Phedippidations

How can running slowly help us to achieve better performances later? It is particularly challenging to go from the relative intensity of pre-race workouts to a speed and pace that is much, much slower. However, if you come to the realization that many runners stagnate on a plateau of performances because they run too few miles, and these miles that they do run are are run too fast, then you open yourself up to the possibility of significant running improvement. Proper base training requires patience and discipline, and this week's guest host, Steve's running advisor John Ellis, explains how the hard part of this period of training comes with the dedication to running "easy."  Show Links:   Fdip Blog of the week:   The song “Starting Over‿ was by the band “Dark Horse‿ from the UK.  Check out their great music at

Today I will tell you the story of a great and compassionate warrior from the Oglala Latoka tribe named 'Makata Taka Hela'.  Billy Mills bravely faced loneliness and isolation in his college years, and went on to serve the country he loved in the United States Marines.  He is a warrior for justice, an advocate for the young, and a person of character and honor who respects the earth and speaks on the virtues of understanding across all nations, both those defined by governments, and those identified by their people: over 550 tribes within the continental United States. Billy Mills is not only a Running Legend, he is an American Legend. Show Links:  Fdip Blog of the week:  “As Sure as the Eagle Flies‿ was by Mo Pair from Austin, Texas.  “Ewa-shakin-tae‿ was by Joseph G Vincent from British Columbia, Canada

The Philadelphia Marathon is a fantastic race, run through and about an incredible city.  This was the best marathon performance of my life where my dreams for a sub four hour finish were possible and within my reach.  I have run 16 marathons prior to Philly, but was able to accomplish something on this day that has eluded me before.  In running through the streets of Philadelphia I gained a new confidence, increased my stamina and improved my endurance to ensure that I would never hit the “wall of doom‿ again.  Show Links:   The Song “Ordinary Day‿ was by Great Big Sea from St. John's in Newfoundland,

On Thanksgiving Day here in the United States, and in holidays around the world, we feel compelled to offer thanks for the receipt of our good fortune.  It’s a uniquely human need that we have to offer thanks for the good things which occurred to us in the previous solar orbit.  I’m taking a break from my podcast this week, but wanted to thank you for your thoughts, prayers, kind words of congratulations and encouragement.  Thank you for being a fellow runner and a friend, and thank you for helping me to come ever so closer to reaching my dream.

Consider using this holiday season as a way to invite someone to become a runner. If to show appreciation or admiration you want to give someone a gift, consider giving them the gift of running by means of some item that is related to our sport. There are many products out there perfect for holiday giving, and they need not be all that expensive or difficult to find. To give someone a gift that encourages them to run, you are showing a special kind of caring through your action…and as we wind down the year, through this holiday season, it is a time for us to share the love, joy and peace of the season; by inviting others to run. Show Links: Fdip Blog of the week: The song “Re-Gifting for the Holidays‿ was by “The Alice Project‿ from New York. Check their great music at

You wouldn’t fill the fuel tank of an airplane with half the fuel needed to land it safely on the ground. You wouldn’t lift off in a spaceship that had a leak in it’s main propulsion rocket, and you certainly wouldn’t fill the gas tank of your car with chocolate pudding if you ever expected to successfully drive our of your parking lot. You need to fuel your body with the correct balance of carbs, fat and protein at a time prior to your race event that benefits your performance without leading you to some destiny with the glycogen wall.

There is just so much to do in this world, so much to experience, and it would be so terribly wrong of us not to do so. As runners, we have an opportunity, every day, to rise above the tedium and experience life to the fullest; and having a list of things to do before you run your last mile is a way to keep yourself focused not on the finish line of your life: but on the joy of your life’s race, while you’re in it.

With three solid hours of sleep, the depressing notion that my beloved Boston Red Sox had lost a crucial game in extra innings, and the understanding that I was about to run my 16th marathon, fellow runner John Ellis and I crossed the chip mat at the starting line of the Bay State Marathon in Lowell Massachusetts, and I ran the best marathon of my life. What happened next was not magic. It wasn’t some kind of impossible stroke of luck, and it wasn’t completely unexpected: to be a runner is to accept the same kind of challenge that a profession ball team accepts when they compete in the World Series. It’s all about overcoming barriers to success and celebrating those successes when the challenge is overcome.

Over 12 hundred fellow runners ran the second annual Phedippidations World Wide Half Marathon and Kick the Couch 5K. It was an event that demonstrated the fraternity and fidelity of athletes all over the world, of widely different physical condition and abilities. When we accepted the challenge to run in this event, we accepted the role of becoming a runner. We ran in official events, back country roads, in parks with friends, on military bases, quiet places, and organized races. We ran together though apart, thinking globally yet participating locally, setting an example for those around us who might not understand the significance in running a World Wide event, but will always be invited to join us…on the road. ***WARNING*** this episode ends with an angry, (almost psychotic) rant about accusations made of runners at this years Chicago Marathon.

Today we run all over the world, at the very same time and encourage each other to push ourselves past our physical limitations. We are living for the moment, and nothing else matters. Each of us has an unstoppable power within us, earned through dedicated training, determination and the friendship of fellow runners near and far. Over a thousand of us will run today across 45 countries, 6 continents and one small blue bubble in a lonely vast, cold and empty universe, but we are not alone: Today we think global, and run local.

There is a pace you can run which will get you to the finish line of your race totally spent and with nothing left. There is a pace you are able to run that will have you crossing the finish line knowing that you ran as fast and strong as you possibly could. You need to find that measure of minutes and seconds per mile or kilometer, by testing yourself, reviewing your most recent past performance and making a best guess at what will be your perfect pace.

So where are we going when we lace up our shoes? Where are we going when we head out that door? Where are we running, not why or how…but where? There has to be a purpose to all this…and it’s only logical that that purpose is our direction, and that direction has a name, and that name is “Joy‿.

Fred Lebow was a showman and a promoter who was one of the main reasons why distance running and marathons became so popular as the running boom exploded. He transformed the NYC Marathon from a local event in Central Park with 55 finishers to one of the world’s largest running events with over 25,000 finishers running through all five boroughs of New York City. He lived his life to the fullest, against the dangers and odds of both the Nazi and Soviet occupations of Romania, and although fate handed him a shorten race, with his gall and love of life he turned it into a marathon.

You need to incorporate hard workouts into your training program if you’re looking to extend the duration of your runs, and improve the speed at which you compete. Hard runs are the key to your adaptation as a faster, more efficient runner….they are the only way you can achieve your goals on the road. As a runner you need to experience physical stress with the understanding that when it comes getting your miles in: The harder they come, the harder they fall.

Periodization is a way to incorporate different phases of training through out your athletic life. It’s a system custom fit for you and your running goals, and is a way to remain fresh, focused and motivated throughout the year. You build a base, you prepare for your race, you taper well and you’ll find that on race day, it’s easier to run.

The human body is a remarkable vessel capable of impressive action, best displayed within the course of running a statute mile. A milerembraces a style of running that demands all of her or his faculties: physically, mentally and spiritually. To watch a mile race is to watch an extreme form of performance art, but it is also to behold the beauty and wonder of the human body, in motion, as it was meant to be: running fast, and hard, moving smoothly with purpose and a searing determination that is a wonder to behold.

The state of the World Wide Half Marathon race course is in jeopardy if the projected global temperatures increase as they are expected to do. We owe it to our fellow runners, and future generations to use the natural resources of our planet with care, respect and intelligence. Ignorance of the truth is not an option, and it does not matter who or what is to blame for Global Warming: what matters is that we be responsible and take action, today, right now, not later; today, not tomorrow, this very hour.

For the 35 th  Annual Falmouth Road Race, I’m once again running with my friend Joe.    It’s summertime on Cape Cod, with the promise of an ice cold beer waiting at the finish line, and what better way to share such a delicious frosty beverage than with an old friend.

Dr. Sheehan taught us that this running life sets us apart from the sedentary, but not necessarily above them. There is a runner in all of us, even for those who sit on the “Couch of Doom‿ because the body is willing, but it is our spirit that needs ignition. As runners, we are required to live a life of work, and a life of play, but above all, a life less ordinary.

We all understand the concept behind the phrase “no pain, no gain‿. As runners, we can accept some level of aches and injuries for our efforts on the road; but we must not invite pain as an expected and acceptable consequence for hard training…we must prepare our bodies for the pressure and force that we’ll put upon it by taking preventative measures that will help us to run without the hurt.