midpackerslament.com

Cyktrussell At gmail and twitter and facebook and youtube

Chris’ book on Amazon – > http://www.amazon.com/Mid-Packers-Lament-collection-running-stories/dp/141961584X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228687012&sr=8-1

Mid-Packer’s Lament E-book

Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy E-Book

Dial in number for RunRunLive is - 206-339-7804

Chris Russell lives and trains in suburban Massachusetts with his family and Border collie Buddy.  Chris is the author of “The Mid-Packer’s Lament”, and “The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy”, short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack.  Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at www.runnerati.com.  Chris’ Podcast, RunRunLive is available on iTunes and at www.runrunlive.com. Chris also writes for CoolRunning.com (Active.com) and is a member of the Squannacook River Runners and the Goon Squad.  

Email me at cyktrussell at Gmail dot com

Running  Podcast, podcasts for running, podcast for runners, free podcast for runners, Running Blog, marathon, triathlon, mileage, sprinting, run, track, training, running clubs, running groups, running shoes, exercise, health, 5k, running, swimming, sports, injuries, stretching, eating, jogging, biking, trail race, 5K, 10K, Ultramarathon, jogging a good exercise, road runner, jogging tips, benefits of jogging, free running, running shoes, marathon training, running, jogging, health and fitness, runners, runner, Boston qualification, Marathon BQ, Boston marathon

The RunRunLive Podcast Episode 219 – Brian from Team Triumph
Show intro by:
Kit Palmer - http://kitpalmer.wordpress.com
http://twitter.com/kitpalmer
RunRunLive – Podcast Intro
http://www.runrunlive.com/home/read-the-runrunlive-podcast-intro
Intro:
Hello and welcome to the resurrection podcast where we rise like phoenixes from the ashes to climb new mountains and carpe all our diems in a fantastic way.  
This is Chris your host and this is episode 219 of the RRL podcast.  219 podcasts comes out to somewhere around 4 and a half years we’ve been going at this.  Holy moly! 
We have a fun show for you today.  I’ve got a chat with Brian who is running an event for Team Triumph, and although I  did not get this interview published in time for the event at least we can call attention to Brian and the work he’s doing. 
We are going to have some fun today. I have a couple informational pieces and a couple entertaining pieces.  
In one of them I’ll detail what I’m looking for in the next host of the RunRunLive podcast.  In another I’ll chat about what to consider if you want to drop into the middle of a training plan.  
We’ll resurrect a piece that we recorded in august of 2009 called ‘let’s do it’.  I wrote this script with a reasonable amount of innuendo but when Megan, the VeganRunningMom performed it, it came out surprisingly steamy.  
The other piece is from an XtraNormal video I made, that you can find on my YouTube channel.  It’s a fun little site where you can feed in a script and make the computer animated characters act it out.  Well, I thought it was funny.  
I took last week off from running after my DNF at the ES20 to let my hip and PF calm down a little.  Over the next couple weeks I’m just going to run 4 times a week with my dog in the woods.  It’s not training per se but it is definitely a deposit in my mental and physical bank account. 
I’m still swimming and lifting.  I’ve backed off on the biking because that seems to upset the hip.  It’s all good.  I’m at peace.  Buddy needs the work. 
On with the Show! 

Audio clips in this episode:
“How Beer saved the world” trailer from the Discovery Channel. 
Liberty Loco Promo - http://resurrectedrunner.blogspot.com/
http://www.runrunlive.com/products-page/midpackerslament
RunRunLive » Audio Products » MidPackersLament » The Mid-Packer's Lament Audio Book
 
It took me a few months...but I kept at it and now can present to you The Mid-Packer's Lament Audio book.  This is ~50 running stories read into audio by the author (me) and ends up being 6-8 hours of audio.
The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.
Hope you enjoy consuming it as much as I enjoyed recording it!
Ciao, thanks, and I'll see you out there.
Chris,

Skits, commercials and parodies in this episode:
“Let’s Do it” performed by Megan the Vegan Running Mom – and some other running friend who I can’t remember because it was 3 years ago. 
Story time:
Equipment Check:
Want to host a podcast? - http://www.runrunlive.com/anybody-want-to-host-a-podcast
Featured Interview:
Brian from Team Triumph and his 135 mile run across Wisconsin. 
http://www.myteamtriumph.com/
MyTEAM TRIUMPH webpage:   www.myteamtriumph-wi.org
My personal fundraising page:   http://www.crowdrise.com/promisestokeep/  
Hi Chris,
I am responding to your twitter message to me about my charity event, Promises to Keep, benefiting myTEAM TRIUMPH - WI chapter. I will be running 135 non-stop miles from Kenosha WI to Appleton WI. I will be followed by a flag carrying relay of active and retired Veterans from start to finish. We are doing this to honor the 158 WI soldiers who have either been killed or disabled in the recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
My goal is raise $10,000. So far, we have some good sponsors including New Balance and GU.
Breakdown of events:
Friday March 16th - Speaking engagement featuring Roy Pirrung and Clarence Hartley
Saturday March 17th - Promises to Keep 135 mile run and flag relay
Sunday March 18th - Fleet Feet Sports Fox Valley will be hosting day long activities (clinics, giveaways, raffles, etc).
 When we arrive in Appleton (finishing the 135 miles) - it will kick off a 10k event in which we will push a disabled Veteran in a racing chair.
 I would love the opportunity to talk with you about the event and myTEAM Triumph.
 Thanks for the time and consideration.
Brian
Quick Tip:
Crashing a training plan - http://www.runrunlive.com/dropping-into-a-training-program
Outro:
OK my long suffering friends you have patiently endured or enjoyed another RunRunLive Podcast, episode 219 is now passing beyond the veil. 
Next week we’ve got a long interview with Dr. Stoxen who has been making a lot of noise recently on his spring theory of running.  We talk about the Wiggles too. Do you know who the Wiggles are? 
I’ve been going through an abnormal stretch of non-travel at work that thankfully will be coming to an end soon.  It’s going to get busy again for me.  I’ve got Boston coming up on the 16th my number is 10181.  I’m not wearing a watch and will enjoy myself.  
I’ll make up a mnemonic for you to remember my bib number.  Ready?  OK, I want you to picture the Roman numeral X as in X marks the spot or X-ray.  Got it.  X marks the spot in Boston.  
Great next I want you to remember that the legal age for voting, military service and adulthood in Boston is 18 years old.  Got it?  18 is the legal age.  
Finally I want you to picture one of those big foam fingers they wave at ball-games and shout “We’re number one!” Got it? 
OK Repeat after me. “X marks the spot…18 is legal…we’re number one”  What’s my bib number? 10-18-1.  
Aren’t mnemonics fun? 
…
I got a number of emails from last week’s show.  Thanks for that.  One of them was from Peter Herridge from the Spikes podcast.  You can tell he’s an empathic individual and sensed something was a bit dissipated in my energy last week. 
He reminded me of a great way to figure out what to do.  He said to look at your life as if you are at your own memorial service. What would you want people to say?  What would the stories be that you would want to be told about you to describe who you were and what you did.  
Tony Robbins calls this the Rocking Chair test.  Meaning as you sit in your old age in the rocking chair and look back on your life, what do you want to see?  
Do you want to see blandness and regret? Or do you want to see great struggles, great triumphs and great defeats?  The stuff of life.  The challenges of life that you were not afraid to take on.  
One of the things I had to teach myself later in life, and I hope you can teach yourself is that we can do anything, we can be anything and we are not afraid.  
Take a tip form Peter and Tony in assessing your plans.  What stories do you want to be told at your memorial service?  How do you want to be remembered?  Because you still have time to write those stories. And write them well. 
And as you’re writing those I’ll see you out there. 

…
You can find me doing what I do at Twitter, Facebook, DailyMile, YouTube, Google, Tumblr and Pinterest as cyktrussell that’s Chris yellow king tom Russell with two esses and two ells.  
Share your story with us-call  206-339-7804.  Leave a message there it sends an audio file.  
Do us all a favor and call in an intro – don’t hide your light under a basket, call in and introduce yourself to us – how to submit one is in the show notes and on the web site –- you will find all the other content on the website www.runrunlive.com 
Here’s a great song to lift your spirits and take you out called appropriately ‘rolling with the punches’ by Lame Duck. It’s about 2 minutes long so you can release your inhibitions and runs free with a little 2 minute surge. 
See ya. 
Great news my running friends – my book of running stories “The Mid-Packer’s Lament” is now available in Kindle format at the Kindle store on Amazon.com!  Just search on “Mid-Pack”.  It’s a bargain at an easy $5 and all proceeds go towards supporting the underfunded pension plan of the retired cleaning staff at the RunRunLive world headquarters. I recently got a kindle myself and I love it.  It does reading very well. 
The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.
Music:
From Podsafe:
All music used in the show is from the Podsafe music network found at Music Alley.  Please support the starving, socially minded artists sampled herein by purchasing some!
Song1
furious_dudes-operation
Song 2-3
submerse-operation
Outro music:
lame_duck-rolling_with_the_punches
Outro Artists Bio:
Bio:
Lame Duck was formed at the end of 2003 by the current members: Antti (guitar/vocals), Mika (bass) & Pete (drums). The band has released two EPs: 'Bad Hair Life'(2004) & 'Chaos Theory'(2006). So far Lame Duck has played a few dozen shows and their music can be heard on some skate/snowboarding films.
Standard Links:
http://www.runrunlive.com
http://www.runeratti.com
Http://coolrunning.com
http://Grotonroadrace.com
http://SQRR.org
www.midpackerslament.com
Cyktrussell At gmail and twitter and facebook and youtube
Chris’ book on Amazon – > http://www.amazon.com/Mid-Packers-Lament-collection-running-stories/dp/141961584X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228687012&sr=8-1
Mid-Packer’s Lament E-book
Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy E-Book
Dial in number for RunRunLive is - 206-339-7804
Chris Russell lives and trains in suburban Massachusetts with his family and Border collie Buddy.  Chris is the author of “The Mid-Packer’s Lament”, and “The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy”, short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack.  Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at www.runnerati.com.  Chris’ Podcast, RunRunLive is available on iTunes and at www.runrunlive.com. Chris also writes for CoolRunning.com (Active.com) and is a member of the Squannacook River Runners and the Goon Squad.  
Email me at cyktrussell at Gmail dot com
Running  Podcast, podcasts for running, podcast for runners, free podcast for runners, Running Blog, marathon, triathlon, mileage, sprinting, run, track, training, running clubs, running groups, running shoes, exercise, health, 5k, running, swimming, sports, injuries, stretching, eating, jogging, biking, trail race, 5K, 10K, Ultramarathon, jogging a good exercise, road runner, jogging tips, benefits of jogging, free running, running shoes, marathon training, running, jogging, health and fitness, runners, runner, Boston qualification, Marathon BQ, Boston marathon

The RunRunLive Podcast Episode 218 – Rodney the Barefoot Triathlete

Show intro by:

Sandra – http:www.SimplyBikBlog.com - Just saw your comment on my post and I thought I'd reply with those links you asked for. That would be me in the post on running. I love running and it's been so good to finally get back into a regular routine with it since having a baby. I used to run halfs and have run two fulls (so I'm nowhere near the runner you are or some of the guests you interview) but I do love it and have loved listening to your podcast and your interviews on so many long runs pre-baby. 

I'm excited to be a part of the show by doing the intro! You can send listeners to my blog:http://simplybikeblog.com (Simply Bike) and they can also find me on Twitter @SimplyBike.

I've written about running while pregnant and I now will continue to document the journey back to running with a baby in tow. I credit running with keeping me sane through grad school and I have no doubt that it will keep me happy and sane through motherhood now. :)

Best,

Sandra

RunRunLive – Podcast Intro

http://www.runrunlive.com/home/read-the-runrunlive-podcast-intro

Intro:

Hello Folks, my friends, and welcome to the RunRunLive Podcast episode 218.  Thanks for showing up again. We’ve been through a lot together haven’t we? 

This is Chris your host.  We’ve got a interesting show for you today.  Our chat is with community member Rodney who is known to his friends as the ‘barefoot triathlete’.  He’s been through some transformations in his life and we’ll share those, with you, today. 

I’ve got news.  It’s up to you whether it’s good news or bad news, that construct is really outside my abilities right now.  

I tried to race the Eastern States 20 Miler on Sunday and learned a lot.  Surely you all saw this coming?  Why didn’t someone stop me?  Is it fascinating like craning your neck at a car crash on the highway?  

Drama, drama, drama.  You know, I don’t want this show to be about me, I want it to be about you.  But, I guess I owe you an explanation and maybe you can learn from it because, apparently I am beyond learning! 

When we talked last week I had pushed through 3-4 weeks of cramming training, in an attempt to put myself in a position to race Boston.  I think you heard in my voice some concern that I knew I was in the over-training red zone.  

Well I came out of my last long run with something pulled in my hip, or more likely an angry tendon near the piriformis muscle.  In layman’s terms this is the ‘wallet pain’ muscle.  It is a classic overuse injury.  

I didn’t run all of last week going into the race.  I’ll give you a race report to tell you how it turned out, but we can safely say I’m on to plans C and D at this point! 

See? Now that’s how you build dramatic tension with a tease…

On with the show! 

Audio clips in this episode:

Excerpt from The Triathlon Podcast #098 - running excerpt – Coach Jeff

http://www.runrunlive.com/products-page/midpackerslament

RunRunLive » Audio Products » MidPackersLament » The Mid-Packer's Lament Audio Book

 

It took me a few months...but I kept at it and now can present to you The Mid-Packer's Lament Audio book.  This is ~50 running stories read into audio by the author (me) and ends up being 6-8 hours of audio.

The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.

Hope you enjoy consuming it as much as I enjoyed recording it!

Ciao, thanks, and I'll see you out there.

Chris,

Skits, commercials and parodies in this episode:

Story time:

ES20 Race Report…http://www.runrunlive.com/2012-es20-race-regurgitation

Equipment Check:

Featured Interview:

Rodney  The “Barefoot Triathlete” (From fat to fit) http://barefoottriathlete.ca/2010/01/01/ripple-effect-2009-year-in-review/

Previously Fat Guy, aka PFG, is something I proudly call myself now.

My name is Rodney and after losing 80 lbs in 15 months and then completing my first 70.3 Ironman I want to share my story and hopefully inspire you.

I was always an athletic kid and spent my youth skiing and mountain biking and being competitive, racing in both sports. I ski raced across Canada and the US as a member of the Manitoba Alpine Ski Team and raced in a few mountain bike series including the Canada Cup.

Quick Tip:

Bike Tips… http://www.runrunlive.com/bike-questions-101

Outro:

Ok my friends we have arrived at the end of yet another RunRunLive Podcast – Episode 218 in the can. 

Next week we we’ve got Brian who’s running for  great cause.  And we’ve got a number of really good interviews queued up over the coming weeks.  

I had a bit of an epiphany this morning on my ride to work.  I’m thinking 250 episodes is a good place to stop.  I’m not saying I will or I won’t I’m just saying that if you’d like to be the next host of the RunRunLive podcast I’ll move up to executive producer and provide you with all the tools to be successful.  If you’re looking for a challenge, or maybe a little personal growth shoot me an email. 

I’ve got 2 weeks now until Boston and I’m just going to try to get to the starting line.  I have no scheduled races or plans after that.  I’ve got to think about what I want to do, what matters to me and what aligns with my purpose? 

Any life coaches out there want to give me a couple sessions? 

Here’s a blog post I did this week that is a bit of a business post. 

…

Urgency and economic cycle. 

It has become trendy to phrases like “especially in the current economy” to everything from marketing to whitepapers.  This baffles me because aren’t we always in a ‘current economy’ of some sort? 

What they are most likely trying to do is to highjack some of the inherent urgency that macroeconomic news creates.  The ‘bad economy’ bogey man is one of the best advertised products since the pet rock.  It gets a lot of free press.  

As a manager and leader through quite a few economic I have seen this cycle many times.  One of the things I find myself spending energy on is ensuring people that the world is not coming to an end, the sky is not falling and the sun will rise tomorrow.

When the business world gets the ‘bad economy’ flu they become very risk adverse and start make decisions based on the perceived urgency.  Some of these decisions are knee jerk reactions to slash costs like laying off employees and slashing inventory.  Ironically these are the same decisions they were unable to manage well during the good time.  The question becomes how much of the urgency is real and how much is a smoke screen for ineptitude? 

The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy now available on Kindle!

http://www.amazon.com/Mid-Packers-Guide-Galaxy-ebook/dp/B006R1T4VM/ref=pd_sim_kstore_2?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2

The best companies, like the best people thrive in tough times and good times.  This is because they are innately sure of themselves and their mission.  They have a cultural, management and leadership bedrock that allows them to shrug off the chirping of the evening news.  They don’t lose faith because they are self confident.  

This self confidence allows these people and these companies to ignore the ‘fight or flight’ responses and execute with a managed urgency.  

And that is my real point.  How do you create within yourself and your company a managed urgency; an urgency that is not a desperation imposed by external forces.  How do you build a team that brings an internal urgency to work each day because they have the confidence in your leadership, your company, your products and themselves? 

You can read all the whitepapers on ‘7 best strategies in a down economy’ but the solution is intimately within your grasp independent of macro-economic forces.  Urgency is a great change agent but can only truly and consistently leveraged when baked into the culture of your organization. 

As an individual you can’t fix the economy.  But you can stay the course, have confidence in yourself and be a leader, because, in my experience, the sun is going to rise tomorrow, and we have work to do. 

Chris Russell lives and trains in suburban Massachusetts with his family and Border collie Buddy.  Chris is the author of “The Mid-Packer’s Lament”, and “The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy”, short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack.  Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at www.runnerati.com.  Chris’ Podcast, RunRunLive is available on iTunes and at www.runrunlive.com. Chris also writes for CoolRunning.com (Active.com) and is a member of the Squannacook River Runners and the Goon Squad.  

Email me at cyktrussell at Gmail dot com

Running  Podcast, podcasts for running, podcast for runners, free podcast for runners, Running Blog, marathon, triathlon, mileage, sprinting, run, track, training, running clubs, running groups, running shoes, exercise, health, 5k, running, swimming, sports, injuries, stretching, eating, jogging, biking, trail race, 5K, 10K, Ultramarathon, jogging a good exercise, road runner, jogging tips, benefits of jogging, free running, running shoes, marathon training, running, jogging, health and fitness, runners, runner, Boston qualification, Marathon BQ, Boston marathon

…

You can find me being creative at Twitter, Facebook, DailyMile, YouTube, Google, Tumblr and Pinterest as cyktrussell that’s Chris yellow king tom Russell with two esses and two ells.  

Mile Daily Mile account is horribly over-subscribed, so don’t be offended if I don’t follow you back, they won’t let me. 

Share your creativity with us-call  206-339-7804.  Leave a message there it sends an audio file.  

A super way to start your creativity practice is to call in an intro – Sue Kenny told me she pickedup 1700 additional facebook hits from reading the intro on the show – how to submit one is in the show notes and on the web site –- you will find all the other content on the website www.runrunlive.com 

You folks know how to find me online. So let’s just relax, and take a deep breath.  Remember how good it is to be alive. Here’s to life 2.0.  

I’ll see you out there. 

Music to take you out is a Fun folksy number called Garage Sailin by the relics_jetboat

Ciao, 

Great news my running friends – my book of running stories “The Mid-Packer’s Lament” is now available in Kindle format at the Kindle store on Amazon.com!  Just search on “Mid-Pack”.  It’s a bargain at an easy $5 and all proceeds go towards supporting the underfunded pension plan of the retired cleaning staff at the RunRunLive world headquarters. I recently got a kindle myself and I love it.  It does reading very well. 

The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.

Music:

From Podsafe:

All music used in the show is from the Podsafe music network found at Music Alley.  Please support the starving, socially minded artists sampled herein by purchasing some!

Song1

betty_and_the_werewolves-tu_veux_jouer

Song 2-3

betty_and_the_werewolves-werewolves

Outro music:

relics_jetboat-garage_sailin

Outro Artists Bio:

Bio:

Relic's Jetboat are a modern folk band, this isn't about acoustic guitars in the coffee shop, it's songs about modern folk and the events or stories around us. They bring a party band attitude to their songs about Garage Sailin', Gordon Downie, Ogopogo and The Beachcombers, the songs cross genres

Standard Links:

http://www.runrunlive.com

http://www.runeratti.com

Http://coolrunning.com

http://Grotonroadrace.com

http://SQRR.org

www.midpackerslament.com

Cyktrussell At gmail and twitter and facebook and youtube

Chris’ book on Amazon – > http://www.amazon.com/Mid-Packers-Lament-collection-running-stories/dp/141961584X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228687012&sr=8-1

Mid-Packer’s Lament E-book

Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy E-Book

Dial in number for RunRunLive is - 206-339-7804

Chris Russell lives and trains in suburban Massachusetts with his family and Border collie Buddy.  Chris is the author of “The Mid-Packer’s Lament”, and “The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy”, short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack.  Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at www.runnerati.com.  Chris’ Podcast, RunRunLive is available on iTunes and at www.runrunlive.com. Chris also writes for CoolRunning.com (Active.com) and is a member of the Squannacook River Runners and the Goon Squad.  

Email me at cyktrussell at Gmail dot com

Running  Podcast, podcasts for running, podcast for runners, free podcast for runners, Running Blog, marathon, triathlon, mileage, sprinting, run, track, training, running clubs, running groups, running shoes, exercise, health, 5k, running, swimming, sports, injuries, stretching, eating, jogging, biking, trail race, 5K, 10K, Ultramarathon, jogging a good exercise, road runner, jogging tips, benefits of jogging, free running, running shoes, marathon training, running, jogging, health and fitness, runners, runner, Boston qualification, Marathon BQ, Boston marathon

The RunRunLive Podcast Episode 217 – Shawn’s Anomaly

Show intro by:

Torben - Hey Chris - iswww.facebook.com/torbenisawesome. 

Just wanted to drop an intro for your show and thank you for producing such a cool, yet informative show. I was never a fan of running with music, so switched early on to just enjoy audiobooks and podcast on my runs. I found yours a few months ago and found it both informative and entertaining. Keep up the good work.

Enjoy your day and keep running strong! 

Venlig Hilsen/Best Regards            

Torben Jensen.

National Support Team Communications Manager in AIESEC Denmark 11/12.

RunRunLive – Podcast Intro

http://www.runrunlive.com/home/read-the-runrunlive-podcast-intro

Intro:

Hello and welcome to the St. Paddy’s Day podcast where I could tell you about my mum Margaret Mary Connors or my Nanna Margaret Mary Devine who smuggled a bottle of Irish and a smoked ham through Ellis Island under her coat on her way to the textile mills of Lowell Massachusetts from County Kerry.   

Whenever someone does something crazy in Lake Wobegone Garrison Keillor says it’s because they have a little bit of the Irish in them.  

But, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, this is the RunRunLive Podcast and this is Chris your host and we have a great show for you this week.  I have a talk with Matt from Houston who has had his life transformed and has in turn transformed his life through the unexpected and unusual challenges of his son Shawn.  Powerful stuff.  

It’s a great example of how he wrote his own story and did so in the face of some personal adversity. 

Don’t you love Torben’s website name “Torbenisawesome” – that’s a excellent example of writing your own story! And a positive one at that! 

Today we have a quick tip on stretching and I talked our friend the ZenRunner into recording a bit on what Tabatta is.  I just thought Tabatta was some ill-tempered Eastern-European woman who liked to hurt people – but it turns out it’s a work out technique…with science behind it, who knew? 

My training is going ok.  I pushed through my planned overload the end of last week knocking off a good strong set of 10 X 800 down at the track with Buddy on Thursday.  

Buddy has figured out what I’m doing, which is 3 laps, 2 hard and one recovery.  So he runs the first lap with me, sits out the second one and then runs the cool down with me.  He’s a funny old dog. 

I’ve definitely been feeling over-trained.  I was a leery of the long run scheduled for Sunday.  I got through it but I struggled and I got some tendonitis in my hip.  I’ve been hobbling around this week.  I thought I’d get in the pool, but the pool at the club had a leak! It was closed this week!  I’m basically taking the week off to recover.  Hopefully my hip will clear up by Sunday for the Easter States 20 miler.  

What I want to do is to go out and run a nice steady 8:00 pace overall.  If I can finish sub-8 without power failure – that’s a good sign for Boston.  It’s still a long shot but I’ll keep doing what I can to show up with a chance. 

This Saturday I burned the brush pile in my yard.  We are allowed to burn in New England.  I had an enormous pile.  I had scheduled all day for this because they like you to stay around when you have a fire going.  They only let you burn from 10 – 4:00.  But I had constructed my pyre so expertly all the brush was gone in a true blaze of glory in 45 minutes. 

I’m a member of a group in LinkedIn called “Executive Athletes”.  Someone started a ‘who’s going to be running Boston’ topic and I, being full of myself said I’m running and I’m bib# 10181. The subsequent comments all have lower bib #’s.  On my best day I’m still a mid-packer. 

Had our last Groton Road Race meeting last night.  We lost a sponsor for one of our races if anyone is interested. It’s April 29th and you can find more info at GrotonRoadRace.com

It’s spring time in New England. – On with the Show. 

Audio clips in this episode:

Excerpt from the Scientific American Podcast - sa_60sh_podcast_120306-exceprt

Tabatta question answered by Zen Runner.  http://www.facebook.com/SlowRunnersClub

Liberty Loco Promo - http://resurrectedrunner.blogspot.com/

http://www.runrunlive.com/products-page/midpackerslament

RunRunLive » Audio Products » MidPackersLament » The Mid-Packer's Lament Audio Book

 

It took me a few months...but I kept at it and now can present to you The Mid-Packer's Lament Audio book.  This is ~50 running stories read into audio by the author (me) and ends up being 6-8 hours of audio.

The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.

Hope you enjoy consuming it as much as I enjoyed recording it!

Ciao, thanks, and I'll see you out there.

Chris,

Skits, commercials and parodies in this episode:

Story time:

Equipment Check:

Featured Interview:

Matt from Shawn’s Anomaly - http://www.shawnsanomaly.org/

My Story

My name is Matthew.  In June of 2009 my wife and I were blessed with our son Shawn. He was born with several urological conditions including a multicystic dysplastic kidney and then diagnosed with a paten urachus. He had to have surgery at 10 days old to correct the leaking out of his belly button.  During that surgery the doctors noticed something so rare that they had ever seen it before.  Shawn was born with and unprecedented 2nd urethra (I coined it “Shawn’s Urethra” after my son since there has never been a documented case) where his urethra split near the prostate and exited near his anus.  Imagine hearing the doctors tell you about the condition that your son had and knowing that even in the modern day of medicine, the doctors did not know how to help your child.

Since there was very little information about the condition, the doctors needed time to determine how to repair the condition.  At 7 months old Shawn's went in to have an unprecedented surgery to repair the condition. At that time they also removed the cysts where his kidney should have formed. At 14 months old he underwent his 3rd surgery to repair another common condition to urological problems, a tethered spine.

When my son first was born, there were so many things that were going through my head. How am I going to be as a dad? How am I going to put him through college? How long will I get to enjoy being around him before I die? All of those questions were very trying on me, but the one that concerned me the most was the last one.

I was 33 years old and had a pretty comfortable life…at least I thought I did. Most of my activities were watching college football and sitting at my desk behind the computer all day. 

At the first of the year 2010,  the company I work for, Western States Fire Protection in Houston, opened up a fully equipped gym in the office, and I had a bright idea. I knew that now I could not use the, “I am too busy at work to go to the gym,” excuse anymore. I started counting my calories and developed weight training program in February just to bulk up a little and lose the excess baggage that I was carrying around. After a few weeks I noticed that I was losing minimal weight. I knew that I had to introduce some cardio exercise to my program, so I stopped by the nearest athletic store to pick up a pair of running shoes, and I went the popular running park to start my cardio training. After running about 500 yards, walking the remainder of the way, and recovering for the next 3 days, I nearly gave up.  Before I did, I started to think about my son and all of what he went through and how he never gave up, so I knew I could not either.  As week after week went by with me improving my run distances and losing weight, I started to see the change in my body, and I liked it.

After finishing my first 5K and riding high on the emotion, I was sitting in the back yard and talking to my wife and friend Haley about what was next.  I was pretty much joking with when I told them, "Maybe I should complete the Ironman!"  After all, since I was a kid, I had watched the Ironman on TV and pretty much determine that it was impossible to achieve for a regular person like me, but my son had showed me that anything is possible with perseverance, resilience, and taking life one day at a time.  The joke became a challenge that spring day...

My first goal along the journey was to compete in a sprint triathlon. My workouts went from being 3 days a week to 6 days a week that included biking, swimming, running, and weight training. As I went through the weeks, I really started to see a dramatic change in my body and state of mind. I was becoming more productive at work, I had more energy when I came home to play with my son, and the pounds kept dropping off. I was truly becoming an athlete and was working on being in the best shape of my life. 

As I reached the starting line on that early August morning, I started to realize how far I had come. I went from being a couch potato to a triathlete in about 6 months. The gun sounded, and I was hitting the water. I can’t remember much about that day except hearing the sound of cowbells and people cheering us on. Everything else was pretty much a blur until I got to the finish line. As I made the final corner, I reached in the back of my jersey and pulled out one of my son’s pacifier and put it in my mouth. This was my tribute to him, since he was still recovering from his 3rd surgery. He was truly the inspiration to me changing my life.

We hope that Shawn's surgeries are over.  We feel so blessed to have had such a great support group around us of family and friends, great medical coverage that paid for all of the expensive surgeries, and living so close to the greatest medical centers in the world.  Unfortunately, so many families and children are not as fortunate as we are, and we wanted to know how we could help.  I am not a rich man, so I can’t donate a lot of money to some research project, so we decided to use our journey to raise awareness and money to help others.

Quick Tip:

Injury Recovery: On totems and Fear - http://www.runrunlive.com/injury-recovery-on-totems-and-fear

Outro:

Ok my Irish friends you have worn the green to the end of yet another RunRunLive Podcast – Episode 217 in the can. 

Next week we chat with Rodney, one of our community members, known as the ‘barefoot triathlete’ – he turned his life around in 2009, dropping 60+ pounds and is currently gearing up for an IronMan.  The hits just keep on coming!  

This weekend for me is the Eastern States 20 Miler, and like I said, I’m going to use it as a pacing experiment and see how I do.  Hopefully my hip will heal up by then.  As of the release date of this show I’m 3 weeks and three days out from Boston.  If you’re listening to this at a later date and already know how I did don’t tell me, I want to be surprised. 

Sorry the last couple shows have been over 50 minutes long – I’ll try to do a better job of editing.  Think of it as a bonus. 

…

I work with a lot of technical people, really smart engineers and product people.  One of the challenges I have is getting them to step away from the trees and see the forest.  They see beauty and art in the science and the math and the functionality, but they have a hard time explaining it to a lay audience.  

You should understand that no matter how technical the topic is people still want to be told a story.  Whether you’re a doctor or a lawyer or an engineer you need t set aside all the stuff you know, put yourself in the other person’s, the audiences shoes and tell them a story.  

What I’ll do is I’ll make them put away all the existing powerpoints and material they have and start with a blank white board.  I’ll make them do a story board.  Just like you would for a movie or a pitch.  Then once they have the flow and the story we can start loading the facts and figures back in, where appropriate to support the story.  

Business clients will tell you “don’t give me any of that soft stuff – just tell me the facts about how you support my requirements!” “If you come in here and waste my time with a bunch of fluff we’ll throw you out!” 

But, you know what happens? If you go and tell a compelling story, about them, in their words using their fears and emotions – they’ll tell you it was the best presentation they have ever seen. 

You may say, “hey Chris, it’s easy for you, you’re creative.”  How do you become creative?  Chris how do YOU find inspiration to create so much content?  I’ll tell you what the secret is.  Creativity is work ethic. No famous artist got famous by sitting around and thinking about their art.  The more you do the more creative you are.  It’s like any other muscle, use it and it gets stronger.  

“But Chris, I sit down with a blank piece of paper and nothing comes into my head.”  Pirsig tells the story about how when he asked students to write an essay, they could not, they couldn’t think of what to write.  But, when he then told them to write about one side of a coin they got started and couldn’t stop.  

Creativity is not a spark.  Creativity is movement.  Start and it will flow.  Sometimes, and you can hear this in our show.  I’ll just start writing random words, almost poetry, until the thoughts and phrases crystallize.  

“But Chris I only have so much creativity. I don’t want to waste it doing this stuff, I want to save it for work…”  Creativity follows the theory of abundance not the theory of scarcity.  The extra creative work that I cram into my life makes the creative work I do at work that much better and more effective.  The more you do, the more capacity you have.  To be creative, to make your art. 

No one has the right to judge your art.  Go ahead and flex your creativity muscles.  There is no risk.  Have some fun. Be your own creative spark.  And I’ll see you out there. 

…

You can find me being creative at Twitter, Facebook, DailyMile, YouTube, Google, Tumblr and Pinterest as cyktrussell that’s Chris yellow king tom Russell with two esses and two ells.  

Mile Daily Mile account is horribly over-subscribed, so don’t be offended if I don’t follow you back, they won’t let me. 

Share your creativity with us-call  206-339-7804.  Leave a message there it sends an audio file.  

A super way to start your creativity practice is to call in an intro – Sue Kenny told me she pickedup 1700 additional facebook hits from reading the intro on the show – how to submit one is in the show notes and on the web site –- you will find all the other content on the website www.runrunlive.com 

Music to take you out is a 2:40ish peppy punky number called Dictator by the Cycanide Pills.  I know I’m punk rock heavy but it make my old heart beat.  

Be safe.  Run strong.  Ciao.

Great news my running friends – my book of running stories “The Mid-Packer’s Lament” is now available in Kindle format at the Kindle store on Amazon.com!  Just search on “Mid-Pack”.  It’s a bargain at an easy $5 and all proceeds go towards supporting the underfunded pension plan of the retired cleaning staff at the RunRunLive world headquarters. I recently got a kindle myself and I love it.  It does reading very well. 

The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.

Music:

From Podsafe:

All music used in the show is from the Podsafe music network found at Music Alley.  Please support the starving, socially minded artists sampled herein by purchasing some!

Song1

david_parker-six_eights_blue

Song 2-3

channel_eight-suffocating

Outro music:

cyanide_pills-dictator

Outro Artists Bio:

Bio:

Standard Links:

http://www.runrunlive.com

http://www.runeratti.com

Http://coolrunning.com

http://Grotonroadrace.com

http://SQRR.org

www.midpackerslament.com

Cyktrussell At gmail and twitter and facebook and youtube

Chris’ book on Amazon – > http://www.amazon.com/Mid-Packers-Lament-collection-running-stories/dp/141961584X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228687012&sr=8-1

Mid-Packer’s Lament E-book

Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy E-Book

Dial in number for RunRunLive is - 206-339-7804

Chris Russell lives and trains in suburban Massachusetts with his family and Border collie Buddy.  Chris is the author of “The Mid-Packer’s Lament”, and “The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy”, short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack.  Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at www.runnerati.com.  Chris’ Podcast, RunRunLive is available on iTunes and at www.runrunlive.com. Chris also writes for CoolRunning.com (Active.com) and is a member of the Squannacook River Runners and the Goon Squad.  

Email me at cyktrussell at Gmail dot com

Running  Podcast, podcasts for running, podcast for runners, free podcast for runners, Running Blog, marathon, triathlon, mileage, sprinting, run, track, training, running clubs, running groups, running shoes, exercise, health, 5k, running, swimming, sports, injuries, stretching, eating, jogging, biking, trail race, 5K, 10K, Ultramarathon, jogging a good exercise, road runner, jogging tips, benefits of jogging, free running, running shoes, marathon training, running, jogging, health and fitness, runners, runner, Boston qualification, Marathon BQ, Boston marathon

The RunRunLive Podcast Episode 216 – Annie from Train2Race

Show intro by:

Norm - http://theruminativerunner.blogspot.com/

RunRunLive – Podcast Intro

http://www.runrunlive.com/home/read-the-runrunlive-podcast-intro

Intro:

Hello and welcome to the Cajun podcast where we spend long nights of bacchanalia in the French Quarter grooving to Zydeco and Mississippi blues.  Well, I really don’t drink and can’t stay up too late anymore, and even though I did spend the weekend in New Orleans Louisiana, this is still the RunRunLive Podcast and this is Chris your host and we have a jam-packed great show for you today.  

In our show today we have a chat with Annie, one of the enthusiastic coaches at Train2Race.  She is one of those people who has managed to make a business out of the endurance life and offers practical tips that I think you’ll find useful in your own endeavors. 

We also answer a question on the mental aspect of injury recovery, have a plug from a new Mojo-loco race in the UK and a new parody song from our friend Colin the Resurrected Runner. 

This is Episode 216 for those of you keeping track. Through the scientific miracle of podcast temporal distortion you may be listening to this on Mars in the year 2520, but here in my world it’s the second week of March and spring is approaching.  It’s been quite warm up here in New England, the frogs are out at night and I’ve been able to take Fuji-san my old steel bike out on the roads without undo discomfiture. 

I flew down to New Orleans with my wife for the weekend.  We ate too much good food and did some exploring.  I missed a couple workouts because I didn’t want my hobby to intrude too much.  I did get out early Sunday morning and ran down St. Charles St. to the Mississippi River and ran the levee trail for a total of 2 hours and 17 minutes.  

We were staying on the edge of the French quarter and if you’re familiar with New Orleans St. Charles is the trolley line that runs west.  It’s a trolley line frozen in time from the early 1900’s, above ground and trundling along laconically through a neighborhood of Greek revival houses along a long, straight, flat grassy way.  

You can run on the grass in the trolley tracks, you just have to pay attention to which way you are running and which direction the trolleys are coming from.  When they approach you move aside.  It is really quite pretty.  

The run itself was a bit of a tester.  It always is when you’re out of town, away from your own routine.  I was wrecked all day from the running and all the walking around we did.  

The heel is sore but doing ok.  My Achilles are tight as is the whole chain up the back of my legs.  I had a tough run Tuesday.  It was supposed to be a 12 mile step up run but it just turned into a survival run because my legs were tight and it was pretty hot out.  I’ve got the classic symptoms of over-trained legs – dead, tired and no pop – but I’ve got to tough it out through this cycle in order to give myself a shot at Boston.  

I’ve got two more big runs this week to push through.  I’ve got a full Yasso session tonight down at the track where I will do 10 800’s at a 3:20ish goal time.  Then on Sunday I’ll go out for another 2 and a half hour push run.  Then I think we’ll back off a little next week capping it off with a 20 mile race on the 25th which will be the peak of my training for Boston on the 16th.  

I’ve also started a new diet this week based partly on some advice from Jake the Maine Tri Guy.  I’m not eating after 6:00 at night.  I’m a classic night binge eater so I want to remove those calories and also give my body a chance to burn more during the night.  As of this morning I’m down to 190.  I need to get close to 180 for the marathon. 

Thanks for all your support – keep sending those questions in – On with the Show. 

Audio clips in this episode:

Question from Jeff about mentally recovering from injuries. 

New song from Colin – “Shoe Rotation” 

Liberty Loco Promo - http://resurrectedrunner.blogspot.com/

http://www.runrunlive.com/products-page/midpackerslament

RunRunLive » Audio Products » MidPackersLament » The Mid-Packer's Lament Audio Book

 

It took me a few months...but I kept at it and now can present to you The Mid-Packer's Lament Audio book.  This is ~50 running stories read into audio by the author (me) and ends up being 6-8 hours of audio.

The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.

Hope you enjoy consuming it as much as I enjoyed recording it!

Ciao, thanks, and I'll see you out there.

Chris,

Skits, commercials and parodies in this episode:

Story time:

Cajun Run - 

Equipment Check:

Featured Interview:

Train2Race Triathlon Training

Our Philosophy

Our goal at Train2Race, LLC is to provide affordable training for our clients to succeed in the sports of running and triathlons.   Through a personalized coaching plan  specific to your needs and goals, we help you maximize your racing experience while educating you on the fundamentals of fitness.  We believe that a well-balanced combination of physical training, nutrition, and drive will enable you to utilize running and triathlons to obtain many physical, mental, and emotional benefits. We strive to help you in your athletic accomplishments – racing farther and/or faster than you ever have before.  

Annie

Annie began her athletic career as a Division I volleyball player where she discovered the life-changing effect athletics can have on a person. She started her professional career in athletics coaching successful volleyball teams at both the high school and club levels.  She also worked as a certified swim instructor through the Red Cross.

While attending graduate school in Boston, she was captivated by the sport of running while assisting a charity in raising funds through the Boston Marathon, and she has been an avid participant in endurance sports ever since.  She  competes in both road and trail racing for triathlons and running events (from 5k's to marathons), and is also highly involved in the community promoting endurance sports. She worked for Nike as a run pace leader, mentor, and race promotional assistant in Santa Monica, California, and also raced with the Los Angeles Triathlon Club.  She is a board member for Girls on The Run - an organization which promotes running as a vehicle for self-esteem for girls in grades 3-8. She is also a race director for the New Balance Girls on The Run of Dane County 5k.  She is a certified professional through the American Council on Exercise (ACE), and teaches weekly running and group fitness classes.  She has trained many runners and triathletes throughout the country–coaching all levels and abilities from first time runners to participants (finishers!) in Ironman competitions–and has been instrumental in helping them reach their performance goals.  Annie received her Bachelors Degree from the University of Wisconsin, and her Masters Degree from Boston University.

Contact her at Annie@train2race.com

Quick Tip:

Injury Recovery: On totems and Fear - http://www.runrunlive.com/injury-recovery-on-totems-and-fear

Outro:

- Border collie in T-Storm

Ok my sweet Cajun-cohorts you have taken the tram line and gator-wrestled to the end of yet another RunRunLive Podcast – Episode 216 in the can. 

Next week we have an inspiring chat with a fellow runner who has had his life transformed through the struggles of his son and used running to make this challenge worthwhile.  Something about our community leads us to turn challenges into transformative energy. 

On my calendar I have a couple more weeks of training before Boston.  I’m signed up to race the Eastern States 20 miler – one of my old favorites.  This is a great course to test out your pacing strategies and that’s what I’ll be doing.  My key to Boston is to be able to run negative splits and on my limited training I have to find a strategy to get to Heartbreak Hill, 20 miles in and be able to push it home. 

On April 29th we’ve got the 21st edition of the Groton Road race in Groton Mass and you’re all welcome to come along and say ‘hi’.  I’m going to join an episode of the Runner’s Roundtable podcast next week to talk about ‘Good Races Gone Bad”. 

I’m still training for an IronMan in June and will have to pivot my training coming out of Boston to get ready for that.  With the weather getting nicer I can get outside on the bike and get to the open water for some swims and that will make training more enjoyable. 

…

Let me tell you a couple stories about my trip to New Orleans. 

The first one is from the river boat dinner cruise we took Saturday night.  It was one of those old steam engine rear-wheel paddle boats that took you out and down the Mississippi from New Orleans for a couple hours.  

I went into the bar to get a couple drinks for my wife and I.  I looked down and picked up a crumpled $20 bill off the floor.  It was small room, so I held up the $20 and announced, “since I’m an honest guy…anyone lose $20?”  I didn’t get any takers, so I gave it to the bartender with the thought that someone might come looking for it and if not she could keep it as a tip. 

I had some small conversations with the folks standing in line while I waited.  I said things like “Anyone would do that same thing…” to which the general sentiment was that most people wouldn’t.  When I got my drinks and went to pay, the bartendress gave them to me for free.  Karma. 

The second story – is that apparently there was a college basketball tournament in town this weekend.  And apparently Kentucky is the only basketball team with fans because the entire city was full of Kentucky fans all wearing their Kentucky, shirts and hats and jackets.  Whole families, grandparents, kids…the works. 

I’ll be honest with you I don’t follow college basketball and having these fans EVERYWHERE was not annoying but it was a bit tiring.  They weren’t causing any trouble or anything, you just couldn’t get away from them. 

I burned frequent flyer points to stay in the Pierre Marquette Renaissance on the edge of the French quarter and we were given I nice corner room on the 19th floor, the concierge floor because of my travel status with Marriott.  

The thing with the concierge level is that you need a special room key to get the elevator to go there.  My wife and I would come back from an outing get into the elevator with a crowd of weekend basketball fans.  Everyone would start calling out floors or pushing buttons and I would have to move to the front and insert my ‘special’ key card to the top floor.  

The funny part was all the strange looks we’d get.  We weren’t just random tourists anymore; we were some sort of visiting dignitaries. My wife got a kick out of that.  If someone asked me about it I’d get all serious and say I couldn’t tell them, it was a State secret. 

It was also college spring break so there were random pods of college kids wandering around.  Knowing New Orleans and being the parent of college ages kids I’m not sure that’s a trip I’d let go unsupervised.  

It’s an interesting city with great history and architecture and culture.  There’s much more to it than getting hammered on Bourbon Street.  If you’re a runner it’s a great city to explore on foot.  I hope you’re not disappointed that I have no ‘lost weekend’ story to share.  

Sometimes it’s ok just to relax and be a tourist.  

One of the things I see in my competitive running friends is that we feel like we have to be amazing every time we do something.  We hold ourselves to the highest bar we have ever set.  

You don’t have to be amazing every time.  You have my permission to have fun, relax and be average every once in a while.  

And as you are working on that I’ll see you out there. 

You can find me wrestling alligators at Twitter, Facebook, DailyMile, YouTube, Google, Tumblr and Pinterest as cyktrussell that’s Chris yellow king tom Russell with two esses and two ells.  

Share your Cajun thoughts with us- 206-339-7804.  Leave a message there it sends an audio file.  

Call in a show intro and tell us about your favorite tourist story – how to submit one is in the show notes and on the web site –- you will find all the other content on the website www.runrunlive.com 

Music tonight is from the famous punk rock band the dead_kennedys and it’s called moon_over_marin… It’s about 3 minutes and 40 seconds long – so perfect for a little high tempo fartlek – Run lightly – feel the springs in your legs - ciao

Great news my running friends – my book of running stories “The Mid-Packer’s Lament” is now available in Kindle format at the Kindle store on Amazon.com!  Just search on “Mid-Pack”.  It’s a bargain at an easy $5 and all proceeds go towards supporting the underfunded pension plan of the retired cleaning staff at the RunRunLive world headquarters. I recently got a kindle myself and I love it.  It does reading very well. 

The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.

Music:

From Podsafe:

All music used in the show is from the Podsafe music network found at Music Alley.  Please support the starving, socially minded artists sampled herein by purchasing some!

Song1

blue_stew-la_fayette_cajun

Song 2-3

dc_sills-cajun_blood

Outro music:

dead_kennedys-moon_over_marin

Outro Artists Bio:

Bio:

Milking The Sacred Cow is the 2nd collection of greatest hits from legendary San Francisco punks who have sold over two million albums since forming in 1978. Includes "Holiday In Cambodia," "California Uber Alles," "Kill The Poor," and two unreleased live tracks.

Standard Links:

http://www.runrunlive.com

http://www.runeratti.com

Http://coolrunning.com

http://Grotonroadrace.com

http://SQRR.org

www.midpackerslament.com

Cyktrussell At gmail and twitter and facebook and youtube

Chris’ book on Amazon – > http://www.amazon.com/Mid-Packers-Lament-collection-running-stories/dp/141961584X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228687012&sr=8-1

Mid-Packer’s Lament E-book

Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy E-Book

Dial in number for RunRunLive is - 206-339-7804

Chris Russell lives and trains in suburban Massachusetts with his family and Border collie Buddy.  Chris is the author of “The Mid-Packer’s Lament”, and “The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy”, short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack.  Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at www.runnerati.com.  Chris’ Podcast, RunRunLive is available on iTunes and at www.runrunlive.com. Chris also writes for CoolRunning.com (Active.com) and is a member of the Squannacook River Runners and the Goon Squad.  

Email me at cyktrussell at Gmail dot com

Running  Podcast, podcasts for running, podcast for runners, free podcast for runners, Running Blog, marathon, triathlon, mileage, sprinting, run, track, training, running clubs, running groups, running shoes, exercise, health, 5k, running, swimming, sports, injuries, stretching, eating, jogging, biking, trail race, 5K, 10K, Ultramarathon, jogging a good exercise, road runner, jogging tips, benefits of jogging, free running, running shoes, marathon training, running, jogging, health and fitness, runners, runner, Boston qualification, Marathon BQ, Boston marathon

The RunRunLive Podcast Episode 215 – Rodger from FinKraft Racing

Show intro by:

Dr. Sarb Johal  @sarb on Twitter

RunRunLive – Podcast Intro

http://www.runrunlive.com/home/read-the-runrunlive-podcast-intro

Intro:

Hello and welcome to the treadmill indiscretion podcast where I make strange grunting noises while trying to complete Coach’s tempo workouts in the gym.  No, not really, this is the RunRunLive podcast and I am Chris, your host and I do make funny noises sometimes.  Especially when you’ve got the headphones in and sort of lose yourself in the act. 

I was running last night doing a monster hour-and-a-half step up run in the gym.  There were two women having a conversation while they ran next to me, (how do you do that without falling off the treadmill ladies?) I was struggling a little and felt I was slipping off the back so I gave it a little goose of effort and emanated this strange little creepy grunt that apparently was pretty loud because they turned to look at me like who’s this strange dude? 

When you’re on the treadmill for an hour and a half you see a lot of people come and go.  There’s this one lady who props up a book and reads as she runs – well she was more walk than run but still an amazing act of multi-tasking. 

I had my Garmin Heart Rate strap on so I could give coach my heart rate read out as I stepped up through the work out.  We were experiencing a cold snap and I think that dried out the air because I could not get my heart rate to make sense.  It spiked and would not go below zone 5.  This isn’t right, because on a normal day I’m going to coughing up a lung and part of my large intestine from the effort of running in zone 5.  I wasn’t working that hard.  

After 20 or 30 minutes of waiting for it to normalize I just took of the strap and the watch – it was bothering me and since this was a pace targeted workout, not an HR targeted workout it wasn’t worth wasting my attention on it. 

This is one of Coach’s core tempo workouts – the long step up run.  It simulates race conditions and teaches your body to close.  You start out 3 miles easy, 3 miles normal and then accelerate through the last 5 miles at race pace and faster.  

I had my BlackBerry with me and was listening to podcasts but I kept catching the cord and pulling it out so I ditched the BB too.  I briefly plugged into the console and listened to the TV for awhile, but then I just tossed it all and ran naked, focusing on the workout. 

The naked running guys say that you should run without any distractions so you can listen to your body.  I agree with this sentiment, it’s just that most of the time my body is saying AHHHHHHHH! Stop!  So – distraction is good.  

It’s interesting to me that the faster the pace gets the more comfortable I feel.  In a sense the faster pace is an easier and more fluid mechanic – it just flows easier – it forces you to open up your stride and relax into the workout. 

This is an interesting point as well – when you listen to the elite runners they will tell you that they still have pain, they just learn to befriend the pain.  Your body is screaming pain signals at you to stop! And what happens if you don’t stop?  Usually nothing bad. 

Did I mention we have a great show for you today?  We have a really cool chat with Roger the flying Fin from FinKraft sports.  He’s an elite mountain and cross rider who had the great misfortune of breaking his back in a crash in the Hampshire 100 I rode last summer. 

If you folks have never ridden a mountain bike, you should.  It’s a blast.  Get some training first because it is definitely different, but it’s a killer workout and when you do it right it’s a beautiful dance of speed and power – and a great way to explore.

I also have a piece on the relationship between weight and race times and an exploration of what we mean when we say “training effect”. 

Hope you all are doing well – On with the Show. 

Audio clips in this episode:

Sample from Dirtdawg’s podcast -> Ep. 110 - Hell on Two Wheels

Hey Chris,

Great podcast! 

I recently created a new Runner's Log iPhone / iPad app that would probably be of interest to you (as well as your listeners). It makes it easy to track your running sessions, mileage on your shoes, etc.

You can also check out the app in iTunes via this link:

   http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/runners-log/id500565287?ls=1&mt=8

Enjoy!

- Mike Fikes  

http://www.runrunlive.com/products-page/midpackerslament

RunRunLive » Audio Products » MidPackersLament » The Mid-Packer's Lament Audio Book

 

It took me a few months...but I kept at it and now can present to you The Mid-Packer's Lament Audio book.  This is ~50 running stories read into audio by the author (me) and ends up being 6-8 hours of audio.

The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.

Hope you enjoy consuming it as much as I enjoyed recording it!

Ciao, thanks, and I'll see you out there.

Chris,

Skits, commercials and parodies in this episode:

The blog comment skit…

Story time:

Equipment Check:

The Training effect - http://www.runrunlive.com/the-training-effect

Featured Interview:

 Rodger from FinKraft.  I raced the Hampshire 100 mountain bike ultra where Rodger too a bad spill and broke his back this year.  I got him on for an interesting talk about the wonderful world of elite bike racing.

Roger@FinKraft 

www.finkraftcoaching.com 

www.finkraftcoaching.blogspot.com

Quick Tip:

Does weight loss make my race times faster? - http://www.runrunlive.com/weight-loss-and-running

Outro:

Ok my sweet and humble friends you have made strange, little, guttural, grunting noises to the end of yet another RunRunLive Podcast – Episode 215 in the can. 

Next week we have a great chat with Annie owner of Train2Race triathlon coaching.  I guess I should start doing more pieces on triathlon stuff, but I’m not sure I’m super qualified to deal with that minutiae – I love my swim, bike and run but there’s so much noise around the sport that I’m not really invested in.  You tell me. You want to hear about it?

The training has been going fairly well.  I’m not super strong but I’m getting through it. If the stars align I should be able to give a good effort at Boston.  I need to get some longer road runs in at race pace.  I’ve been doing my long runs in the woods just because I need the strength and the base and I don’t want to get re-injured.  

I also like being able to take Buddy with me.  We were out last Sunday for 2 hours in the wet snow.  It’s hard work and you don’t go very fast but it’s great for strength.  

We met some nice people on the trails.  Buddy nipped one lady in the ass.  I ask people “Are you afraid of dogs? Are you ok with the dog?” and if they look hesitant I leash Buddy up close.  But these people said “No, we like dogs.” Then the lady acts all scared and if you act scared Buddy is going to nip you in the ass. 

According to the EatSmart scale I’ve been running around 194 pounds.  This 10 pounds heavier than my typical marathon race weight. But it’s strange because I don’t feel heavy.  I think all the cross training has caused me to gain some muscle.  I should be able to strip it off by skipping a couple meals as the race approaches. 

I had a great swim this week.  At one point I was doing 100 meter repeats, which is 4 lenghts in the pool.  I was sharing a lane with a guy. I’d wait for him to be at the opposite side before I started my interval and I’d catch him and pass him on the 4th length.  It was cool.  I feel really strong.  When you get the stroke right you can really feel the torque from your core as you move through the water. 

…

I hope this routine of my life adds some learning, some value to you, my friends.  

What can you take away from my trials of the past year?  I think there are some useful themes.  

First I think you can see the value of patience and persistence.   Sometimes you have to hold the line and wait an issue out.  This takes more mental strength than doing the workout.  You have to maintain hope when there is no proof of progress.  You have to live in a better future until, eventually that future shows up.  It turns out that sometimes your attitude will manifest the future you want. 

You have to be willing to make lemonade.  You can’t always have plan A.  Sometimes you have to go to plan B and plan C.  The key to this is to pivot.  To quickly set plan A aside and make plan B the recipient of all your energy and focus.  Don’t mourn the path not taken, make the path you are on count. Sometimes you’ll have to pivot multiple times.  Get good at pivoting. 

You can’t be afraid to break something that isn’t broken, to change for the sake of change, to give up the good in hope of the better, to inject that positive squirt of chaos into your life.  I could have kept swimming the same way for ever, but I had to break it to make it get better.  You can’t discover new countries unless you open the door and take a step.

Make your world the world that you want it to be and I’ll see you out there.  

You can find me making disconcerting body noises at Twitter, Facebook, DailyMile, YouTube, Google, Tumblr and Pinterest as cyktrussell that’s Chris yellow king tom Russell with two esses and two ells.  

Share your body noises with us. I know there are times when you are listening to me and you think “He’s full of crap.” So pick up the phone and set me straight.  Call us! - 206-339-7804.  Leave a message there it sends an audio file.  

Call in and introduce the show with some of your disconcerting grunting – do the intro – how to submit one is in the show notes and on the web site –- you will find all the other content on the website www.runrunlive.com 

Here’s an interesting live tune by Tams Railways called Revolt! 

… 

Great news my running friends – my book of running stories “The Mid-Packer’s Lament” is now available in Kindle format at the Kindle store on Amazon.com!  Just search on “Mid-Pack”.  It’s a bargain at an easy $5 and all proceeds go towards supporting the underfunded pension plan of the retired cleaning staff at the RunRunLive world headquarters. I recently got a kindle myself and I love it.  It does reading very well. 

The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.

Music:

From Podsafe:

All music used in the show is from the Podsafe music network found at Music Alley.  Please support the starving, socially minded artists sampled herein by purchasing some!

Song1

fuzzfaces-agora_nao_tem_volta

Song 2-3

volitantes-invincible

Outro music:

tams_railways-revolt_live

Outro Artists Bio:

Bio: tamsrailways@live.co.uk

One's a stubbly Fifer, and One's a gangly hippy,

One's a cheeky ginger, and One's incredibly skinny,

Bound by the tracks, but entirely off the rails,

A congregation of merry old souls, hot on tyranny's tails,

So dawn yer revolutionary melody,

Standard Links:

http://www.runrunlive.com

http://www.runeratti.com

Http://coolrunning.com

http://Grotonroadrace.com

http://SQRR.org

www.midpackerslament.com

Cyktrussell At gmail and twitter and facebook and youtube

Chris’ book on Amazon – > http://www.amazon.com/Mid-Packers-Lament-collection-running-stories/dp/141961584X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228687012&sr=8-1

Mid-Packer’s Lament E-book

Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy E-Book

Dial in number for RunRunLive is - 206-339-7804

Chris Russell lives and trains in suburban Massachusetts with his family and Border collie Buddy.  Chris is the author of “The Mid-Packer’s Lament”, and “The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy”, short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack.  Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at www.runnerati.com.  Chris’ Podcast, RunRunLive is available on iTunes and at www.runrunlive.com. Chris also writes for CoolRunning.com (Active.com) and is a member of the Squannacook River Runners and the Goon Squad.  

Email me at cyktrussell at Gmail dot com

Running  Podcast, podcasts for running, podcast for runners, free podcast for runners, Running Blog, marathon, triathlon, mileage, sprinting, run, track, training, running clubs, running groups, running shoes, exercise, health, 5k, running, swimming, sports, injuries, stretching, eating, jogging, biking, trail race, 5K, 10K, Ultramarathon, jogging a good exercise, road runner, jogging tips, benefits of jogging, free running, running shoes, marathon training, running, jogging, health and fitness, runners, runner, Boston qualification, Marathon BQ, Boston marathon

The RunRunLive Podcast Episode 214 – EatSmart Scales

Show intro by:

Sue Kenney – “My Camino” http://mycaminojourney.blogspot.com/

RunRunLive – Podcast Intro

http://www.runrunlive.com/home/read-the-runrunlive-podcast-intro

Intro:

Hello and welcome to Snow Day podcast where we take off from work and school to scrape heavy white gifts from the sky from our cars and driveways.  

Yep, it’s a snow day and this is the RunRunLive Podcast and I am Chris your host and we have a great show for your today.  I have a interesting talk with the EatSmart scale people.  I know it doesn’t sound interesting but it is.  But, then again I’m the kind of guy who watches ‘How stuff works’ on the discovery channel.  

Ironic isn’t it?  We haven’t had snow all winter and just when I’m ready to do some speedwork, there’s snow on the track!  I guess it’s off to the treadmill for me today to do my Yasso 800’s. 

The big news is that the foot is hanging tough and I really ramped up the volume and intensity to test it out.  For those of you who have been living under a nice comfy chunk of the earth’s mantle, ie ‘rock’, I have been battling Plantar Fasciitis since last June and have just started running again.  

So what do I do? Me being me, I drop right into marathon training.  I successfully survived my first week of training last week, capping it off with a monster weekend. 

Saturday I ran a 1:10 step up run on the treadmill, holding a nice strong 7:15 – 7:30 pace for 20 minutes and closing strong. Then I did a total body workout while I was there for a good 2-3 hour workout.  I followed this up on Sunday with a 2 hour long run in the woods with Buddy. 

We were both cooked on Monday but the foot is hanging tough.  

Coach sent me out to do a 1:20 step up run on Tuesday and my legs were still cooked, I had to walk a bunch. 

You may have some obvious questions at this point.  What makes me think I can drop seamlessly into a high-mileage, high-intensity training program after not running for 6 months?  And why would I want to?

Yes, I have indeed been not running for 6 months bit if you’ve been paying attention I’ve done a pretty good job of keeping my machine in shape.  I haven’t put on a ton of weight and I’ve been working out in some form or fashion 7 days a week.  

Yes, running is a very specific sport, but being in decent aerobic and physical shape is what allows me to short cut the base training.  

Why do you care?  You care because at some point you’ll be injured.  It may be a chronic injury.  You will want to get depressed and give up.  You will poo poo the important of lifting weights, cross training and keeping at your core.  But, it you set all that aside as non-value-added you can manage the active recovery and come out of the gate flying.  

If I had just chucked it all and retired to the couch I’d need 3-4 months to build my base back and lose the weight.  

The other reason I can do this is my experience level.  I know my machine and I know how it reacts to training.  Coach knows this.  He knows that he can overload me and I’ll back off if I think it’s going to cause damage.  

The other question is why?  Why do I want to do this?  You’d think I would learn from my injury that training too much leads to injury?  Yes, that’s a good learning but I have the great honor of being able to run the Boston marathon for the 14th time in April and I am hard-wired to respect that race and do everything I can to honor it.  

The best case scenario is I can requalify at Boston.  In order to do that I’m going to have to train. And I’m going to have to execute.  And it is the kind of challenge that gets my juices flowing.  I know I can do it, but the effort scares me. 

If you were to ask me 3 weeks ago if I thought it was possible to go from no running to qualifying in 7 weeks I would have said “no way! That’s Crazy talk!” But if we have learned anything from the RunRunLive podcast it is that your body and your mind are capable of far more than you give credit for.  

Embrace these opportunities to transform your life.  It is these episodes that tell your story. 

On with the show! 

Audio clips in this episode:

Ice bath baby.

http://www.runrunlive.com/products-page/midpackerslament

RunRunLive » Audio Products » MidPackersLament » The Mid-Packer's Lament Audio Book

 

It took me a few months...but I kept at it and now can present to you The Mid-Packer's Lament Audio book.  This is ~50 running stories read into audio by the author (me) and ends up being 6-8 hours of audio.

The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.

Hope you enjoy consuming it as much as I enjoyed recording it!

Ciao, thanks, and I'll see you out there.

Chris,

Skits, commercials and parodies in this episode:

The blog comment skit…

Story time:

Equipment Check:

Cracking the swim code - http://www.runrunlive.com/how-i-cracked-the-swim-code

Featured Interview:

EatSmart Scales - http://www.eatsmartproducts.com/products

EatSmart Bathroom Scales are super accurate, easy to use and uniquely designed to perfectly match the decor in any home. Our scales are engineered to the highest precision standards to provide you with consistently reliable products. Stop guessing your weight and let our scales helpyou get serious about your fitness and weight loss goals.

 

Quick Tip:

Outro:

Ok my friends, that’s it you have weighed every individual almond on your high tech kitchen scale and discovered that you have arrived at the end of yet another RunRunLive Podcast, Episode 214 in the can! 

Next week I have a really cool interview with Rodger who was the elite mountain biker that they dragged away in the ambulance with a broken back from the Hampshire 100 race I rode in August.  Very interesting.

Don’t forget the Groton Road Race is on tap for April 29th this year.  The shirt graphic this year is one of the best I’ve seen in my 21 years of involvement with the race.  We’ve got almost the entire crew of veteran volunteers returning on the race committee so if you are looking for one of the prettiest, best organized, affordable races in New England come down to Groton Mass and give us a try.  There’s a 10k, 5k, 2k and tot’s trot. 

So you can throw $120 buck away to go roll in the mud at some gimmick race or come spend less than $30 to see how a race is supposed to be run.  We’re not curing cancer, but we are helping local student athletes transform their lives and giving the community something good to wrap their spring around. 

On the 16th of April you will find me at the Boston Marathon.  So if you’re in town give me a shout and maybe we can meet up at the expo.  I’m going in with a 3:23 qualifying time so I’ll be back in the 9th or 10th corral with the rest of the old guys. 

I hope everyone is doing well and I have really heard way too much of my own voice on the show recently so please, please, please call in some questions, comments or talking points so we can mix it up a little. 

…

…

This week I want to talk to you about the importance and impact of telling stories.  Our culture, our world is wrapping intricately with the stories we tell.  You need to make sure you know how to tell stories, how to use the power of stories and how to tell your own story. 

At a basic human level story telling is an art form.  I listen to the Moth podcast which is all stories.  Indeed, if you look at any good speech or presentation whether political or business they all have one thing in common, they tell a good story.  

Pay attention next time your CEO talks to the press.  Watch your favorite candidate.  Listen to your favorite motivational speaker and you will quickly hear that they are telling a story.  The story is the structure that we innately want to have our facts and emotions wrapped up in.  Think about any famous speech.  They are all great stories.  “Four Score and seven years ago…” 

You may think that you don’t have story telling skills, but you’re wrong.  There are only 3-4 story formats. 

The most common is the ‘hero’ story.  The hero story (think Star Wars) has a likable hero who faces challenges. He (or she) initially fails but interacts with a mentor and ultimately triumphs.  90% of stories told are hero stories.  All race reports are. 

This story telling is part and parcel of my life both personal and professional but it came more clearly into focus recently when I had to have that conversation with my company about what my roll should be going forward. 

You need to realize that the folks you work for and with don’t know your story.  They only see the surface and what you have done recently.  The onus is on you to tell that story.  You need to be captain of your own narrative. 

A resume and an interview are not a good narrative.  I recommend, regardless of your employment situation, that you take the time to physically write down the narrative of your life in one or two pages.  It will be one of the hardest things you ever do, but it will also be one of the most rewarding and enbling things your do. 

Write your story and make yourself the hero.  

And I’ll see you out there. 

…

You can find me telling stories at Twitter, Facebook, DailyMile, YouTube, Google, Tumblr and Pinterest as cyktrussell that’s Chris yellow king tom Russell with two esses and two ells.  

Please, share your story.  Call us! - 206-339-7804.  Leave a message there it sends an audio file.  

Even the intro is a short story – call one in – how to submit one is in the show notes and on the web site –- you will find all the other content on the website www.runrunlive.com 

Here’s some Pumping Garage pumk to take you out.  It’s “Little Girl” from the Hollywood Sinners and It’s just under 2 minutes long so pick up you pace and effort into zone 4, focuas on the power in your legs and the strength of your machine and churn out a little surge – Loet’s Go!  

… 

Great news my running friends – my book of running stories “The Mid-Packer’s Lament” is now available in Kindle format at the Kindle store on Amazon.com!  Just search on “Mid-Pack”.  It’s a bargain at an easy $5 and all proceeds go towards supporting the underfunded pension plan of the retired cleaning staff at the RunRunLive world headquarters. I recently got a kindle myself and I love it.  It does reading very well. 

The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.

Music:

From Podsafe:

All music used in the show is from the Podsafe music network found at Music Alley.  Please support the starving, socially minded artists sampled herein by purchasing some!

Song1

sinners_to_saints-lonely_road_home

Song 2-3

boo_boo_davis-cake_lady

Outro music:

hollywood_sinners-little_girl

Outro Artists Bio:

Bio:

Standard Links:

http://www.runrunlive.com

http://www.runeratti.com

Http://coolrunning.com

http://Grotonroadrace.com

http://SQRR.org

www.midpackerslament.com

Cyktrussell At gmail and twitter and facebook and youtube

Chris’ book on Amazon – > http://www.amazon.com/Mid-Packers-Lament-collection-running-stories/dp/141961584X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228687012&sr=8-1

Mid-Packer’s Lament E-book

Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy E-Book

Dial in number for RunRunLive is - 206-339-7804

Chris Russell lives and trains in suburban Massachusetts with his family and Border collie Buddy.  Chris is the author of “The Mid-Packer’s Lament”, and “The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy”, short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack.  Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at www.runnerati.com.  Chris’ Podcast, RunRunLive is available on iTunes and at www.runrunlive.com. Chris also writes for CoolRunning.com (Active.com) and is a member of the Squannacook River Runners and the Goon Squad.  

Email me at cyktrussell at Gmail dot com

Running  Podcast, podcasts for running, podcast for runners, free podcast for runners, Running Blog, marathon, triathlon, mileage, sprinting, run, track, training, running clubs, running groups, running shoes, exercise, health, 5k, running, swimming, sports, injuries, stretching, eating, jogging, biking, trail race, 5K, 10K, Ultramarathon, jogging a good exercise, road runner, jogging tips, benefits of jogging, free running, running shoes, marathon training, running, jogging, health and fitness, runners, runner, Boston qualification, Marathon BQ, Boston marathon

The RunRunLive Podcast Episode 213 – Joe Jurczyk Ultra-Race Director

Show intro by:

Andy Holgate – Iron Holgs – Link to blog

RunRunLive – Podcast Intro

http://www.runrunlive.com/home/read-the-runrunlive-podcast-intro

Intro:

Hello and welcome to the President’s Day podcast where we make up civic holidays to sell cars and other industrial goods in February.  But, no, as annoying as that sounds, this is Chris your favorite disembodied host and this is the RunRunLive Podcast and we have a super show for you today.  

I have a great chat with Joe Jurcyzck who is the race director of several ultra events including the infamous Burning River 100.  We have a great chat about the current Zeitgeist of ultra running and racing. 

In addition I’ll give you the write up on my first real workout this week because I know my recovery from injury is the first and last thing you think about all your day.  I’m sure there’s nothing else on your mind than how my running is going – and hey, I aim to please!

I’ve also got a quick tip on how to make some quick and dirty shoe covers for biking outside in the cold. 

I apologize if you didn’t get last week’s show on time.  I posted it but somehow Libsysn got confusaled and didn’t send it to itunes.  You can get the shows directly as file downloads or play them on my site www.runrunlive.com if you ever have issues with itunes or any other feed reader. 

I get around 3,000 weekly downloads from Libsyn but frankly I really don’t know the total number because you can source it from multiple places.  And, frankly I don’t really care.  As long as someone somewhere is listening and getting something of value I’m happy enough to launch my little canoes into the internet river each week. 

I have been having some great workouts.  I got a 2.5 hour ride outside on the roads on Saturday and a really strong 7 milers on my feet with the club on Sunday.  I’ve got my swim figured out and I’ve survived two hard workouts as of today with my heel feeling pretty good. 

If my foot continues to hang in there I’ll make a play to rae Boston and see if I can requalify.  I’m in a good place right now.  

I’m in an easier qualifying position because I turn a age group next year so I still only need a 3:30 to get back next year.  

Who woulda thunk it? 

On with the show!

Audio clips in this episode:

Some Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. 

http://www.runrunlive.com/products-page/midpackerslament

RunRunLive » Audio Products » MidPackersLament » The Mid-Packer's Lament Audio Book

 

It took me a few months...but I kept at it and now can present to you The Mid-Packer's Lament Audio book.  This is ~50 running stories read into audio by the author (me) and ends up being 6-8 hours of audio.

The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.

Hope you enjoy consuming it as much as I enjoyed recording it!

Ciao, thanks, and I'll see you out there.

Chris,

Skits, commercials and parodies in this episode:

Story time:

Equipment Check:

The first real workout – http://www.runrunlive.com/in-the-moment-of-the-first-real-run

Featured Interview:

Joe Jurczyk – Ultra Race Director

http://www.burningriver100.org (USATF 100 Mile National Championship - RD)

http://www.northcoast24.org (USATF 24 Hour  National Championship - I'm one of the organizers, but not the RD)

http://www.greenjewel.org ( co-RD)

http://www.dirtytrailseries.com (co-RD)

http://www.westernreserve.org (I'm officer of local trail running group which was initially started to support the Burning River 100)

Quick Tip:

Quick and Dirty Shoe Covers -

Outro:

Ok my friends, that’s it you have patriotically saluted the grand presidents through the end of yet another RunRunLive Podcast, Episode 213 in the can! 

Stay tuned...Don’t touch that dial, because next week we get to talk with the president of Eat Smart about dieting a scale technology.  And I’m not pandering to sponsors, I don’t have any sponsors, it’s actually a pretty good talk with some smart folks. 

I have done some killer interviews that I have coming through the pipeline.  I’m such a lucky stiff that I can talk to these folks and learn from them.  You know that’s what we’re doing here, right? We’re learning.  

We learn things like, “You can do anything you set your mind to.” And “the human body is an incredible machine” and through endurance sports we can transform our lives and transcend. That’s cool, right? 

I like to learn. 

…

I’m currently reading a book on Anarchy that I may pitch because it isn’t very compelling, but the interesting bits are the thought processes and philosophies of the original anarchists and socialists and Marxists.  They were trying to figure out how to gain ultimate freedom for humanity by getting rid of all manifestations of authority and power. 

That’s out of the box thinking.  Throw away all structure and let the innate pure nature of man rule himself.  Law and government are just the tools of oppression.  Interesting stuff. Unfortunately their great experiments, so far, have shown that it is in the pure nature on humans to produce dictators and demagogy.  

So I’m going to spin up some intensity for to make a play at Boston over the next few weeks. I’ll be doing some speed and some tempo but restricting it to 3-4 days a week with the swimming, biking and lifting on the other days. 

I’m still going to try for that IronMan in June. Not to win or anything, just to go the distance.  I’m not super passionate about it but I figure I can add it to my resume and go back to doing stuff I love. 

…

I’m listening to “Zen and The Art of Motorcycle Maintenenace” by robert Pirsig as an audio book.  I got it from the Guardian Newspaper in the UK – go to their Guardian.UK website and search on free audio book.  They are giving away one every month. 

This was an important book for me when I read it 30 odd years ago.  I didn’t have to read it in school.  I read it on my own on a plane traveling to Asia. 

I used to have some great reading sessions on those long 14-20 hour flights curled up in a business class seat with a scotch and a good book.  In this undisturbed sactuary, before laptops, I was forming my philosophy as a young man.  I was searching for something, some sort of answer to the big questions.  

I read my way through all the classics.  I particularly liked the Russians; Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, but I read Cato and Camus and Kafka and any other dog-eared tome I could rummage from the used book bin. 

And it’s interesting to me that these ghosts and their leavings taught me more than any school or degree had or could.  

And on one trip I read Pirsig’s Chataqua about a brilliant man going insane by searching for the answers.  It was a revelation to me that there really are no answers.  When you peel the onion all you find is more onion.  Our world is infinite and unknowable.

Now this realization makes most people go crazy. People don’t deal well with the infinite and unknowable.  It makes them feel a sense of un-tethered vertigo.  Because if there are no answers and everything is infinite and unknowable then what really is the point of putting on pants and going to work today?

It bothers some people so much that they need to replace the infinite, yawning void with a face and a story and a religious coda that is knowable through faith. 

But my revelation was not that I was unsettled.  My revelation is that once you come to grips with living in an infinite and unknowable place, you become free.  Free to realize that you can choose your actions, your thoughts, your life.  And it frees you from so much of the striving and so much of the taking it all too seriously that we get caught up in. 

It should open up a bog bag of wonder, because you realize there is also infinite opportunity for knowing more and for striving and for growth.  

We are unbounded. 

There will always be an undiscovered country for us.  Your world, our world is infinite and unknowable and that is wonderful! It’s ok. 

 And I’ll see you out there. 

…

You can find me Acting presidential at Twitter, Facebook, DailyMile, YouTube, Google and Tumblr as cyktrussell that’s Chris yellow king tom Russell with two esses and two ells.  

Share your presidential directives with us by calling - 206-339-7804.  Leave a message there it sends an audio file.  

Preside over an intro – how to submit one is in the show notes and on the web site –- you will find all the other content on the website www.runrunlive.com 

Music to take you out is a great example of what happens when you leave kids to their own devices – they create stuff, fun unique stuff – Anarchy does lead to art. 

Have a great week. 

Ciao, 

… 

Great news my running friends – my book of running stories “The Mid-Packer’s Lament” is now available in Kindle format at the Kindle store on Amazon.com!  Just search on “Mid-Pack”.  It’s a bargain at an easy $5 and all proceeds go towards supporting the underfunded pension plan of the retired cleaning staff at the RunRunLive world headquarters. I recently got a kindle myself and I love it.  It does reading very well. 

The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.

Music:

From Podsafe:

All music used in the show is from the Podsafe music network found at Music Alley.  Please support the starving, socially minded artists sampled herein by purchasing some!

Song1

nicholas_alan-moonlight

Song 2-3

cotton_jenny-im_bad

Outro music:

The Lawrence Academy student acapella group “On Air”performing Sublime’s Santoria

Outro Artists Bio:

Bio:

Bad Religion has always seen music as a force for social change. On their latest CD entitled The Empire Strikes First, punk's most important active band takes its weightiest stance yet on the dual themes of religion and politics

Standard Links:

http://www.runrunlive.com

http://www.runeratti.com

Http://coolrunning.com

http://Grotonroadrace.com

http://SQRR.org

www.midpackerslament.com

Cyktrussell At gmail and twitter and facebook and youtube

Chris’ book on Amazon – > http://www.amazon.com/Mid-Packers-Lament-collection-running-stories/dp/141961584X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228687012&sr=8-1

Mid-Packer’s Lament E-book

Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy E-Book

Dial in number for RunRunLive is - 206-339-7804

Chris Russell lives and trains in suburban Massachusetts with his family and Border collie Buddy.  Chris is the author of “The Mid-Packer’s Lament”, and “The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy”, short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack.  Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at www.runnerati.com.  Chris’ Podcast, RunRunLive is available on iTunes and at www.runrunlive.com. Chris also writes for CoolRunning.com (Active.com) and is a member of the Squannacook River Runners and the Goon Squad.  

Email me at cyktrussell at Gmail dot com

Running  Podcast, podcasts for running, podcast for runners, free podcast for runners, Running Blog, marathon, triathlon, mileage, sprinting, run, track, training, running clubs, running groups, running shoes, exercise, health, 5k, running, swimming, sports, injuries, stretching, eating, jogging, biking, trail race, 5K, 10K, Ultramarathon, jogging a good exercise, road runner, jogging tips, benefits of jogging, free running, running shoes, marathon training, running, jogging, health and fitness, runners, runner, Boston qualification, Marathon BQ, Boston marathon

The RunRunLive Podcast Episode 212 – IronHolgs

Show intro by:

Joel Phillips – Reasons2ride

RunRunLive – Podcast Intro

http://www.runrunlive.com/home/read-the-runrunlive-podcast-intro

Intro:

Hello and welcome to the Valentines Day podcast where we bend cupid’s bow and unleash a swarm of love darts in the direction of our sweathearts. 

Unfortunately the is the RunRunLive podcast and I am Chris your host, lest we forget about my canine pal Buddy the Wonderdog, who we may hear from this episode – and I shared my valentines dinner with two middle aged men who have the great misfortune of working with me when I was at meetings in Atlanta this week. 

Yes, I was at a company meeting in Atlanta this week, but I did talk my wife into spending a weekend in New Orleans with me next month.  Ahh… Strong coffee and Beignets at the Café du Monde on a Sunday morning on the banks of the lazy Mississippi…

Oh, yeah, before I forget, we have a great show for you today.  I have a super chat with Andy Holgate; author, librarian and ironman.  I think you’ll dig it. I have a follow up piece on shoes and inserts when treating PF.

By the way, thank you for asking, the foot is great.  Getting stronger with each run. Baring any setbacks I’ll probably try to go long this weekend and see what happens. 

“Feelin Stronger Every Day!” 

I also answer a question from Ben about shon splints. 

And besides all that we’ve got singing buffaloes, talking dogs and juggling orangutans. 

So let’s stop talking and get to runnin!

On with the show!

Audio clips in this episode:

TEDxNewy2011 - Dave Robertson Silas Moss (Naked Runners) - Ditch the distractions and move your body

http://www.runrunlive.com/products-page/midpackerslament

RunRunLive » Audio Products » MidPackersLament » The Mid-Packer's Lament Audio Book

 

It took me a few months...but I kept at it and now can present to you The Mid-Packer's Lament Audio book.  This is ~50 running stories read into audio by the author (me) and ends up being 6-8 hours of audio.

The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.

Hope you enjoy consuming it as much as I enjoyed recording it!

Ciao, thanks, and I'll see you out there.

Chris,

Skits, commercials and parodies in this episode:

Story time:

Equipment Check:

Plantar Fasciitis – Shoes and Inserts -  http://www.runrunlive.com/the-plantar-fasciitis-diaries-shoes-and-inserts

Featured Interview:

Andy Holgate - http://triathlete-europe.competitor.com/2010/04/13/andy-holgates-blog-common-man-ironman-1304/

Andy Holgate is 37 years old and lives in Lancaster, England. After less than 11 months training, in 2007 he completed his first Ironman distance race, The Big Woody. He walked down the aisle a week later and married Emma, who continues to be an Ironwidow. Andy is the author of the forthcoming book “Can’t Swim, Can’t Ride, Can’t Run : My Triathlon Journey from Common Man to Ironman. Published on 22nd June by Know The Score Books. The book tells the amusing, inspirational and sometimes scary story of Andys transition from an overweight librarian to a super fit triathlete. Andy will be blogging for us as he prepares to race in the Outlaw in August.

Quick Tip:

Shin Splint question from Ben - http://www.runrunlive.com/shin-splints-question-from-ben

Outro:

Ok my friends, that’s it you have sung your love sonnets through the end of yet another RunRunLive Podcast, Episode 212 in the can! 

Next week, Wait, hold on let me check on what the hell we’re doing next week…Ok – it says on the Googledocs master-spreadsheet that we are interviewing Ultra Race Director Joe Jurcyck – Good talk.  

I’ve gotten way ahead of myself on interviews and we are all booked up through April!  Make hay while the sun shines! 

I’m still getting feedback from the weepy episode.  I love the letters that folks send. And I do respond to people as best I can.  It’s kinda cool that there are folks out there that I have never met or talked to that have a very intimate personal relationship with me and my voice.  It’s humbling and cool at the same time. 

Remember I’m just a guy. I’m not a coach or a doctor or a lawyer or a candlestick maker.  I did make beer when I was younger – and that’s another story!  I’m a lucky guy.  Thanks for your interest.  Let me know what I can do for you. As Ben found out, if you reach out to me I’ll put you to work! 

…

Let me tell you a story.  I’ve been exposed to hundreds of companies and businesses in my career.  I’m a restless soul so I’ve always had jobs where I’m out there, on the road, meeting people and learning stuff about new things.  

At one point in my career I had a customer that was an armored car company.  They collected cash from companies and brought it back to the depot.  When we were visiting them they gave us a tour of the facility. 

It was really funny / surreal for me.  There was cash everywhere. Pallets of bills stacked up all around.  Bins full of coins. And as we walked through the facility there were stray coins scattered about the floor. It was so strange to be surrounded by all that money.  It was strange that no one stopped to pick up a stray coin.  I don’t mean it in a larcenous way, I mean you see a coin on the floor and your first reaction is to stop and pick it up.  I had to counteract that urge.  

But for the people who worked there, they didn’t see it as money.  To them it was just inventory.  It was just stuff.  The stuff of their trade.  It could have been bricks or dirt. 

How you feel about something influences your competency.  We create mental constructs to sort, position and manage the things in our lives.  These constructs are personal, environmental and social.  But, are they real?  Is there an opportunity to break these constructs?  Or change them? Or create new ones? 

For better or worse you can change how see and interpret the stuff in your world.  Are there beautiful or wonderful things in your life that you have become callous to?  You get to choose how you see the world – choose wisely. 

And I’ll see you out there. 

…

You can find me Shooting my love darts around at Twitter, Facebook, DailyMile, YouTube, Google and Tumblr as cyktrussell that’s Chris yellow king tom Russell with two esses and two ells.  

Share your love notes with me by calling - 206-339-7804.  Leave a message there it sends an audio file.  

Show us the love – call in an intro – it’s easy and rewarding! -    It is in the show notes and on the web site –- you will find all the other content on the website www.runrunlive.com 

Music in this episode is all from the enigmatic punk rock band Bad Religion I struck  rich vein of their music on Podsafe this week and we get to enjoy the fruits of mining that.  To to you out is a tune called sorrow that you may have heard before and it’s rather sedate for them. 

Enjoy, be good, be thankful and stay lucky. 

See you next week. 

Ciao, 

… 

Great news my running friends – my book of running stories “The Mid-Packer’s Lament” is now available in Kindle format at the Kindle store on Amazon.com!  Just search on “Mid-Pack”.  It’s a bargain at an easy $5 and all proceeds go towards supporting the underfunded pension plan of the retired cleaning staff at the RunRunLive world headquarters. I recently got a kindle myself and I love it.  It does reading very well. 

The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.

Music:

From Podsafe:

All music used in the show is from the Podsafe music network found at Music Alley.  Please support the starving, socially minded artists sampled herein by purchasing some!

Song1

bad_religion-against_the_grain

Song 2-3

bad_religion-american_jesus

Outro music:

bad_religion-sorrow

Outro Artists Bio:

Bio:

Bad Religion has always seen music as a force for social change. On their latest CD entitled The Empire Strikes First, punk's most important active band takes its weightiest stance yet on the dual themes of religion and politics

Standard Links:

http://www.runrunlive.com

http://www.runeratti.com

Http://coolrunning.com

http://Grotonroadrace.com

http://SQRR.org

www.midpackerslament.com

Cyktrussell At gmail and twitter and facebook and youtube

Chris’ book on Amazon – > http://www.amazon.com/Mid-Packers-Lament-collection-running-stories/dp/141961584X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228687012&sr=8-1

Mid-Packer’s Lament E-book

Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy E-Book

Dial in number for RunRunLive is - 206-339-7804

Chris Russell lives and trains in suburban Massachusetts with his family and Border collie Buddy.  Chris is the author of “The Mid-Packer’s Lament”, and “The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy”, short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack.  Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at www.runnerati.com.  Chris’ Podcast, RunRunLive is available on iTunes and at www.runrunlive.com. Chris also writes for CoolRunning.com (Active.com) and is a member of the Squannacook River Runners and the Goon Squad.  

Email me at cyktrussell at Gmail dot com

Running  Podcast, podcasts for running, podcast for runners, free podcast for runners, Running Blog, marathon, triathlon, mileage, sprinting, run, track, training, running clubs, running groups, running shoes, exercise, health, 5k, running, swimming, sports, injuries, stretching, eating, jogging, biking, trail race, 5K, 10K, Ultramarathon, jogging a good exercise, road runner, jogging tips, benefits of jogging, free running, running shoes, marathon training, running, jogging, health and fitness, runners, runner, Boston qualification, Marathon BQ, Boston marathon

The RunRunLive Podcast Episode 211 – Joel Phillips from Reasons2Ride

Show intro by:

Dave Robertson– the Naked Runners http://www.thenakedrunners.com/

RunRunLive – Podcast Intro

http://www.runrunlive.com/home/read-the-runrunlive-podcast-intro

Intro:

Hello and welcome to the MonkeyMan podcast where we swing through the trees taking all sorts of leaps of simian fancy.

Alas, you may have guessed that, even though I’m 98% chimp, this is your favorite Humanzee host Chris and this is the RunRunLive Podcast where we explore the very fabric of endurance endeavors with a fine tooth curry comb.  So squat on a comfortable branch and let me groom your back hair for nits because we have a great show for you today.  

We have a lovely chat with Joel from Reasons2Ride who shares with us how he has transformed his life, continues to transform his life and is working to give back to the community and share the gifts he has found. 

I find it’s actually a common trajectory for thinking humans and intelligent apes.  We start out life focused on ourselves.  We got through challenges and transformations and at the end we look to find self fulfillment through giving back, through helping others.  

It’s a common pattern.  A philosophical maturity curve if you will.  It’s well documented in psychology and history. 

Thanks for the feedback on last week’s weepy show.  Yes, I am running.  I’m already up to 3 miles so far.  Too soon to make any major predictions but we’ll continue to take it as it comes. 

In today’s show I’ll share a summary of my plantar fasciitis treatment recommendations as I posted earlier this week.  I’ll also give you a bemused bike-trainer-movie review.  

Here’s an extra credit tip for you. If you use your laptop and have an internet connection you can go to YouTube and play playlists.  Either your own or someone else’s.  This way you can queue up a continuous loop of music videos to watch on the bike trainer. 

I took a Total Immersion swim clinic this past weekend and it really helped me visualize some of the mechanical problems that have been frustrating my swimming.  What I think I’m doing, what I see in my mind’s eye, and what I’m actually doing are two different things.  

It is invaluable to have someone watch you real time and give you the correctional feedback.  

Maybe one of my biggest moments of enlightenment as I re-engineer my swim stroke is a greater empathy for new runners.  I can see now the act of running, the mechanics of running in its different forms that just come naturally to me may be impenetrably hard for someone just starting.  

I can tell you to ‘run tall’ or ‘relax into your stride’ and it may be meaningless without that real-time feedback.  I’m going to think about how to do a better job of explaining the specifics to people, maybe some videos. 

So, my friends sit back and scratch your selves because maybe man was not designed to walk on his hind legs.  

On with the show!

Audio clips in this episode:

Mélange at the beginning was as follows…

Chris and Buddy in the driveway

Inspirational music from the IronMan video

Audio from the Miracle on Ice broadcast 

Audio from Animal House

Audio from Independence Day 

All borrowed from YouTube. 

Clip of my unofficial theme song “Indestructible” by Rancid…

http://www.runrunlive.com/products-page/midpackerslament

RunRunLive » Audio Products » MidPackersLament » The Mid-Packer's Lament Audio Book

 

It took me a few months...but I kept at it and now can present to you The Mid-Packer's Lament Audio book.  This is ~50 running stories read into audio by the author (me) and ends up being 6-8 hours of audio.

The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.

Hope you enjoy consuming it as much as I enjoyed recording it!

Ciao, thanks, and I'll see you out there.

Chris,

Skits, commercials and parodies in this episode:

Story time:

Equipment Check:

Plantar Fasciitis Summary - 

Featured Interview:

Joel Phillips Reasons2ride – www.reasons2ride.com

I am not a former world champion. I know no glory beyond high-school sports.

I never bothered to record a personal best in anything. I have made many mistakes.  I decided to settle rather than reach. I was unhappy, unmotivated and disinterested.

I changed.  I found self-confidence. I became motivated. I have purpose and desire. I chose to live.

All my life I have struggled with my weight and a deep-seated lack of self-confidence. I rediscovered self-confidence riding a bicycle, and that has led to a complete lifestyle change.

I am currently training to participate in the 2012 “Ride the Rockies” event. I am also working to develop a non-profit program called Reasons2Ride. Its purpose is to inspire people to ride a bicycle. The mission is to promote a fun/healthy life style and increase the awareness about the obesity epidemic in this country and do something to reverse the trends. 

I plan to lead by example and do what is necessary to take a 290lb frame and get it in shape to ride over 400 miles through the Rocky Mountains in June of 2012. Help support a worthy cause and join me in this grass-roots effort to inspire, and change lives.   

Thank You,

Joel Phillips

Founder/President/Executive Director

Quick Tip:

Bike Trainer movie reviews -  

Outro:

Ok my friends, you swung through the hanging vines of the forest canopy to the end of yet another RunRunLive Podcast, episode 211 in the can.  

Next week we talk to Andy Holgate author and accidental IronMan.  Great interview, interesting guy.  

I’m kicking off a new project for all of us.  As I’ve been gathering Twitter friends I see that all of you have blogs or websites.  What I’m going to do is build a link area on my site where we can post your links and description and in return you can post mine and we’ll create a giant ball of world-dominating linkage.  So, send me your links in a 140 char description and I’ll post it up. 

…

I’ve had a couple excellent swim workouts by working the total immersion drills in and I just might figure out how to endurance swim.  My goal was never to be fast.  My goal was always to be efficient and to be able to enjoy a long swim, mindlessly, without fighting it the whole way, like how I run. 

It so goes against my nature not to just work harder. There’s a lesson there. 

Swimming is such a complex series of discrete coordinated movements.  I told the folks on face book it was like trying to juggle angry rabid octopi.  You focus on one thing and another thing goes awry.  Especially if you learned to swim at a young age like I did.  

When you are confronted by an overly complex problem with too many moving pieces instead of working harder to try and manage it all you need to simplify.  This is what Total Immersion does.  It starts with body position and floating and works up to breathing and swimming.  But you focus on mastery of the basics before moving on to the complex.  Because the complex ends up being just an ensemble of the basics. 

You see this in all sports coaching.  All successful coaches work on mastering basics.  When I coached soccer I quickly realized that what won games was winning the 1-on-1 defensive interactions, the correct position on the field and the basic skills, not complex schemes. 

I come against this in business all the time too.  There are too many things to focus on.  Focus on doing the important basic things with a studied excellence.  

When you take on too many aspects too quickly without mastery of the basics, you fail. 

There is a thing called a monkey trap.  It is a basket with a skinny neck, like the neck of a bottle.  They put a big piece of fruit in the basket.  The monkey reaches down the neck to grab the fruit, but once the monkey has the fruit in its hand, the hand won’t fit back out through the opening.  

The monkey is trapped because it won’t let go of the fruit. That’s a monkey trap.  In our world it is a metaphor for over-reaching and trying to hang on to too many things at the same time.  

So, my friends, try to focus on mastery of the few things, of the basic things that each act of industry contains and you may find your confidence returning. 

Don’t reach your Vibrams with their prehensile toes into your own monkey trap. 

And I’ll see you out there. 

…

You can find me monkeying around at Twitter, Facebook, DailyMile, YouTube, Google and Tumblr as cyktrussell that’s Chris yellow king tom Russell with two esses and two ells.  

share your own simian soliloquies at - 206-339-7804.  Leave a message there it sends an audio file.  

Don’t be a damn dirty ape, call in a show intro it keeps the wheels of progress greased here at RunRunlive Place-    It is in the show notes and on the web site –- you will find all the other content on the website www.runrunlive.com 

Music To take you out is a happy and whimsical tune called -song_for_amonkey by corey_tut Smile, like the lucky and hppy person you are.  

See you next week. 

Ciao, 

… 

Great news my running friends – my book of running stories “The Mid-Packer’s Lament” is now available in Kindle format at the Kindle store on Amazon.com!  Just search on “Mid-Pack”.  It’s a bargain at an easy $5 and all proceeds go towards supporting the underfunded pension plan of the retired cleaning staff at the RunRunLive world headquarters. I recently got a kindle myself and I love it.  It does reading very well. 

The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.

Music:

From Podsafe:

All music used in the show is from the Podsafe music network found at Music Alley.  Please support the starving, socially minded artists sampled herein by purchasing some!

Song1

brick_daniels-one_monkey_dont_stop_the_show

Song 2-3

erick_hovey-fight_that_monkey

Outro music:

corey_tut-song_for_amonkey

Outro Artists Bio:

Bio:

Standard Links:

http://www.runrunlive.com

http://www.runeratti.com

Http://coolrunning.com

http://Grotonroadrace.com

http://SQRR.org

www.midpackerslament.com

Cyktrussell At gmail and twitter and facebook and youtube

Chris’ book on Amazon – > http://www.amazon.com/Mid-Packers-Lament-collection-running-stories/dp/141961584X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228687012&sr=8-1

Mid-Packer’s Lament E-book

Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy E-Book

Dial in number for RunRunLive is - 206-339-7804

Chris Russell lives and trains in suburban Massachusetts with his family and Border collie Buddy.  Chris is the author of “The Mid-Packer’s Lament”, and “The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy”, short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack.  Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at www.runnerati.com.  Chris’ Podcast, RunRunLive is available on iTunes and at www.runrunlive.com. Chris also writes for CoolRunning.com (Active.com) and is a member of the Squannacook River Runners and the Goon Squad.  

Email me at cyktrussell at Gmail dot com

Running  Podcast, podcasts for running, podcast for runners, free podcast for runners, Running Blog, marathon, triathlon, mileage, sprinting, run, track, training, running clubs, running groups, running shoes, exercise, health, 5k, running, swimming, sports, injuries, stretching, eating, jogging, biking, trail race, 5K, 10K, Ultramarathon, jogging a good exercise, road runner, jogging tips, benefits of jogging, free running, running shoes, marathon training, running, jogging, health and fitness, runners, runner, Boston qualification, Marathon BQ, Boston marathon

The RunRunLive Podcast Episode 210 – Mike Blackmore from Blackmore Massage Therapy

Show intro by:

Sergio from Brasil - >

This is Not Chris your host, This is Sérgio Rocha from Brazil, I’m the guest announcer this week.  When you’re done listening to the RunRunLive Podcast come visit me at www.contrarelogio.com.br  where you can listen to our running  podcast called “Contra-Relógio no ar”, something like “Against the Clock on Air” in English– you can also find us in the iTunes Store - and wherever and whenever this episode finds you I hope you’re doing great and I hope you’re getting your run in today!  I know I’m getting my run in!

RunRunLive – Podcast Intro

http://www.runrunlive.com/home/read-the-runrunlive-podcast-intro

Intro:

Hello and welcome to the Mammal hugging podcast where we know that giving any mammal a 20 second deep hug produces a burst of ocytocin, better known as the happiness chemical, in humans. 

That’s it.  You don’t need drugs or therapy.  All you need is to find a mammal and hug it for 20 seconds.  I prefer border collies myself, especially one old, compulsive stinky one.  But you can use hamsters, cows, marmosets and the occasional human.  Give it a try. 

Here’s what you do.  Walk into wherever your family is gathered and declare this as a medical fact.  Now you can hug indiscriminately.  You’ve got science behind you. 

But, of course, mammals aside, this is your weekly dose of running and endurance hugs, the RunRunLive podcast, this is Chris your host and this is episode 210.  

Today we have a reasonably competent show for you. We interview massage therapist Mike Blackmore.  I think you’ll find it interesting.  

I’ve been getting these out late on Friday recently because I have swim lessons at the YMCA on Thursday nights.  As much as I plan to put the podcast together afterwards…well, you know how it goes.  I work better with a tight deadline anyhow.  I bet you do to. 

I’ve got a piece I wrote on the elliptical machine and a piece submitted by Johnny Hegs about swimming.  Be careful with Johhny’s advice because it sounds to me like he is suggesting pulling your catch across your body line and you shouldn’t do that.  Your catch and pull should be outside and not across the centerline of the chest.  If you pull across your chest you are using a different set of muscles. 

That being said I have no right to talk about swimming because I can’t for the life of me figure it out.  I can swim with the proper form for about 40 meters and by that point my heart rate is maxed and starved for oxygen.  I’m signed up for a total immersion class this weekend, we’ll see.  I’m quite discouraged that it just keeps getting worse.  My instructor says that at some point it will all come together, but since I started re-engineering my stroke a couple months ago I just keep getting worse and it keeps getting harder.  It just doesn’t make sense. 

But, it is through challenge that we grow. 

Let me tell you about the dream I had last night.  I usually don’t remember my dreams, but my wife woke me up at just the right moment.  

I was driving to a job interview that apparently was a long way away in Canada.  When I got there it was college campus and when I got into range it activated a welcome app on my blackberry. 

I went into the interview and for some reason Buddy was there. Apparently he had been invited to go up earlier.  The interview was for some sort of startup company and it was apparent to me that they were inexperienced.  

The guy had no confidence.  I had no interview nervousness.  My attitude was we’ll see if these guys have anything useful to say.  I was nonplussed.  And Buddy was there to hug.  The guy’s line of questioning was around how old my laptop was and he seem to be concerned about whether they would have to buy me a new one. 

I was just getting ready to take control of the meeting by asking my ‘take control of an interview’ question, which I have shared with you before is some form of “What was it that caused you to invite me in today?”  

…and then my wife woke me up!  

On with the show! 

Audio clips in this episode:

01 Ava Kay Jones_ The Voodoo Priestess – The Moth Podcast - http://themoth.org/

John Hegstrom

http://www.runrunlive.com/products-page/midpackerslament

RunRunLive » Audio Products » MidPackersLament » The Mid-Packer's Lament Audio Book

 

It took me a few months...but I kept at it and now can present to you The Mid-Packer's Lament Audio book.  This is ~50 running stories read into audio by the author (me) and ends up being 6-8 hours of audio.

The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.

Hope you enjoy consuming it as much as I enjoyed recording it!

Ciao, thanks, and I'll see you out there.

Chris,

Skits, commercials and parodies in this episode:

Story time:

Equipment Check:

Elliptical -> http://www.runrunlive.com/lets-talk-about-elliptical-machines

Featured Interview:

Mike Blackmore

http://blackmoremassage.com/

Are you getting what you need?

Don’t put yourself in the hands of just any massage therapist. Mike Blackmore provides the quality you’ve come to expect, using nationally recognized healing, therapeutic techniques. Specializing in sports massage, injury rehabilitation, and physical stress management (overuse injuries, daily physical activies, etc.), Mike uses a wide range of modalities to individualize treatment plans for each client.

Call now and schedule your appointment.

541-915-5263

Quick Tip:

John Hegs on beginner swimming. 

I’ll speak more on this because I don’t think you can learn how to swim without being physically coached.  You waste time training unless you learn the balance and mechanics first. 

Outro:

Ok my friends, you have hugged your mammalian friends to the end of yet another RunRunLive Podcast, episode 209 in the can.  

I spent this week interviewing people and have 6-7 new chats to share with you over the coming weeks and months.  They cover the gamut from transformational stories of success to ironman triathletes.  Lots of good coaching.  Lots of thick, rich and chewy content for you delivered in convenient 15-20 minute bursts. 

I’ve got a couple interesting stories for you from my week.  

The first one was from an elliptical work out on Sunday at the gym.  I was almost done my 1 hour surge work out.  This lady gets on the machine next to me, maybe a foot and a half away, and I’m immediately subsumed by an enormous cheap perfume cloud.  She gagged me.  

What smell could she possibly be covering up that makes this necessary?  When I told folks about my experience they said that she probably had been using the perfume for a long time and had become desensitized to it.  One of my running club friends said that the amount of perfume is inversely proportional to a woman’s conditioning.  And indeed this was a big woman who didn’t seem to spend much time in the gym. 

Then on Tuesday I was in the pool drowning through my workout and there was a young woman in the lane next to me.  She was probably 50 pounds overweight, but she swam so well.  She swam easily and smoothly and so much faster than I.  I told her I was jealous of her swimming.  I hope that made her feel good. 

…

I don’t know how to say this.  I have always tried to write this podcast with the mantra “It’s not about you” in mind.  I shield you, my friends from my personal stuff as much as possible.  I don’t bring my family, my religious beliefs, my politics or my work into this work of my art.  And when I do I try to edit it out before you hear it.  

I try to make it about you.  Like a good writer the prose should tell the characters without the characters having to be lain out clinically stark and naked. 

You may have noticed there has been much less joy in this weekly work in the last couple months.  Without my running my creative juices just don’t flow as well. My ideas don’t ripen.  They wither unfertilized on the vine to fall into the maggoty leaf litter of the forest floor. 

But you have kept me going.  Usually with a chronic injury like this I’ll eventually just give up.  I’ll take a number of months off and let atrophy take over.  This time I knew I had to show up for work each Friday morning.  I knew you were watching and had expectations of me so I kept at it. 

This is where it gets personal.

Yesterday I cried.  I cried in my car.  I was on Winter Street in Waltham by the reservoir leaving ProSports after my appointment with Doctor Hester.  He had said to me “why don’t you start ramping it up again and see how it goes?”  All the pent up struggle of the past 6 plus months came boiling to the surface as I was thinking about running in the woods with Buddy…just an easy run…and I cried and laughed…it just came out.  

I haven’t run yet.  Frankly I’m afraid.  What if it isn’t’ healed?  What shoes should I wear? Where should I go?  Should I put my orthotics in?  I feel fragile. 

I think the only way to do this.  The only way to start this new journey is at home, in the woods with my dog, my friend, who has also been suffering through this injury.  

And as I renew my journey, thank you for staying with me, and I hope I’ll see you out there. 

…

You can find me hugging mammals at Twitter, Facebook, DailyMile, YouTube, Google and Tumblr as cyktrussell that’s Chris yellow king tom Russell with two esses and two ells.  

Leave me an audio hug at - 206-339-7804.  Leave a message there it sends an audio file.  

The ultimate hug would be to read the intro for US-    It is in the show notes and on the web site –- you will find all the other content on the website www.runrunlive.com 

Music in this show is all by the Distillers.  I found three of their songs on Podsafe.  To take you out is City of Angels, it is 3:29 so straighten up, run tall, fast light feet, bring it home. 

See you next week. 

Ciao, 

… 

Great news my running friends – my book of running stories “The Mid-Packer’s Lament” is now available in Kindle format at the Kindle store on Amazon.com!  Just search on “Mid-Pack”.  It’s a bargain at an easy $5 and all proceeds go towards supporting the underfunded pension plan of the retired cleaning staff at the RunRunLive world headquarters. I recently got a kindle myself and I love it.  It does reading very well. 

The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.

Music:

From Podsafe:

All music used in the show is from the Podsafe music network found at Music Alley.  Please support the starving, socially minded artists sampled herein by purchasing some!

Song1

distillers-sing_sing_death_house

Song 2-3

distillers-la_girl

Outro music:

distillers-city_of_angels

Outro Artists Bio:

Bio:

Standard Links:

http://www.runrunlive.com

http://www.runeratti.com

Http://coolrunning.com

http://Grotonroadrace.com

http://SQRR.org

www.midpackerslament.com

Cyktrussell At gmail and twitter and facebook and youtube

Chris’ book on Amazon – > http://www.amazon.com/Mid-Packers-Lament-collection-running-stories/dp/141961584X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228687012&sr=8-1

Mid-Packer’s Lament E-book

Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy E-Book

Dial in number for RunRunLive is - 206-339-7804

Chris Russell lives and trains in suburban Massachusetts with his family and Border collie Buddy.  Chris is the author of “The Mid-Packer’s Lament”, and “The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy”, short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack.  Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at www.runnerati.com.  Chris’ Podcast, RunRunLive is available on iTunes and at www.runrunlive.com. Chris also writes for CoolRunning.com (Active.com) and is a member of the Squannacook River Runners and the Goon Squad.  

Email me at cyktrussell at Gmail dot com

Running  Podcast, podcasts for running, podcast for runners, free podcast for runners, Running Blog, marathon, triathlon, mileage, sprinting, run, track, training, running clubs, running groups, running shoes, exercise, health, 5k, running, swimming, sports, injuries, stretching, eating, jogging, biking, trail race, 5K, 10K, Ultramarathon, jogging a good exercise, road runner, jogging tips, benefits of jogging, free running, running shoes, marathon training, running, jogging, health and fitness, runners, runner, Boston qualification, Marathon BQ, Boston marathon

The RunRunLive Podcast Episode 209 – Ray Charbonneau – Chasing the Runner’s High

Show intro by:

Ray Charbonneau

-- My books!

    Chasing the Runner's High

    R is for Running

-- Help with your computer:

    ReallyFixIt.com

RunRunLive – Podcast Intro

http://www.runrunlive.com/home/read-the-runrunlive-podcast-intro

Intro:

Hello and welcome to the RunRunlive podcast episode 209.  Today we have a great show for you.  I’m chatting with a local guy from the Sommerville running club Ray Charbonneau who wrote a book about his experiences with running called The Runner’s High.  I have to admit a lot of what Ray talks about seems eerily familiar! 

I’ve got a review of the Gym Boss and a piece I wrote about the bicycle trainer as well. 

How’s everyone doing?  Starting to crank up those spring marathon plans?  I did notice yesterday that even though we are in the heart of winter here in NewEngland the sun is starting to stay up later and later each week.  Spring is on the way.  

We had a listener who was at the Houston Marathon, she recognized Dave McGillivray and went up and said she heard him on the podcast.  She said Dave looked surprised.  Too funny. 

How about those marathon trials, huh?  I watched them and I was really impressed by a couple things.  First Desi Davilla looks so strong and all business for the women.  What’s cool about this is that she runs for the Hansons.  

If you remember our interview with Sage Cassidy who runs for the Hansons back in episode 180 – the way you get on that team is if you have a lot of heart but don’t have enough perceived talent to land one of the big sponsors.  I guess Desi is showing them what it means to have heart. 

I’m training away.  I totally broke my swimming form in an effort to improve – which seems a bit ironic to me. If you remember I’ve been swimming my whole life, I’m a certified open water SCUBA diver, I’ve been doing sprint triathlons for 7 years.  But I’ve never been satisfied with my efficiency or ease in the races.  

Early on I tried to self teach myself the Total Immersion method and it helped a lot.  I got to the point where I had good balance and could swim comfortably for extended periods of time.  But, I was still slow and didn’t have a race pace.  

Over the last two weeks I’ve been working on my ‘catch’.  The catch is where your hand and arm grab the water in front of you.  I’ve got it so I can really feel my catch grabbing that pool of still water in front of me and it feels quite powerful and efficient.  Unfortunately doing this has screwed up my learned balance so now I’m struggling again.  

Now I’ve got to take the new catch, what they call the ‘high elbow catch’ and work my balance and rotation back around it.  

Part of me says why am I messing with it?  But, then I know that I can only grow if I change.  And I may be struggling now, I mean really struggling, but maybe today is the day I’ll find the one piece that makes it all fall into place and I’ll end up better off. 

One of the common traps we fall into, especially us older folks, is that we spend all our times focused on our strengths.  Because it is comfortable. Coach says that he has swimmers who he has to force to go for a run.  Unless you spend some time working on your weaknesses you can’t grow. 

My heel is unfortunately sore this week for some reason after a few weeks of progress.  I’m not sure what I’m going to do if it continues to resist.  It’s a sticky wicket.  

Hope you are all doing well.  We’ll keep working on it. 

On with the show! 

Audio clips in this episode:

Ray Charbonneau from his “R is for Running” 

http://www.runrunlive.com/products-page/midpackerslament

RunRunLive » Audio Products » MidPackersLament » The Mid-Packer's Lament Audio Book

 

It took me a few months...but I kept at it and now can present to you The Mid-Packer's Lament Audio book.  This is ~50 running stories read into audio by the author (me) and ends up being 6-8 hours of audio.

The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.

Hope you enjoy consuming it as much as I enjoyed recording it!

Ciao, thanks, and I'll see you out there.

Chris,

Skits, commercials and parodies in this episode:

Story time:

Equipment Check:

The Gym Boss -> http://www.runrunlive.com/beep-beep

Featured Interview:

Chasing the Runner's High

My Sixty Million-Step Program

Chasing the Runner's High is the story of how Ray Charbonneau pushed his addiction to running up to, and then past, his limits. Ray shares what he learned, what he should have learned, and what he still has to learn from running.

It’s a great read for runners or for non-runners who want to better understand their running friends!

Quick Tip:

The Pain Cave…-> http://www.runrunlive.com/the-pain-cave

Outro:

Ok my friends, you have chased the runner’s high to the end of yet another RunRunLive Podcast, episode 209 in the can.  

I have been getting a lot of things crossed off my task list over the last few weeks because I haven’t been traveling as much.  I’ve been spinning on the trainer, elipticing on the elliptical and spending way too much time in the gym.  

When I’m stretching I get to look into the window where they do those group exercises.  Some of the dance-type ones look really fun.  The best one is that yoga class where they turn down the lights, put on some whale music and lay down on the mats.  We used to do that in kindergarten.  We called it nap time. 

We’ve been working on the 2012 edition of the Groton Road Race.  It will be on April 29th this year.  Hope to see you there.  www.grotonroadrace.com

Since I’ve been in the office I took the opportunity to sort my tasks and projects and see what aligned with my goals.  I’ll share a couple little tricks I learned recently.  One was to set my watch to chime every hour.  This reminds me to stay on task when I drift off.  

Another was to print out my daily schedule or diary for the week and actually schedule specific tasks and projects into specific time slots.  This way if I have a project like “write a blog post” I can spend 30 minutes on it uninterrupted.  Then when the 30 minutes are up I move on to what’s next.  It helps you get more done. 

Of course prior to this I picked the areas I wanted to focus on for the year.  3 work, 2 personal and 1 other.  That way I can prioritize the tasks and projects appropriately because if you haven’t figured it out yet; you will always have more things to do then you have time to do them in.  The art of managing this is to choose to work on the things that are important to you and say ‘no’ to those things that don’t fit into the things that are important to you. 

…

We mentioned strengths earlier.  I didn’t mean to not use your strengths.  Just don’t use them as a crutch.  You should absolutely know what your strengths are.  There are books and websites that will catalogue your abstract strength for you if you don’t think you know.  Knowing your strengths is a great starting point for growth. 

When you’re starting something new don’t focus on achievement. Focus on getting the habit first.  We see this in beginning runners all the time.  They set some sort of expectation for themselves and give up when they don’t make fast enough progress. 

Give yourself a break when you are leaving your area of comfort and going into a new area.  Make this pact with yourself; the first 4 weeks will just be to learn.  No expectations at all.  Just focus on habit, consistent participation and learning.  Give yourself permission to learn, and yes to fail. Otherwise you can’t grow.  

As soon as you think you’ve got something mastered that’s when you start to rust.   Don’t get sucked into that trap.  We all may be brilliant and super-effective, but we all have room to learn and to grow. 

What are the strengths that you are afraid to risk? 

Take that risk.  I’ll see you out there. 

…

You can find me whimpering in the pool at Twitter, Facebook, DailyMile, YouTube, Google and Tumblr as cyktrussell that’s Chris yellow king tom Russell with two esses and two ells.  

Leave me some of your whimpers at - 206-339-7804.  Leave a message there it sends an audio file.  

Hey! How about a show intro for your old buddy Chris?   It is in the show notes and on the web site –- you will find all the other content on the website www.runrunlive.com 

A little garage punk form podsafe to take you out.  Show us your speed!   3kisses with pass_me_by

See you next week. 

Ciao, 

… 

Great news my running friends – my book of running stories “The Mid-Packer’s Lament” is now available in Kindle format at the Kindle store on Amazon.com!  Just search on “Mid-Pack”.  It’s a bargain at an easy $5 and all proceeds go towards supporting the underfunded pension plan of the retired cleaning staff at the RunRunLive world headquarters. I recently got a kindle myself and I love it.  It does reading very well. 

The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.

Music:

From Podsafe:

All music used in the show is from the Podsafe music network found at Music Alley.  Please support the starving, socially minded artists sampled herein by purchasing some!

Song1

22-pass_it_on

Song 2-3

brain_buckit-passion_fruit_go_bananas

Outro music:

3kisses-pass_me_by

Outro Artists Bio:

Bio:

3 KISSES serve up their own unique blend of Texas Party Punk with a positive, party vibe. Martin Folkman, Publisher of the Musician’s Atlas says of 3 KISSES 3rd CD release, “Nut Job" combines pop, metal and punk into a musical fusion that packs more energy into a 3-minute song than all the WMD's

Standard Links:

http://www.runrunlive.com

http://www.runeratti.com

Http://coolrunning.com

http://Grotonroadrace.com

http://SQRR.org

www.midpackerslament.com

Cyktrussell At gmail and twitter and facebook and youtube

Chris’ book on Amazon – > http://www.amazon.com/Mid-Packers-Lament-collection-running-stories/dp/141961584X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228687012&sr=8-1

Mid-Packer’s Lament E-book

Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy E-Book

Dial in number for RunRunLive is - 206-339-7804

Chris Russell lives and trains in suburban Massachusetts with his family and Border collie Buddy.  Chris is the author of “The Mid-Packer’s Lament”, and “The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy”, short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack.  Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at www.runnerati.com.  Chris’ Podcast, RunRunLive is available on iTunes and at www.runrunlive.com. Chris also writes for CoolRunning.com (Active.com) and is a member of the Squannacook River Runners and the Goon Squad.  

Email me at cyktrussell at Gmail dot com

Running  Podcast, podcasts for running, podcast for runners, free podcast for runners, Running Blog, marathon, triathlon, mileage, sprinting, run, track, training, running clubs, running groups, running shoes, exercise, health, 5k, running, swimming, sports, injuries, stretching, eating, jogging, biking, trail race, 5K, 10K, Ultramarathon, jogging a good exercise, road runner, jogging tips, benefits of jogging, free running, running shoes, marathon training, running, jogging, health and fitness, runners, runner, Boston qualification, Marathon BQ, Boston marathon

The RunRunLive Podcast Episode 208 – Adrienne Langelier Sports Psychologist

Show intro by:

Becca - Tribeccato.wordpress.com I work full time on computery stuff.  I am a mom to two young boys.  I started running  about 6 years ago to loose some weight.  That led to marathons.  Which led to triathlons.  I have been doing triathlons since the summer of 2010.  I have also picked up trail running to keep things fresh and exciting (as if triathlon isn’t exciting enough!)  2011 was an exciting year for me because I qualified for Boston and Nationals for Olympic Distance Triathlon,  completed an Ultra Marathon, and two 70.3 triathlons.

My goal is to use this site to document my training and life as I work towards completing my first full Ironman (St. George, May 5th 2012) and whatever other races and experiences happen along the way.   Hope you enjoy!

RunRunLive – Podcast Intro

http://www.runrunlive.com/home/read-the-runrunlive-podcast-intro

Intro:

Hello and welcome to the 2012 edition of the zombie hunting and unicorn slaying podcast.  I’ve got some great tips for you.  For instance, when you’re hunting zombies always remember to reload and aim high – it’s the head shots that count.  And always consider that machetes do not need bullets.  

But, If you’re outpost is not under attack by swarms of merciless undead that’s ok because this is the RunRunLive podcast and this is Chris your host and we have a great show for you today. 

I speak with Adrienne who is a athlete but also a sports psychologist.  She has some great stories about how to keep that big grey lump on top of your shoulders from getting int he way of your performances.  

I also have two ad hoc Q&A sessions about treadmills with Rodger and Ms. Mendez.  Plus the usual dancing monkeys and laughing lemurs that you have come to expect. 

I’ve been busy.  I haven’t been traveling but I have been busy.  If you follow me on the interwebs you’ll know that I have been suffering through the process of trying to re-learn how to swim.  Specifically I’ve been trying to unlearn my old stroke and learn the high-elbow catch.  It’s a struggle.  But I’m committed to learning and part of learning is persistence. 

I’m going to swimming lessons at the YMCA in Lowell Ma.  My teacher is a college girl, Megan.  There’s only two people in the class so I monopolize her time.  Lowell is an old mill city.  As close to the bad part of town as it gets out where I live.  Last week when I was leaving there were couple of the colorful characters having some sort of battle in the parking lot.  

I had to bail on my trainer ride after an hour last weekend because I was bored and I smelled burning rubber. Turns out it was coming loose – so it’s ok.  I have the trainer set up on my screened in porch that I have taken over with all my bikes and boxes of dirty bike parts.  This is good and bad.  The porch is protected somewhat from the elements but it is the same temperature as the outside.  This helps reduce the sweat volume but it’s still fairly chilly.  

The Aero Bars I bought for my triathlon training on the bike just didn’t work out.  I took them out of the box and there were no instructions and it was just a big pile of parts and screws.  After considering it with my big brain for a while I called the place and said “I don’t think you sent me all the necessary parts.”  But it turns out I bought something for a specific type of handlebars and stem that I don’t own.  

Stuart told me that the word triathlon means “Wallet Rape” in Greek.  I think this must be true.  It’s a constant stream of more crap that you’re supposed to buy.  It verges on the immoral the amount of capital people pour into this sport.  It’s supposed to be a hobby, right?  I guess I’m just a crotchety old fart, but I don’t want to play that game.  I just want to do the work. 

The foot is still in remission.  It comes and goes.  Hopefully n a couple weeks I can get back on it.  All I need for that sport is my shoes and my dog.  

Let me know if there is anything I can do for you. 

On with the show! 

Audio clips in this episode:

http://www.runrunlive.com/products-page/midpackerslament

RunRunLive » Audio Products » MidPackersLament » The Mid-Packer's Lament Audio Book

 

It took me a few months...but I kept at it and now can present to you The Mid-Packer's Lament Audio book.  This is ~50 running stories read into audio by the author (me) and ends up being 6-8 hours of audio.

The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.

Hope you enjoy consuming it as much as I enjoyed recording it!

Ciao, thanks, and I'll see you out there.

Chris,

Skits, commercials and parodies in this episode:

Story time:

Equipment Check:

Roger’s knees... Audio -> @runningraja

Featured Interview:

Adrienne Langelier

http://www.adriennelangelier.com/

The Woodlands, TX, United States

Began running competitively in graduate school and this monster grew from there. When not training I'm pursuing my other passion as a practicing threapist and sport psychology consultant. Other than that I'm just a regular Texas girl trying to use His gifts in living life to the fullest!

Quick Tip:

Maryro Medez – Treadmill Speedwork audio -> @maryromendez

Outro:

Ok my Terrible and tremendous treadmill technicians you have spun the hamster wheel from hell to the end of yet another RunRunLive Podcast Episode 208 in the can. 

Hope everyone is enjoying winter, and those of you on the southern side are enjoying summer as well.  We’ve got some snow and some single digit weather up here.  It’s nice.  Winter should be winter.  Everyone is back at the house in January and we get a nice fire going in the fireplace.  It’s cozy.  

I woke up to a couple inches of fluffy snow this morning.  When I let Buddy out there were fresh tracks on the front lawn.  Probably a coyote had cut across our lawn, stopped to check out Buddie’s soccer ball and kept going into the woods.  This sort of thing offends Buddy immensely.  But, we have an unwritten détente with the wild animals… we try to stay out of the forest at night and they stay out of our yard during the day.  It works out.  

Last week it was very cold and clear and a full moon.  The coyotes Brought something down in the middle of the night and were doing their victory yodeling.  It’s very eerie.                    

I’m still training away.  I’ve got a date in Ted’s pain cave to spend 3 hours on the trainer with the triathlon crazies tomorrow.   That will be a stretch for me.  It’s good to stretch. 

Are you stretching? 

…

Did you see that cruise ship that they ran aground this week?  That was something.  In particular how the captain basically ran away?  He’s trying to rationalize it but basically how do you rationalize cowardice?  What is the story that you tell about yourself that makes that ok? 

I just read this excellent book on my kindle by Peter Bregman called ’18 Minutes: Find your focus, master distraction and get the right things done.”  I highly recommend it.  It talks to all those resolution themes we been thinking about this time of year.  

One thing in particular that struck me is when he explains how people do things that align with their self image and in particular their self-story.  And people are motivated in how they act by the way they tell their own story.  Why did you turn in that money your found?  “Because I am an honest person”  you see it in twitter when people have to describe themselves in 140 characters.  

The good news here is that you get to tell your own story.  You get to say “Because I love a challenge and I’m not afraid to fail”.  By doing this you become the story. 

That ship captain had the opportunity of a life time.  He could have been the courageous leader in that situation.  Even if it did no good.  He could have said “I did it because I’m the type of person who takes action, I’m the type of person who leads when things get tough, I’m the type of person who puts the welfare of others over my own, I’m the type of person who persists even when things are chaotic and seem hopeless”. 

Instead, now he can only say “I’m the type of person who runs away.”  He tell a story where that person is pragmatic or a calculating realist, but it sounds like the story of a coward to me. 

What kind of story are you writing for yourself? 

As you write that story I’ll see you out there. 

…

You can find me suffering through my own narrative at Twitter, Facebook, DailyMile, YouTube – and Google as cyktrussell that’s Chris yellow king tom Russell with two esses and two ells.  

Tell us your story by calling - 206-339-7804.  Leave a message there it sends an audio file.  

You know when you tell your story it begins with “I’m the type of person who is not afraid to do a show intro for Chris and our friends”  It is in the show notes and on the web site –- you will find all the other content on the website www.runrunlive.com 

Music for you tonight is a very entertaining sort of pop, torch song, ska thingy by melora_hardin- called raise_the_roof

See you next week. 

Ciao, 

… 

Great news my running friends – my book of running stories “The Mid-Packer’s Lament” is now available in Kindle format at the Kindle store on Amazon.com!  Just search on “Mid-Pack”.  It’s a bargain at an easy $5 and all proceeds go towards supporting the underfunded pension plan of the retired cleaning staff at the RunRunLive world headquarters. I recently got a kindle myself and I love it.  It does reading very well. 

The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.

Music:

From Podsafe:

All music used in the show is from the Podsafe music network found at Music Alley.  Please support the starving, socially minded artists sampled herein by purchasing some!

Song1

andre_williams_and_the_goldstars-nightclub

Song 2-3

brooks_young_band-back_on_the_ground_

Outro music:

melora_hardin-raise_the_roof

Outro Artists Bio:

Bio:

Standard Links:

http://www.runrunlive.com

http://www.runeratti.com

Http://coolrunning.com

http://Grotonroadrace.com

http://SQRR.org

www.midpackerslament.com

Cyktrussell At gmail and twitter and facebook and youtube

Chris’ book on Amazon – > http://www.amazon.com/Mid-Packers-Lament-collection-running-stories/dp/141961584X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228687012&sr=8-1

Mid-Packer’s Lament E-book

Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy E-Book

Dial in number for RunRunLive is - 206-339-7804

Chris Russell lives and trains in suburban Massachusetts with his family and Border collie Buddy.  Chris is the author of “The Mid-Packer’s Lament”, and “The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy”, short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack.  Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at www.runnerati.com.  Chris’ Podcast, RunRunLive is available on iTunes and at www.runrunlive.com. Chris also writes for CoolRunning.com (Active.com) and is a member of the Squannacook River Runners and the Goon Squad.  

Email me at cyktrussell at Gmail dot com

Running  Podcast, podcasts for running, podcast for runners, free podcast for runners, Running Blog, marathon, triathlon, mileage, sprinting, run, track, training, running clubs, running groups, running shoes, exercise, health, 5k, running, swimming, sports, injuries, stretching, eating, jogging, biking, trail race, 5K, 10K, Ultramarathon, jogging a good exercise, road runner, jogging tips, benefits of jogging, free running, running shoes, marathon training, running, jogging, health and fitness, runners, runner, Boston qualification, Marathon BQ, Boston marathon

The RunRunLive Podcast Episode 207 – Dave McGillivray Boston Marathon RD

Show intro by:

Dominick - http://onebikeoneworld.com/

Welcome to onebikeoneworld, an account of my latest adventure, a trip around the world by bicycle. The trip started on April 27th 2011 when I flew from the UK to Tampa, Florida and will end, hopefully before my bank runs dry, in New Zealand sometime in the future. The first day of cycling was back on May 11th 2011 the day after C had arrived when we headed out in to the unknown.

I intend to ride on 6, and maybe even all 7, of the continents and through an unknown number of countries. Beyond the first few months it’s a very open road and the goal is to enjoy myself and see as much of what the world has to offer.

RunRunLive – Podcast Intro

http://www.runrunlive.com/home/read-the-runrunlive-podcast-intro

Intro:

Hello and welcome to episode 207 of the RunRunLive podcast. This is Chris your host and we have a great show for you today!

Our featured interview is a call with Dave McGillivray, RaceDirector of the Boston Marathon and we chat about this year’s registration process and the new standards.  Those of you who have been tapping into the RunRunLive stream of consciousness will know that Dave is a guest we have on a couple times a year to tell us what’s new with my favorite marathon. 

I also recorded a call with Joe Bears on race strategy that I thought you’d find interesting.  

And I have a brief piece on prep for anyone wanting to take on the marathon training program speed work. 

Let me stop right here and apprise you of a shocking revelation.  I have stumbled upon a conspiracy.  I helped my wife clean the bathrooms this weekend.  My job is to scrub the showers.  It turns out that triathlon training is perfectly designed to augment the shower scrubbing muscles in the back and shoulders.  

Apparently the coach and my wife have constructed this whole ruse to use my compulsive training against me.  They have been pulling the wool over my eyes and nefariously collaborating to make me a better soap scum scrubber! 

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. 

Saturday morning I went over my buddy Ted’s house for a group spin.  This is where you get a room full of triathletes to bring their trainers and you all ‘ride’ together.  We did 2 hours and watched the movie ‘Bicycle Dreams’.  It was pretty cool.  These ironman people are nuts.  My new fluid trainer works great.  

For those of you new to the show, let me catch you up…You see about 25,000 years ago New England was covered by a giant ice-sheet.  When the ice receded around 13,000 years ago a startling diversity of mega-fauna populated the new land, but they hunted out of existence by the Clovis people – all except for me. 

On with the show! 

Audio clips in this episode:

http://www.runrunlive.com/products-page/midpackerslament

RunRunLive » Audio Products » MidPackersLament » The Mid-Packer's Lament Audio Book

 

It took me a few months...but I kept at it and now can present to you The Mid-Packer's Lament Audio book.  This is ~50 running stories read into audio by the author (me) and ends up being 6-8 hours of audio.

The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.

Hope you enjoy consuming it as much as I enjoyed recording it!

Ciao, thanks, and I'll see you out there.

Chris,

Skits, commercials and parodies in this episode:

Story time:

Equipment Check:

Speedwork Training prep – week one. 

Featured Interview:

Dave McGillvray – Race Director Boston Marathon – Owner DMSE event management. 

http://www.dmsesports.com/

Dave McGillivray

BAA Boston Marathon® Race Director,

President, DMSE Sports, Inc.

As the founder and president of DMSE Sports, Inc., a special-event management company, McGillivray has produced or consulted on more than 900 mass-participatory athletic events throughout the world, including 23 Boston Marathons; the 2004 and 2008 USA Women’s Olympic Marathon Trials; the 1990 Triathlon World Championship, the 1998 Goodwill Games Triathlon, and the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. 

Founded by McGillivray in 1981, DMSE Sports is a world leader in sports event management.  DMSE specializes in creating, marketing and producing mass participatory athletic events throughout the U.S. and abroad.  McGillivray is also an accomplished motivational speaker.  More than 1,600 audiences from corporate executives to high school students have experienced McGillivray’s signature ability to engage and inspire listeners.

His 30-year career in the sport of road racing and triathlon earned him the prestigious “Lifetime Achievement Award,” presented to him by Competitor Magazine.  McGillivray was also presented with the prestigious "Race Director of the Year" award by Road Race Management, Inc., and sponsored by Running Times Magazine.  In 2005 he was inducted into the Running USA Hall of Champions.

There is an intrinsic relationship between McGillivray and the sport of running. He is not only one of the world’s finest race directors, he himself is an accomplished athlete, perhaps best known for his extraordinary run across the United States from Medford, Oregon to his hometown of Medford, Massachusetts in 1978 covering a total distance of 3,452 miles, benefiting the Jimmy Fund and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. 

Not one to rest on his laurels, he and ten other veteran marathoners ran across the country in May 2004 as part of TREK USA which raised money for five children’s charities.  McGillivray has also completed eight Hawaii Ironman Triathlons and has run 125 marathons, including 38 consecutive Boston Marathons. He has run up the East Coast of the US and completed a 24-hour run, a 24-hour bike ride and a 24-hour swim, all for charity.  In addition, each year McGillivray commemorates his birthday by running the number of miles that correspond with his age.  What began with 12 miles at age 12 will be a 57-mile run on his next birthday, August 22, 2011.

The Last Pick, (Rodale Press), authored by McGillivray (with Linda Glass Fechter), was  published in April 2006.  It chronicles his career while motivating and inspiring the reader to never underestimate their own ability to set and achieve goals. 

Running is the tool he uses to set  and achieve goals, motivate others, maintain health, both mental and physical and give back to the community.  The DMSE Children’s Fitness Foundation is McGillivray’s newest endeavor which supports non-profit organizations whose efforts are directed at solving the epidemic of childhood obesity by providing direct funding to treatment and prevention programs. 

McGillivray creates event experiences that leave an indelible mark on the participants.  He has the respect, trust, experience, confidence, leadership, and vision of a pioneer in the sport.  Boston Marathon legend Johnny Kelley once described McGillivray as a “genius.”  Dave McGillivray serves as a role model for all of us who seek to be the very best in our professional and personal lives.  McGillivray lives in North Andover, Massachusetts with his wife, Katie and five children, Ryan, Max, Elle, Luke and Chloe.

Quick Tip:

Joe Bears race strategy clip - 

Outro:

Ok my heroes and heroines in training you have hitched up your capes and flown triumphantly through the end of yet another RunRunLive podcast Episode 207 in the can.  Next week I think my featured interview is with Adrienne Langeleir – sports psychologist who tells us all the secrets to high level mental performance. 

I’m still training away on Iron Man base building.  I told these guys last weekend that my goal was to compete without physically, emotionally and financially bankrupting myself – which appears to be a tall order on all fronts.  

I’m off any kind of diet because my workouts are my focus.  I’m back to eating what I want basically and trying to make healthy choices where possible.  

I was feeling really ripped from all the swimming and high-volume upper body weights work but, as with all things, I think I did too much too fast and I’ve got a little sore shoulder.  The foot is coming around and I’m getting excited about running again.  

I’ve signed up for a masters swim class at the local YMCA once a week and we’ll see if I can straighten out my stroke.  I know swimming is all about efficiency and form, but it goes against my nature not to just try harder. 

I’ve got Fuji-san up on the trainer and I acquired some aero-bars that clip on.  I’m not sure I’m designed to ride in the aero position, but we’ll find out. 

…

Outro – http://www.runrunlive.com/leadership-unbounding-assumptions

What are you doing to lead others?  Are you just going along with the momentum that has been created for you? 

Think about it, and I’ll see you out there. 

…

You can resolve right now to find me  Twitter, Facebook, DailyMile, YouTube – and Google as cyktrussell that’s Chris yellow king tom Russell with two esses and two ells.  

You can resolve to send me a message by dialing - 206-339-7804.  Leave a message there it sends an audio file.  

I need show intros! It’s fun and a non-scary way to participate in our community.  Who knows reading the show intro could be the first step for big positive change in your life.  It is in the show notes and on the web site –- you will find all the other content on the website www.runrunlive.com 

Here is some nice blues rock by the Detroit Women called 2 plays for a dollar to take you out. 

See you next week. 

Ciao, 

… 

Great news my running friends – my book of running stories “The Mid-Packer’s Lament” is now available in Kindle format at the Kindle store on Amazon.com!  Just search on “Mid-Pack”.  It’s a bargain at an easy $5 and all proceeds go towards supporting the underfunded pension plan of the retired cleaning staff at the RunRunLive world headquarters. I recently got a kindle myself and I love it.  It does reading very well. 

The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.

Music:

From Podsafe:

All music used in the show is from the Podsafe music network found at Music Alley.  Please support the starving, socially minded artists sampled herein by purchasing some!

Song1

bryan_baker-zombie_love_song_-_if_anyone_eats_my_brains

Song 2-3

chaz_matthews-girl_from_detox

pickabar-pinto_beans

Outro music:

detroit_women-two_plays_for_a_quarter

Outro Artists Bio:

Bio:

Standard Links:

http://www.runrunlive.com

http://www.runeratti.com

Http://coolrunning.com

http://Grotonroadrace.com

http://SQRR.org

www.midpackerslament.com

Cyktrussell At gmail and twitter and facebook and youtube

Chris’ book on Amazon – > http://www.amazon.com/Mid-Packers-Lament-collection-running-stories/dp/141961584X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228687012&sr=8-1

Mid-Packer’s Lament E-book

Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy E-Book

Dial in number for RunRunLive is - 206-339-7804

Chris Russell lives and trains in suburban Massachusetts with his family and Border collie Buddy.  Chris is the author of “The Mid-Packer’s Lament”, and “The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy”, short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack.  Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at www.runnerati.com.  Chris’ Podcast, RunRunLive is available on iTunes and at www.runrunlive.com. Chris also writes for CoolRunning.com (Active.com) and is a member of the Squannacook River Runners and the Goon Squad.  

Email me at cyktrussell at Gmail dot com

Running  Podcast, podcasts for running, podcast for runners, free podcast for runners, Running Blog, marathon, triathlon, mileage, sprinting, run, track, training, running clubs, running groups, running shoes, exercise, health, 5k, running, swimming, sports, injuries, stretching, eating, jogging, biking, trail race, 5K, 10K, Ultramarathon, jogging a good exercise, road runner, jogging tips, benefits of jogging, free running, running shoes, marathon training, running, jogging, health and fitness, runners, runner, Boston qualification, Marathon BQ, Boston marathon

The RunRunLive Podcast Episode 206 – Linda Quirk Run7on7

Show intro by:

Mike Neifert – Mike N on Dailymile www.dailymile.com/people/openmikey

RunRunLive – Podcast Intro

http://www.runrunlive.com/home/read-the-runrunlive-podcast-intro

Intro:

Hello and welcome to the RunRunLive Podcast.  A special welcome to our new friends who maybe got a new MP3 player for the holidays and now are looking to flood that device with rich, creamy, running content.   This is Chris your host and we do a weekly show on endurance athletes wrapped around sundry and fractal themes of education, inspiration and entertainment.  

Me I’m just a normal guy.  I’ve decided to get rid of the yak herd and upgrade to unicorns.  The horns alone are bringing a great profit in China right now.  See…normal…

We have a great show for you today.  I have an interview with Loinda Quirk hwo is a serious endurance athlete and she has leveraged her personal experiences and abilities to create a foundation to help addicts.  We had a tenuous skype connection and you may hear that.  The good news is that it kept me from taking over the conversation too much!

That clip to start was from an old twitter friend of mine Alicia who is an elite fitness trainer and I think it nicely summed up some of the challenges we face in January.  I know you already think I’m an elitist, so let me preface this by saying that I think it’s great that people are trying to change their lives in the New Year.  

I went into my club on Monday to do my work out.  Every piece of equipment had someone on it! I had trouble finding a sliver of floor space to use for my workout.  I got an exercise ball and my dumbbells and a mat.  Soon as I put the ball down a kid comes over and says “Can I have that?” I say “no” and point out that there are 10 more balls over in the ball rack.  

As soon as I start jumping rope a lady comes over and takes my ball!  Then some other lady steals my floor space and mat.  Just lays down and starts using my mat.  It was crazy!  God love them it was cracking me up.  

In my outro today I give some thoughts on how to make those resolutions align better with you beliefs so that they will stick.  

I’m also going to give you a piece on why I love the Boston Marathon – an explanation piece.  

One of my personal drivers is the need for fulfillment.  I find fulfillment in helping people. This Podcast is in part a manifestation of that need for fulfillment.  I want to take it step further this year.  I want to mentor anyone who wants to try to qualify for  Boston.  To facilitate this I provided CoachPRS with the training plan that I used to qualify and he is offering it as part of his coaching service at www.PRSfit.com.  

I’m offering to walk anyone who wants through the ‘how’.  My first victim is Friend of the show Joe Bears.  He is a veteran marathoner who needs to take 45 minutes off his finishing time to qualify.  I’m going to help him try.  Anyone else who wants to try shoot me an email.  I’m still working it out in my mind but I will make the process a public and open to you all as possible.  We’ll start in a couple weeks. 

Enjoy the show, and welcome.  I appreciate your time.  Let me know what I can do for you. 

On with the show!

Audio clips in this episode:

Alicia Bell - @aliciabellelite - http://www.aliciabellelite.com/

http://youtu.be/tmzVyibsvu4

http://www.runrunlive.com/products-page/midpackerslament

RunRunLive » Audio Products » MidPackersLament » The Mid-Packer's Lament Audio Book

 

It took me a few months...but I kept at it and now can present to you The Mid-Packer's Lament Audio book.  This is ~50 running stories read into audio by the author (me) and ends up being 6-8 hours of audio.

The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.

Hope you enjoy consuming it as much as I enjoyed recording it!

Ciao, thanks, and I'll see you out there.

Chris,

Skits, commercials and parodies in this episode:

Story time:

Equipment Check:

Why I love Boston - http://www.runrunlive.com/why-i-love-boston

Featured Interview:

The Runner: Linda Quirk

Linda Quirk is running the world to raise money and awareness for drug and alcohol addiction treatment and long-term recovery. Linda experienced the devastating affects drugs can have on a family when her stepdaughter Katherine’s gripping meth addiction threatened to take her life and tear Linda’s family apart. Thankfully, Linda and her family were able to convince Katherine to seek professional *treatment – something Linda is forever grateful for. Realizing the lack of information available to parents, Linda realized she could help those in need while educating families all over the world about drug and alcohol addiction treatment and long-term recovery. She started with seven marathons on seven continents…

ABOUT CARON TREATMENT CENTERS. >

Seven Marathons on Seven Continents

In 2008, Linda Quirk set out to run a marathon on each of the planet’s seven continents in hopes of raising one million dollars for a drug and alcohol treatment scholarships. She kicked off her mission with the Boston Marathon then went on to run The Great Wall of China, Kenya (Safaricom), Easter Island, Reykjavik, Melbourne and the freezing glaciers of Antarctica. She completed her seven on seven mission March of 2009, but was far from her raising her million dollar goal. So, she dreamed even bigger and announced to the world her attempt at history - to become the first woman to complete the 4 Deserts in under a year in 2010.

LEARN MORE ABOUT LINDA’S ORIGINAL RUN7ON7 MISSION. >

Quick Tip:

Games to play when running with someone slower - http://www.runrunlive.com/quick-tip-games-to-play-when-running-with-someone-slower

Outro:

Ok my New Year’s Resolutionary war veteran’s You have manifested the grit, the stick-to-it-tiveness and the resolve to fight your way through to the end of yet another RunRunLive Podcast Episode206 in the can.  

I finished up PT last week and then snuck out to jog the Hangover classic 5k with my daughter.  Then we all went for the traditional plunge into the Atlantic for a nice pilsner glass.  The heel is trending towards ‘better’.  It was a little angry about the 5k but is definitely getting better.  I went in to see Dr. Hester and he told me to give it another month but thinks we’re on our way. 

This leaves me in a interesting position. I will run Boston in April and will at best have 10 weeks to train from zero.  I don’t want to jump into a large amount of intensity and volume because that would put my recovery at risk.  I don’t know what I’m going to do yet but Ipve orderd the Gallowy book and may try to squeeze out a run walk plan that wioll at least get me to the start and finish lines un-injured.   

I’m into IM training and have signed up for a masters swim class at the local YMCA.  I’m not worried about the distance but I’m quite put off by the financial excess of this sport.  My resolution is to compete well in your stinking triathlon without spending a small fortune in equipment and without physically and emotionally bankrupting myself. 

And Next week we have another great chat with Dave McGillivary the Race Director of that little old Boston Marathon…

Stay with me folks and we’ll get through 2012 together and come out the other end kicking and smiling.

…

Outro – doing resolutions right - http://www.runrunlive.com/doing-resolutions-right

Spend the time.  Dig deeper into the drivers of your resolutionary urges And I’ll see you out there. 

New-Outro

…

You can resolve right now to find me  Twitter, Facebook, DailyMile, YouTube – and Google as cyktrussell that’s Chris yellow king tom Russell with two esses and two ells.  

You can resolve to send me a message by dialing - 206-339-7804.  Leave a message there it sends an audio file.  

I need show intros! It’s fun and a non-scary way to participate in our community.  Who knows reading the show intro could be the first step for big positive change in your life.  It is in the show notes and on the web site –- you will find all the other content on the website www.runrunlive.com 

This one was a little heavy and deep – so let’s bring it back up a little.  What we need is some Ska to take us out.  This will put some pep in your step. Happy New Year, 

Ciao, 

… 

Great news my running friends – my book of running stories “The Mid-Packer’s Lament” is now available in Kindle format at the Kindle store on Amazon.com!  Just search on “Mid-Pack”.  It’s a bargain at an easy $5 and all proceeds go towards supporting the underfunded pension plan of the retired cleaning staff at the RunRunLive world headquarters. I recently got a kindle myself and I love it.  It does reading very well. 

The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.

Music:

From Podsafe:

All music used in the show is from the Podsafe music network found at Music Alley.  Please support the starving, socially minded artists sampled herein by purchasing some!

Song1

dogs_bollocks-the_court_of_last_resort

Song 2-3

the_fump-resolution_by_steve_goodie

Outro music:

the_clintons-fan_of_the_bean

Outro Artists Bio:

Bio:

Standard Links:

http://www.runrunlive.com

http://www.runeratti.com

Http://coolrunning.com

http://Grotonroadrace.com

http://SQRR.org

www.midpackerslament.com

Cyktrussell At gmail and twitter and facebook and youtube

Chris’ book on Amazon – > http://www.amazon.com/Mid-Packers-Lament-collection-running-stories/dp/141961584X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228687012&sr=8-1

Mid-Packer’s Lament E-book

Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy E-Book

Dial in number for RunRunLive is - 206-339-7804

Chris Russell lives and trains in suburban Massachusetts with his family and Border collie Buddy.  Chris is the author of “The Mid-Packer’s Lament”, and “The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy”, short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack.  Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at www.runnerati.com.  Chris’ Podcast, RunRunLive is available on iTunes and at www.runrunlive.com. Chris also writes for CoolRunning.com (Active.com) and is a member of the Squannacook River Runners and the Goon Squad.  

Email me at cyktrussell at Gmail dot com

Running  Podcast, podcasts for running, podcast for runners, free podcast for runners, Running Blog, marathon, triathlon, mileage, sprinting, run, track, training, running clubs, running groups, running shoes, exercise, health, 5k, running, swimming, sports, injuries, stretching, eating, jogging, biking, trail race, 5K, 10K, Ultramarathon, jogging a good exercise, road runner, jogging tips, benefits of jogging, free running, running shoes, marathon training, running, jogging, health and fitness, runners, runner, Boston qualification, Marathon BQ, Boston marathon

The RunRunLive Podcast Episode 205 – Rick Big Runner Training

Show intro by:

Russ in Dutchess - Russ Porter - http://www.breakfastmiles.blogspot.com/

Husband, father, financial analyst, runner, triathlete, Scout leader; I try to fit it all into the 24 hours that the day gives me. I've been running for about 11 years, including 5 years spent overseas in Spain and China. I'm now back to the US for at least a few years, and looking forward to running throughout the country, while raising my children. Although I'm a relatively slow runner, I like to race at many distances (5K to marathon), mainly to keep my training up and manage my weight. I've run 6 marathons in the US and abroad, and plan to keep up as long as my knees allow.

RunRunLive – Podcast Intro

http://www.runrunlive.com/home/read-the-runrunlive-podcast-intro

Intro:

Hello and welcome to the mid-winter solstice edition of the holiday chorus podcast where we raise our voices in cheerful harmony in praise.  In praise of what?  In praise of the endurance gods of course because this is the RunRunLive Podcast and this is Chris your host and we have a superdy duper show for you today.  

I’m a little late getting this one out because I’m on vacation, if that makes any sense.  I had a confluence of activities going on this week and I’ve had a hard time getting to the keyboard. 

Today we talk with Rick a fellow endurance athlete who shares his stories of challenge and triumph.  I hope you like it.  I’m also going to share a post I wrote today about my physical therapy experiences and I’ll read you a story from my second book “The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy” that I just converted and posted to the Kindles store yesterday.  I’m a Kindle menace.

I also stole a clip from Peter Herridge again and his Spikes podcast.  I was wondering why I found Peter’s voice so sonorous and comforting and then I discovered that he is a funeral director – so it all makes perfect sense now. 

I’ve been working on stuff around the house, going to PT and working out a ton this week.  I’m kinda-sorta base building and coach has me doing double sessions.  I’m still not running but I’m spending many long hours at the gym on the bike, the elliptical, with the weights and in the pool.  Frankly it’s exhausting.  I’m not sure I have the bandwidth for 2 hours a day of training.  Kinda blows the whole day, unless you start at the crack of dawn and then you’re a zombie all day. 

I also went and gave some nice people at a bike shop a few hundred clams to do a computerized bike fit on me.  It turns out the Fuji is a little long for me, but it was actually fit fairly well.  I’m half-heartedly looking at getting a new bike but it just seems like such a commitment of time, money and emotion. 

I also unpacked and started putting together my new fluid trainer only to find that they had sent me a broken skewer.  The skewers I have – that’s the metal axle thingy with the quick release that holds the back wheel of your bike on – the ones I have are all square.  The trainer clamps want a round ended one.  Nashbar is shipping me a replacement, but that was a bit disappointing.  

I’d prefer to be doing all this stationary bike riding in my own saddle and not on the stationary bikes at the gym.  I’m scaring the hell out of the old people doing intense interval sets for an hour plus.  

I had such big plans when the week started. I was going to get so much done.  It seems time is a river and it has run dry on me.   

Did my last PT this week. Going back to see Dr. Hester again.  I’m debating jogging a 5k on New Year’s day – it’s a bit of a tradition.  The heel is better, but I can still feel it. 

Next week back to work.  

Happy New Year! 

Don’t bring me a figgy pudding.  Bring me a shrubbery!

On with the show!

Audio clips in this episode:

Peter  Herridge on Zen running. 

http://www.runrunlive.com/products-page/midpackerslament

RunRunLive » Audio Products » MidPackersLament » The Mid-Packer's Lament Audio Book

 

It took me a few months...but I kept at it and now can present to you The Mid-Packer's Lament Audio book.  This is ~50 running stories read into audio by the author (me) and ends up being 6-8 hours of audio.

The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.

Hope you enjoy consuming it as much as I enjoyed recording it!

Ciao, thanks, and I'll see you out there.

Chris,

Skits, commercials and parodies in this episode:

Story time:

Equipment Check:

Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy story. 

I wanted to include this piece because I re-read it this week while putting the kindle version of this book together.  It struck me as really nice prose.  It has nothing to do with running.  It is more of a traditional ‘altered state’ piece like Kesey, Casteneda, Thompson, or Henry Miller.  It’s amazing to me the beautiful things that the mind burps out when unencumbered by the ego, while the parents are away –so to speak. 

Enjoy. 

Featured Interview:

Rick - http://www.bigrunnertraining.com/

Welcome To BIG RUNNER TRAINING

I’m Rick Roberts. During the past 15 years I have received much obesity guidance, but very little related to walking or running while overweight or totally out of shape.

Prior to embarking on my personal walking and (slow) running journey, I weighed nearly 300 pounds and had high cholesterol, sugar and blood pressure levels. Medications were plenty. To say the least, I was dissatisfied with my situation. Maybe my former situation rings a bell with you.

Several years ago, I slowly walked a 5K to raise funds for a good local cause. At the walk, I chatted with several other overweight/out of shape individuals who had trained on their own (no training guidance was available for us ‘larger’ or 'out of shape' folks).  All spoke of feeling healthier and losing weight during their training period. It was at that 5k that I developed a vision for improving my situation. Through trial, error, and research, I then developed a process to change my situation. The process involves walking and running slowly at first, for short distances with plenty of days off. The rest is history. I’ve completed over 70 road races and 11 marathons to date, and by 2017 will have completed a marathon in each of the fifty states. 

If you are dissatisfied with your present situation, you are within a few clicks of changing your life! Let me share with you my vision of improving your life and the process to make it happen, all through our reasonably priced You Can Do This!! training programs and products. I did not start Big Runner Training for financial gain --I started it to help you! 

 -- You Can Do This!!

Quick Tip:

Physical Therapy - Pokin and proddin at the PT - http://www.runrunlive.com/pokin-and-proddin-at-the-pt

Outro:

Ok my caroling colleagues, you have sung your way through the snowy, festively be-decked neighborhood to the end of yet another RunRunLive Podcast Episode 205 in the can. 

Next week I think it’s an interview with Linda Quirk who has set up a charity similar to Back on my Feet.  We had some Skype challenges but I think Jim the executive viceroy of podcast editing studies at the RunRunLive institute of technology has worked them out. 

I’m going to jog a 5k up at the Hangover Classic on New Year’s Day.  Then take my traditional plunge in the Atlantic.  They are saying that they got their act together since last year when the race was horribly managed.  It’s hard with a 30 year old race like that.  They have a life of their own and when you have a leadership team transition things can go sideways.  

We have these old races up here that are going to happen.  They have a life of their own.  You can’t cancel them you can only try to get the timing right! 

I got another project done.  I converted the second book of running stories “The Mid-packer’s Guide to the Galaxy” to Kindle and got it up on the Amazon Kindle store.  Since this one is only an electronic book there are pictures and lots of other goodies in it. It covers the timeframe of 2005ish through 2008ish.  

I know I’ve been throwing a lot of stuff at you folks recently.  To summarize: My first book of running stories “The Mid-Packer’s Lament” is an honest to goodness dead tree book available on Amazon that I published in 2007.  I recently converted it to kindle, and you can find that on Amazon.  I also spent the last year reading it into audio – and you can get that on my website www.runrunlive.com under the audio products link.  And finally the second compilation of running stories “The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy” got converted to Kindle this week and is available at the Amazon Kindle store. 

Apologies if you’re put off by my mercenary outbursts – but rest assured this is a hobby not a  business.  At least not a viable business.  I do it because I have daemons in my head that force me to.  I have a whole other really interesting career that puts bread into the mouths of the little Russells.  I get maybe a couple hundred bucks a year from these books and such which does not even move my profit motive needle.  

I’m exhausted from working out 2 hours a day.  I feel like I’ve been living at the gym.  Then taking the dog for a 1-2 hour hike every day – makes my available time window for value add pretty tight.  I suppose I should focus on the things that I have gotten done versus the things I have not.  Maybe I’m just too good at list building versus task resolution!

…

Which brings us to our New Year’s thoughts.  I think people are too task based.  That’s a game you can’t win.  I think you set yourself up to fail every time you sit down and make a list of tasks.  There will always be more tasks that NEED to be done than time to do them in.  

What many people will do when confronted by this overabundance of tasks will try to sort out and filter on those tasks that are really important or really urgent.  This is also a trap.  For at least two reasons.  The first being that there are typically more urgent/important tasks than you can accomplish.  The second being that most of these tasks get their urgency from someone else.  

If you really look at the tasks they don’t seldom align with what YOUR goals or purpose, you have inherited someone else’s urgency and importance.  The net result is that you are going to focus all your wonderful human spirit and energy in getting things done that don’t get you anywhere and aren’t making you a better animal. 

It’s interesting because you can always find enough tasks to keep you busy and stressed out, but you aren’t really choosing those tasks and hence aren’t driving your own bus and guess what?  You’re abdicating your life to some other arbitrary set of hamster-wheel activity.  

This is how you can get to the end of a 12 hour day and feel like you haven’t gotten anything done.  

There’s another reason you never get everything done.  It’s because you treat everything on your to-do list as a task.  What you will see if you look a little closer is that many of these tasks are actually projects.  A task can be accomplished with one discrete act of energy – like “set up an appointment with the Dr.”  

“Write a book”, “Clean the house” and “lose 10 pounds” are projects.  They involve multiple discrete tasks that have to be managed discretely.  When you treat them like tasks on your to-do list you set yourself up to fail.  When you write down your to-do list separate out the projects into a different list.  They need to be planned separately. 

Why am I telling you this?  Well because a number of you are going to try to set New Year’s resolutions.  I don’t know what a resolution is supposed to be but whatever form it takes unless it turns into a set of manageable discrete tasks and projects with goals and timelines you can’t get to them.  

But THAT isn’t important either.  THAT is Management.  Management creates order from chaos.  You need VISION and LEADERSHIP.  Vision and Leadership create chaos from order and this is the first step. 

You should not attempt to set goals or resolutions or projects or tasks until you decide what your purpose is.  You need to know the ‘why’.  Once you have the ‘why’ then the how is simply management. 

If you have your purpose you can then hold up each new task or project for review as to whether it aligns with your purpose.  In this way everything you do, day in and day out, moves you towards fulfilling your purpose.  Each task list you go through fills you up instead of emptying you.  

Don’t think about goals.  Don’t think about resolutions.  Don’t think about what you need have to do to make someone else happy or to avoid pain.  Think about why you are here?  What are your unique gifts?  What fulfills you?  What rocks your world?  What is your purpose?  How are you able to add value, to enrich our world?  

Don’t expect to find instant answers.  To live is to seek purpose.  You won’t find answers but you will find the succor of owning your own life…of driving your own bus…of not being a victim.  

It’s always easier for me to get my workouts in because they align with my personal needs and goals.  

Seek your purpose in the New Year.  And I’ll see you out there. 

New-Outro

…

You can find me ruminating on Twitter, Facebook, DailyMile, YouTube – and Google as cyktrussell that’s Chris yellow king tom Russell with two esses and two ells.  

You can ruminate with me by dialing - 206-339-7804.  Leave a message there it sends an audio file.  

Make a resolution in the new year to call in the show intro- today we heard from Russ in Dutchess – I always thought his twitter handle was the Russian Dutchess and I figured, hey whatever floats your boat  So who knows what I’m assuming about you. Call in a in a show intro. It is in the show notes and on the web site –- you will find all the other content on the website www.runrunlive.com 

All the music today has been from Jim Laskey’s choral group.  It is a nice change from the usual punk rock madness. 

Happy New Year, 

Ciao, 

… 

Great news my running friends – my book of running stories “The Mid-Packer’s Lament” is now available in Kindle format at the Kindle store on Amazon.com!  Just search on “Mid-Pack”.  It’s a bargain at an easy $5 and all proceeds go towards supporting the underfunded pension plan of the retired cleaning staff at the RunRunLive world headquarters. I recently got a kindle myself and I love it.  It does reading very well. 

The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.

Music:

From Podsafe:

All music used in the show is from the Podsafe music network found at Music Alley.  Please support the starving, socially minded artists sampled herein by purchasing some!

Song1

Song 2-3

Outro music:

Outro Artists Bio:

Bio:

www.RessurectedRunner.com

Standard Links:

http://www.runrunlive.com

http://www.runeratti.com

Http://coolrunning.com

http://Grotonroadrace.com

http://SQRR.org

www.midpackerslament.com

Cyktrussell At gmail and twitter and facebook and youtube

Chris’ book on Amazon – > http://www.amazon.com/Mid-Packers-Lament-collection-running-stories/dp/141961584X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228687012&sr=8-1

Mid-Packer’s Lament E-book

Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy E-Book

Dial in number for RunRunLive is - 206-339-7804

Chris Russell lives and trains in suburban Massachusetts with his family and Border collie Buddy.  Chris is the author of “The Mid-Packer’s Lament”, and “The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy”, short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack.  Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at www.runnerati.com.  Chris’ Podcast, RunRunLive is available on iTunes and at www.runrunlive.com. Chris also writes for CoolRunning.com (Active.com) and is a member of the Squannacook River Runners and the Goon Squad.  

Email me at cyktrussell at Gmail dot com

Running  Podcast, podcasts for running, podcast for runners, free podcast for runners, Running Blog, marathon, triathlon, mileage, sprinting, run, track, training, running clubs, running groups, running shoes, exercise, health, 5k, running, swimming, sports, injuries, stretching, eating, jogging, biking, trail race, 5K, 10K, Ultramarathon, jogging a good exercise, road runner, jogging tips, benefits of jogging, free running, running shoes, marathon training, running, jogging, health and fitness, runners, runner, Boston qualification, Marathon BQ, Boston marathon

The RunRunLive Podcast Episode 204 – Dr. Coyne

Show intro by:

Frank Salerno

RunRunLive – Podcast Intro

http://www.runrunlive.com/home/read-the-runrunlive-podcast-intro

Intro:

Hello and welcome survivors of the zombie apocalypse.  With your speed and endurance you have out-run and out-fought the undead and stand here with me ready to celebrate another Saturnalia.  

But, of course this is Chris and this is the RunRunLive Podcasst and we do have a great show for you today.  I chat with Dr. Coyne from deep frozen Canada about nutrition.   

Nutrition is a tricky topic.  Everyone has a view and everyone is convinced they have the answers.  Apparently they don’t because we still see a populace that is suffering and confused.   I don’t claim to have the answers but you and I we are students of this world and we ask questions and listen.  That is how we get stronger. 

My foot is actually feeling pretty good this week.  And I’ve been getting some great workouts in  - not running but at least working out fairly intensively and consistently.  

Dr. Hester told me to finish up the Pt and see if it helps.  If it doesn’t he’s going to get an MRI and potentially blast it with that sonic thing they use to break up gallstones.  It’s crazy.  If I knew how much money this was going to cost me in medical bills I could have just bought a $5000 racing bike and taken the year off! 

It’s worth noting that I don’t do a Christmas show or a Halloween show or your ‘what to buy’ show or ‘New Year’s Resolution’ show.  That’s just lazy podcasting people! 

I will slip in some of Jim’s excellent Saturnalia music Next week though.  Because it is excellent. 

I gave blood this week.  Here’s a good tip for you; nurses have the best stories.  I asked them what their best story was and they started reeling off stories of people passing out, falling off the tables, having seizures, losing control of their umm… bodily functions… None of that happened to me, but I did skip my workout in deference.  

I think the best story was of a high school principal who was giving blood as an example in front of all the students and he passed out and pooped and peed himself in front of the student body – that’s karma.  So if you find yourself at a holiday party with a nurse, ask them to tell some stories! 

Seriously folks, I hope you all have a great Saturnalia.  Hug your loved ones.  You can’t change the way they act, but you can change how you respond and there is no such thing as wasted effort. 

On with this show! 

Audio clips in this episode:

Promos

http://www.runrunlive.com/products-page/midpackerslament

RunRunLive » Audio Products » MidPackersLament » The Mid-Packer's Lament Audio Book

 

It took me a few months...but I kept at it and now can present to you The Mid-Packer's Lament Audio book.  This is ~50 running stories read into audio by the author (me) and ends up being 6-8 hours of audio.

The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.

Hope you enjoy consuming it as much as I enjoyed recording it!

Ciao, thanks, and I'll see you out there.

Chris,

Skits, commercials and parodies in this episode:

Story time:

Equipment Check:

The Mid-Packer’s Lament Audio – Running with Buddy - http://www.runrunlive.com/audiobook-of-the-mid-packers-lament-released

Featured Interview:

Dr. Coyne.  - http://leanseekers.com/Nutrition-Coaching

Quick Tip:

The Pro Football Workout - http://www.runrunlive.com/the-professional-football-cardio-workout

Outro:

Ok my tired and perplexed survivors you have barricaded out the marauding undead until reaching the end of yet another RunRunLive Podcast – Episode 204 in the can.  

I have to admit I’ve been playing an online zombie game in Google chrome called Dead Frontier with one of my daughters.  I’m a level 21 Farmer with rifle skills named Maddog2 if you want to go hunting with me some night.  It’s free. 

I’ve got some great shows coming up, chatted with Dave McGillivary the RD of Boston about the new standards this week and that will be in episode 207 – very interesting.

Don’t forget to check out Steve Chopper’s and JayDub’s new podcast.  The first show will be recorded in December 2011 and released simultaneously on the AMWM and BHAG feeds. The AMWM feed will then be renamed Run World Radio and subscribers will get the show

automatically. The BHAG subscribers will then "retune" if necessary after the first couple of weeks of simultaneous feed.

Also download our friend Kevin’s podcasts which now consist of The extra mile, the extra mile Galloway edition and the Extra mile to beat breast cancer.  Great stuff.  While you at it subscribe to the Slow Runner’s club with Eddie and Adam – they are a hoot. 

Next week we chat with another fantastic success story from the community – Rick from Fat guy running – about his journey – great stuff. 

I was at the Doctor this week and a guy stood next to me at the counter.  He looked to be about my age maybe 70 pounds heavier. Definitely a heart-attack candidate if you know what I mean.  They asked him his date of birth and based on his response I quickly deducted that he was 5 years younger than me.  

I had a Schadenfreude moment.  I thought to myself “I’m in way better shape than that guy.  He’s on the fast track into the grave.”  When I was his age I was running mountains and ultras.  It helped me put my injury in perspective. 

I’ve been trying to get Buddy out for walks in the woods every day I’m home.  We went out for a 2 and a half hour hike on Saturday and he was sore the next day.  But since then he is lighting up.  He’s got that spark back in his eye when I come home. Prancing around like a puppy.  

Exercise is good for people and Dogs. 

I gave up on dieting for the holidays but it’s ok because I’m getting my workouts in.  I got some positive feedback on the IronMan idea.  We’ll see where it goes. 

…

With many of us getting ready for the holidays I thought I’d give you something to think about.  

I know this doesn’t happen in your house or in mine but I’ve heard that some people don’t get along with their close relatives.  I’ve heard that as soon as you put them together in a confined space and pour in a little alcohol they drop into old angry patterns.   They start down those same old rat holes of unforgiven past wrongs and it’s like oil and water.  

All I’m going to say to you, and you know who you are, You can’t control what other people think, or do or say…but YOU CAN control how you react to it.  

You may find yourself in with an excellent opportunity to break a pattern, to respond to petty digs with praise and kindness.  

You may not be able to prevent the mess, but you don’t have to take part in it.  

Break the pattern.  

Let’s try a hypothetical example.  Cousin Suzy tells you that you look like you’ve gained some weight.  How do you respond?  How about by telling her that you noticed how lovely her hair is and how it brings out the kindness in her smile?  That will have the added benefit of confusing Suzy because you’re not playing along. 

Don’t forget to take your family for a walk on Christmas Day and I’ll see you out there. 

New-Outro

…

You can find me Chatting with Suzy on Twitter, Facebook, DailyMile, YouTube – and Google as cyktrussell that’s Chris yellow king tom Russell with two esses and two ells.  

You can tell me all about it by dialing - 206-339-7804.  Leave a message there it sends an audio file.  

How about a little holiday gift for me?  Call in a in a show intro. It is in the show notes and on the web site –- you will find all the other content on the website www.runrunlive.com 

Music to take you out is one of my favorites from Colin’s files it is a creepy love song that he sings to his Garmin device. 

Happy holidays, 

Ciao, 

… 

Great news my running friends – my book of running stories “The Mid-Packer’s Lament” is now available in Kindle format at the Kindle store on Amazon.com!  Just search on “Mid-Pack”.  It’s a bargain at an easy $5 and all proceeds go towards supporting the underfunded pension plan of the retired cleaning staff at the RunRunLive world headquarters. I recently got a kindle myself and I love it.  It does reading very well. 

The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.

Music:

From Podsafe:

All music used in the show is from the Podsafe music network found at Music Alley.  Please support the starving, socially minded artists sampled herein by purchasing some!

Song1

a_dont_hug_me_christmas_carol-id_rather_be_naughty

Song 2-3

Christmas Eve in the Trailer Park

Outro music:

I can’t stop Lovin you. 

Outro Artists Bio:

Bio:

www.RessurectedRunner.com

Standard Links:

http://www.runrunlive.com

http://www.runeratti.com

Http://coolrunning.com

http://Grotonroadrace.com

http://SQRR.org

www.midpackerslament.com

Cyktrussell At gmail and twitter and facebook and youtube

Chris’ book on Amazon – > http://www.amazon.com/Mid-Packers-Lament-collection-running-stories/dp/141961584X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228687012&sr=8-1

Mid-Packer’s Lament E-book

Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy E-Book

Dial in number for RunRunLive is - 206-339-7804

Chris Russell lives and trains in suburban Massachusetts with his family and Border collie Buddy.  Chris is the author of “The Mid-Packer’s Lament”, and “The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy”, short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack.  Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at www.runnerati.com.  Chris’ Podcast, RunRunLive is available on iTunes and at www.runrunlive.com. Chris also writes for CoolRunning.com (Active.com) and is a member of the Squannacook River Runners and the Goon Squad.  

Email me at cyktrussell at Gmail dot com

Running  Podcast, podcasts for running, podcast for runners, free podcast for runners, Running Blog, marathon, triathlon, mileage, sprinting, run, track, training, running clubs, running groups, running shoes, exercise, health, 5k, running, swimming, sports, injuries, stretching, eating, jogging, biking, trail race, 5K, 10K, Ultramarathon, jogging a good exercise, road runner, jogging tips, benefits of jogging, free running, running shoes, marathon training, running, jogging, health and fitness, runners, runner, Boston qualification, Marathon BQ, Boston marathon

The RunRunLive Podcast Episode 203 – Darryl from Loving The Bike

Show intro by:

Jeff Galloway - http://www.breastcancermarathon.com/newsletter/article/extramile/

RunRunLive – Podcast Intro

http://www.runrunlive.com/home/read-the-runrunlive-podcast-intro

Intro:

Hello and welcome to the Spiral Notebook Podcast where we really dig into the office supplies business and uncover the shocking truth about the connection between dry erase white boards and fingernail disease… Wait, no, that would be my alternate reality podcast, the one where I play a character from “The Office” and have to commit Hari Kari to escape. 

Luckily for the both of us this is the RunRunLive Podcast, and the RunRunLive Podcast is a pleasant diversion I cooked up in the summer of 2008 to give artful license to my inner endurance daemons.  This is episode 203 and today we have a great show for you.  I’ve got a chat with Darryl from Loving the Bike and the Cycling360 Podcast.  

‘Chris’, you say, ‘have you lost your marbles?” “Isn’t this supposed to be about running?” Well yeah but I’m an equal opportunity mid-packer and I like to bike too.  These guys are road cycling snobs but they know their stuff and I’ve learned a lot from the cycling360 podcast already, like what kind of trainer to buy and how to go about buying a new bike.  Never be afraid to leverage other people’s expertise.  

You can quote me on this; knowledge is finite but leverage is infinite.

Lt me step back a bit and say, if you’ve just started joining us on our little weekly production of RunRunLive you may be a little confusaled, our head may be spinning, swimming or using the elliptical. 

Recent episodes have been a bit of a mixed bag with my Chicago race report, the 200th compilation, and last week’s pseudo-intellectual discussion with Jon Gordon.  You may think, “Hey, does this show on running have anything to do with running?”  You might think all is chaos, that all we do over here is scatter-brained and without purpose. 

But, to you I say “Nay”, because I eat a lot of oats, but also because we point and there is a pattern.  

That is the beauty of chaos.  Only the human brain can divine the patterns in chaos. And, yes, ocaasionally we may follow the fractal shorelines of our minds wanderings and explore some inlets without outlets but in the end we return the marauding corsair of RunRunLive to the ocean of amateur endurance sport. 

I would ask you to forgive the episodic lack of structure, rigor and pointillist nonsense and embrace the chaos! This is our own personal “Howl” and you and I are the best minds of our generations. 

Wow! That was fun!. Now someone grab the steering wheel, because this bus is out of control! 

I’m traveling this week.  I got a few PT appointments in last week and I think it may be helping but I’ve run out of patience with this heel injury. I’ve come up with a brilliant plan.  I’m going to start training for an IronMan in June.  

Why is this brilliant?  Well Running is my strong sport and since that is out of commission I might as well go all in with the other sports.  I’ve acquired a fluid trainer for my bike and I’ve asked Coach Jeff to put a base plan together for me using the trainer, the pool and the elliptical instead of running.  

I think this is brilliant because it will a) give me a useful goal, b) Give me a discrete plan, and c) get my training intensity back up to where it needs to be. 

Will I change my mind next week?  Probably.  But why not? 

On with the show!   

Audio clips in this episode:

Promos

Skits, commercials and parodies in this episode:

Story time:

Equipment Check:

My new Scale - http://www.runrunlive.com/my-new-eatsmart-precision-getfit-fat-bathroom-scale

Featured Interview:

Darrly from Loving the Bike www.lovingthebike.com and the cycling360 podcast

Quick Tip:

Staying Fit - http://www.runrunlive.com/5-tricks-to-stay-in-shape-when-you%E2%80%99ve-got-a-chronic-injury

Outro:

Fred Fenton? 

Ok my Furry bright-eyed reindeer friends you have mushed your sleigh onto the roof of yet another RunRunLive Podcast Episode 203 in the can. 

Next week we have a cool chat with a Canadian nutritionist Dr. Coyne.  I really enjoyed talking with Dr. Coyne and he had some great insights. 

I am on the road this week in Colorado and Atlanta.  I took the opportunity to drive out to Estes Park to see Coach Jeff from PRSFit.  We had dinner.  It was nice to meet him in the protein form.  Estes Park is an interesting little city completely surrounded by the Rocky Mountain National Forest.  Google it.  

I figured it was a straight shot out there from Fort Collins where I was staying.  I was in for a bit of a white knuckle surprise as the highway entered into the mountains.  Shear granite walls shot up a couple thousand feet on both sides of the road.  The road meandered through the pass back and forth in sharp curves.  

The temperature was hovering in the high 20’s and there was snow in the pass so I was afraid to push the rental car for fear of encountering black ice on the road. There were caution signs to watch out for bighorn sheep and elk.  Occasional small settlements, tourist traps and a dude ranch loomed out of the dark.  

Even though I was trying to keep the speed limit I was that guy riding his brakes with a line of angry locals behind me.  But it all worked out and like I said it was cool to catch up in person. Beautiful country up there. 

I also finished a couple projects.  See?  This is how it works with me.  I have so many things going at the same time that occasionally I finish a bunch.  I created a kindle book from the Fred Fenton, Marathon Runner Book.  This is a book from a series of boy’s books written in 1905 and it’s really fun to read.  The vernacular and morality tales are just precious.  I’ll push it up to the kindle store and on my website as well. 

But bigger news still is that I have finished editing the audio this week of The Mid-Packer’s Lament and it’s good.  The stories range from 7 – 15 minutes long and it was a blast to record and edit.  I’m glad I did it.  I’m going to make it available in my website as well www.runrunlive.com

Now I’m working on some other projects still.  Converting my other e-book to kindle, creating a Boston Qualifier training plan and series and publishing my injury series among others.  I want to die with 100 unfinished projects! 

…

New-Outro

Do you know what other people are thinking?  Do you know what they are worried about?  

You might be interested to know that they probably aren’t thinking about you or your problems.  

I find it comical to watch people interact, especially in social and business situations.  I see two people talking but neither is listening.  They are both only concerned with their own thoughts and waiting for a pause in the conversation to say, “Yes, but what about me?”  

Don’t make the mistake that when that person calls and asks you how you are, that they actually care.  9 times out of 10 they are calling in regards to their own agenda.  Most people are wrapped up 95% in the inner noise of their own mind.  They are sparing very little for you and yours.  

Good or bad, once you realize this it make it easy to deal with them. You simply yfigure out what they want, what their inner agenda is and work it.  But, the trick for you, is that inorder for you to play in their mind you have to put all your own personal noise aside.  

And this brings us back to inner game.  

I’m going to give you two practical tip s that you can use and practice. You can use these to have more valuable interactions or to manipulate people, it’s up to you. 

The first is to practice listening and watching.  When someone is engaged with you one on one, look at them.  Really focus on what they are saying and how they are saying it.  Notice their body language.  Instead of speaking about your inner noise, reflect their thoughts back to them and amplify.  Watch what happens.  You will all of a sudden become the most interesting person in the world.  And you will gain insight into what is going on in that person’s head. 

The second tip is to prepare your own inner game for the interaction.  Many times I’ll go into a potentially stressful situation with a client or my boss.  Your first reaction is to be nervous or scared because these people are in a perceived position of power over you.  If you go into these interactions with these kinds of emotions and thoughts YOUR inner noise will be so loud it will drown out the interaction and you will be unable to listen. 

At these times you need to set your inner game to peace.  At these times I remind myself that I am who I am and my intrinsic value, my personal worth is independent of what these people do or think.  And this frees me to clear the clutter of my own mind.  This allows me to focus on the value of the interaction. 

Try these two things.  Clear the clutter from your inner game and really focus on the other person and I’ll see you out there. 

Chris, 

…

You can find me workingon my inner game at Twitter, Facebook, DailyMile, YouTube – and Google as cyktrussell that’s Chris yellow king tom Russell with two esses and two ells.  

You can call in your inner game to - 206-339-7804.  Leave a message there it sends an audio file.  

A self confident person would not be afraid to send in a show intro. It is in the show notes and on the web site –- you will find all the other content on the website www.runrunlive.com 

… 

Great news my running friends – my book of running stories “The Mid-Packer’s Lament” is now available in Kindle format at the Kindle store on Amazon.com!  Just search on “Mid-Pack”.  It’s a bargain at an easy $5 and all proceeds go towards supporting the underfunded pension plan of the retired cleaning staff at the RunRunLive world headquarters. I recently got a kindle myself and I love it.  It does reading very well. 

The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.

Over the next couple episodes I ‘m going to take you out with some of Colin’s parody songs.  Because they are soooo good we should leave them in the box to collect dust.  We should enjoy them.  If you want to find them I’ll include Colin’s promo to tell you how and where. 

As I have often quoted the great theologian Hunter S. Thompson; “It got pretty weird, but it never got weird enough for me.” And “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.” 

Ciao, 

Music:

From Podsafe:

All music used in the show is from the Podsafe music network found at Music Alley.  Please support the starving, socially minded artists sampled herein by purchasing some!

Song1

hollywood_sinners-little_girl

Song 2-3

innerlogics-anxiety_park

Outro music:

Injury Blues

Outro Artists Bio:

Bio:

www.RessurectedRunner.com

Standard Links:

http://www.runrunlive.com

http://www.runeratti.com

Http://coolrunning.com

http://Grotonroadrace.com

http://SQRR.org

www.midpackerslament.com

Cyktrussell At gmail and twitter and facebook and youtube

Chris’ book on Amazon – > http://www.amazon.com/Mid-Packers-Lament-collection-running-stories/dp/141961584X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228687012&sr=8-1

Mid-Packer’s Lament E-book

Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy E-Book

Dial in number for RunRunLive is - 206-339-7804

Chris Russell lives and trains in suburban Massachusetts with his family and Border collie Buddy.  Chris is the author of “The Mid-Packer’s Lament”, and “The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy”, short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack.  Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at www.runnerati.com.  Chris’ Podcast, RunRunLive is available on iTunes and at www.runrunlive.com. Chris also writes for CoolRunning.com (Active.com) and is a member of the Squannacook River Runners and the Goon Squad.  

Email me at cyktrussell at Gmail dot com

Running  Podcast, podcasts for running, podcast for runners, free podcast for runners, Running Blog, marathon, triathlon, mileage, sprinting, run, track, training, running clubs, running groups, running shoes, exercise, health, 5k, running, swimming, sports, injuries, stretching, eating, jogging, biking, trail race, 5K, 10K, Ultramarathon, jogging a good exercise, road runner, jogging tips, benefits of jogging, free running, running shoes, marathon training, running, jogging, health and fitness, runners, runner, Boston qualification, Marathon BQ, Boston marathon

The RunRunLive Podcast Episode 202 – Jon Gordon on finding your Purpose

Show intro by:

@zenRunner

RunRunLive – Podcast Intro

http://www.runrunlive.com/home/read-the-runrunlive-podcast-intro

Intro:

Hello and welcome to the Jungle explorer podcast where we delve into hot equatorial jungles and bash our way with sharpened machetes through African wilderness.  Sounds exciting doesn’t it?  Sounds adventurous and exotic.  Too bad for you because this is the plan old RunRunLive Podcast and this is Chris your host and this is episode 202.  

Any of you old enough to remember a bad show from the 70’s called “Room 222’? It came on after the Brady Bunch and the Partridge Family and before the Odd Couple and Love, American Style.  All of which I can hum the theme songs to.  

But 222 is going to have to wait because this is episode 202 and we have a great show for you today.  We have a long interview with author and speaker Jon Gordon.  When I first talked to Jon a few years ago he was working to get his business going.  Since then he’s become quite successful publishing 3 more books.  I had to actually make it through his assistant to get him this time and it took more than a month! But we made it work. 

I loved his first book “The Energy Bus”.  I talk to him in this episode about a subsequent work called “The Seed” which is a nice little parable about finding your purpose in life.  It’s a long interview and we may have to squeeze out some other content to get it all to fit.  Or I can close the lid and have the kids sit on it…

I like to throw in these episodes that are not directly related to the act of running.  I feel that if you are an amateur endurance athlete then you are by definition an individual who strives and looks for answers and is interested in asking questions.  

If you don’t like it you can fast forward. Unless of course, you are listening to this while pool-running and your MP3 player is trapped in a plastic bag under your swim cap where you can’t get to it.  In that case you’re in for the duration.

I’ve got a lot to update you on this week.  The good news is that I raced this weekend.  I ran the 2.5 mile leg of the Mill Cities Relay.  The bad news is that my foot was killing me afterwards and I generally felt out of shape. 

I’ve had three visits with the Physical Therapy people.  They are digging into my Plantar with a tool called the Graston technique.  They are trying to manually break up and straighten out the little fibers in there.  I’ll write up my experiences at some point.  As you would imagine I’m a horrible PT patient because I think I know everything. 

It looks like my spring racing season is shot now.  I’m not in any shape to get quality times in.  I’ve been doing my swimming and my weight lifting but it just isn’t enough to keep those running muscles fit.  When I start training again, whether next week, next month or next year I will be starting from scratch. I’ve had to wrap my head around that.  

I managed to relatively survive the last couple weeks of travel by counting calories.  I’ve checked my weight at around 188 pounds which is within the safety zone and I’m comfortable I could lose as much as I wanted at will now.  I’ll slip in a piece today on that for you. 

OK – let’s see if we can move things along here! On with the Show!

Audio clips in this episode:

Rick Coveno telling a story from the Mill Cities Relay

Skits, commercials and parodies in this episode:

“The Boring News show” 

Story time:

Equipment Check:

Featured Interview:

Jon Gordon – the Seed. http://www.jongordon.com/seedvideo.html

Quick Tip:

Counting Calories - http://www.runrunlive.com/counting-calories

Outro:

http://www.runrunlive.com/the-mid-packers-lament-released-for-kindle

Ok my little elves and Elvis’s, you have Purposefully found your way through the dense, lush jungle that is the RunRUnLive Podcast Episode 202 in the can. 

Next week we’re going to chat with Darryl from Loving the Bike and the Cycling 360 podcast.  He’s going to share with us some winter cycling tips.  Which is important to me because it looks like I’ll be spending a lot of time on the trainer over the next couple months.  Maybe it’s time to start that IronMan training after all!

I’ve got interviewsint he can out to episode 206.  One of the cool things about my total world domination project (ie trying to get to 10K twitter followers) is that I’ve met some really interesting people.  

What’s really surprising is the number of runners who have blogs.  I think we are more literate as a society now than we have ever been. People may not be reading books, magazines nad newspapers but they are writing out all their personal feelings, adventures and misadventures on line.  

In fact one of the books I’m reading on my kindle is guy who got into IronMan, atarted blogging about it and it turned into a book.  This is a major change in the way things get into ‘print’.  In the old paradign you had to beg to be chosen by a publisher.  Now you get to choose yourself.  That is the democratization of power.  Sorry to all the dead-tree people who have fallen victim to the resultant structural obsolescence but this is a classic technology enabled shift.  Dig it. 

Sorry, went down a rat hole there.  Hope everyone is keeping their wits about them in these difficult, dark and busy times.  Keep fighting the good fight and create your own reality.  Don’t worry about me.  I’ll heal.  Before you know it you and I will be skipping down the road hand in hand like Thelma and Louise. 

…

New-Outro

You know what I find interesting?  It is how we as humans are ‘pattern matching machines’.  We see patterns in everything.  We create, or assume correlations that are not supported by data.  How did we get this way?  

Some scientist say it is an evolved survival behavior.  

Let’s say it’s 2.5 million years ago and you’re a hominid walking through the forest.  You hear a rustle in the bushes.  

9 out of 10 times that rustle in the bushes is going to be a squirrel or some other innocuous thing.  What do you do?  You may decide it’s a lion and get ready to flee to safety.  If you’re wrong, what’s the down side? Nothing more than a stressful moment. 

But here’s the thing.  If you go with the data and assume it’s nothing and it turns out to actually be a lion, you get removed from the gene pool.   You’re lunch.  Maybe we evolved to make the ‘safe’ assumption.  

This is why every time you get ready to leave the house to go for a night run your wife tells you to be careful.  It turns out there is a critical penalty for ignoring a small risk sometimes. 

But, my friends, although we are hominids, you and I do not live in the primeval forest.  We live in the modern world.  We can’t live our lives being afraid of lions. 

I challenge you to challenge your fears.  What’s the worst that can happen?  You lose your crappy job?  There are plenty of jobs for people who are willing to work for them.  What’s the opportunity cost?  To live in fear? 

Find your purpose my friends.

And at some point I’ll see you out there. 

Chris, 

…

You can find me practicing total world domination on Twitter, Facebook, DailyMile, YouTube – and Google as cyktrussell that’s Chris yellow king tom Russell with two esses and two ells.  

You can call in your special tidbits at - 206-339-7804.  Leave a message there it sends an audio file.  

Don’t be afraid to send in a show intro. It is in the show notes and on the web site –- you will find all the other content on the website www.runrunlive.com 

… 

Great news my running friends – my book of running stories “The Mid-Packer’s Lament” is now available in Kindle format at the Kindle store on Amazon.com!  Just search on “Mid-Pack”.  It’s a bargain at an easy $5 and all proceeds go towards supporting the underfunded pension plan of the retired cleaning staff at the RunRunLive world headquarters. I recently got a kindle myself and I love it.  It does reading very well. 

The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.

Over the next couple episodes I ‘m going to take you out with some of Colin’s parody songs.  Because they are soooo good we should leave them in the box to collect dust.  We should enjoy them.  If you want to find them I’ll include Colin’s promo to tell you how and where. 

As I have often quoted the great theologian Hunter S. Thompson; “It got pretty weird, but it never got weird enough for me.” And “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.” 

Ciao, 

Music:

From Podsafe:

All music used in the show is from the Podsafe music network found at Music Alley.  Please support the starving, socially minded artists sampled herein by purchasing some!

Song1

hemmit-hold_out_-_pure_rock_with_the_ramones_and_jet_drinking_and_driving.mp3

Song 2-3

barrio_tiger-special_purpose

Outro music:

Anal Mileage Man

Outro Artists Bio:

Bio:

RessurectedRunner.com

Standard Links:

http://www.runrunlive.com

http://www.runeratti.com

Http://coolrunning.com

http://Grotonroadrace.com

http://SQRR.org

www.midpackerslament.com

Cyktrussell At gmail and twitter and facebook and youtube

Chris’ book on Amazon – > http://www.amazon.com/Mid-Packers-Lament-collection-running-stories/dp/141961584X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228687012&sr=8-1

Mid-Packer’s Lament E-book

Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy E-Book

Dial in number for RunRunLive is - 206-339-7804

Chris Russell lives and trains in suburban Massachusetts with his family and Border collie Buddy.  Chris is the author of “The Mid-Packer’s Lament”, and “The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy”, short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack.  Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at www.runnerati.com.  Chris’ Podcast, RunRunLive is available on iTunes and at www.runrunlive.com. Chris also writes for CoolRunning.com (Active.com) and is a member of the Squannacook River Runners and the Goon Squad.  

Email me at cyktrussell at Gmail dot com

Running  Podcast, podcasts for running, podcast for runners, free podcast for runners, Running Blog, marathon, triathlon, mileage, sprinting, run, track, training, running clubs, running groups, running shoes, exercise, health, 5k, running, swimming, sports, injuries, stretching, eating, jogging, biking, trail race, 5K, 10K, Ultramarathon, jogging a good exercise, road runner, jogging tips, benefits of jogging, free running, running shoes, marathon training, running, jogging, health and fitness, runners, runner, Boston qualification, Marathon BQ, Boston marathon

The RunRunLive Podcast Episode 201 – Keira Henninger

Show intro by:

Steve Chopper and that bloke from the Isle of Tyree!

RunRunLive – Podcast Intro

www.evolutionofafatman.com – Marc Smith

Intro:

Hellooo and welcome to the 201st episode of the RunRunLive Podcast.  This is Chris your host and I’ve got a great show for you today. I’m in a good mood.  I don’t know why but I’m just going to go with the flow.  You never know when it might turn into a bad mood.  So from now on I’m just going to spend 45 minutes reading Harlequin romances.  That’s it, not more running for me, just passion filled glances and heaving bosoms… 

No?  Don’t like that idea? Ok, I’ll stick with running for one more show as we enter our third century of narrow casting cuisine.  

We are going to have a nice long chat with Keira Henninger who is a well-known ultr-runner and the race director for several popular ultra-distance races.  It’s a good talk and she shares what drives her and what her vision is. 

I survived the Thanksgiving holiday here stateside but I have to admit that my Spartan diet has taken a hit, but that’s OK because I am back in my comfort zone and have it figured out. I’ll talk a bit about that. 

Someone asked me about how I got into running so I’ll share a story on this as well. 

For you folks who just joined us in episodes 199 and 200, today’s show is more indicative of my usual format.  I got some nice words from some enthusiastic people this week. Thanks for that.  The last two episodes were a bit of a pain to put together so I’m glad you liked them. 

If you want to say something nice you can always go write a review on the iTunes page for RunRunLive.  

I was down in Atlanta this week in all-day meetings and didn’t get many work outs in.  I did ask for special dispensation to wear my Brooks Launches instead of the business shoes.  Those business shoes aggravate my Plantar.  

The Plantar is still there but I went in for Physical Therapy today.  A nice lad named Ryan performed his machinations on me and put me through my paces.  It was good.  

He used the Gaston technique to break up the little knot in my heel.  This is basically digging in there with a metal tool and trying to get all the fibers to line up in the same direction.  I’ll try anything at this point. 

He said my glutes and abductors are weak and, of course, my hamstrings are tight.  He gave me some stretches and exercises to do.  He said I could start doing squats again as part of my routine.  

I said, “Hey, since NOT running isn’t helping, maybe we could try running with this therapy?”  He didn’t bite on it though.  

I do have the Mill Cities Relay this weekend.  I’m a team captain and I’m going to run.  I’ll take the short 2.5 mile leg and take it easy.  I’m like a runaholic, sneaking quick nips of running when no one is looking!

I hope y’all had a great week.  I hope big things are on your horizon.

On with the Show! 

Audio clips in this episode:

MSRunTheUs – Ashley reading from her blog about running. 

A couple poems from Ogden Nash. 

Skits, commercials and parodies in this episode:

Story time:

Equipment Check:

Calorie Confusion - http://www.runrunlive.com/calorie-confusion

Featured Interview:

Keira Henninger – Ultra-runner, race director, mom…

http://keirahenninger.blogspot.com/

http://leonadivide5050.com/leona-divide-5050-trail-race-info.php

Quick Tip:

Cross Country - http://www.runrunlive.com/cross-country

Outro:

http://www.runrunlive.com/the-mid-packers-lament-released-for-kindle

Ok my friends that is it, you have successfully navigated the first of the third century of RunRunLive Podcasts, episode 201 in the can!

Next week I’ve got an interesting interview with author and speaker Jon Gordon.  Not specifically about running but about how to plant your seed in life and find your purpose. 

And I’ll keep finding people to interview until you cry uncle.  I was explaining to my co-workers how Amazon Kindle publishing works this week and someone asked me how I knew so much. I was forced to admit that I had just put my book on Kindle, which was weird, because I keep a Chinese Wall between my work life and my running endeavors.  

Speaking of which apparently 8 of you figured out how to order my book on Kindle, so thanks! Another 3.2 million and I can retire… 

We’re running tight on time this week, so let’s move on!

…

New-Outro

I went to Physical Therapy today.  Because I’m desperate to get back to running.  I think it’s going to help.  

I have ahistory of disparaging PT because it always appeared to me as just something to keep you occupied while your injury healed.  I always figured I know as much about running and mechanics as any of them and I certainly know more about my body than they do.  

Whether it helps or not is not my point today.  My point is that I caught myself in a bad habit.  I caught myself labeling something.  As in “All PT is bad and doesn’t help”.  Whether or not this is ture is beside the point.  

The trap here is that I took the easy way out by creating a blanket bias and lable for something.  I closed my mind to the possibility.  I became a lazy thinker.  And in this way I closed myself off to possibility. 

We get some many inputs in our lives it’s easy to start generalizing just do that we can control all the noise in our minds.  But we have to avoid that trap.  This is the trap of closing your mind to the possibility.  

At best you are walling yourself off from potential. At worst you are starting down that slippery slope of assumption and bias that breeds evil and does harm. 

It’s a common malady of old men to think they know everything.  Let me tell you right now, I do not.  I’m willing to learn something new today.  Are you?

Let’s reassess our biases and learn something together.  I’ll see you out there. 

…

You can find me learning on Twitter, Facebook, DailyMile, YouTube – and Google as cyktrussell that’s Chris yellow king tom Russell with two esses and two ells.  

You can call in something you’ve learned at - 206-339-7804.  Leave a message there it sends an audio file.  

You can learn to do the show intro. It is in the show notes and on the web site –- you will find all the other content on the website www.runrunlive.com 

… 

Great news my running friends – my book of running stories “The Mid-Packer’s Lament” is now available in Kindle format at the Kindle store on Amazon.com!  Just search on “Mid-Pack”.  It’s a bargain at an easy $5 and all proceeds go towards supporting the underfunded pension plan of the retired cleaning staff at the RunRunLive world headquarters. I recently got a kindle myself and I love it.  It does reading very well. 

The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.

To take you out is a pre-release copy of Black Lab’s new song Learn to Crawl from their new unplugged album.  I’m sure you’ll hear some of this on other podcasts because Neil Bearse the running Ninja has tied them heavily into the social media.  Go out and check them out and support them for having faith in us. 

Hasta Luego, 

Music:

From Podsafe:

All music used in the show is from the Podsafe music network found at Music Alley.  Please support the starving, socially minded artists sampled herein by purchasing some!

Song1

the_cymatics-ginger

Song 2-3

the_cymatics-i_never_knock

Outro music:

13 Learn to Crawl – Black Lab - http://blacklabworld.com/

Outro Artists Bio:

Bio:

new acoustic album now available on cd, at itunes

November 30th, 2011

unplugged is now for sale on CD and at iTunes and AmazonMp3, as well as via CD quality download here at black lab world. check out our 5-for-$45 offer or send someone a gift-wrapped CD w/ a note.

click here to preview 7 songs from the record.. thanks to everyone for all your support, for your presales orders and lovely emails, tweets & facebook messages. we deeply appreciate it.

pass the word and help us make this a black lab christmas. p

Standard Links:

http://www.runrunlive.com

http://www.runeratti.com

Http://coolrunning.com

http://Grotonroadrace.com

http://SQRR.org

www.midpackerslament.com

Cyktrussell At gmail and twitter and facebook and youtube

Chris’ book on Amazon – > http://www.amazon.com/Mid-Packers-Lament-collection-running-stories/dp/141961584X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228687012&sr=8-1

Mid-Packer’s Lament E-book

Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy E-Book

Dial in number for RunRunLive is - 206-339-7804

Chris Russell lives and trains in suburban Massachusetts with his family and Border collie Buddy.  Chris is the author of “The Mid-Packer’s Lament”, and “The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy”, short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack.  Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at www.runnerati.com.  Chris’ Podcast, RunRunLive is available on iTunes and at www.runrunlive.com. Chris also writes for CoolRunning.com (Active.com) and is a member of the Squannacook River Runners and the Goon Squad.  

Email me at cyktrussell at Gmail dot com

Running  Podcast, podcasts for running, podcast for runners, free podcast for runners, Running Blog, marathon, triathlon, mileage, sprinting, run, track, training, running clubs, running groups, running shoes, exercise, health, 5k, running, swimming, sports, injuries, stretching, eating, jogging, biking, trail race, 5K, 10K, Ultramarathon, jogging a good exercise, road runner, jogging tips, benefits of jogging, free running, running shoes, marathon training, running, jogging, health and fitness, runners, runner, Boston qualification, Marathon BQ, Boston marathon

The RunRunLive Podcast Episode 200 – Ray Zahab and some Thanksgiving fun

Show intro by:

Steve Chopper and that bloke from the Isle of Tyree!

RunRunLive – Podcast Intro

http://www.runrunlive.com/home/read-the-runrunlive-podcast-intro

Intro:

Hello and welcome to the 200th edition of the RunRunLive podcast.  And this is going to be another special edition.  For you new listeners, I have a set format, but for the last couple weeks I’ve done some special shows that did not follow it.  If you want an idea of what I usually do, go back a few episodes or look on my website www.runrunlive.com in the podcast index.   

We have a great show for you today.  Today is Thanksgiving week here in the US and it is also the 200th show.  In celebration and the spirit of giving thanks I’ve got a new interview with Ray Zahab internationally famous ultra-runner, but to augment that I went down into the basement storage of the RunRunLive world headquarters and managed to slavage a couple of mouse-chewed bits from the last two years.  Hope you enjoy it!

Me? I’m doing fine.  I was back in to see Dr. Hester for my Plantar fasciitis on Monday.  The news wasn’t so good. No change.  He gave me a final Cortisone shot to see if he could get that stubborn swollen fibrous bit down.  As of this week it’s been four months since I’ve run (ignoring of course that long march of the Chicago Marathon in October). 

I am actually quite upbeat.  I’m fairly mature at this point in my running career.  When I’m racing well I have learned to appreciate it and celebrate it.  When I’m hurt or off I am sanguine as well, knowing that ‘this too shall pass’.   

I had to start counting calories last week because even with the vegetable-only diet I was about to pass 200 pounds and that was unacceptable.  I put myself on a fewer than 2000 calorie a day program and have lost 10 pounds in 8 days.  I’ll give you more details in future shows in case you are looking for solutions in that department. 

I’m really happy to have been able to serve you folks over the last few years.  Now, let’s just relax and have some fun today.  You know, studies have shown that 8 hugs a day release the same amount of happy hormones as drug treatment – so get on that when you get back from your run today!

On with the Show! 

Audio clips in this episode:

Steve Chopper from Episode 85

Joe Bears with the ‘Backwards Running’ skit

Two Songs from Colin the resurrected runner.  Ice-bath Baby! And Pain in odd places. 

John Vaughn with some nice words

Kelownagurl with The snot-rockets song

Colin with the Ask Mr. Runner Guy

Shawn with the ‘most interesting runner’. 

Mr. Compulsive Runner guy. 

Skits, commercials and parodies in this episode:

Story time:

Equipment Check:

Featured Segment:

Quick Tip:

Outro:

That’s it, awkward but lovable friends, some of you have survived a 200 episode double ultra marathon to get to the end of yet another RunRunLive Podcast. Episodes 1 – 200 in the can. 

Coming up we have some great shows for you.  We have Lisa Henninger the ultra runner, I got Jon Gordon the inspirational author, and so much more.  It just keeps coming.  

I’m down in Atlanta all wee this week so it will be a push to get a show out, but I’ll strive to completion.  

I survived the Thanksgiving meal at my in-laws but I’m just going to pretend that day never happened in terms of calories.  It will be a mysterious blank spot on the record.  I have been able to get back down into the 188 range and feel a lot better about myself.  

I set a year end goal of 185 pounds but it look like I’ll get to that this week, so I may just keep going and see if I can get really skinny for my come-back training in the spring.  That would be one less thing to worry about. 

I’ve been keeping fit in the pool and lifting weights and riding the stationary bike and doing pool runs, but it just aint the same as a good long run in the woods with the dog. 

…

New-Outro

I’m not going to go deep with you today.  You have to relax and enjoy yourself now and then.  Otherwise you’re at risk of taking yourself too seriously, and we know what happens then. 

As I’ve been working on my calorie counting this week, amidst the absolute hurricane of commercialism we suffer through this time of year, I’ve realized that we need to get better at distinguishing needs from wants.  

Flipping through the Black Friday garbage I was hard pressed to see anything that I need.  I mean really need.  With all the 1% -99% perturbation the same thought comes up.  What do you really need?  It’s not much. 

I’m a lucky guy.  I have everything I need.  I don’t need anything else, but I do need to keep trying to get better. 

Look at Buddy.  He’s the happiest person I know.  He lives simply. He has a handful of kibble and some water each day. He sleeps on the floor and his biggest joy in life is when I come home and when we go for a run. 

I challenge you to make that YOUR biggest joy.  Coming home.  Going for a run in the woods. 

Thanks for hanging out with me.  I’ll see you out there. 

…

You can find me being a social media psychopath on Twitter, Facebook, DailyMile, YouTube – and Google as cyktrussell that’s Chris yellow king tom Russell with two esses and two ells.  

You can call in a question or comment at - 206-339-7804.  Leave a message there it sends an audio file.  

One thing you actually do need to do is read the show intro. It is in the show notes and on the web site –- you will find all the other content on the website www.runrunlive.com 

… 

Great news my running friends – my book of running stories “The Mid-Packer’s Lament” is now available in Kindle format at the Kindle store on Amazon.com!  Just search on “Mid-Pack”.  It’s a bargain at an easy $5 and all proceeds go towards supporting the underfunded pension plan of the retired cleaning staff at the RunRunLive world headquarters. I recently got a kindle myself and I love it.  It does reading very well. 

The Mid-Packer’s Lament is a series of short stories on long distance running, racing and the human comedy inherent in all sports enthusiasts.  This is the perfect book for runners and wannabe runners.  There are stories about training, eating, special places and special races.  There are stories about the accidental athlete in all of us and the stupid things we do for even amateur endeavors.  Whether you are a weekend mid-pack runner or a competitive club runner, you’ll find something thought provoking and amusing that you can relate to in the Mid-Packer’s Lament.

I’ll leave you with another one of Colin’s favorite parody songs, that, by the way, he has two collections of over at his site RessurectedRunner.com if you’d like to procure them  this one is called “Pain in odd places”  Enjoy your week!

Music:

From Podsafe:

All music used in the show is from the Podsafe music network found at Music Alley.  Please support the starving, socially minded artists sampled herein by purchasing some!

Song1

Verdi’s Requiem 

Song 2-3

Outro music:

the_bloodsugars-purpose_was_again

Outro Artists Bio:

Bio:

The Bloodsugars are a four-piece band from New York City, composed of the keyboard, bass, drums, and guitar. Their sound is a amalgamation of indie rock and 80's synth pop with excellent songwriting rooted in the classics of 60/70's pop. Somewhere between The Clash, Of Montreal and Elvis Costello.Standard Links:

http://www.runrunlive.com

http://www.runeratti.com

Http://coolrunning.com

http://Grotonroadrace.com

http://SQRR.org

www.midpackerslament.com

Cyktrussell At gmail and twitter and facebook and youtube

Chris’ book on Amazon – > http://www.amazon.com/Mid-Packers-Lament-collection-running-stories/dp/141961584X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228687012&sr=8-1

Mid-Packer’s Lament E-book

Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy E-Book

Dial in number for RunRunLive is - 206-339-7804

Chris Russell lives and trains in suburban Massachusetts with his family and Border collie Buddy.  Chris is the author of “The Mid-Packer’s Lament”, and “The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy”, short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack.  Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at www.runnerati.com.  Chris’ Podcast, RunRunLive is available on iTunes and at www.runrunlive.com. Chris also writes for CoolRunning.com (Active.com) and is a member of the Squannacook River Runners and the Goon Squad.  

Email me at cyktrussell at Gmail dot com

Running  Podcast, podcasts for running, podcast for runners, free podcast for runners, Running Blog, marathon, triathlon, mileage, sprinting, run, track, training, running clubs, running groups, running shoes, exercise, health, 5k, running, swimming, sports, injuries, stretching, eating, jogging, biking, trail race, 5K, 10K, Ultramarathon, jogging a good exercise, road runner, jogging tips, benefits of jogging, free running, running shoes, marathon training, running, jogging, health and fitness, runners, runner, Boston qualification, Marathon BQ, Boston marathon

The RunRunLive Podcast Episode 199 – The Chicago 2011 Race Round-up

Show intro by: Ed Hidden

RunRunLive – Podcast Intro

http://www.runrunlive.com/home/read-the-runrunlive-podcast-intro

Intro:

Hello and welcome to the RunRunLive Podcast, this is Chris your host.  This is episode 199. This week we have a special episode for you.  Instead of an interview I’m going to give you my multi-media wrap up story of this year’s Chicago marathon.  

For you new listeners, and I think there are a few because I’ve been doing some network building over the last couple weeks, especially in Twitter. I’m up to 8,000 followers on Twitter and more importantly I really enjoy the people I’m meeting.  

It seems that endurance athletes like to connect and there are tons of blogs out there from focused, passionate individuals just like us. 

So for you guys, welcome, I always tell people they have to listen to 3 episodes of any podcast before making a call on whether it’s right for them.  That’s what I do. Allow me a moment to bring you up to speed on the RunRunLive empire…

In this podcast my charter is to entertain, inform and inspire and that mix changes depending on what I’m focused on.  I produce it for myself and what I find interesting, or funny or what has led to my own personal growth over the years.

Content-wise I typically have a couple tips, I talk a little about my stuff and I wrap it all around a 15-20 minute interview with someone interesting.  I try to keep it fast paced so you won’t get bored and I keep it as close to 45 minutes as I can.  That’s my format and it seems to work.  I push one out every Friday morning give or take a few hours. 

Who am I? Well I’m a normal guy who works for a living in a job that requires a fair amount of travel and leadership.  I’m married with kids.  I’ve been running my whole life. I love it.  I’ve never been fast or won anything but I got back into it semi-seriously over the last couple decades and it has become a profound element of my life and lifestyle. 

I like the marathon distance. I like running trails and places I’ve never been before.  I’ve run the ultra-distances.  I’ve dabbled in road biking and triathlons.  I really like endurance mountain biking.  

If you were to listen through the last 198 episodes of this show you’ll join me and my border collie Buddy the Wonder Dog as we work through training and race cycle adventures in all these sports.  

And that’s who we are.  It’s simple.  I don’t strive to be anything else. If I can help you lift the weight of life from the yoke of your shoulders once or twice then I have succeeded. 

This week I’m still injured but I got some good pool workouts in especially because Jake gave me a couple pool interval workouts.  I’ve been doing the stationary bike and the total body workouts but I miss running.  

I had some challenges getting into the pool over the weekend.  I like to work out at night and they close early on Friday through Sunday. The pool is just clogged with little kids in the afternoon.  I actually did the crack of dawn pool workout yesterday and it was rough.  But I will say that if you’re going to work out at the crack of dawn, doing laps in the pool is probably one of the better, more forgiving things you can do. 

I volunteered at the New England Prep School Country Country Championships on Saturday and I got to work the chute.  In a high school level race the kids come through the shoot and it’s important to keep them in order.  The scoring is such that every one of the top 5 kids on a team scores.  That means that changes in order of the 50th kid could change what school wins. 

I was the guy at the finish line calling the finish order and physically putting the kids in order.  It’s hard because some just stop while others keep running through the finish. And some of the kids are in pretty rough shape.  And they come across the line in big groups that you have to sort out.  

It was great fun and, honestly if you haven’t volunteered for a race yet, go do it. You’ll help people, you’ll have fun and you’ll learn something whether it’s a school meet or your local 5k or marathon. 

Going in to see doctor Hester next week. Hopfully I can start training again because we are getting perilously close to the fail-safe point for a good Boston Marathon campaign. 

But, you can’t look too far ahead.  You have to take every day as it comes.  Celebrate today. 

But this is not about me.  If we do it right, sometimes, it’s about us.  Today it’s about YOU! 

On with the Show! 

Audio clips in this episode:

Verdi’s Requiem from Jim Laskey

Audio clips from the race with Eddie Marathon and Adam the ZenRunner…

Skits, commercials and parodies in this episode:

Story time:

Equipment Check:

Featured Segment:

Chicago Marathon 2011 Race Report

On October 11th 2011, I participated in the Chicago marathon.  I ran for the Diabetes Action Team.  I collected over $1500 for the cause.  I was treated well by everyone involved and had fun. 

I met up with and was the guest of Eddie Marathon.  We stayed at Eddie’s Dad’s house and had a great time paling around with Eddie, Adam, Eddie’s Dad, and Eddies extended family out in the suburbs of Chicago.  Eddie gave us a guided tour of his childhood haunts and was an awesome and gregarious host.  Eddie was always smiling. 

This event was precipitate by the death of Eddie’s mom last year from Diabetes.  I listened to Eddie sharing this experience and talking about running Chicago for her and thought to myself, “Her is something simple I can do for someone and make a difference in their lives”.  I have this super-power of endurance running so I might as well use it for good instead of evil. 

Hanging around with Eddie and Adam is a real treat.  You know these guys from clowning around on the various podcasts, but you have to understand that there is much more to them.  Both these guys are successful businessmen and leaders.  Both are smart as hell.  Both have lived lives full of great experience.  We are a good match. 

I was injured for this race.  I had not run since the 5k portion of a triathlon on July 20th.  Apparently training for an ultra-marathon, triathlons and mountain bike ultras all at the same time in old shoes is a bad idea.  Who knew?  I thought I was indestructible.  I still do.  The doctor would not have given me clearance for this race so I didn’t bother to ask him for permission and I didn’t tell him afterwards!  

I’m not badly injured.  I have an achy plantar fasciitis.  I can run on it but shouldn’t because it won’t heal if I use it.  I had registered for the race, made the commitment to the charity and to Eddie, and acquired plane tickets – so as the event neared I had a ‘what the hell’ moment and decided to go for it. 

I figured these guys ran a marathon much slower than my normal pace and I could fake it for 26.2 miles.  I did end up setting a new marathon record of 6:46 that I hope I don’t beat any time soon!

We spent a good amount of time goofing around at the Expo on Saturday.  I bought a nice long-sleeve safety-orange tech shirt.  I tried to avoid picking up any trinkets.  I really have learned that just because it’s free doesn’t mean you want to carry home on a airplane!  Chicago has a big expo.  

We accidently ran into Ray from the Geeks in running podcast and his wife…and his film crew.  That’s right he had a guy following him around with a camera.  Eddie and I had run with Ray at the MojoStloco.  It is so cool to meet old friends.  That’s what I really like about going to big races. You get to meet some great folks.  

The Diabetes Action Team ladies were overwhelmed by us. More specifically by Eddie and Adam who swarmed into their booth and slathered them with so much love and affection that they are all part of the family now.  It was very cool how these ladies just fit into the scene.  It was like we had known them forever, like we grew up with them.  They gave us some great racing hats to wear. 

We spent the night in the kitchen of Eddie’s Dad’s house writing on our Diabetes Action Team Race shirts with black sharpies.  Adam and Eddie wrote their names on the front, I prefer to remain anonymous!  I wrote two columns of names on the back of my shirt. I put a mile number next to each one.  With the hats and the yellow team shirts we looked the part.  We were a team of charity runners.  

1

Race morning we got up early.  I triple taped my plantar with KT-Tape and hockey tape to immobilize it.  We rolled in Eddie’s car down to Chicago listening to tunes and singing in the car. It was still dark when we got there.  They had had to move the charity village due to mud in the park from too much rain.  We had to hike all the way down to the east end of the park to find the Diabetes Action Team Tent.  There were a whole bunch of people in the yellow team shirts all getting ready.  

2

I was loose. There was zero stress for me here.  I had no time expectations and no responsibilities other than to hang out and have fun.  I did my best to pass out tips and wisdom to the first timers.  I helped at least three people  calm down and figure out how to put their D-chips on their shoes.  I held bags for people and laughed and made wise-ass comments.  Chicago has a lot of first-timers in it.  It’s a good race for first-timers, they get lots of company and support. 

3

We were joined by Andy who is a member of The Slow-Runners- Club coaching program put on by Adam and Eddie.  We made our way down to the starting area in a leisurely manner, stopping to help people when we could, giving directions and watching the sun peek over the buildings to the west. 

4

The weather was beautiful.  Sunny and 60’s at the start.  There was no need for gloves, trash bags or throw-away sweats.  Thousands of people were milling around in various states of mental and physical upheaval.  We walked to one of the way-back corrals, I think it was 14, and waited for the thing to start.  

5

We had some excitement while we were standing in the corral.  They closed off the corral entrances and were funneling the towards the back of the park.  People freaked out and started trampling the corral fences like soccer hooligans.  Volunteers and burly Chicago police could not stop them.  

6

I wore my slant-pack so I could carry some food and my hand-held recorder with me.  I had some gels, some Cliff bars and miscellaneous other stuff. I wasn’t racing and I can ‘live off the land’ during the race grabbing whatever is available.  I have a strong stomach.  I carried a bottle of ½ strength Gatorade as is my habit to refill as needed en route. 

7

We were off and it felt great to be in a crowd of marathon runners running again.  We went too fast and Adam was constantly having to ‘call time out’ for walk breaks and reel us in.  The pack was very thick.  Thousands of runners of all shapes and sizes wall-to-wall in the Chicago City streets.  The crowd was lining both sides of the road and participating vigorously in the spectacle.  

8

From the start I recorded a brief audio piece at each mile mark.  I couldn’t read the back of my own shirt so I’d run up to someone and ask them to read a number off the back of my shirt and then engage them in the audio.  It was a fun conceit. 

9

I had one amusing incident where I got yelled at for stopping to walk in the early miles.  It was ironically one of those purple shirt Team in Training folks who was in a big hurry and trying to catch up with someone.  How many times have I had to navigate the purple rolling roadblock in a race?  Karma.  

10

The spectators were great.  They were really into it.  They had signs and noisemakers and the energy level was huge!  Nice people.  Everyone was having a good time. 

11

We were executing a run-walk pace that was a piece of cake for me.  I would call it more of a perambulation than a run.  It gave me a chance to look around, take in the sites, interact with people and move around the course without having to worry about getting burnt out.  

12

Through the first half of the race we rolled pretty easily having a hoot.  I was taking pictures of all the good signs and interesting people.  I got some video too.  Since we were going at such a casual pace I carried my Blackberry with me clipped to my shorts – like I was going to work! I didn’t have to worry about killing it with sweat or having it bounce around.  I was a tourist. 

13

Eddie’s family came out to meet us at various points on the course.  Each time we’d stop and they’d hug and we’d moon for the cameras.  The race is a loop so spectators can get to see contestants multiple times – especially the slower contestants!  This set up a unique déjà vu effect were you’d have the same person with the same sign and same foam finger cheering at you in more than one place.  

14

Eddie and Adam and I were singing a lot.  We sang old Grateful Dead songs and Johnny Cash.  It seemed appropriate.  Eddie and I belted out a rousing rendition of Mannah Mannah at one point to the delight of no one in particular except ourselves. 

15

We ran into the Diabetes Action Team ladies somewhere in the first half of the race on the outside of a sharp corner.  It was like a family reunion.  There were pictures and hugs and congrats all around.  

16

Another interesting phenomenon was when I pulled over to take pictures of something. More than once a spectator would see the shirt and thank me.  No kidding.  I had one guy pull up his shirt and show me his insulin pump.  I was running all over the course taking pictures.  I wasn’t going to get lost and I could catch up. 

17

Somewhere around the half-way point Eddie told me he was worried about Adam.  It was still fairly early in the race and Adam was starting to hurt.  I laughed it off and continued my flitting about, but our pace was slowing and we were walking a lot.  

18

We were moving back in the pack.  Way back.  When we got to the water stops there were thousands and thousands of empty cups swept to the curb in large piles.  Berms of empty cups.  Since it was a hot day there were sponge stations. They had filled kiddie pools with sponges.  By the time we got to these there were thousands of sponges in the road like a wet moonwalk. 

19

Some people were spraying the runners with garden hoses. Note to spectators: not everyone wants to get sprayed! I had my electronics with me and did not want them getting doused.  

20

It was fun to see all the different neighborhoods.  They came out for the race and had themes.  There was way more participation by the neighborhoods than when I ran it in the late 90’s. 

21

We hit the ½ mark in a time that I would normally run a marathon in.  After the ½ way mark we really slowed down.  Adam was having cramps so we walked.  I had nowhere else to be and I was going to stick with those guys no matter what.  I had no dog in this fight. 

22

There were lots of charity runners out on the course with us.  I saw many charities I knew like Back on my Feet and Girls on the Run. 

23

Somewhere around 16 miles Eddie’s family met us again.  We were really moving slowly now.  Eddie came over to me and said he needed to go ahead and spend some time thinking about his mom.  I stayed with Adam and we continued to fight the good fight. 

24

We struggled to the 20 mile mark and Adam was running with handfuls of ice from the aid stations stuffed in his shorts for his thighs.  He was miserable.  

26

By this time we had fallen back enough that they were breaking down the water stops and cleaning up as we went by.  Some of the later aid stations had food and I took some gels and banana chunks because I had eaten everything I brought with me.  The banana station was interesting.  By the time Adam and I came through 30,000 other runners had thrown banana peels on the ground and stepped on them. It was a carpet of brown gooeyness. 

27

I was tired.  Not ‘running tired’ but ‘being out in the sun all day on the cement tired’.  My feet were hot and sore.  Surprisingly my Plantar felt ok.  I was ready to be done.  I Looked at my watch and said to Adam, “We’re still 5 miles away and we’re only going two miles an hour.”  He rallied. He started forcing himself to run to specific landmarks.  He dug deep. 

28

I had never been this far back in the pack in a major marathon before.  The people were interesting.  There were people that a 6 hour marathon was their pace, their fitness level and they were grinding it out, God love ‘em.  There were unfit and obese people working hard to finish, God love them too.  There were people who obviously hoped to have a better day but something had gone horribly wrong and now they were back with us doing the death march.  There were injured people with knee braces and limps of all sorts.  

29

The pack had thinned out  as we moved farther back  There weren’t as many people but I tried to talk to anyone I came in contact with.  There wasn’t as much churn and we were with the same groups of folks for a few miles towards the end.  

Looking around it was like a zombie march for the most part.  People were struggling.  Walking and jogging they were just trying to get to the end.  It was a bit grim.  The latter parts of the course are a bit more industrial and it was a hot day.  There was no protection from the sun on the concrete.  We were all just hot and tired and ready to get home to the finish. 

30

We saw and heard lots of ambulances during the last few miles.  I put some Grateful Dead from Pandora on my BlackBerry to see if I could get Adam to cheer up a bit.  He was a Grateful Dead groupie in a past life.  

As we got close to the finish I went into my crazy coach routine, yelling at people to have ‘courage’ and dig deep and we were almost home and to have a strong heart and all that.  

31

Eventually we rounded the corner into the park.  I ran the last stretch across the finish line.  I handed my phone to a course official, dropped and did 20 pushups, like I said I would.  There was no crowd to see them.  Of the 36000 or so participants that finished, we ended up finishing ahead of about 600.  We got our beers and our medals and went off to find Eddie at the charity tents.  

My feet were swollen from so much time on the hot concrete.  I wasn’t particularly dehydrated or chaffed in any bad ways just tired.  

32

The next day when we got up I was soooo sore.  I haven’t been that sore after a race in years.  My quads were screaming in pain.  I couldn’t walk down the stairs.  I think it was because I hadn’t run and hadn’t trained for the race, but also just the sheer number of steps I must have taken when flitting around the course. 

That’s it.  That’s my Chicago 2011 Race report.  I had a blast hanging out with Eddie and Adam.  I managed to raise some money for Diabetes research.  It has to be noted that this is my first experience with fund-raising and charity running and I found it to be quite positive.  I do have mixed feelings about a 6:46 finish time but life is an adventure and you can’t say you appreciate everything without experiencing it firsthand!  

Quick Tip:

Outro:

That’s it you have run a marathon with me today in episode 199 of the RunRunLive Podcast and that is now in the can! 

Next week we have our 200th episode and I got Ray Zahab to come back on for a chat.  Nothing special just another of our weekly celebrations of the endurance lifestyle. 

I did finally corral Keira Henninger ultra-runner and race director of such famous or infamous gems as the Leona Divide.  I also got Author Jon Gordon to come back on to talk about his new book “the Seed” that is a parable about finding your purpose in life. 

If you’ve been listening you know I’ve been eating a plant-based diet in an attempt to stabe off the weight gain that I get when I’m not running.  I was quite frustrated over the past few weeks to still be gaining 1-2 pounds a week even with my cross-training routine and the plant based diet. 

In a fit of desperation I started tracking my calories this week and figured out that I was still sucking down well over 3,000 calories a day with nuts and other high-calorie plant-based foods.  I started measuring it and trying to stay under 2000 calories a day.  This was on Tuesday.  Today is Thursday.  Lo-and-behold I weighed in 7 pounds lighter at lunch today.  That was a bit of an ‘aha!’ moment for me as well as a bit of a ‘Duh!’ 

Such a simple thing to do and apparently I cracked the code.  I’m using a web-site called sparkpeople.  It is free but you have to immediately unsubscribe from the torrent of email they send you and turn off their meal plans which evidently were designed by the Dairy industry.  Once you get it set up with your favorite foods it’s easy. 

I have signed up to run the short leg in the Mill Cities Relay on December 5th and frankly I’m ready to say screw the injury and run through it!  For the want of a plantar the horse was lost. 

That clip I played earlier was a piece of Verdi’s Requiem and I think the RunRunLive Vice President of editing Jim Laskey was one of the performers, cool huh? 

…

New-Outro

I read Jon Gordon’s book ‘the Seed’ this week and talked to John about it and it was quite interesting.  Jon’s books are not complex or difficult but they have thought provoking themes.  

It’s not a deep book like Tolstoy’s ‘Resurrection’ or Pirsig’s ‘Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance’ but it does deal with that same universal question of “why am I here?”  and “What’s my Purpose?” 

The theme of “the Seed” is about finding your purpose.  There are a few important take-aways.  First one is that finding your purpose is not something that happens overnight. It is a journey.  

A seed has to be planted.  Meaning you have to start the journey.  You have to make a conscious decision to start your journey.  Then you once you have planted the seed you need to allow it to grow.  You can’t be in a rush. 

The question then is “where do I plant my seed?” I see people making the mistake that they should do something that makes them happy in order to fulfill their purpose or idealizing some profession like being a florist or a writer.  Many times, like running for me, this isn’t really a purpose, at best it’s a vehicle, at worst it’s a hobby. 

Don’t immediately assume that you should quit your job and open a shoe store.  A vocation is not a purpose and your purpose can be served in any vocation.  

Another great point is that you shouldn’t expect it to be easy.  You should expect to succeed but you should understand that your road in life will be filled with tests and obstacles.  That’s life.  But, if you have a purpose you are passionate about you can happily get through the hard spots. 

You don’t have to quit your job.  You can decide to grow right where you are by bringing a passion and a purpose to what you are doing right now.  When you do this. When you are that positive, hard-working, passionate individual opportunities will manifest no matter where you apply your purpose.  

Live life like it matters and it makes life matter.  Think hard on that.  

You can manifest your purpose anywhere, any time.  

I was trying to think abot what my purpose is.  All I could come up with is that I bring order to chaos, and sometimes I bring chaos to order, and I lead people through both. 

What’s your purpose?  What are you going to do to find it?  Where will you plant your seed? 

As we’re looking I’ll see you out there. 

…

You can find me looking for my purpose on Twitter, Facebook, DailyMile, YouTube – and Google as cyktrussell that’s Chris yellow king tom Russell with two esses and two ells.  

Purposely call in a question or comment at - 206-339-7804.  Leave a message there it sends an audio file.  

Bring your passion and purpose to us by reading the show intro. It is in the show notes and on the web site –- you will find all the other content on the website www.runrunlive.com 

I’ll leave you contemplating that rather large ball of yarn with a song called -purpose_was_again by the  the_bloodsugars

Music:

From Podsafe:

All music used in the show is from the Podsafe music network found at Music Alley.  Please support the starving, socially minded artists sampled herein by purchasing some!

Song1

Verdi’s Requiem 

Song 2-3

Outro music:

the_bloodsugars-purpose_was_again

Outro Artists Bio:

Bio:

The Bloodsugars are a four-piece band from New York City, composed of the keyboard, bass, drums, and guitar. Their sound is a amalgamation of indie rock and 80's synth pop with excellent songwriting rooted in the classics of 60/70's pop. Somewhere between The Clash, Of Montreal and Elvis Costello.Standard Links:

http://www.runrunlive.com

http://www.runeratti.com

Http://coolrunning.com

http://Grotonroadrace.com

http://SQRR.org

www.midpackerslament.com

Cyktrussell At gmail and twitter and facebook and youtube

Chris’ book on Amazon – > http://www.amazon.com/Mid-Packers-Lament-collection-running-stories/dp/141961584X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228687012&sr=8-1

Mid-Packer’s Lament E-book

Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy E-Book

Dial in number for RunRunLive is - 206-339-7804

Chris Russell lives and trains in suburban Massachusetts with his family and Border collie Buddy.  Chris is the author of “The Mid-Packer’s Lament”, and “The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy”, short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack.  Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at www.runnerati.com.  Chris’ Podcast, RunRunLive is available on iTunes and at www.runrunlive.com. Chris also writes for CoolRunning.com (Active.com) and is a member of the Squannacook River Runners and the Goon Squad.  

Email me at cyktrussell at Gmail dot com

Running  Podcast, podcasts for running, podcast for runners, free podcast for runners, Running Blog, marathon, triathlon, mileage, sprinting, run, track, training, running clubs, running groups, running shoes, exercise, health, 5k, running, swimming, sports, injuries, stretching, eating, jogging, biking, trail race, 5K, 10K, Ultramarathon, jogging a good exercise, road runner, jogging tips, benefits of jogging, free running, running shoes, marathon training, running, jogging, health and fitness, runners, runner, Boston qualification, Marathon BQ, Boston marathon

The RunRunLive Podcast Episode 198 – Joeseph Tame

Show intro by:

Joeseph Tame

RunRunLive – Podcast Intro

http://www.runrunlive.com/home/read-the-runrunlive-podcast-intro

Intro:

Two guys stand on a cliff with their arms outstretched. One has some budgies lined up on each arm, the other has parrots lined up on his arms.

After a couple of minutes, they both leap off the cliff and fall to the ground.

Laying next to each other in intensive care at the hospital, one guy says to the other, "I don't think much of this budgie jumping."

The other guy replies, "Yeah, I'm not too keen on this paragliding either."

Hello, Konishiwa , mushi mushi and welcome to Nippon runners’ podcast.  Where we race like samurai around Budokan and Shijuku Taking in all that the great metropolis has to offer. 

No not really – but this is the RunRunLive Podcast and we are talking with Joeseph today about his shenanigans on the streets of Tokyo.  Great talk.  He’s a pro. 

I’ve been in Atlanta all week at meetings.  I got some great workouts in over the weekend. The way it’s been working out over the last couple weeks is that I can get to the pool on weekends so I do some longer workouts then.  

The heel still aches. No change. 

I’ve also started trying to work in some longer walks – the dog is quite happy with this.  Swim, bike, walk, lift.  Definitely losing fitness.  But I’ll get it back I’ always do. 

I’m holding steady at just under 200 pounds which is quite uncomfortable for me.  I’m still eating mostly plant-based but I have to make some exceptions when I’m traveling because they try to sneak cheese and dairy into everything.  I made a really good and simple veggie chili on Saturday night.  Then I put the leftovers on a pizza shell for Sunday night! 

Life’s weird.  But I still say we’re lucky to have it. On with the show. 

Audio clips in this episode:

Joeseph Tame – see below for links. 

the_fump-cruisin_for_chicks_on_google_maps_by_tom_smith

Skits, commercials and parodies in this episode:

Story time:

Equipment Check:

Boston Standards for old guys - http://www.runrunlive.com/what%E2%80%99s-the-best-age-to-qualify-for-boston

Featured Interview:

Joeseph Tame - http://josephta.me/

 I'm a Tokyo-based Brit orginally from Herefordshire, now living with my wife in Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo. I'm a freelance digital media producer, consultant, inventor, entrepreneur, public performance artist and marathon runner. Sometimes I combine all of these into one. I love photography, artistic running, all things Apple, and making people smile.

Quick Tip:

Let me tell you about my book - http://www.runrunlive.com/let-me-tell-you-about-my-book

Outro:

That’s it you have Danced with a Geisha in your kimono to the end of yet another  RunRunLive Podcast episode 198 in the can.  

Next week – I think I’m chatting with Veteran ultra racer and race director Keira Henninger.  I may try to sneak in that Chicago Race report I owe you.  See, you can tell I’m conflicted about that Chicago race.  After that we have Ray Zahab.  Lots of good chats lined up. 

Since it is budget time of year I have a bunch of gear coming my way to test. Some folks in New Zealand are going to hook me up with some performance wool including some awesome underwear!  Free stuff is one of my favorite things! 

I got a few of you to send me photos or any other visuals for my chicken soup outro book.  I could use more. If you don’t send stuff I’ll just take pictures of the dog and that won’t be any good.  

Didn’t have much time to work on any projects this week, but I did buy a kindle – so I guess I’ll have to get the Kindle version of my books up! All in good time.  All in good time. 

…

New-Outro

I was thinking a lot this weekend about managing change, leading people in times of change and growth.  How to you improve?

You have to have a solid vision that everyone can get behind, but that is not all.   You really have to make it simple.  

The vision describes some desired future state of greatness.  But you can’t focus on being great, that’s too vague.  You have to focus on getting better.  How do you do one or two things better today?  It has a lot to do with practicing and mastering your capabilities. 

A vision without mastery of the steps to get there has no support, it’s a mirage. 

For you as an individual this absolutely applies.  To meet your personal vision, your goals, you have to focus on getting better. How can I do this thing better today than I did yesterday?  

I recommend the same thing in a long training program.  You can’t focus on the enormity of the training plan and the thing at the end.  You have to get up and take it a day at a time.  Trust your plan and try to execute each workout as well as you can.  Trust that if you focus day in and day out on the task at hand you will at the end meet your big goal. 

The same is true in a long race.  If you focus on the finish line you may never get there.  IT’s too big.  You have to focus on what you are doing now, your pace, your form and the next telephone pole and then, eventually, you will get across the finish line. 

Sometimes I get worn out thinking about the things I have to accomplish.  They loom so large that I just don’t want to start.  It is at these times that I decide to just do something, try to do that one step, to start to do a piece of the work, to try to get better, and then the projects come to me. 

And it boils down to this.  Don’t focus on being good.  Focus on getting better.  Don’t focus on winning, focus on how you are going to win. 

Let me know if you have any questions! And I’ll see you out there. 

…

You can find me trying to get better at Twitter, Facebook, DailyMile, YouTube – and Google as cyktrussell that’s Chris yellow king tom Russell with two esses and two ells.  

Call in a question or comment at - 206-339-7804.  Leave a message there it sends an audio file.  

I got some good intro’s last week but always need more! read the show intro.  It is in the show notes and on the web site –- you will find all the other content on the website www.runrunlive.com 

Outro song = supraluxe-tokyo See ya next week. 

Music:

From Podsafe:

All music used in the show is from the Podsafe music network found at Music Alley.  Please support the starving, socially minded artists sampled herein by purchasing some!

Song1

the_rubinoos-go_go_go_tokyo

Song 2-3

deep_purple-woman_from_tokyo-live

Outro music:

supraluxe-tokyo

Outro Artists Bio:

Bio:

Supraluxe is a Minneapolis trio. By wrapping themes of loss, anxiety, alienation and love in the gloss of shiny summerpop, Supraluxe has created an exuberantly melancholy work. (Broadcaster's note: I've been asked to provide pronunciation for Supraluxe. It's pronounced soo-pra-lux)

Standard Links:

http://www.runrunlive.com

http://www.runeratti.com

Http://coolrunning.com

http://Grotonroadrace.com

http://SQRR.org

www.midpackerslament.com

Cyktrussell At gmail and twitter and facebook and youtube

Chris’ book on Amazon – > http://www.amazon.com/Mid-Packers-Lament-collection-running-stories/dp/141961584X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1228687012&sr=8-1

Mid-Packer’s Lament E-book

Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy E-Book

Dial in number for RunRunLive is - 206-339-7804

Chris Russell lives and trains in suburban Massachusetts with his family and Border collie Buddy.  Chris is the author of “The Mid-Packer’s Lament”, and “The Mid-Packer’s Guide to the Galaxy”, short stories on running, racing, and the human comedy of the mid-pack.  Chris writes the Runnerati Blog at www.runnerati.com.  Chris’ Podcast, RunRunLive is available on iTunes and at www.runrunlive.com. Chris also writes for CoolRunning.com (Active.com) and is a member of the Squannacook River Runners and the Goon Squad.  

Email me at cyktrussell at Gmail dot com

Running  Podcast, podcasts for running, podcast for runners, free podcast for runners, Running Blog, marathon, triathlon, mileage, sprinting, run, track, training, running clubs, running groups, running shoes, exercise, health, 5k, running, swimming, sports, injuries, stretching, eating, jogging, biking, trail race, 5K, 10K, Ultramarathon, jogging a good exercise, road runner, jogging tips, benefits of jogging, free running, running shoes, marathon training, running, jogging, health and fitness, runners, runner, Boston qualification, Marathon BQ, Boston marathon