Phedippidations

We celebrate Thanksgiving Day in the United States this time each year, so this episode is dedicated to the concept of being thankful.

And now it’s October: we’re more than 80% through the end of the year "getting back to where we once belonged”, and for me…I’ve come upon a bit of a road block. To best understand this road block, we have to talk about the philosophy of Nietzsche…and I know, I know…I said I wasn’t going to talk about philosophy on Phedippidations…but there’s just no other way, and I promise you that this is relate...

I’m humbled. What can I say? I’m totally humbled here, reeling in fact from the kind words from so many friends and fellow runners, people whom I admire a great deal. I’ll be honest with you…I’ve always been honest with you (for better or worse) …I’m not someone who thinks very highly of myself…and so, what you’re about to hear are some really special people saying some very incredible things abou...

It was a perfect day for a run in New England. Presented by the Squannacook River Runners, this is the 24th running of the Groton Road Race. Being a runner feels different for me now. The universe is undergoing entropy…and I’m a part of that universe. I can’t go home again, but I can get back to where I once belonged…even if, when I get there…I’m not the same runner I used to be. That’s okay, that...

Most runners could go out, right now and run a few miles under the morning sun. We often do so without considering the power of the act. We take for granted the incredible advantage this gives us as situations arise which requires it. We forget that running can sometimes be a means to an end and that aside from it’s impressive list of benefits, running and self ambulation gives us the means to exp...

“The Young Man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions” wrote Oliver Wendell Holmes. Coaches, Experts, Friends and Fellow Runners all seem to agree that “slowly and carefully ramping up your mileage” is a reasonable approach for our training. Just as the mighty oak begins it’s life as a weak and tiny acorn, my return to the road has to be rooted a slow and cautious increase in miles...

This is a transformative journey that we’re taking together, so it might help you to understand the context of this journey if you could understood a bit more about where I’ll be running. In better understanding the mindset of the host and location of this podcast, you’ll better understand how your own terroir, or sense of place, affects your own journey. You live where you do for reasons beyond m...

This is part one of a two part episode. I’ll publish the second part at the end of the year. In the last episode of Phedippidations I talked about getting back to a metaphysical place where I once belonged: a "home" where I was once happy and healthy. For lack of a better term I called this a “transformative journey” and said that I wasn’t doing this to specifically lose weight or get healthier, b...

I “once belonged” to a community of fellow runners. I understand that many of you and this association have always considered me to be a member of the “run local, think global” team, but I haven’t felt that way for some time. That’s my problem, and it’s okay, that’s going to change. I “once belonged” out on twelve mile long run around my town, through the hills of an Old New England farm trail, pa...

Episode twenty-three of Phedippidations, which was published on December 18th, Anno domini 2005 was titled “Cold Weather Running”. I guess you could consider this a bit of an update to that recording. While some of the information I covered back then was useful, I think I my have missed some Key (West) points that should be made more clear...and furthermore, I think that the way that show was prod...

We live in the age of the selfie and self promotion. Social media networks like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and even Podcasts: allow us to share so much of our lives, and we…in posting such content assume that there’s someone out there who cares…or maybe we just hope they do. For better or worse, we’ve become a society of exhibitionists, sometimes even boastful of our situation and accomplishment...

Something to contemplate on your long, slow run today: The Teleological argument in support of the existence of God says “that the universe is ordered towards some end or purpose, that it was created by an intelligent being in order to accomplish some purpose.” FACT: We live in a 13.7 Billion year old universe that will end in a “Heat Death” 100 Trillion years from now. The Scottish philosopher Da...

On the Fox News website a few weeks ago, Dr. Jennifer Landa, wrote an article “How Endurance Running Can Damage Your Health”. Dr. Landa is an excellent physician. She’s the Chief Medical Officer of BodyLogicMD, a franchise of doctors specializing in bioidentical hormone therapy. In this episode of Phedippidations, I’m going to refute Dr. Landa’s arguments by applying a healthy dose of skepticism t...

I have this “other podcast”, that I call Intervals…and unlike the portmanteau title of Phedippidations…the title “Intervals” is a bit of a double entendre. Whereas Phedippidations usually has a theme to each episode…Intervals is themeless. I “make it up as I go along”, and it has been a sort of “stream of consciousness” podcast that I put out there…because, why not? Today we’ll go back to the year...

Today, on Phedippidations I’m going to teach you three things, and I mean REALLY teach you…you can’t flunk this course, and if you already know something (or a lot of things) about wine, then consider this a refresher. Our syllabus is as follows: In the first chapter I’ll tell you how to taste wine, nothing fancy: just the basics…and I know you probably think this is intuitive, but tasting wine ta...

The thing about human beings that strikes me as both wonderful and fascinating: is our capacity for change. If you asked me ten years ago would I ever “own” a dog, I’d have laughed at the notion. Today, the reality is that I do not “own” Eva…she owns me…or better put, we own and love each other. Eva Jones is many things: but most of all, most importantly of all: she is, to me: an example of the go...

Five dudes drove to Biff-Country in the summer of 2002. They saw moose, canoed, swam, and slept in tents. They ate beans, Dick’s Famous Chicken, pop-corn, jerky, mango, and Reece’s Cups. They skipped rocks, climbed on rocks, jumped off of rocks into a lake, watched stars, the moon, and the Northern Lights, and read Harry Potter around campfires. Then they drove home. It was all in the Biff-Country...

When you elevate something that is not important and dedicate some passion to it, you are living your life to the top. I don’t care what it is: running, playing the guitar, tasting wine, watching a TV show about a mad man in a blue police box flying through space and time, cooking, eating, even podcasting. I am, and have been since I was a small child, a fan of the Boston Red Sox. The game is one...

Today I want to talk about this trend for living like our “Old Stone Age” ancestors. What does recent science say about the benefits of minimalist running and the paleo-diet? Are these practices something that we, as runners, should adopt? Can “Paleo Running” and a “Paleo Diet” help us to live better, healthier lives? Agriculture was a life changing advancement for early hominids. It allowed us to...

In the course of our discussion today, we’re going to talk about many things: determination, dedication, will power, and wanting it. What I will not be able to do, is convince you to meet your goal. It wouldn’t matter if I made the most perfect, passionate, logical argument as to why you should train for and run a road race or marathon, why you should climb the tallest mountain, swim the widest oc...

This is my response to an article published in the November 12th edition of the “Wall Street Journal” titled “OK, You’re a Runner. Get Over It” by Chad Stafko…and while I’ll try to keep it civil, I can’t promise I won’t lean over the line of anger. What I can promise, both you and Stafko is that I won’t make a single logical fallacy with anything I’ll have to say. The burden of proof in the matter...

I’m here with my family and friends…at place we consider to be the happiest place on earth. This is Key West. Why this is our happy place is the focus of this episode, and before you get the wrong idea: this show wasn’t sponsored by the Key West Travel Bureau…I understand that many of you have your own personal paradise’s…but this is mine. I’ve only been here once before, about a year ago, in Marc...

I see the act of running as a pathway to a special state of consciousness that allows us to "expose and undo our hidden fears and hopes", to "befriend who we are are". Doctor George Sheehan knew alot about this...but you have to really listen carefully to what he's actually saying in order to understand. I'm about to read from you one of the most controversial, in my opinion anyway, chapters of hi...

While faith is, by definition, unwavering; scientific understanding often and sometimes frequently changes, as new observations about our universe are uncovered and demonstrated. Conventional wisdom, those faith sourced ideas that are so greatly accepted that they go unquestioned, is an oxymoron...that is, a conjoining contradictory term. In the case of running shoes and pronation we have long acc...