The RunRunLive Podcast Episode 178 – Drew Miller Running Across the U.S.

epi178.mp3

Show intro by:

Ray – Geeks in Running Shoes www.geeksinrunningshoes.com

Intro:

Hello and welcome to the Jet Lag Podcast where we discuss the mind-numbing process of trying to convince your body and brain that it’s ok to get up and go to work at 1:00 AM in the morning, but it’s ok, because the sun is up and it’s really 7:00Am and time for breakfast.

Think about how strange that is for our ‘dinosaur’ brains and ‘animal’ bodies.  The whole concept of jet lag and time shifting?  Where in the genetic algorithms of the last few billion years were we unceremoniously plucked up, stuffed into a metal tube and dropped off on the other side of the planet a couple hours later?

Our evolution has had no way to prepare for this.  This is a phenomenon of only a few decades old.  And do you know what that means?  That means that this is the RunRunLive Podcast and we have great show for your today.

I speak with a young man named Drew who decided to run across the US for injured veterans.  Nice dude with a good perspective on life and some good stories to tell.

I’ve had a fairly weird week of travel and training.  Had to jump on a big-ole-jet-airliner Saturday night to for a flight to Amsterdam and a train to Eindhoven for a Monday morning meeting.  I did manage to get a couple good runs and rides in before I left.  I’ve been getting lost in the new trails I discovered with Buddy.  I put a couple videos up to show you what they look like.

One night during the week last week I got home late and went out with Buddy at sundown into the trails.  Buddy doesn’t mind, he can see in the dark.  I was supposed to go for 1:20, but ended up being out for almost 2 hours.  On the way back I somehow got off the trail and found myself totally lost in the woods in the dark.

Of course I have my headlamp and my GPS watch and there is really no where I could go that would be more than a couple miles from the nearest road, but there are a lot of swamps and dense bush that are rather uncomfortable to struggle around in.  I’d have to set the chance of mortal danger at less than 1%.

Most of the time I just tell Buddy to find the trail and follow him.  The problem is that sometimes he’s not interested in finding the trail and thinks cutting through a swamp is a grand time.  Really all you can do is try to follow the contour of the land if you generally know where you are in relation to geographic features.  It also helps to click through the ‘return to start’ function on your Garmin.  It will pop up a little arrow that will tell you what direction you are heading in relation to your starting point.  It’s very helpful when you are confronted with a choice of direction.  We eventually found a trail after a bit and made our way home.  I did end up getting a little poison ivy, but it was a good work out.

I didn’t get much training in while in the Netherlands, but it was good timing for a rest cycle.  I had a very nice time on the way back.  I met up with Elma in Utrecht and she pointed me to a nice loop around the little town of Bensdop and let me play with her lodger dogs and then gave me a nice bicycle tour of Utrecht, before packing me back off into the train back to Amsterdam.

Now I’m off to party like it’s 1899 with Jason down in StLouis at the MojoStLoco this weekend and off to Houston at the crack of dawn Monday.  I’m beginning to think I might be over scheduled.  I did enjoy myself in Holland, even though those wooden shoes chafe a bit on the long runs.

On with the show!

Audio clips in this episode:

Audio from Harvard Business Review IdeaCast 243_ Anthony Bourdain on Why Leaders…

Skits, commercials and parodies in this episode:

Story time:

Equipment Check:

MountainBike 101 Blog post – see www.runrunlive.com for details.

Featured Interview:

Drew Miller – running across the US http://dmrun.blogspot.com/

Quick Tip:

Trails 101 blog post… see www.runrunlive.com for details.

Outro:

Ok my friends that is it you have gotten your passport stamped by a humourless immigration agent, progressed through long security lines and find yourself at the departure gate of yet another RunRunLive Podcast, episode 178 in the can.

Next week I think we’ll talk with the coach again about some training points and see if we can bring some additional clarity.

I’m queued up for StLouis this weekend where the breaking news is that the Mighty Missouri River is flooded and the trail we were going to run is under water.  Not to be deterred Jason has created a new and even better course around St Louis.  I’ll be headed down Friday.  Since I’m the only Mojo Loco alumni in attendance I’ll try to capture lots of sights and sounds and push them out to the social-verse – for you.

I’m still training, rather casually for one more sprint triathlon, the Wilderness 101 ultra-mountain bike race and the Vermont 50, 50-mile ultra marathon.  It’s really just a lot of miles and time on my feet.

I do what I can during the week and I go long on the bike Saturday morning and then long on my feet on Sunday morning.  It ends up being a lot of miles but low impact and low stress.  I get to think a lot and burn lots of calories.

I’m holding up fairly well.  I have some tennis elbow from swimming too hard.  I only do one pool workout a week so it’s typically fairly long and fairly hard.  See, now I know you’re thinking a ‘that’s what she said’ joke.  I have also had a sore right heel for the last couple weeks and I’m not sure what it is yet.  I think it may be that my Launches are worn out, or I’m just doing too much and my Achilles is complaining.

I’m also doing a modified 100 push-ups routine 3 times a week.  I’m doing pushups, crunches, calf-raises and squats.  I think these should focus on the muscles I need for the mountain bike race.  Last year I suffered far too much because I just was not fit enough in my core to work the bike for 12 hours.

…

I read a chapter in the Thomas DeLong book Flying Without a Net book this morning in the departure lounge and it quite resonated with me.  It was about the curse of business.  Of how we, as professionals, get to the point where we are so busy we cease to add value.  The irony is that we are addicted to the busyness precisely because it makes us feel like we are adding value.

We need to feel significant in our roles and acting busy, doing ‘things’ and lots of them, fills this need for significance.  Of course we are significant!  Of course we are adding value! It took us 3 hours to triage the 100 email messages last night!  We had to come in early! We had to stay late!  We had to take 5 connecting flights and speak to 10 clients in 3 countries last week!

But, how much of that is actually adding value?  How much introspection are we doing?  How much are these activities aligned with what adds value to us as individuals, to the company, our families and our community.  How much of it is just a mask, a smokescreen to avoid confronting ourselves and finding something truly valuable to do?

Are you one of those people?  Are you that guy (or gal) that must constantly do email at your kids ball game because you might miss something and slip into insignificance?  Guess what? You’re missing the ball game.

So – Watch the game – And I’ll see you out there.

New-Outro

My friends the President called me personally and told me to tell you to friend me on Twitter, Facebook, DailyMile, YouTube as cyktrussell that’s chris yellow king tom Russell with two esses and two ells.

And, of course he got in touch with me by calling – 206-339-7804.  Leave a message there it sends me an audio file.

There are a couple thousand close friends out there who want to meet you, want to know about your blog or your favorite race so call in and do the show intro. You will find the instructions for reading the show intro and all my content on my website www.runrunlive.com

We have been treating you to lots of funky funk today – and this song to take you is no exception It’s called Say it loud by Esteban and is just over 3 minutes long – just perfect for a little pickup – so tighten up your form a take it out.   See you next week…

Ciao.

Music:

From Podsafe

derek_clegg-beautiful_world

dirt-cheap_excess-tear_down_the_wall

dont_harass_betty-your_love_is_everything

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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

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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

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