The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-471 – Cody Walks the USA Part Two  (Audio: link) audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4471.mp3] Link MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks - Chris’ other show à Intro: Hello my friends and welcome to episode 4-471 of the RunRunLive Podcast.  Good morning.  It’s Monday Morning the 17th of January.  Today is Martin Luther Kings Jr. Day here in the states.  We are having a storm over New England today.  It started snowing after midnight last night and changed over to a heavy rain just around sunrise.  I got up and did my best to clear the driveway before it got too wet.   In a storm like this where it snows then rains the conditions for snow removal get pretty dicey.  The rain turns the snow to slush and it’s hard to move. It chokes the snow blower and gets very heavy.  Then, even worse, if you don’t move it and it freezes it becomes solid ice.  And it’s going to stay there until spring.  But I got most of it up, which is good because now the rain will helpfully wash the remnants I missed away. In our neck of the woods it’s known as Heart-attack snow.  Because it gets so heavy that when people try to shovel it they keel over.  For people like me with a strong heart it’s more appropriately chiropractor snow.  Because when you go to throw a shovel full of that slush you’re more than likely going to hurt your back.  Now it’s just pouring rain and windy.  Glad I don’t have a run on the calendar for today.  The running is going well. I did a test mile yesterday, which was another interesting weather day.  It was minus 1 degrees Fahrenheit when I got up.  It was about 6 degrees when I got to the rail trail.  The temperature was cold, but it was windless and sunny.  It was not a bad day to run.  I found out from my Buddy Tim who lives by the rail trail that they had plowed a section and it was dry and clear.  Which was perfect for the workout I had.  It was a one mile warm up.  A test mile.  And a three-mile cool down.  You’re supposed to do these workouts on the track, but the track is under a layer of snow and ice so that isn’t going to happen.  It was hard to warm up with the temperature.  I hit the test mile and felt pretty strong for the first 1/2.  The last ½ was a struggle.  Looking at the data, I can see my pace drop and my HR max out in that second half.  So I still have some work to do with my fitness.  That being said, it was 30 seconds or so faster than when I ran it on the track in December.  It’s a good measuring stick.   Now I know I need to work on aerobic fitness and pacing. I’m only running 15 – 20 miles a week, 2-3 times a week so I’m happy to be where I am at all.  The knee is hanging in there. It is just about 11 months since the injury popped up.  The holidays were good.  I took a week off, but caught a cold from my mother, so I spent most of it lying around.  It might be the time of year, but I find my energy level very low right now.  Now that we’re back to work I’m incredibly busy and struggling to keep my head on straight.  Today we are going to catch up with Cody O’Connor who is still walking across the country.  Very interesting conversation. My normal editor Dimitry from Moscow was busy, so Carlos the Jackal di the edit on this one.  Thank you Carlos.  In section one I’ll talk some more about how to begin a fitness practice as part of my beginner series.  In section two I’ll talk to Sigmond Freud about how I feel about not running Boston this year. I’ve signed up for the Calm meditation app and have been working my way through some of those.  The ones I’ve been doing are more instructional.  They talk about a topic and how to approach it in your meditation.  One I was listening to this week talked about how when you have pain in your life your need to accept the pain, not fight it.  Because, when you fight it, you give it energy.  The key is to accept it.  Then it loses its ability to hurt you. The other thing is not letting thoughts of the past or the future give you stress.  To return to the now, because that’s the state you can control.  It reminded me of the racing advice I’ve always given you.  When things get hard relax into the pain.  Be present where you are and focus on relaxing into the stress.  In this way you defang the pain and allow your best self to compete. Try that. On with the show.         About Zero ZERO — The End of Prostate Cancer is the leading national nonprofit with the mission to end prostate cancer. ZERO advances research, improves the lives of men and families, and inspires action. Link to my ZERO page: (for Donations) … I’ll remind you that the RunRunLive podcast is ad free and listener supported.  What does that mean? It means you don’t have to listen to me trying to sound sincere about Stamps.com or Audible.. (although, fyi, my MarathonBQ book is on audible) We do have a membership option where you can become a member and as a special thank you, you will get access to member’s only audio. There are book reviews, odd philosophical thoughts, zombie stories and I curate old episodes for you to listen to.  I recently added that guy who cut off is foot so he could keep training and my first call with Geoff Galloway.   “Curated” means I add some introductory comments and edit them up a bit.  So anyhow – become a member so I can keep paying my bills.   … The RunRunLive podcast is Ad Free and listener supported.  … Section one – 24 Hour Fast - Voices of reason – the conversation Cody O'Connor – Cody Runs the USA for Cancer Families   Cody O'Connor My name is Cody O'Connor and after defeating cancer, losing my right fibula and being told I’d never walk normally again- I am embarking on the quest to walk across the USA. When fighting, I saw how my temporary illness was impacting my family. Seeing the struggles they faced I created Champions Do Overcome, a 501(c)3 non profit organization. CDO, supports families through paying monthly bills, providing food/gas, etc. which reduces stress on the family, and ensures no child is left to fight the beast alone. All of this to spread hope to all that need it coast to coast, and change the outcome for children battling pediatric cancer. Please follow our journey @overcomerteam on Instagram. Please consider donating to our cause at: Fundraiser by Cody O'Connor : Walk For Hope - Cross USA Walk For Cancer Relief (gofundme.com)   Companies Involved: Kroger & affiliates,  Infinit Nutrition, Altra Running, MyMedic, Dude Wipes, MyFanThreads, Groov App, GermX, Sacan Martial Arts, Feedback Audiology Solutions & Consulting Influencers Involved:   Rich Franklin (UFC Hall of Famer), Ben Higgins (Bachelor Star Season 20), Ashley I and Jared Haibon (Bachelor in Paradise), Harvey Lewis (Team USA 24 Hr. Run Team), and Pete Kostelnick (Record for running across USA)   Section two – Turning difficult work situations to your advantage -   Outro   Ok my friends we have walked across ½ of the US of A to the end of episode 4-471 of the RunRunLive Podcast.  Nothing left but a small mountain range between us and the Pacific.   After the holidays I’m back on my diet.  I had ballooned up to well over 190 pounds by laying about and drinking beer.  I’m making progress.  The first 10 are easy.  I’m using MyFitnessPal to track my food.  It’s as good as any and I’ve got data in there going back a few years.  Looking at the data I’ve held the line for the most part around 180 or less for the last few years.   There was a point I dipped under 170.  I’m more about eating healthy than losing weigh per se, but having the data somehow gives me confidence.  If you’re interested I can tell you what I’m doing, but it’s basically cutting back calories and eating clean.  Mostly it’s not drinking beer.  Ollie Wolly the killer Collie is having a hard time with the weather.  I can’t get him out as much as I want.  I’m doing all of my running on the roads and I don’t want him to get hurt.  We just got through another round of training.  He’s getting quite good on the leash.  I wish I had more time to practice with him.  Off the leash he’s still a feral terror-dog.   We average about once a week having a disagreement where he ends up biting me.  I bought a new pair of shoes.  I actually bought two pair.  I haven’t been running so I haven’t needed new shoes.  First I ordered a pair of Hoka Mach 4, because I likes the way they looked, but when I ran in them I didn’t like the feel at all.  So I exchanged them for a pair of Cliftons.  I really liked the old Cliftons , but the recent versions haven’t been as good.  These new ones are the Clifton 8’s.  I really like them.  They are light and responsive.  I’ll let you guy get on with your lives.  Sorry for being late.  I’ve got a lot on my plate.  And don’t worry about the weather, grey skies are going to clear up, So, Put on a happy face, And I’ll see you out there.   MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks - Rachel -> Coach Jeff ->  

The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast New Year 2022 Episode  (Audio: link) audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/ NewYear2022.mp3] Link RunRunLive New Year 2022 Welcome my friends to the new year.  NewYear2022 There will be no net-new episode this week for several reasons.  In no particular order, first, it was the holidays for me, second, I was on vacation this week from work, third I had a cold… I could go on making up rationalizations like a crazy man listing alternate realities on the street corner of a dirty industrial zone – but I’ll leave it there.  The biggest reason we are not doing a ‘regular’ show is that I didn’t find anyone to talk to. Instead, today, I’m going to catch you up on my training and give you some frameworks to think about for your beginning of year retrenchment. … On the training front, I’ve continued to increase my mileage and the knee feels good. I do notice a couple little twinges still, when I’m toeing off on uphills, but nothing crazy.  I’m slow, unfit and heavy – but had a good week of training and feel very confident about the future.  Been getting some solid runs in and lots of cross training.  I’ve been following a Galloway based plan that is 3 runs a week.  My long run last weekend was 11.5 miles.  It’s funny how all training plans converge.  Meaning the elements of this plan are the same as any other plan when you look at it from the building block perspective.  One day is basically speed work.  The other day is basically tempo and the third day is the long run.  In between days are cross training.  Some pool running, some biking, some swimming and some walking. The Galloway part of the plan is taking walk breaks.  That’s the difference and we’ve talked about that before.  The actual plan structure is the same as most marathon training plans that are based on a weekly cadence.  Speed, Tempo, Long and cross training to build base.  It’s a 2-week macro-cycle.  Meaning the long run gets longer every other week.  Long week, fall back week.  This every-other-week macro-cycle is designed to give you the most recovery possible. The whole plan is about recovery.  It’s about gaining mileage without stress.  The 4 days that you aren’t running are supposed to be cross training.  The plan isn’t all that prescriptive about cross training.  You can bike, walk, swim or any other type of light cardio.  It really likes pool-running as a cross training workout.  Pool running gives you many of the benefits of running without stress.  … Why am I training this way?  Because I’m coming off a long stress injury in the left knee.  This is allowing me to train and heal at the same time.  My goal in this training cycle is not a time or distance goal.  My goal is to get to the starting line healthy.  Since it’s a Galloway-based plan, we have to talk about running and walking.   I started out with the bare minimum of running because I was frankly terrified of how my knee would respond. That bare minimum is a 30 second run then a 30 second walk.   Let me tell you, my friends, if you think you are at rock bottom and are afraid to start your running practice, the 30/30 is the way to go.  You cannot get hurt, you cannot get tired, you can’t get sore running a 30/30.  From there I have started to judiciously increase the run segments.  Last week I ran my long run at a 60/30cadence.  This week I’ve been using a 90/30 cadence.   The difference is, well, besides the obvious, that it allows you to work your pace a bit better with the longer run intervals.  It allows your heart rate to come up into the higher zones.  And it significantly lowers your pace per mile.  I’m going to keep pushing that cadence as I progress through the training cycle to see if I ca get to something like a 240/30 which would be 4 minutes of running with a 30 second walk break.  Based on my calculations, believe it or not, that would make a sub-4-hour marathon possible.  I also ran a test mile at the track a couple weeks back.  I think I came in right around an 8-minute mile.  I can work with that.  As I change age groups this year, I only need a 3:50 marathon to requalify.  Which is an 8:45 minutes per mile.  If I add this data to the flashes of competence that I get in my workouts – I’m feeling quite positive that I’ll be able to do something good with my fitness in this next season.  The world is my oyster. And what the hell does that mean?  Well, my friends, we have our old friend Billy Shakespeare to thank for that one.  It’s dialogue in “The Merry Wives of Windsor”.  “The world is mine oyster and I shall open it with my sword.” But, the modern usage is that when you have a nice fresh oyster, you can open it up and maybe there’s a pearl in there? So – ‘the world’s your oyster’ simply means it’s like an unopened gift, full of potential, waiting to be found.  Speaking of Boston, I’m going to skip the race this year.  I’m out of qualification.  I’d have to commit to an $8-10k charity raise for a waver bib.  I don’t want to do that.  I’ve got enough going on that I choose not to add a full-time fund-raising job to my life.  But, also, I need a change.  I think it’s a mentally healthy decision to take a break.  Instead, I’m going to take this training cycle and run a travel race somewhere. I’ve been taking Ollie out on these runs with me.  He’s still a nut-job.  I have to keep him on the leash and it’s work in progress.  I’d like to think he’s getting better, but I it’s more likely he’s just waiting for me to get exhausted and give up.  We went out and did a slow 5.5 miler with my old running buddies this morning in the rain and the knee still feels good.  Now that we’re out of the holidays and looking at a new year I feel positive.  Positive that there is lots of opportunity for learning and growth and adventure in this new year.  This new year is my oyster.  … Now let’s talk about planning this next year coming up.  I’m purposely not using the words ‘goals’ or ‘resolutions’ because those topics have been done to death. They have ceased to be a topic and have turned into more of a meme of sorts. I do think the new year is a great time to reassess, maybe readjust, and maybe, even change direction.  Because you have that built in down time and introspection, with maybe a sweet dose of family and spirituality tossed in that breaks your work-a-day pattern and allows a free peep outside your box. I’m not going to be proscriptive.  I’m going to give you some things to think about.  Some ammunition, some fodder or some raw materials – the kindling of thought as you build your beacon fire on the shores of your future. First, this is no normal end of year change over.  This is a unique situations where we are all a bit emotionally and psychologically whiplashed by the pandemic.  We thought we were at the end of it and things were getting better, but WHOMP! – we’re back in the think of plague days again. What this does to you psychologically is to create a gap in expectations.  And not just for you, but for everybody, so you get this cultural shockwave, this existential ‘oh shit here we go again’, just as people were beginning to stretch out and breathe again.  For the introverted among us this will cause you to want to hide. Your reaction will be to crawl under the covers and wrap the pillow around your head.  For the action-oriented among us this is going to cause your flight or flight to get kicked into high gear.  In all cases, when you mix this psychological stewyness with your new year planning you might overcorrect.   Be careful to think hard about whether you are making the change that is right for you or if, like the rest of us, you are making decisions and plans based on the current state of weirdness we’re all in.  Ask yourself a simple question: “If there was not pandemic would I be making the same decisions?”  Again, I’m not saying you’re wrong.  I’m asking you to think.  To consider.  To not let current state overwhelm future state.  The second question I’ve advised people to ask during these planning processes is “Are you doing this because you think you should?”  Meaning, is this really your decision?  Or are you taking actions based on what other people think is the right thing to do?  What’s an example?  For instance, you may be looking at a new job because the experts say it is the next step in your career path.  But who are they to tell you what is your career path?  I see people stuck in patterns where they go along to the next thing because that’s what they are ‘supposed to do’.  Along with this, making sure it’s your idea and not someone else’s is the concept of removing the ‘either-or’ facet from the decision.  Decisions get wrapped in stress because we see them as ‘either-or’ decisions.  There really are no either-or decisions.  All choices are good choices, and you are choosing one among many.  The reason I bring this up is because people burn so much energy trying to find the perfect solution.  You can take that energy and re-task it to make any of your potential decisions a good one.   Give yourself a break.  Let yourself make a decision or a change or a plan – knowing that it isn’t perfect.  Nothing is. You make it perfect with you nurturing.  It’s ok. Finally, in the end success is not being the smartest or then best or the most perfect.  It is exactly the opposite.  Success is trying things that are hard, knowing that you are probably going to fail.  It is about failing and learning and failing and learning and laughing your way through it all to evolve into whatever magical beast you were meant to be.  With that, my friends, happy new year 2022 and I’ll see you out there.          

The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-470 – Kristina and Rediscovering Yourself Through Running  (Audio: link) audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4470.mp3] Link   Zero Prostate Cancer 2021 Boston - MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks - Chris’ other show à Intro: Hello my friends and welcome to episode 4-470 of the RunRunLive Podcast.  I raced shortly after we last talked.  That’s right, the Mill Cities Relay.  I’ve been running this race with the club since 1995.  This year I put together a great team.  I had my regular running buddies Frank, Brian and Tim and invited Just Plain Dave up from Southern Mass to run with us.  I’m going to drop Dave’s race-report audio in here because I think it expresses the special nature of this event way better than I am capable of doing. It’s a 5-leg relay that starts in Nashua NH and follows the Merrimack River through Hudson, Chelmsford, Lowell, Dracut and ends in Lawrence.  It’s all the local running clubs and it’s a really special event.  We got great weather – 40’s and windless.  Dave kicked it off with a 6 ish mile leg, handed off to Brian for a 4.75-mile leg, then to me for a 2.5 mile leg, Tim for the long 9 miler and Frank with another 4.75 on the anchor into Lawrence.  Those guys crushed it.  I took the short leg because I’m a mess, but I figured I could manage 2.5 miles.  I’m pretty sure I could write a whole race report on that 2.5 miles.  It was a real eyeopener for me.  I didn’t realize how much fitness I’ve lost.  I came out of the handoff running hard.  There was a woman there beside me, so I pushed a little to get in front of her and out of her way.  I know this section of road like the back of my hand.  I used to work right there. I ran right past my old office.   I would run this road 3-4 times a week.  I got less than a ¼ mile into the leg and all the warning lights on my control panel started flashing red and sirens were going off.  It was like I had never run before in my life.  My body was telling me I was going to die.  First my body said “Hey, you can’t breathe, you’re having an asthma attack – you’re going to pass out.” And I said “that is ridiculous I don’t have asthma”, just clean up the form, breathe and relax…”  Then it said, “Oh my god dude, you are having a heart attack, you’re going to die.” And I had to say “no, shut up, I’m not having a heart attack…but I wasn’t so sure…” So I kept slowing down until it felt sustainable but I felt like I was crawling and that woman passed me and then another and another. And my body was saying, “You’re going to die, you should walk…” and I had to courageously persevere through the 2.5 miles that felt like 50 miles wearing lead boots.  My conclusion was it is time to bury my pride and get back into shape. I have reached the bottom. What do you do when you reach rock bottom?  You ask for help.  I can’t do what I used to do, but I can do something.  For instance, I know I ran a marathon in October using that 30-30 walk-run cadence.  I called Chris Twigs to ask for advice and he set up a plan, 3-days a week, for a hypothetical marathon somewhere around Patriots Day.  Why? Because I’m a working dog. I need to work.  It’s in my nature.  This is a new journey, perhaps a new season for me, and an opportunity to learn something.  I’m going to get some mileage back up and hope the knee repairs itself.  I’ll get lots of zone-1-2 to build fitness as I get back in shape.  If and when I can run hard again at least I’ll have some fitness to build on.  I’ll have patience.  And if at the end of this cycle the body responds fit and healthy, I’ll spin up something more aggressive for the next cycle over the summer.  I’m a week in and I started with a 10-mile 30/30 run on Sunday.  It also gives me the time to practice heeling with Ollie.  So that’s the new plan.  … Today we talk to Kristina.  I saw her talking about stuff on Facebook and it just seemed to me like she had a good story to tell, and I reached out.  It ended up being a very thoughtful and powerful interview.  Today’s theme is patience.  Section two will talk about the power of patience. Section one Be Dave’s audio. Sometimes we make the most progress when we learn to forgive ourselves, when we learn to be patient with ourselves and yes, love ourselves.  You can use those addictive qualities of your running life not as a hammer to beat yourself into performance, but as a soft power to support and enhance what’s already good inside you. Change that flame thrower to a patience thrower.  Patience. Leads to confidence, and to healthy decisions. On with the show.   About Zero ZERO — The End of Prostate Cancer is the leading national nonprofit with the mission to end prostate cancer. ZERO advances research, improves the lives of men and families, and inspires action. Link to my ZERO page: (for Donations) … I’ll remind you that the RunRunLive podcast is ad free and listener supported.  What does that mean? It means you don’t have to listen to me trying to sound sincere about Stamps.com or Audible.. (although, fyi, my MarathonBQ book is on audible) We do have a membership option where you can become a member and as a special thank you, you will get access to member’s only audio. There are book reviews, odd philosophical thoughts, zombie stories and I curate old episodes for you to listen to.  I recently added that guy who cut off is foot so he could keep training and my first call with Geoff Galloway.   “Curated” means I add some introductory comments and edit them up a bit.  So anyhow – become a member so I can keep paying my bills.   … The RunRunLive podcast is Ad Free and listener supported.  Section One – The Life -   … Kristina Folcik Thank you so much!! It was fun!! Www.kristinafolcik.com I help athletes improve their performance so they can go further and faster with fewer injuries. Www.rockhopperraces.com Premier running events in the white Mountains Have an awesome weekend!!! Thank you 💃🏼☺️ Border collies are awesome! Section Two – Patience - Outro Ok my friends we have practiced patience through to the end of episode 4-470 of the RunRunLive Podcast.  So I’m running again.  And I’m training!  I am casting around to see if I can find a charity bib for Boston.  If I can get through this one, I get 15 minutes in my next age group.  If not, that’s ok too.  I’ll find another adventure.  Two business trips this month!  It’s been great to get back on the road.  I hope I can keep that up, but it looks like the world is  losing in again.   Ollie is doing ok.  He’s still bat-shit crazy.  My wife, Yvonne had to take him to training alone again this week, because I was out of town.  Last time she couldn’t move her arm for a week.  He’s a handful. We got a little bit of snow on the ground now.  Not enough to shovel.  I broke my snow shoes a couple years back.  Maybe I’ll get another pair.  But, where I live was always just above the rain/snow line – meaning when we got a storm we’d get snow while just to the south would get rain.  It feels like that’s shifted now and we get mostly rain and ice.  I’ve started hitting the pool at the gym.  They have a new reservation system that takes a lot of the stress out of the process.  You can reserve a lane for 30 minutes and everyone seems to respect it.  I haven’t talked about my apocalypse podcast for a while.  It’s doing very well. I got 11,500 downloads last month.  I’m in the 9th episode of the second season. Apparently Audible is recommending it to people.  It’s still fun. It’s super fulfilling to construct and then listen to the final product.  I converted the first season into a 50,000 word manuscript and am publishing it as a serial on Amazon Vella. It has zero traction on that channel, but you have to have what? Patience.  But think about that.  This time last year I started laying out a story.  One chapter at a time.  Every two weeks.  And with consistency and patience now I have a manuscript, 50,000 downloads and a bunch of new virtual friends.  Patience is a superpower.  Be patient, be mindful and be kind, And I’ll see you out there. My Apocalypse show ->   MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks - Rachel -> Coach Jeff ->  

The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-469 – Russ and the Running Life  (Audio: link) audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4469.mp3] Link   Zero Prostate Cancer 2021 Boston - MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks - Chris’ other show à Intro: Hello my friends and welcome to episode 4-469 of the RunRunLive Podcast.  Today’s show almost did not happen.  I’m pretty busy and I didn’t have an interview so I was going to let it slide.  But then I got an email from Russ.  So grabbed him for a conversation.  Russ is a man full of wisdom even if he may not know it.  When I listen to him talking about the things he gets from the podcast, I don’t think I’m telling him anything he doesn’t know already.  I think I’m just helping him uncover what he already knows.  I’m the catalyst to free his innate wisdom, and maybe contextualize it for him by telling a story.  But that catalyst has value, right? I’ll give you my updates for the week.  I actually didn’t do much this week.  I had a business trip for the first time in almost 2 years and let my PT slack a bit. But, I’m getting fat and I don’t like it.  In section one I step up to the rostrum and preach a sermon on how to incorporate running into the span of your life.  In section two I’m going to talk about King Tut, because I can. We’re deep into the early winter here in New England, it’s cold.  It drives the mice into the house looking for heat and warmth.  You can’t blame them.  But there is always that one mouse that ruins it for all the rest.  That one mouse that has to climb up on my counter and take a bite out of an apple and poop.  That mouse goes too far and ruins it for all the other mice.  By the time you see the bite out of the apple, you have more than one mouse.  You’ve probably got ten or more living with you.   By the way what do you call a group of mice?  It is commonly ‘a nest’ of mice but more whimsically you can refer to them as ‘a mischief’ of mice.  Isn’t that great?  A mischief of mice. By the time you see the bite out of the apple you have a mischief of mice. And there may be some sort of moral to that story, I don’t know, but I clear my house of mice every year in November. I did travel this week.  I flew to Dallas for a meeting with the executives of one of my customers. I read a post by Peter Shankman, who by the way we did have oon the podcast back in the day about why travel is so important.  Peter is a very kinetic person and he said travel cures everything.  When you’re bored, depressed, anxious, confused with life – climbing on an airplane and going somewhere cures all that.  It’s the movement.  It’s the feel of the going that lights you up.  And I feel the same way. I think, all though the insides of our heads are quite complex and rich, it is the influence and addition of outside experiential data that feeds the fire.  Without that life becomes stale and cold. Just walking through a major airport and observing the people, the travelers and imagining their stories makes my life richer.   I know we live in interesting times, but we always have, get out of your house and see something. On with the show! About Zero ZERO — The End of Prostate Cancer is the leading national nonprofit with the mission to end prostate cancer. ZERO advances research, improves the lives of men and families, and inspires action. Link to my ZERO page: (for Donations) … I’ll remind you that the RunRunLive podcast is ad free and listener supported.  What does that mean? It means you don’t have to listen to me trying to sound sincere about Stamps.com or Audible.. (although, fyi, my MarathonBQ book is on audible) We do have a membership option where you can become a member and as a special thank you, you will get access to member’s only audio. There are book reviews, odd philosophical thoughts, zombie stories and I curate old episodes for you to listen to.  I recently added that guy who cut off is foot so he could keep training and my first call with Geoff Galloway.   “Curated” means I add some introductory comments and edit them up a bit.  So anyhow – become a member so I can keep paying my bills.   … The RunRunLive podcast is Ad Free and listener supported.  Section One – The Life -   … Russ Porter Russ Porter refers to himself as an ‘adult-onset’ athlete, having only started taking running seriously in his late 20s.  Since then, he’s run 12 marathons, an ultra, almost 30 half marathons, and competed in several triathlons, including two half-Ironman races.  If he can do that, maybe anyone can.   When he’s not working out, Russ is the CFO for a professional accounting organization, parent to two college aged children, and husband to a woman who consistently outpaces him in every sport they do together.   A disgraced Knight Templar, Russ was wandering the roads of Connecticut looking for redemption in the dark mornings of the deep winter.  After Jedi training and Buddhist monastic practices disappointed him, he converted to endurance sports as a path to enlightenment.  He’s says he’s not there yet.   Section Two – Tut Ankh Amun - Outro Ok my friends we have journeyed to the west to the wisdom of the old gods through to the end of episode 4-469 of the RunRunLive Podcast.  Anubis, the jackal headed god of the underworld awaits.  I came through my turkey trot on thanksgiving a couple weeks back unscathed.  I ran the whole 5K and the knee was fine.  I’m still doing my PT exercises when I can.  This weekend is the Mill City Relay.  It’s a 5-leg relay race at the end of the fall season that all the local running clubs participate in. My local club, the Squannacook River Runners had been doing it for decades.  I think I ran my first in 1995.  I’ve got a great over-50 team of my running buddies and we’re going to have a blast. I’ve got the short leg, 2.5 miles and I’ll do my best to complete it without hurting myself! So yeah, I traveled this week.  I was actually pretty nervous about it.  Not because of the virus.  More because I haven’t done it in so long would I have lost the habit?  And, no, it was like old times and I fell right back into my routines.  Like I said I had a meeting in Dallas.  Big on-site meeting where all the client execs and our execs were there.  They have a new C-level exec and this was a bit of a coup by our team to get their executive team to visit us.  I’ve been working with this customer for 2 years.  And in that time, we have had a series of challenging projects.  It’s been a battle.  It’s not my role or responsibility to deliver the work or the support, but at the end of the day I end up owning whatever the customer and our company does because I own the relationship. For this meeting, besides all the high-level strategic stuff, they asked for a couple things that were terrifying.    Things like update us on the project status.  What are we going to do about this under-performing partner that you recommended?  What is the “Corrective Action”. And, frankly, I had no answers.  I would just have to go in, tap dance and take the beating.  It put me in a bad spot.  I’m being held accountable for the execution of the Client’s team and our team all of which are out of my control.  What to do?  Just go and say ‘sorry’ and take the lumps?  Then I was reading a book that one of my workmates recommended called .  And as always happened it was the message, I needed to hear, at exactly the right time.  The universe provides.  One of the leaders from the customer in attendance had been kicking our team for 2 years.  They would say things to me in meetings like ‘Can you skip the niceties and get to the real challenges?’  I knew they were going to tear me a new orifice in front of their new boss, in front of my peers and bosses.  But, reading about extreme ownership, I knew what I had to do.  I had to stand up there and say ‘these are the things we’ve done to get better’ but it’s not good enough.  We’ve got to do better.  We as a team have to work together for our mutual mission success.  You’ve got great, hardworking, caring people – we’ve got great, hardworking, caring people – and we’re still not succeeding – so that tells me we either have a process problem or a leadership problem – and I’m going to commit, I’m going to take ownership, right here, right now to work with you to figure it out and get better.  I wrote it all out.  The details of everything we’d accomplished together and the reasons we keep failing and I was prepared.  My teammates were antsy.   The rest of the agenda was great, but this was the dark spot.  My part of the agenda was where the 4 hour meeting would come off the tracks.  What do you think happened?  The meeting ran long with great conversations.  When we got to my part of the agenda everyone was exhausted and ready for dinner.  I put up my slide.  The customer leader who had been kicking me for two years stood up and began presenting for me.  They explained to the new boss all the challenges and how we were going to address them and how we obviously had a process problem and how we should address it, and how they’d been working with this troublesome partner… What did I do?  I shut the hell up and watched the stuff I’d been worried about evaporate with me having to say a word.  Did it matter that I didn’t get to give my powerful, Seal Team inspired speech?  Not at all. Was it a waste of my time to prepare?  No, not at all. Mission accomplished. You do the best you can and the universe will take care of itself.  I’ll see you out there. My Apocalypse show ->   MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks - Rachel -> Coach Jeff ->  

The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-468 – Thomas and the Emerging Athlete  (Audio: link) audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4468.mp3] Link   Zero Prostate Cancer 2021 Boston - MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks - Chris’ other show à Intro: Hello my friends and welcome to episode 4-468 of the RunRunLive Podcast.  Today we’re going to talk to my friend Thomas who is a college cross country runner. If I could name only one benefit from having put out this podcast for the past dozen years it would be, head and shoulders above anything else, the people I meet, and the podcast gives me an excuse to learn about them.  I didn’t meet Thomas through the podcast, but the podcast gives me an opportunity to talk to him.  It’s interesting and enlightening.  I think there’s something to learn here for everyone.  it tells us older athletes that just by showing up we may make an impact on someone. It has some lessons learned for runners just starting out around what the journey could be. It has some things for parents to think about. … In section one I’m going to talk about the magical sport of cross-country.  In section two I’m going to talk about the elliptical – that ungainly piece of equipment in the corner of your gym. As for me, I had a bit of a setback in my return to running.  When I glibly tossed in that trail 5-miler a few weeks back I did something to my knee.  I don’t know if that something was the same something I’ve been recovering from for the last year or a new something – but it was noticeably sore.  So – I am not running.  Instead I’m working with Gina and focusing on some basic core, PT, flexibility and balance.  I, purely on a whim, jumped on the elliptical at the gym for my warm up this week and discovered that this may be a piece of equipment I can use to gain fitness while I’m waiting for the knee to sort itself out.  I haven’t put my bike on the trainer yet.  When I say ‘trainer’ I mean this contraption that is basically some rollers that you can mount your bike on and ride in place.  It is in the top 3 of the ‘endurance training Hall of Pain’ workouts.  It is mind numbingly awful.  But you can watch TV.  I did go out and squeeze a bike ride in last weekend with my buddies.  When I left my house for the ride Saturday morning there was ice in the back of my truck.   It was a bit brisk out on the bike trail, but we stopped for coffee to warm up at the halfway point. I am starting to put on a little weight.  But it is what it is.  My daily workout is a combination of foam rolling, stretching and some core or strength.  None of which is super-challenging.  The only challenging part is convincing myself to do it and then not trying to rush through it! I did buy a set of latex bands from Amazon that I use to add resistance to some of the PT exercises, like clamshells.  They are pretty good.  If you want the link, ask me and I can send it.  They are in a little pouch that you can throw into your gym bag and there are 10 different tensions.  I think it was 12 bucks.  My knee is still pretty achy and I’m losing my patience and getting frustrated with it.  I just have to keep reminding myself to take the long view.  Keep showing up!  Good things will happen if you are consistent. Since you all know by now that I am running a fitness project at work, which basically means I’m being an ad hoc fitness coach for all the people in my group.  I have one friend who’s in his mid-40’ who has gotten the Peleton treadmill and has been on it every day for almost a month now.  He’s really inspired.  He’s gone from zero to every day.  When I look at what he’s doing, he can’t even run a mile without walking, but it is transformational for him.  So I’m not going to complain about not being able to do intervals, hill repeats and 50k’s!  I’m going to do my PT and take what the knee gives me.  That’s not about injury or fitness.  That’s about mindset.  Some people look at the sky and see the clouds.  You look at the sky, make note of the clouds and see the blue sky.  It’s the same with thoughts.  The blue sky is your gratitude and peace.  The clouds are the crazy thoughts your brain sends scampering around like demented weasels. Don’t focus on the clouds.  Focus on the blue sky and your days will be sunnier.  You may even manifest some more blue in your skies. On with the show. About Zero ZERO — The End of Prostate Cancer is the leading national nonprofit with the mission to end prostate cancer. ZERO advances research, improves the lives of men and families, and inspires action. Link to my ZERO page: (for Donations) … I’ll remind you that the RunRunLive podcast is ad free and listener supported.  What does that mean? It means you don’t have to listen to me trying to sound sincere about Stamps.com or Audible.. (although, fyi, my MarathonBQ book is on audible) We do have a membership option where you can become a member and as a special thank you, you will get access to member’s only audio. There are book reviews, odd philosophical thoughts, zombie stories and I curate old episodes for you to listen to.  I recently added that guy who cut off is foot so he could keep training and my first call with Geoff Galloway.   “Curated” means I add some introductory comments and edit them up a bit.  So anyhow – become a member so I can keep paying my bills.   … The RunRunLive podcast is Ad Free and listener supported.  Section One – Cross-Country - … Thomas Orcutt Originally from Groton Massachusetts Ive been running since I was about 9 years old I hold the school records at Groton high school in the mile, 2 mile and 5k. Now a Sophomore at Merrimack College running cross country and track I’m looking for an outside shot to qualify for the NCAA championships in the spring season in the 5k. 1 Mile 4:13 3000m 8:12 5000m 14:30 8k 23:48 10k 30:08   Instagram @torcutt25 https://www.strava.com/athletes/torcutt25 Section Two – Elliptical - Outro Ok my friends we have run over hill and dale through the end of episode 4-468 of the RunRunLive Podcast.  Knock the mud off your cleats before you come back in the house, please.   Even though I have not run at all for a couple weeks I’m running the Ayer Fire Dept 5K next week for my turkey trot.  I should be fine.  I’ll just jog it.  It will be good to get out.  Then the week after is the Mill Cities Relay.  I’ve got a good 50+ team of my three old running buddies plus Just Plain Dave who’s driving up for southern Mass.   There’s one short 2.5 mile leg – I’ll take that one and see if I can race a little bit.  I’m really looking forward to it.  It should be a blast. I’m getting to the point where I just want to start running again.  Whatever was / is messed up in my knee should have healed by now and I’m a big believer in active recovery.  I’m going to need some coaching to make sure I ease into it. I’m sure everyone saw that they accepted everyone who qualified for the 2022 Boston Marathon in the spring.  Meaning, you didn’t need to beat your qualifying time to get in.  I’m out of qualification.  I’d need a 3:35 still to get in.  I think I get another 15 minutes in 2023.  Which is a lot.   I might consider getting a charity bib for 2022, just to keep my streak alive.  I ended up raising over $1,500 for my virtual this year.  And they finally sent me the finisher’s box.  I got the official race long sleeve tech shirt, finisher’s guide – which is a magazine type thing, I got the Sam Adams bottle opener, the unicorn sticker and a medal.  I checked on the medal and, yes, it is a different medal than the one the people who ran the physical race got.  The virtual medal is silver, and the ribbon says virtual.  The in-person medal is gold.    So depending on how you look at it I’ve got 21 Boston marathons under my belt now.  And that would be my 18th in a row.  Tough habit to break. … Ollie the collie is back in training.  We’re doing the “Good Citizen’s” course.  This includes everything we’ve learned so far plus greeting people and other dogs.  I’ve been trying to get out for a walk with him every day on the leash.  He’s still a struggle but he’s getting nicer bit by bit.  He’s such a smart, lovable dog.  Really handsome.  But crazy as a barrel full of monkeys.  Guess what? I booked some business travel this week.  I’m heading to Dallas. I may have two trips to Dallas this month.  How about that?  It’s been almost 2 years.  Crazy.  I’m going have to learn how to travel all over again.  When I walk Ollie out in the woods I find trash.  I find face masks, which are the new cigarette butt.  I find tissues, which I’m not picking up.  I draw the line at used tissues.  But the other two things I find are grocery receipts and candy wrappers.  I get the grocery receipts.  They hand those to you at check out when your hands are full so you stuff them in an available pocket from which they jump when you go for your walk.  I don’t get the candy wrappers.  I’m not talking chocolate bars.  I’m talking about hard candy and Lindt Truffles.  Those little, dense, evil balls of calories.  How does that happen? What’s the scenario where you say, “Hey let’s go for a hike! Hold on I’ll get a pocket full of truffles!” I think it’s people who are watching their step counter and when it hit 10,000 they scarf down a couple truffles as a reward.  It’s ok.  I’ve got your back.  When sugar coma induced weakness hits and you drop those truffle wrappers I’ll be there to pick them up for you.  Because I’m helpful like that. And as you are clutching your next handful of sinful chocolate balls, I’ll see you out there. My Apocalypse show ->   MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks - Rachel -> Coach Jeff ->