The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-361 – Zelus Craft Beer for Endurance

(Audio: link)

[audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4361.mp3]

Link epi4361.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 my friends and welcome to Episode 4-361 of the RunRunLive Podcast. Chris here. I’m testing out a new recording space. It’s got a lot of hard surfaces so it might be a tad echo-ey. I’ll hang up a couple quilts and see if that softens it up. We call them quilts now, but didn’t they used to be called tapestries?

Anyway – today we have an interesting interview with Geoff from Zelus beer who I reached out to because they are apparently targeting endurance athletes. I always wondered about the connection between beer and running – and it being St. Paddy’s Day today and all…it seems appropriate.

In section one I’m going to dust off an old post I wrote on trail running. Why? Because I’ve had a rash of spam posts on my web site and all of them were in the comments of this trail running post so I took it as a sign.

In Section two I’ll share a post on Grit that I wrote a couple weeks back.

It’s been a crazy couple of weeks. My training has been deep into the dark place and the weather hasn’t been cooperating. It’s been cold on the weekends for my long runs and coach has been kicking the crap out of me.

For example he’s given me a couple mid-week 12-14 mile tempo runs that were crazy hard outside in the freezing cold. Basically 3 hard workouts a week.

I did a 14 mile run with 10 at tempo two Sunday’s ago and it was 10 degrees out with a 14 mph wind. I did another interval workout one night where I got all the weather in one workout – Freezing rain, wind, cold and blowing snow – all in the same hour.

Last Sunday I did 2:45 long run with an hour of it at tempo, again in the teens with a wind. It’s hard to get mentally geared up for these hard workouts when you’ve got the weather piling on. But it’s ok. These are the workouts that make you stronger. They make you mentally stronger and physically stronger.

One of the things that Angela Duckworth talks about in the book Grit is the question “How do you get more Grit?” and “Can you learn to be Gritty?” And it turns out the answer is yes. The science, the studies show that the way to learn how to do hard things is by practicing doing hard things.

I know that’s always been true for me. I know running has always been that hard thing for many of us.

You learn how to do hard things by doing hard things.

That’s it.

Do something hard.

On with the show.

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I’ll also remind you that I have started raising money for team Hoyt for my 2017 Boston Marathon. I would appreciate any help you can give. The fundraiser is on Crowdrise (so I don’t have to touch any of the money) it goes straight to the Hoyts and supports acquiring equipment and supporting others who want to participate like the Hoyts do.

https://www.crowdrise.com/teamhoytboston2017/fundraiser/christopherrussell

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Section one –

Trails 101 – https://runrunlive.com/trails-101

Voices of reason – the conversation

Geoffrey Pedder – Zelus Beer

Here is a bio for me (Geoffrey Pedder):

Geoffrey founded ZēLUS in January 2015 after teaching himself how to brew beer the previous year. Since that time he has completed a brewing courses in California, Massachusetts and Vermont. Geoffrey either runs, bikes or swims almost daily and has competed in a multitude of running races and triathlons over many different distances, including marathons and half ironmans. Before starting ZēLUS Geoffrey worked in the shoe industry for 12 years, where he was primarily a brand builder and product developer. He also had corporate roles in production, financial analysis and marketing. Geoffrey is originally from the UK and has experience of working in a number of international markets.

Here are a few links (sorry, there are a lot, the key ones are the website and Facebook I guess):

Website: http://www.zelusbeer.com/

Stockists: http://www.zelusbeer.com/stockists

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zelusbeercompany/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/zelusbeer

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zelusbeer/

Untappd: https://untappd.com/

Cheers,

Geoff.

Section two

Grit, Practice and Flow – https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/grit-practice-flow-christopher-russell

Outro

OK, my long suffering friends, Since it is St. Paddy’s Day maybe you have sipped a nice local craft IPA along to the finish of Episode 4-361 of the RunRunLive Podcast.

I told you I have not been racing this spring just hitting that training that the coach has been throwing over the wall. Boston is the second Monday in April and we’ll see what that brings!

The interesting thing is that I have been hitting paces on these tempo runs that I haven’t seen since 2011.

Let me back up for those of you who might not have been listening to this podcast for 10 years…After the marathon in 2011 I pulled up lame with a terrible case of plantar fasciitis that I just could not shake and I basically stopped running for 18 months. I did a lot of biking and swimming but I stopped marathon racing almost entirely.

I was just starting to train again in 2013 and we had a challenging year. Some yahoos decided to blow up the marathon and my Dad died of cancer and to be honest it knocked me sideways a bit. So, I did this Forrest Gump routine where I ran a marathon a month from the Boston Marathon 2013 to the Boston Marathon 2014, including Marine Corp and New York and one I just made up myself.

I think I may have overshot a bit because the following season I came down with this heart problem called exercise induced AFIB. That laid me low for another year until I went in and got it fixed in the spring of 2015.

Then, being the stubborn guy that I am, I started training again. But, I had lost a solid 30 seconds a mile off my marathon times to all this foolishness and trials and tribulations. I settled into a new normal and kept having adventures.

Now you’re up to speed. So here we are. 2017. Training for my 19^th Boston Marathon. Guess what? I’m seeing paces that have seem to indicate that I’ve managed to get back 15 seconds of that 30 seconds I lost.

I was on the treadmill this week doing a 11 mile step up run and my zone 4 pace was 7:08 – 7:18 towards the end of that run. It looks like I have my base back, my aerobic fitness or, in layman’s terms, my engine. I’ve gotten a bit of the pace back. I don’t have any real speed but I do have some solid tempo paces.

So as you raise your green tinted Guinness tonight think about saying a short prayer for me. Pray for good weather on Patriot’s Day. Pray that I’ll be graced with the common sense not to attack the course like I did last year. Pray that I will find the courage to close those last 6 awful miles to Bolyston street.

You’d think that after all these years it would cease to scare me. But the thought of racing Boston still fills me with an awful dread because I know what it is capable of and I’ve been beaten more times then I have won.

But, also pause to think about the Grit you need to have to hang in and keep pushing through 5 years of challenge. Listen, I do this because I need to do it. It’s my passion in the true Latin sense. There is nothing that can beat you unless you let it beat you.

All it takes is grit.

I was down in Dallas last week. I came back from my early morning run and was getting some coffee in the hotel breakfast buffet. It was just me, one other lady guest and the lady working the buffet. You know, one of those self-serve areas.

The other lady guest stops the server who was going about her business, cleaning and checking, etc – and I’m thinking, “Whoop, here we go, she’s going to whine about the waffles being too salty or something…”, but no. She stops the server and says, with a big smile, “I just wanted to let you know how great a job you folks are doing with this breakfast. It is the best I’ve ever seen. I just had to let you know how great a job you’re doing…”

And that Server walked away with the biggest smile.

Ear to ear.

Don’t be stingy with your gifts. You can make a difference.

And I’ll see you out there.