The RunRunLive 2.0 Podcast Episode 250 – The Final Chapter
[audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi250.mp3]
Show intro by:
Ray Charboneau – http://www.chasingtherunnershigh.com/
RunRunLive – Podcast Intro
http://www.runrunlive.com/home/read-the-runrunlive-podcast-intro
Intro:
Hello and Welcome to the penultimate episode of the RunRunLive 2.0 podcast. This is Chris your host and we have a mediocre show for you today, Hah! See? All these years I’ve been saying ‘we have a great show for you today!” I was lying to manipulate your emotions. How do you feel? Used? Emotionally deceived? Betrayed?
Not me. I feel great. In today’s show we will do a little of this and a little of that including a long chat with my running buddy Frank who was the interviewee of episode 1 of the RunRunLive Podcast in June of 2008.
We’ll do a little reminiscing and we’ll talk about what the future holds and we’ll thoroughly disregard copyright laws. Did I say that out loud? Damn, I gotta adjust my meds.
I hope you all enjoyed your week off. I know I did. I was down in Atlanta for the Monday-Tuesday. I flew back Tuesday night, met my wife in a hotel at the Boston Airport, caught a couple hours of sleep and jumped in a plane at the crack o stupid to Seattle, where we bummed around and were tourists for a couple days.
Wednesday was my birthday and we had fun. We did a bunch of exploring and eating and sightseeing and such and flew back Sunday. After 2 or 3 days we get pretty sick of each other’s company and we’re ready to get back to work.
Buddy spent the week at my brother’s house. They are dog people. They lost their last dog a few years back and they love to have Buddy hang out with them. Buddy is a good natured soul and can hang out with just about anyone who’s willing to throw the ball and pet him.
I managed to meet Colin – the resurrected runner- of podcast parody song fame and we went for a little jog and a cup of coffee. It’s fun to finally meet people in person after you’ve had long virtual friendships. I find that runners are genuine people and they are just as nice in the protein form as they are in the ephemeral.
I’ve got a nice little maintenance routine going. I run 5-6 miles easy 3 times a week, do two bikes and two core work outs. I’ve got different flavors of routines and it is a nice balance. Another wonderful thing about these maintenance workouts is that they are shorter, like 45 minutes and less intense, so if I miss a day I can double up and it isn’t overwhelming – to combine a bike and a core.
For those of you new to the show – none of this makes any sense, I know, but go back a hundred or so episodes and you’ll get lots of running tips and tricks.
I apologize to you but you have been fortunate or unfortunate enough to make an acquaintance with the RunRunLive 2.0 podcast and this is it’s last show.
Hope you enjoy our swan song – On with the show!
Audio clips in this episode:
Colin’s new collection of running songs – http://resurrectedrunner.blogspot.com/
Ann’s Running Commentary
Creator of Ann’s Running Commentary
Senior Advisor for Beyond Limits Magazine
Dr. Sarb’s Wellness blog
http://completecoach.wordpress.com/
Dr Sarb Johal Psychologist, Writer, Runner, Coach
sarb.johal@gmail.com | http://about.me/sarb.johal
| My latest post:What’s the point of vigorous exercise? |
My Books
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:
Looking back
The interesting thing about podcasting is that it is a form of time travel. I am not the man who first spoke to you in June of 2008. And this world is not that world. But we can, you and I go back and listen to that show and here history in the present tense. It’s a bit surreal.
When I started podcasting I had an idea. I saw that running for us is not a physical activity. It is not a competition in the true sense. I had the idea that running and endurance sports are a catalyst, a vehicle for transformation.
I didn’t want to talk so much about the physical act, but more about how that physical act was the catalyst to transform our lives. Hence – Run, Run, Live. Amateur endurance sports is a lifestyle, a community and a state of mind. That’s what I wanted to share.
I did not have any desire for the show to be about me or to be my personal blog. I thought that was a trap.
Technically I wanted to learn. I have always been a technology early adopter and social media was no different. I wanted to see how far I could spread my reach, how I could create an avatar of myself. I wanted to implement the mechanics of it all in a test tube and play with it.
Structurally I wanted the show to be fast paced. I knew what I liked and what I didn’t like. I didn’t like overly-long rambling diatribes. I lost interest quickly in those formats. I didn’t want to just do a ‘record thoughts while running’ podcast – that was too easy. So I created and honed a format that would crisply cut from one topic to the next in a standard repeatable format.
What I was trying to do was to create a product that was repetitive in a way that was comforting to the user – they knew what to expect and when to expect it. Bang-Bang-Bang. That’s what I wanted to do. I knew I could not creatively fill an entire show by myself so I went with the interview format. Trying to keep the interviews short and concise.
I went with a weekly format for the same reason. To create a comfortable rhythm with the audience. They knew what to expect and when.
I confined myself to a 40-50 minute format because that’s how long it takes for me to run 5 miles. I wanted it to fit in a standard workout session. If the content was over the time limit it forced me to make choices and throw out lesser content – it’s a process in publishing that they call ‘killing your children’.
Creating a standard format also made it much easier for me to put the show out. Instead of a creative act – it was an assembly where all the pieces already had slots. I made an early decision that I would create a weekly show in the time I had available and no more. To me it was more important to be predictable and publish the content ‘good enough’ as opposed to fussing over it.
Over the years you have gotten to know me. I tried not to talk about myself or about paces or accomplishments – but I’m sure you picked up a few things between the lines. I call myself a mid-packer because when I cross the finish line at the Boston Marathon I’ll be smack dab in the middle of the pack on a good day.
I think I’ve run 36 marathons over the past 15 years and scores of lesser races. I do enjoy triathlon and cycling although I’m not very good at it. My favorite distance is probably 30k or maybe 20 miles. Long enough to test you, but not long enough to kill you. My favorite time of year is the cold winter months when the air catches and pulls your breath away.
Besides time travel, another cool thing about podcasting is that it allows you to create an avatar. It’s like moving to a new town where no one knows you. You can make up a personality.
The host of the RunRunLive podcast is me, but it is only one facet of me, one face of the pyramid. I like that. It’s the anonymity of the internet. You can be anyone you want – you can listen to my avatar and have a close personal relationship with is voice without us ever having met.
The voice has been very important to me. One of my goals with the podcast was to ‘perform’ the audio, not just read it or talk it. What you get is scripted. It is written entirely for audio effect. That is the craft I have been practicing on you. It’s a handy skill set to have in life. The ability to tell good stories.
My friends, as you amble down this road of life, think kindly of the RunRunLive 2.0 podcast and if you ever, and I mean EVER, need anything, you know where to find me.
And I guess I’ll be seeing you out there.
Featured Interview:
Frank – “Bones” – Row
Quick Tip:
“Looking Forward”
So, my friends, where are we going from here. It was time for a change. I know you are afraid of change, but change is our natural state and change is how we learn. I’m going to take some time and reconstruct the Podcast.
I asked you what you liked and what you didn’t and discovered some things. I sent out a survey to my mailing list and got 103 reposnses. That’s actually quite good. (Survey Monkey was one of those social networking skills I learned)
Thanks you for all the deep responses and well thought out comments you sent back. I read them all. So what do you like?
You like the interview. For my new format I’ll focus more on the interview. I’ll probably make it a bit longer and try to do a better job of guest selection and questions.
You like my ‘Self Help’ outro bits so I’ll make that a segment and try to apply some rigor to the topics – string some related topics together cohesively.
Amazingly enough you like it when I talk about what I’m up to – so I can keep that too.
You like the dog. I got to tell you though, he doesn’t actually speak, so I’m not sure what to do with that.
You don’t like my music – which I knew already and you are mixed on the other more frivolous content.
I’m pretty sure I can wrap a new format around that. I’ll work on that over the holidays and try to commence a monthly schedule. Going forward.
I also asked you to help me prioritize some of the projects I’m working on. The top priority was to create a book out of my ‘self help outro’ bits. That works nicely because I can use the new format to flesh them out, record them and create a compilation. It will end up being a ‘chicken soup for the runner’s soul’ – maybe I can make a deal with Jack Canfield…
That’s it. That’s my go-forward plan. Such as it is. I will probably create a new feed for the new show. You can get all the old shows on my website runrunlive.com.
Whatever the new show info is I’ll make sure to drop a note here on this feed. But if you want to be really sure not to miss something you can join the 220 people who went to my website and asked to be on my mailing list.
Don’t worry – it’s safe. I’m not selling anything. I don’t need your money. Money is useless in the zombie apocalypse anyhow. What you will need is a strong core and good cardio!
Outro
Ok my friends this is it. You and I have sauntered hand-in-hand to the end of the RunRunLive 2.0 podcast, 250 episodes (or so) in the can. What a long strange trip it’s been – as Gerry would say.
Next week…nothing. The sound of crickets. The whisper of butterfily wings. That being said I’ve got stuff to do. I have to send in my application for Boston. I haven’t found out if I can get a number for my 18 year old daughter yet but I did get tipped off to a book, by our old friend Elma, you remember Elma, this book is about a guy who runs the Boston Marathon with his daughter. See? Everything has already been done. Might as well just stay in bed.
Speaking of books I read the Paleo book last week. All of these diet books have the same format. They start out with ‘I was sick and close to death until I discovered – insert your favorite diet plan here’ Then they relate a couple amazing transformational case studies. Then they tell you that the government and the food industry are lying to you.
Once they have you whipped into a drooling, emotional frenzy they drop a couple recipes on you and say ‘sign up for my newsletter’.
This diet is very similar to the old ‘zone’ diet. It does seem to have more carbs in it. But basically it is eat a lot of meat and seafood and vegetables and some fruit. Avoid grains because they make you sick.
I’m giving it a try, because I like meat and vegetables and seafood and fruit. And I’m a sucker for a good story.
The interesting, and apparently true, story is that the hunter gatherers before we settled into farming were taller, fitter and generally healthier than their farming counterparts. He makes the leap to this being because they ate meat, got exercise and slept a lot.
You’re adults. You can make your own decisions. It’s a decent read.
I have my ESWT scheduled for Dec 12th now which is going to put a crimp in the timing of my spring training. It also allows me to run a Thanksgiving race and participate in the Mill Cities Relay with my club. Which is cool. I miss racing.
I’m not going to race hard, but I think I can knock off some 8 minute miles without making my foot too angry. I’ve been running 3 times a week for awhile now and my foot feels great. I can still feel the PF in there but it’s really light at this point.
I think it’s fitting for me to talk to you about…well about ‘success’ or perceived success. My mom always says to me that I’ve done well for a guy who never had a plan and just fell into things.
And I have. I have been very fortunate to have all the things that make a person ‘successful’. I’ve got my health and the health of my family. I’ve been able to put my kids through school and support their dreams, whatever they may be. I’ve been able to pay the bills – some months easier than others. Some would say I’m lucky.
I don’t think its luck. It’s our nature as humans to be restless souls. You need to know your strengths and weaknesses. You come to that knowledge through a lot of work and introspection and trial and error. I am who I am, you are who you are, because of the steps you have taken and because of the questions you have asked. By asking those questions you gain a knowledge of self and that allows you to work on your craft, on your machine on your world in an effective way.
The first thing I would say, If someone asked me, for instance, “What are the top three things you have learned from all this?” Would be that you can only be successful by knowing yourself. Know yourself with the full understanding that you will never fully know anything. But you can keep waking up every day and asking the questions.
The second thing I would say is do the best you can with what you have today. How were you able to be successful in that job that you ‘fell into’? You were successful because you showed u p everyday with a great attitude and applied your gifts to it. You tried to love it every day. And if you didn’t love it you found something else – all the while asking the questions and getting better.
The third thing I would leave you with is to take chances. Not just any chances. Big chances. Do epic shit. You only have one life and you’re not going to learn anything about yourself by taking it easy or playing it safe. Go epic or go home. You and I know that anyone can run a marathon.
Know yourself. Bring your gift to every day. Do epic shit.
And I’ll see you out there in RunRunLive 3.0
10 points to whoever can guess the movie I stole this music from. Another ten points to name the singer. 50 points to name the year, the context and the country of both the movie and the song.
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:
black_pistol_fire-stripes_or_keys
show_your_stripes-boys_on_film
Outro music:
dead_kennedys-moon_over_marin
Outro Artists Bio:
Bio:
Standard Links:
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 Russelllives 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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