The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-303 – Bruce Van Horn – Running and Self-esteem
(Audio: link)
[audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4303.mp3]
Link epi4303.mp3
Intro Bumper:
Hello my friends and welcome to 2015. Who woulda thunk it? We made it. I can remember sitting in elementary school and thinking how old I’d be when we got to the year 2000, and here we are 15 years later.
You have once again found yourself with me, Chris, in your ear buds. Whether you’re out on your frozen roads or the tropical antipodean outback I’m thrilled and honored to be your running-related mental succubus.
…
Well it’s been a quiet week out here in Independence Kansas along the banks of Spring creek. As I look out onto the frost covered acreage I can see groups of feral yaks cavorting in the sleet. Except for those sick ones. They don’t look so good. They’re in rough shape with fur falling out in bunches and they walk with a strange stiff-legged lurch.
I called the local animal control officer out and he should be here shortly. It’s that government neuro toxin research facility. I know it is.
Well the beat up F150 of Dick the animal control officer just pulled into the field. I think he’s the manager of the local grange too. He’s out of the truck now, approaching the yaks…
Oh my god! They’re attacking! They’ve got him down! Heavens to murgatroid! They’re eating his brains! They’re Zombie yaks!
That’s it. I’ve had enough of the Midwest. I’m moving back to New England.
By the way…”Zombie Yaks” would make an awesome name for a punk rock band…
Intro:
Yeah – how about that running stuff? Well I’ve dropped into training for Boston. I’ve had a small set back with going on vacation for a week and coming down with a vicious head cold.
I’ve got an interesting challenge this year with my heart acting up. I can train in Zone 2 all day long but Zone 3 and 4 work is dicey. I’m going to have to figure out how to train with a missing gear while I get this sorted.
The issue is that the tempo stuff is where my arrhythmia kicks in. Instead of going from zone 2 into zone 3 and 4 it flips out and goes from zone 2 to max. But that’s not really what’s happening. It reads as max HR but what’s really happening is the heart muscles are out of synch and the blood isn’t getting to where it needs to be to support the effort. It’s the equivalent of a missing gear or a flat spot where I lose power.
It doesn’t do me any good to tough it out because I’m not getting the benefit training while my heart is working ineffectively. I talked to coach and we’re working on training on things I can control and are effective.
Since I have no problem in Zone 2 we’re just going to continue to build a giant base. Push those weekday runs up into the 1:30 range and the long runs up too.
The other issue I have is the HR tends to flip when I’m running up hill. The increased load going up a hill caused the Arrhythmia to kick in. Again, it doesn’t do me any good to train in that state so I have to figure out how to get my hill strength for Boston without doing hill work.
What can I control? I can control my nutrition, I can control my flexibility and I can control my strength and I can control my sleep. That leads me to my initial plan for Boston, which is build a huge Zone 2 base, get my weight down to race weight, work my flexibility and work my strength. I’m pretty excited about this experiment. It’s a challenge. It’s like fighting with a hand tied behind my back and it will force me to grow.
If the cardio doctors manage to fix something then I can add on the fine tuning of racing and tempo later in the cycle. That’s easy and comes quickly if you have the strength, the flexibility and the base.
Today I have a chat with Bruce Van Horn who is a life coach and marathoner out of Virginia. At first I wasn’t super attracted to Bruce when I listened to his stuff because it was basic positive thinking and self-esteem stuff delivered in a bit of a Mr. Rodgers narrative, but I warmed to it and I thought it would be valuable to step back and look at some of the basic approaches to get started on the right path.
I had to get around my own prejudices. A couple notes that resonated for me are; first ‘the great mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation’ to quote our friend Henry over in Concord. Bruce is helping the 95% of the people out there who just don’t know where to start and they think that they are the only ones who feel that way. I also wanted to highlight, secondly something that all of us take for granted, which is the positive correlation between running and self-esteem and self-worth.
As an added bonus Buddy the old Wonder Dog chimes in in the background a few times.
In the first section I present a brief piece on how to start running towards something as opposed to running away. In the second section I’m going to counter balance all the basic self-improvement messaging with some thought on more advanced ideas for those of you who may be looking for the next level.
I woke up this morning hemorrhaging snot with a full day of work on my plate and thought I might not get this show out, actually was wondering about surviving the day, but here I am and it’s after 6:pm and I’m still going! I think I just might make my deadline!
To hell with the head cold and the cold weather (it was minus 8 F yesterday here) and to hell with the zombie yak attacks!
On with the Show!
Section one – Running Tips
https://runrunlive.com/stop-running-away
Voices of reason – the interviews
Interviewee -> Bruce Van Horn – Life Coach
Bruce Van Horn
About
Hi. My name is Bruce Van Horn. I appreciate you taking the time to visit my site to learn a little about me.
I am, in order of priority, a Dad, a writer, a coach, an entrepreneur, a speaker, a runner, and a lot of other things as life demands!
My personal motto is: “Life is a marathon, so let’s train for it!”
Most of the inspiration for that motto comes from the 12th chapter of the book of Hebrews, in the Bible. I’m in the race of life for the long run, and training for the ups and downs that will come whether or not I’m ready for them–so I’m trying to be ready!
I’ve had many painful experiences and setbacks in my life, but I’ve also received many unexpected and undeserved blessings.
I’ve learned, along the way, that I cannot control many things about my life, but I can control how I respond to everything. I spent a good portion of my adult life simply reacting from day to day, situation to situation. I know how it feels when just getting through the day is a good day. I’ve also learned that living that way was a choice I was making, not something that was being forced upon me.
I’ve learned a lot about myself in my journey to take back control of my life. I’ve learned that, despite circumstances, I can live passionately and intentionally.
While I am good at many things, I operate in my “sweet-spot” when I’m helping people discover their purpose and passion for life. When I’m coaching people to put the “extra” in their ordinary life and turn it into the extraordinary life they want and are capable of living. Most of my writing is on this topic because it is my passion!
If you would like to work with me or reach out to me for any reason, I’d love to hear from you. Feel free to use my Contact Form.
I am also constantly feeding my brain by reading books and blogs, listening to audiobooksand a variety of podcasts. If you’d like to see what I’ve read recently, visit my Reading List
Section two – Life Skills
https://runrunlive.com/advanced-self-improvement-ideas-for-your-new-year
Outro
Well my friends we made it. Episide 4-303 out of the box and into the either. I’ve got plenty of ideas and lots of life lessons to share. Let’s keep going, shall we?
Can I talk anyone into doing audio editing for the interviews? It’s really quite simple and I can train you. It just saves me an hour of production time and you get to hear the interviews first! Some are awesome and don’t need any editing, some need a bit more work, but I could use some more volunteers.
What else have I got cooking?
Well I need to find a marathon to run before Boston so Boston can be my 50th. I’ve kicked off my fundraising for Team Hoyt and will be dropping a video on you guys to tell you my plans. If you can spare $2,260 as a donation now’s the time! Or even something smaller!
I’ve got the MarathonBQ book through the first edit so now I have to figure out how to get that through the birthing canal, sigh…So many good ideas, so little time.
You know how I got myself sick? I was going on this vacation over new years and I decided I’d vacation AND keep my other stuff going as well. This meant I’d stay up until obscene hours celebrating with my family and then get up at 5 to work out and write anyhow. The plan was to nap during the day, because, hey, I was on vacation.
After 3 days of this I got sick and lost not only all the time I tried to create but also the benefit of a vacation. Why, because I’m an idiot who can’t relax.
But I did get one super cool morning run in. New Year’s Day I rolled out at 5:00AM. I was staying in the JW Marriott in downtown Miami on Key Biscayne. I headed out across the causeway and the little drawbridges over to Miami Beach.
It was super surreal. The Bay park near the hotel was a scene of carnage. It was post-apocalyptic with piles of bottles and occasional zombified revelers staggering by. As I ran down the causeway road towards Miami Beach I’d pass young women leaving houses in party dresses holding their stilettos in their hands, doing the walk of shame – so to speak- and they’d look at me as if I was some sort of alien apparition.
As I got into South Beach I passed very drunk and very friendly young men who would try to high-five me and miss. I stopped at a park bench to do 5 minutes of breathing meditation and relax my heart.
I kept going out through to the beach itself which was another zombie-apocalypse scene. Piles of empty champagne bottles, all kinds of people sleeping in piles on the beach, (and doing other things that weren’t sleeping), and still more people wandering around like zombies in the pre-dawn darkness. I watched the cruise ships come in to the port all strung with lights.
The sun rose over my shoulder as I ran back to the hotel, still the first one up. It was around 10k in each direction. The kind of surreal vacation adventure that isn’t on any travel company’s itinerary!
So, my Friends, keep doing what you are doing and you will be sure to see me out there.