Phedippidations

Junk miles and recovery runs are important elements of a good training program as they can help you run faster and longer. They allow you to enjoy slow easy runs while your body is healing from the stress forced upon it in the hours before you hit the road and they allow you to reach some whole number goal of daily or weekly mileage to appease the guilt you might carry for running below a self made threshold of distance that you consider significant and a source of pride.

As runners, our intent in a race is to meet and exceed our goals by moving as fast as possible towards the finish…but while the motion of running is always going to be our primary method of locomotion, you should not ignore the benefits of incorporating walk breaks as a means towards finishing fast and strong, as well as to ensure a faster recovery.

When you get to an age where the world tells you that you’re quote “old‿, when society begins to classify you as a “senior‿ and treats you with the respect that the elderly deserve: don’t reject the kindness or attention; but neither should you “act your age‿. If you are a runner, training and taking part in a road races: then you are NOT old.

You owe it to yourself, and to the rest of the running community, to start writing a blog, or producing a podcast. Write about your thoughts, your opinions and share your rambling diatribes…because at some point you’re going to write or record something that will touch another fellow runner, somewhere in this world, in such as way that it will have an important and positive influence in their life.

This year, the Phedippidations World Wide Half marathon will take place on the third planet from the sun, 26,000 light-years from the galactic center.  It’s a tiny blue bubble of life swarming with fellow runners who will be thinking of this global community while running on their local portion of the planet.  As we travel around the globe, or look to imagine those places where our fellow runners take to the roads and paths, we should consider that at only 25,000 miles in circumference the Earth really is a small, small world.

The embarrassing things that can happen to our bodies may not be a good topic of conversation at a dinner party, but they are all a part of our human condition, and need to be understood and dealt with as we push ourselves past our physical limits, on the road.

Jesse Owens represented the United States in the 1936 Olympic Games, held in Berlin.  It was here that he showed the world that human beings are endowed with unalienable rights, as well as incredible talent.  Jesse proved that ethnicity and skin color were meaningless and that all men are truly created equal.

Let’s talk about what Phedippidations is, what I believe in, whether I am delusional, what running means to me, and what this podcast means to me.  These are the thoughts that go through my head during a long run in the back country roads where these Phedippidations are born. Thoughts, opinions, observations and rambling diatribes are all composed while we’re out on these long distance runs across the planets surface.

You need to experiment with what you use to fuel yourself before, during and after a marathon.  It is as important as stretching, and following your training schedule as you prepare your body for the miles you have before you.

These rules of running etiquette are common sense items that most runners follow without much thought.  They can all fit under the single heading of “being respectful of our fellow runners‿ whether we’re out training, in a race, or just getting a few miles in with friends.  It really comes down to that ol’ phrase “Do unto others as you as you would have done unto you‿.

Monitoring the rate at which your heart pumps blood around your body is one way to measure your cardiac fitness, but having a feel for your body’s perceived exertion is just as important.  A heart rate monitor device may give you some useful information you can use to help improve your running performance.

Just as it is with any recipe, the one that will comprise your existence as a distance runner will be varied and unique. But just as you require eggs for an omelet, flour for cake and potatoes for making French fries…you will have basic ingredients required of you as you re-create yourself into an endurance athlete.

The stories about a runner’s first marathon are filled with emotion,well deserved pride, and a sense of satisfied accomplishment.  You will hear  how they set themselves a seemingly impossible goal that,through hard work, persistence, and an indomitable spirit they were able to achieve.  These are changed people who have come to understand that nothing is impossible if they have the desire and dedication to run, quite literally, towards their goal.

There are 20,348 stories, from 20,348 runners who ran the 111th Boston Marathon this year, and each one is special, unique, inspirational, entertaining, and worthy of your interest.  In this episode we hear from a few of our fellow runners, who ran 26.2 miles in a New England Nor’Easter.

The 111th Boston Marathon took place during a Nor’Easter, with major flooding, driving rains, cool to cold temperatures and a sustained wind of twenty miles per hour with gusts up to forty miles per hour. A record number of qualified entrant chose not to run the race, but the hearty few who accepted the challenge experienced the race of their lives.  This podcast was recorded as I ran the Boston Marathon.

Thank you, fellow runners, for all of your kindness.  In this episode of Intervals; I thank many of the people who helped me in small and large ways; I get some last minute advice from John Ellis and a surprise guest who formulated the plan that I followed to prepare for the 111th Boston Marathon; and we talk about the Nor'easter that I'll be running the race in (something I like to think of as a perfect condition rather than a perfect storm).  Have a great Patriots Day everyone!  As you listen to this, I'll be out there: running down a dream!

The story of the 1982 Boston Marathon is more than just a story about two elite  athletes and a closely contested race.  It is the story of the underdog facing  the champion, and was one of the most intensely exciting finishes in modern race  history.  This is the story about Alberto Salazar and Dick Beardsley in the 86th Boston Marathon.

Joan Benoit Samuelson won the Boston Marathon twice and was the first Olympic Gold Medalist in the Woman’s Marathon.  She is an inspiration not only to women runners, to but all runners who suffer from overuse injuries with hopes of recovery.  She continues to be an amazing athlete, a passionate proponent of children’s charities, and a true legend in every sense of the word.

A detailed description of the Boston Marathon course for the 111th running of this world famous event.

This episode is all about the knees...runners knee is the most common runners injury. In Fdip#89 we talk about how it happens and what to do about it.