The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-328 – Bobby Gill – The Half-Naked-Hilarity of Cupid’s Undie Run.
(Audio: link)
[audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4328.mp3]
Link epi4328.mp3
MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks – http://www.marathonbq.com/qualify-for-the-boston-marathon-in-14-weeks/
Hello and happy holidays from RunRunLive central here at the Mongolian Yak farm. I was going to do a whole bit about the wild reindeer catching the zombie virus, but since it’s the holidays I won’t mess with you.
Today we have a really good talk with Bobby Gill from Cupid’s Undie Run about his adventure. I’m always a bit hesitant when a publicist reaches out to me about someone or something. I always worry about doing the same interview as 10 other podcasters. That really doesn’t add any value to you folks.
But, I resonated with Bobby and really enjoyed our chat. He does this ‘aww-shucks we just got lucky’ routine but you can tell there’s some focus and talent in the background for him and the Undie run to get so big so fast.
In section one I’m going to talk about strength training. In section two I’m going to wax poetic about 9 key moments in the runner’s journey.
Last time I talked to you folks I was rolling off of the Mill Cities Relay and getting ready for the Jeff Galloway ½ in Atlanta. I’ve continued to have great training weeks and am feeling fairly strong.
I treated the ½ marathon as a pace run and didn’t taper for it. I have pivoted my training from speedwork to long tempo. From the races I’ve done recently it shows me that I have enough speed but I need to work on strength and staying power. I raced the previous Sunday then did two hard 1:20 step up tempo runs during the week. I was also fighting some sort of cold all week.
A travel race in the middle of December is just the worst timing, but I had to be in Atlanta all week anyhow so I just went down early. It was an opportunity for me to test out my pacing strategy to meet some old friends from the pod-o-sphere community and to check out a new race.
I’m not going to go into full race report mode for you here. And I’m certainly not going to debate the Galloway training stuff. It’s not for me, but kudos to Jeff for lowering the barrier to entry to running for so many people. He’s doing good work with his flock.
Overall the race is extremely well managed – everything went off without a hitch. The weather was good – maybe a little warm if you were back in the pack. I ran in short-shorts and singlet. I was soaked when I finished but it didn’t affect my running.
The course was actually interesting and had some pretty parts for a city course.
The defining feature was the hills. I have worked and run in Atlanta for years. I know it’s a hilly place. Running a ½ marathon through it is challenging. Jeff told me that it’s actually a downhill course because the finish in Piedmont Park is a bit lower than the start. It’s a very hilly course.
If you know Atlanta you know that they aren’t periodic steep hills, like in a New England race where you might have a 500 foot monster somewhere on the course. They are consistent long, shallow uphills and downhills. You’re always either climbing or descending. It made it hard for me to execute my pacing strategy.
I forgot my Garmin at home and was pacing old-school off my IronMan watch – which isn’t a problem for me. I was intending to try to pace at just under my marathon goal pace of 8 min miles. The hills made pacing kind of impossible so I just ran by feel.
This is a course where it would have really helped to know the course. The course is a bit deceptive at the end because they run you by and around the park a couple times. You are essentially circling the finish line for 3+ miles.
Tim Cleary had told me there was a big hill at mile 9ish and then a steep downhill into the park. That was the landmark I was looking for. There was a big hill at the 9 mile mark, but that wasn’t the one Tim was talking about. There was the steepest hill on the course around 10 miles with a long steep decent after, then you turn into the park.
Tactically this is where I screwed up. After climbing the big hill in good order I got to the steep downhill and thought to myself “The turn into the park is at the bottom of this hill so I’ll spend what I have here on the downhill and cruise into the finish.”
The problem with that was once you turn into the park it’s still a couple miles of rolling hills to get to the finish. I struggled the last couple miles in the park on dead legs. Not what I was intending to do but still finished under my target average pace. That tells me I probably went out to fast.
I hung around the finishing chute giving out encouraging words and high fives in the warm Atlanta sun.
…
I’ll tell you a couple of ‘big data’ stories from the week. Now it’s the holiday season so I expect to get my share of junk mail from people trying to sell me stuff. I noticed over the last month I’ve been getting flooded with targeted advertisements for fancy cars. Every day I get some glossy brochure and personal invite letter from Lexus and Jaguar and Range Rover.
I was trying to figure out what demographic inflection point I had tripped in the great consumer database in the cloud. Why did BMW, Mercedes and Audi think that I was ripe for the picking?
I figured it was probably my age and my income level. I’m ripe for a mid-life crisis car. But it all seemed rather sudden and targeted.
Then I was out on a long run with my friend Ryan in the Town Forest last weekend and we were talking about it. Ryan owns a marketing firm. We figured it out.
You see, all the college financial data is public domain data. The great marketing data bureaus know that I just sent my last college tuition check. And that same day the handsome glossies for shiny, new, carefully hand-crafted by Austrian engineers, glinting in the desert sun as a slightly greying athletic male model grins at the abundance of life, while leaning into a challengingly scenic corner in the road from a warm, self-heating leather seat…began arriving by the bundle in my mail box.
On with the show!
Section one – Running Tips
Part Two – Strength Training – https://runrunlive.com/strength-training-to-get-ready-for-a-hard-training-cycle
Voices of reason – the conversation
Bobby Gill – The Half-Naked-Hilarity of Cupid’s Undie Run
Here is Runner’s World’s story on Bobby: http://www.runnersworld.com/cover-search/cover-search-winner-bobby-gill
Here is a link to a story that ran on a DC radio station: http://wtop.com/other-sports/2015/11/why-a-local-man-is-on-the-cover-of-runners-world-in-his-underwear/
Cupid’s Undie Run is the world’s largest organized underwear run and must- do Valentine’s Day event. The money raised benefits the Children’s Tumor Foundation (CTF), a nonprofit organization that funds research to fi nd treatments and a cure for neurofibromatosis (NF). Presented by Sock It To Me as the official underwear sponsor, Cupid’s Undie Run combines a pre-race party, a one mi le -ish undie run and an after party. Cupid’s Undie Run will take place on February 13 and February 20.
In 2010, founders Brendan Hanrahan, Chad Leathers and Bobby Gill set off on a mission to raise awareness and donations to CTF after Chad’s brother was di agnosed with NF, a genetic disorder that can cause tumors to grow on nerves throughout the body, which can lead to blindness, deafness, learning disabilities, cancer and chronic pain. Affecting more than two millio n people, NF often requires patients to undergo numerous medical procedures.
Since 2010, Cupid’s Undie Run has donated nearly $8 million to CTF. A nationally recognized 501(c)(3) non-profit, Cupid’s Undie Run held i ts first run in Washington, DC outside of the nation’s Capitol Building. In 2016, the run will expand into 36 cities across the nation and three runs in Australia. Each run operates from the support of volunteers – creating an organized and enjoyable experience for its 25,000+ runners.
Cupid’s Undie Run aims to put the hilarity in charity, raising fu nds for NF research through whatever means necessary. Why run around in undies in the middle of the winter? There is no better “exposure.”
Runners can fundraise as individuals or teams, earning prizes and recognition for their part in helping to #EndNF. Participants in Cupid’s Undi e Run must be 21 -years-old or older.
About the Founders
After his brother’s diagnosis of Neurofibromatosis (NF), Chad Leathers and friends Brendan Hanrahan and Bobby Gill brainstormed ways to raise awareness and money in the fight against NF. The charitable cherubs decided on undies and started to make Cupid’s Undie Run a reality. With endless help and support from volunteers, family and friends, this group continues to lead the world’s largest organized underwear run – donating millions of dollars to CTF.
Section two – 9 transformational moments in the running journey – https://runrunlive.com/9-transformational-moments-in-the-running-journey
Outro – Closing comments
MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks – http://www.marathonbq.com/qualify-for-the-boston-marathon-in-14-weeks/
OK my friends, you have run, maybe in your underwear, to the end of episode 4-328 of the RunRunLive podcast. It will be Christmas when this drops. I hope you all enjoys whatever version of the winter solstice you celebrate. Make sure to be kind to your family. Even if they are testing your patience.
I’m in the midst of a couple hard weeks of volume and tempo. I’m going to run the Groton Marathon this weekend as a long training run. I’ve got a couple listeners who have stepped up and said they’re going to come along.
I took the week after the Galloway as a step back week. I did a couple of easier Fartlek runs to let my legs get a bit of recovery before this last big push.
This week I knocked off a solid 1:30 step up run. My zone 3 and zone 4 efforts are 15 seconds a mile faster than goal pace – so that bodes well. I’m going to do a 2 hour step up tomorrow that should be somewhere in the 14 mile range. Next week I’ll repeat those efforts and cap it with a 20 miler.
Then I’m going to taper and take a swing at the Rock n Roll Phoenix race on the 17th. It’s not ideal, but If I’m going to requalify in time to get reseeded at Boston I’m out of time. If I can work on my strength training and dial in my nutrition to drop a couple pounds I should be right on my goal pace.
It’s not guaranteed. But I have to commit. If you dither and give yourself outs you’ll never accomplish your goals. You need to have the ‘There is no plan B’ attitude. So that’s it. I’m committed. Over the next 3 weeks I’m going to do the work I can. It’s going to come down to a little bit of luck and a disciplined race execution.
…
Last week. In addition to all the fine automobilia brochures I was getting a bunch of calls on my cell phone from various states. I’d answer them or they’d leave a message. Sometimes they’d ask for ‘Harry’ and I’d tell them it was a wrong number. Sometimes they’d ask about my interest in earning an online degree.
It wasn’t until one of them asked for Harry Potter that I figured out what was going on. Someone had filled out an interest form for colleges using my phone number and Harry Potter’s name. At first I was annoyed but then I’d be like “Are you listening to what you’re saying? You’re asking for Harry Potter, really?” Anyhow I’m just explaining it to them now.
I mean if you’re an admissions assistance for an online college you don’t need me adding to your misery. I joked with my kids that I should start asking about Wizarding classes and such.
But – my best story from last week is about ancient smells.
I had to pack for a week in Atlanta, including a race. I am a business traveler and I use a small roller-board and I WILL NOT check a bag. I had to figure out how to get all my stuff into the one bag.
The item of clothing that takes up the most space is my size 12D Hoka Clifton 2’s that I’m currently running in. I decided I’d wear these on the plane and save the space in my bag.
Now, I’ve been running in these shoes since the middle of August. You figure 30 miles a week for 16 weeks is north of 400 miles. Many of these miles were hot and sweaty. These shoes are rather well-used, salt encrusted and aromatic.
I get on the plane to Atlanta and get upgraded to 1st class. I kick my shoes off to let them air out a bit and give my feet some breathing room too. The steward comes by with the tray for the meal service – (yes they still serve meals in 1st class). On the tray he’s balanced a nice full glass of red wine.
As he places the tray on my tray table the nice full glass of red win drops off the front directly between my legs. I have one of those ‘Oh shit!’ moments. There is a moment of good natured chaos. But I discover that the wine totally missed my (white) pants and merely glanced off my computer bag.
Where did the wine go? Well it neatly filled up my size 12D Hokas.
Now I’ve got a pair of wine-soaked running shoes that I have to race in the next day. The attendant was mortified as I poured wine out of my shoes, but assured them it wasn’t the end of the world. They had given me another great story to tell and if that was the worst thing to happen to me I’m leading a charmed life indeed.
More noticeable was the incredibly unique aroma of old sweat and cheap wine. I’ve wandered this planet for many years and I don’t think I’ve ever smelled anything like that. A very rich, full-bodied smell with notes of dead animal carcass, you might say.
I smiled when I thought about the race the next day and people wondering what that smell was. Maybe I’d be like the pied piper attracting all the middle-aged Galloway women with my secret wine pheromones.
Then I thought, maybe this isn’t a unique smell. Maybe this is a very ancient smell. Maybe this is the smell of Greek and Roman warriors. Maybe I had rediscovered the scent of Pheidippides himself.
So, think about that when you unwrap your Old Spice Cologne gift set from under your pagan yule bush this year and I’ll see you out there.
MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks – http://www.marathonbq.com/qualify-for-the-boston-marathon-in-14-weeks/