Phedippidations

It really means a lot to me that you’d come out to have a beer with me, send me such kind words, good wishes, hopeful prayers, emails, blog posts, and voice messages to the Extra Mile PodCast…and for being with me, in spirit, on race day. This is a short episode of Intervals, produced for race day of the 112th Boston Marathon, with thanks to everyone who have been so thoughtful to a middle aged, m...

The Boston Marathon is a race that challenges an athlete in a way that most courses do not, neither buy design or intent. It is not a fast course. It is not a race where any runner, elite or back of the pack, will set a marathon PR, but it is a race for which all other marathons seek to enable athletes to arrive in a small New England town for the eastward run into the heart of bean town. This is...

What happens in Boston, starts in Hopkinton. In this episode I take my last 16 miler from the starting line of the Boston Marathon through the bottom of Newton Lower Falls. For those of us who will run the race, you’ll eventually come to Hereford Street where crowds will block your forward progress and urge you to turn right. You’ll run this short block with the screams of spectators echoing off t...

It takes courage to stand up to authority. It requires an act of bravery to break the unfair rules so as to start the discussion. K.V. Switzer, Kathrine…didn't lace up her shoes on a cold and snowy April day in Hopkinton Massachusetts to prove a point, or to make a statement…she lined up because she had and has a passion in her heart to run. Show Links: http://www.katherineswitzer.com http://www.s...

I have been invited to run the 112th Boston Marathon, and today I’d like to invite you to join me through this goofy little podcast. In this short format episode of Phedippidations “Intervals‿ I extend to you an invitation to follow my progress on Patriots Day, April 21st, 2008. Also, I talk about my gratitude for the thoughtful gift of an invitational entry to this race from a good friend and the...

We run for ourselves, for our health, for our family and friends, we run to honor, to celebrate, to achieve, and to accomplish. We run because we can…because at a very basic level we are good animals who were meant to move with purpose. We are runners; no better or worse than those who chose to practice an alternate motion of sport, or dance, or action…but we all have good reasons for being out th...

My name is John. Today I am going to take to the microphone and, on this special episode of Intervals, give you a sense of what it’s really like to live under the brutal and maniacal dictatorship of my Dad: Steve Runner. For today I hope to uncover the truth for you: that my father is a warped, twisted old man who refuses to buy me a puppy. As you listen to this episode, I hope you’ll come to appr...

Because of my new intermittent schedule, this episode of Fdip has the distinction (and curse) of being the longest I’ve produced thus far. The internet has created a way for runners to find and use resources for research, community, asking questions, sharing ideas, and for tracking our running performance. Free online training logs are available for us to use to help us reach our running goals. Yo...

To push yourself past your zone of comfort you need to smile, think positively, focus on something other than the pain and weakness and dedicate yourself to a higher purpose other than “just finishing‿. Most of all, you have to have the insatiable desire to reach your goal by making your efforts on the road more important than just yourself. If you can do this you will find that you can accomplish...

The Furman Institute of Running and Scientific Training stands by their philosophy of training as being the best scientifically proven method to improve as a runner, and gain fitness as an athlete. By limiting your time on the road to three intense workouts each week, and supplementing your training with cross training, they insist that you will become a better, more efficient runner…able to meet...

Running was adopted by a society who had been lulled into a false sense of security within the confines of their all too comfortable, technology empowered life of sedentary doom. In America, as in other countries…technological advances negated our need to rise off the couch and hunt, gather and endure physical labor. But as the population grew unhealthy and overweight, they turned to both the spor...

When confronted with all of the positive advantages associated with becoming a runner, it helps to consider all of the reasons why running can help you to become a better person, both physically and, in a sense even spiritually. Because it’s all about living a happier life; a life filled with personal satisfaction along with the physical ability to participate in the world around you. Show Links:...

ust about everything in this life offers hazards and benefits. We balance comfort with pain, satisfaction with disappointment, and safety with danger every time we lace up our shoes and take to the road. It’s quite obvious, to those of us who call ourselves runners, that the benefits of our sport far outweighs the dangers, it is important for us to be conscious of those hazards not only for our pe...

In a very real sense, you and I are “the hope of the world‿. We had some fun last year and some good times. We made new friends, we enjoyed successes on the road, we had some amazing experiences both together and apart. The lesson to be learned from last year, and the year before that…is that next year, and the year after next…has the opportunity to be the best year of our life and the best year i...

Handwritten letters and cards, email messages and our written words written throughout the year and especially during the holidays are a way to keep in touch, to maintain that fellowship that we have with each other. It’s the stories that are contained in those messages that help to educate and inform us, they help us to relate to each other and put our own experiences into perspective. In this we...

How can running slowly help us to achieve better performances later? It is particularly challenging to go from the relative intensity of pre-race workouts to a speed and pace that is much, much slower. However, if you come to the realization that many runners stagnate on a plateau of performances because they run too few miles, and these miles that they do run are are run too fast, then you open y...

Today I will tell you the story of a great and compassionate warrior from the Oglala Latoka tribe named 'Makata Taka Hela'. Billy Mills bravely faced loneliness and isolation in his college years, and went on to serve the country he loved in the United States Marines. He is a warrior for justice, an advocate for the young, and a person of character and honor who respects the earth and speaks on th...

The Philadelphia Marathon is a fantastic race, run through and about an incredible city. This was the best marathon performance of my life where my dreams for a sub four hour finish were possible and within my reach. I have run 16 marathons prior to Philly, but was able to accomplish something on this day that has eluded me before. In running through the streets of Philadelphia I gained a new conf...

On Thanksgiving Day here in the United States, and in holidays around the world, we feel compelled to offer thanks for the receipt of our good fortune. It’s a uniquely human need that we have to offer thanks for the good things which occurred to us in the previous solar orbit. I’m taking a break from my podcast this week, but wanted to thank you for your thoughts, prayers, kind words of congratula...

Consider using this holiday season as a way to invite someone to become a runner. If to show appreciation or admiration you want to give someone a gift, consider giving them the gift of running by means of some item that is related to our sport. There are many products out there perfect for holiday giving, and they need not be all that expensive or difficult to find. To give someone a gift that en...

You wouldn’t fill the fuel tank of an airplane with half the fuel needed to land it safely on the ground. You wouldn’t lift off in a spaceship that had a leak in it’s main propulsion rocket, and you certainly wouldn’t fill the gas tank of your car with chocolate pudding if you ever expected to successfully drive our of your parking lot. You need to fuel your body with the correct balance of carbs,...

There is just so much to do in this world, so much to experience, and it would be so terribly wrong of us not to do so. As runners, we have an opportunity, every day, to rise above the tedium and experience life to the fullest; and having a list of things to do before you run your last mile is a way to keep yourself focused not on the finish line of your life: but on the joy of your life’s race, w...

With three solid hours of sleep, the depressing notion that my beloved Boston Red Sox had lost a crucial game in extra innings, and the understanding that I was about to run my 16th marathon, fellow runner John Ellis and I crossed the chip mat at the starting line of the Bay State Marathon in Lowell Massachusetts, and I ran the best marathon of my life. What happened next was not magic. It wasn’t...

Over 12 hundred fellow runners ran the second annual Phedippidations World Wide Half Marathon and Kick the Couch 5K. It was an event that demonstrated the fraternity and fidelity of athletes all over the world, of widely different physical condition and abilities. When we accepted the challenge to run in this event, we accepted the role of becoming a runner. We ran in official events, back country...

Today we run all over the world, at the very same time and encourage each other to push ourselves past our physical limitations. We are living for the moment, and nothing else matters. Each of us has an unstoppable power within us, earned through dedicated training, determination and the friendship of fellow runners near and far. Over a thousand of us will run today across 45 countries, 6 continen...