Phedippidations

Over 560 runners from 23 countries took part in the First Annual Phedippidations World Wide Half Marathon Challenge. “Think Global, Run local‿ is not an ethereal concept.  It’s a real challenge to real runners all connected through their own thoughts, opinions observations and rambling diatribes and spaced only 104 thousand half marathons away from each other.

With over 470 runners in 23 different countries, many of whom have never run a half marathon before, this episode celebrates life through the simple act of running.  Produced to inspire, support, encourage and comfort: this special edition of Phedippidations will help all of us who are running this and other races as we “Think Global, Run Local‿.

Your pre-race strategy doesn’t end when you cross the starting line, but when you cross the finish line and beyond.  You need to experiment with your own unique race strategy to find one that works best for you.

Bill Bowerman was one of the greatest track coaches of all time, who coached some of the greatest runners of all time.  He was also co-founder of a famous running shoe company and inventor of the modern day running shoe.  This week, we look back on his life and his contribution to the sport of running.

In this episode we look into the techniques needed to train the mind for the psychological challenges of running.  We need to be prepared for those running events that are difficult to imagine, and troublesome to contemplate. You have the power to overcome any lack of confidence you may currently harbor, and in this episode of a goofy little podcast we’ll talk about ways that you can overcome your minds propensity to panic on the road.

Get to know the places where you run. Understand and appreciate the history, art and nature of the places that you run through and upon.  You owe it to yourself to hear that story, as an added benefit to your ability to run fast through and upon that land, while running on the open road.

Here in New England, if you don’t like the weather: wait 10 minutes and it’ll change for the better or worse.  Predicting your finishing time in a half or full marathon is a more scientific venture based on a variety of different formulas all of which attempt to help you set your race goals and give you something to laugh at as you run past the limits set by fuzzy math.

There are people in your life who in a major or minor way support, enable and encourage you to take your body through the pains of training to the glory of race day; and we owe these people our deepest gratitude.  In this episode we talk about our support team, friends and family who enable us to reach our personal best through running.

Sometimes you come to the race with you’re “A‿ game being only a C minus.‿  I came to the Falmouth Road Race less prepared than my friend Joe, but I did have one trick up my sleeve, one strategy to try.  In this episode, we’ll see if my strategy to beat Joe in this years Falmouth worked!

From the shores of Wells Beach in Southern Maine, this week I run a twelve miler on the sand and talk about running surfaces.  One of the great things about our sport is that you can run on just about any surface, anywhere in the world. But not all surfaces are created equal.

Eric Liddell believed that everything he did should give God pleasure. As a runner he was the fastest and had achieved the highest glory, and as a religious man he found that his greatest strength came from God.  In this weeks episode we look back on the life of a Scottish hero whose missionary work in China outshined his unlikely success in the Olympic games. We’’ll also hear from Mal reporting from the war zone in Northern Israel.

As runners, we need to experience the peace and tranquility of quiet places, if only to refresh our commitment to the Henry David Thoreauian ideals that made us runners in the first place.  This week I paddle up the Allagash with my son, father and nephew on an adventure that is as fulfilling as a marathon road race.

In this episode we talk about cross training, and tell you what some of the experts say about the best exercises to perform as a means to complement the running that you do.

In this episode we look into the problems of overtraining, and try to consider listening to our barking bodies.  I re-enact a meeting I had with my sports doctor several years ago, and you’ll hear me at batting practice and at a Worcester Tornadoes ballgame where my son and I cheer until our throats are raw!

You should be able to approach your run each day with the ability to forgive yourself for the way you’ve eaten, your lack of sleep, or laziness in the previous days.