The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-374 – Jonathan Trains Hard to Qualify
(Audio: link) audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4374.mp3]
Link epi4374.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, good morning maybe, and welcome to the RunRunLive Podcast episode 4-374, but who’s really counting anymore? This is the endurance sports podcast where we dole out such useful tips as ‘don’t eat curry for lunch if you have a speed workout planned for the afternoon’ Good thing there’s a public restroom on the Esplanade where I run now. That was like a scene from Alien.
Oh, sorry, that was a little rough right out of the gates wasn’t it? The weather is finally turning colder now so we are getting some relief from the hot humid days we’ve suffered through all summer. The leaves are doing their fall leaf thing. I’m sitting in my home office typing on a new keyboard that arrived for my Surface.
I like this Surface. I’ve had it for 3 years now. I use it like a laptop. It’s got an excellent form factor for travel. It’s classified as a tablet so you can keep it on during takeoff and landing. It does everything I need to do but my keyboard went wonky on me this week and started adding extra letters into my sentences.
Today I have a chat with Jonathan who, at the time we had this conversation was training for a BQ attempt. If I can manage it I’m going to do this as the first of a 3-part series. He missed his goal at his first race by a couple minutes and is currently scheduled to try again in a couple weeks. I think it would be interesting for you to see both the physical and emotional arc of missing your goal and extending your cycle to double down.
He’s got a great back story. Check out the links in the show notes. He’s a physician and was a pack-a-day 400+ guy in his residency and turned his health, and his life, around with endurance sports.
I’ve also got a quick race report for the Maine marathon I ran since last we talked and in section two a pep talk on using our endurance in life.
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I’m going to throw in a couple product reviews today. The first one is some socks. I’m a big believer in good athletic socks when you’re going long. They help keep your feet healthy. But, other than that I can run in just about any athletic sock. I tend to like the short socks now. I got like 10 pair from ASICS when I ran the New York City Marathon for them and they have survived very well. I typically tear through the big toe after a few months in regular socks. I still have most of these, so they are pretty tough.
A couple weeks ago I got a couple pair of socks from an outfit called nice laundry. Now, there is nothing super special about the tech socks they sent. Good, tough tech material, reinforced in the heel and toe. Good socks. I don’t make any money off this but if you’re interested the link is in the show notes.
There is something very special about the second pair they sent me. They are 1980’s style tube socks that are tech socks. You know the ones I’m talking about. Remember like Larry Bird style socks? Maybe 8 inches up the calf, white socks with the two colored stripes at the top? Yeah, those.
Now I can show up at a race with my fashion-disaster short shorts AND a pair of 1980’s, retro tube socks to race in! It totally completes my fashion disaster protocol.
Socks are the next thing. Our over-financed friends in Silicon Valley have decide that socks are the next accessory. We’ve done away with ties. Have to find something else to differentiate yourself from the fashion herd. It’s socks now. Socks as a service.
On with the show.
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I’ll remind you that the RunRunLive podcast is ad free and listener supported. What does that mean? It means you don’t have to listen to me trying to sound sincere about Stamps.com or Audible.. (although, fyi, my MarathonBQ book is on audible) We do have a membership option where you can become a member and as a special thank you, you will get access to member’s only audio. There are book reviews, odd philosophical thoughts, zombie stories and I curate old episodes for you to listen to. I recently added that guy who cut off is foot so he could keep training and my first call with Geoff Galloway. “Curated” means I add some introductory comments and edit them up a bit. So anyhow – become a member so I can keep paying my bills.
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The RunRunLive podcast is Ad Free and listener supported. We do this by offering a membership option where mem
bers get Access to Exclusive Members Only audio and articles.
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Links are in the show notes and at RunRunLive.com
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Section one – 2017 Maine Marathon
Voices of reason – the conversation
Jonathan Lieberman
Here’s a Runner’s World video of Jonathan
My Story: During my residency I was 241 pounds, miserable, and knew something had to be done about my health. So I started slow and short, and revisited my past love for distance running and marathons. Eventually I was turned on to Ironman and found my new love! Teaching myself to swim in the hospital pool and riding a folding bike to work each day, I applied by lottery for the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii. On my 39th birthday, I was selected for and ultimately finished this race…having also completed my first Ironman in Lake Placid just 10 weeks earlier. Consequently, in 2012 I was honored to be chosen for the Runner’s World photo shoot issue (video).
Training and competing – with *myself* – is my ultimate passion. It has enabled me to face and conquer life’s toughest challenges. Ironman has taught me that it doesn’t matter what you think, how you feel, or what you say in life – only what you *do*. I live this motto for my children.
Section two – Stop Complaining – Stop Complaining
Outro
Ok my friends you have run very quickly to the end of episode 4-374 of the RunRunLive Podcast. Let’s go for a cool-down and stretch a bit, shall we?
After the Maine Marathon I decide to double down and run BayState in a couple weeks. It’s a flatish course design for qualifying. I’ve qualified there twice. I know the course. My buddies Frank and Brian are running so Hopefully we can pace each other. Based on the Maine marathon I’m in good enough shape to run a fast race on the right day.
I’m going to run the Groton Town Forest 10 miler tomorrow as a workout. I’ll go out easy for the first 3 miles then race it in. Should be fun. It’s a difficult course and one of my favorites. It’s one of my club races and I do love to support the club.
I’ve adjusted to the new work schedule. The most challenging part has been burning in new habits. I take the train in with Teresa. Most mornings I’ll where my workout stuff and do my workout early then shower up for work. The logistical challenge is remembering to bring everything you need for both activities and doing so either at night before you go to bed or in the morning before you head in.
So far I have forgotten, a belt, my office keys, my car keys, and my wallet and my shaving stuff – on different days this month. No big deal – I just work around it. One day this week I was throwing my workout stuff into my backpack – BTW I’ve found a use for the backpack that ASICS gave me – and I grabbed what I thought were my Hokas, but they ended up being a 6-year old pair of Brooks Launch that had been retired to lawn mowing long ago.
I had an easy run on the schedule. I just wore the old shoes. I mean I ran a few hundred miles in those shoes at some point so I should be able to jog around the city in them for an hour! See? Smikle and muddle through. It all works out.
I quick update of Buddy the old Wonder dog. He’s doing ok. He’s shrinking. Literally shrinking. He appreciates the colder weather but he can’t run much anymore. His back end bothers him and he’s slow getting up and down. Just like me, he doesn’t’ know he’s old. He sleeps all day and gets bored still. He’s happy, but that’s built into his DNA.
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Another product I want to give you a review on is a pair of Bluetooth Headphones I’ve been trying to kill. I got these sent to me in June by a company called Jaybird Wireless. They are the X3 – sweat proof, secure fit. I have not been able to kill them.
You see my super-power is sweat. Not just any sweat, toxic Chris sweat. You folks are privy to the kind of workouts I do in all kinds of weather. Most headphones I’ve used that claim to be sweat-proof are not Chris-Sweat-Proof. They last a couple weeks and I kill them. I have not been able to kill these. The closest I got was one long workout in July when I filled them with so much fluid that they sounded like they were underwater. I thought that was it, but they bounced back.
They survived the sweat filled days of July and august. They survived multiple of those as long runs. They survive the occasional rainy tempest – like the back half of the Wapack Trial race. At this point I’m willing to concede that these things are tough. The only thing I managed to kill was the little blue light that comes on when you put them in the charging cradle. That does not come on anymore. But they still charge.
They come in an overly complex iPhone type collectors box packaging. They have a tricky little USB charging cradle. They have a companion iPhone audio program that has dozens of audio profile adjustments and other tweaky Millennial thingies which I ignored. The default sound is fine.
They are on a flat wire that you can loop around the back of your neck. They have multiple secure-fit ear thingies. They work ok but I’ve been losing the little ear buds and I’ve found them hit or miss on the security side. I’ve had my best luck jamming the earbud deep into my ears and looping the wire over my right ear to support the mic.
The challenge with this deep-jamming methodology is that they become totally noise cancelling which isn’t always a good thing when you’re running in traffic. The plastic wing-thingies that are supposed to grip onto the inside curve of your ears work, but I find them a bit stiff so that they make my ears sore after a while.
They are supposed to work for making calls. When I’ve tried that the people on the other end can’t hear me. I’m probably doing something wrong. The Bluetooth set up and sync works great. Actually, too well. They will sync to my phone and my computer and my car and sometimes I have no idea what they are connecting to until I notice sound coming out.
I do love the hands-free, wire-free experience. You can put your iPhone in a plastic bag and stick it in your pocket or in your backpack. That’s very convenient and safer for the iPhone. They claim an 8 hour battery life. I haven’t taken them much beyond 4-5 hours but they made it that far.
The bottom line here is that I tried to kill these headphones and couldn’t. I’m going to keep trying. I do have some challenges keeping them in my ears but I do appreciate them and they have helped make some long runs much more enjoyable.
Again, I don’t make any money off it, but the links are in the show notes.
https://jaybirdsport.com/en-us/x3-bluetooth-headphones.html
That’s it. I did have some lady offer me a mattress to test. That’s interesting, huh? How exactly would I test it? That’s a topic for an entirely different podcast.
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/