Phedippidations

This is the second of a two part episode. Listen.   Back in February of 2015, on episode 324 of Phedippidations, I revealed to you the measure of my health, listing the vital clinical statistics of my internal and external physical and mental condition including: how active I was, how well I slept, how good my mood was, how much energy I had, and: “the overall quality of my life experience”.   I told you back then, that we’d revisit this personal health information in September…but due to a scheduling conflict with my Primary Care Physician, I had to push this back until today.   I told you at the time, that life is not predictable, but that I did hope for a return to where I once belonged.   Well, I’ve learned a few things this year: about myself, about my relationship with running and especially quite a bit about the pursuit and attainment of happiness.    That said, I have arrived.

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 related to running.   In order to understand the nature of this “road block”, we have to spend some time talking about Friedrich, since to a great extent it’s because of him that I’ve come to this.    I told you at the start that this year’s journey might not end so well…and there’s still plenty of time to finish strong, but getting past this point is proving to be…well, difficult at best, impossible at worst.  I’ve reached The Wall.   Links:   Both opening and closing themes songs were by Jim Fidler at “The Curra Road” was composed by Ger Wolfe at   ONLY IF YOU LIKE IT: Phedippidations is supported monthly through the

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 about..well…me.   I’m not sure that I deserve the kindness, but you must…I beg you, you MUST understand how much I appreciate the kind words.   Ten years.  I really don’t have alot to say about the 10th anniversary of this podcast.  I’m happy about it; I’m glad that I’m still producing the show, and I’m very honored to have run with you for the last full decade of my life.   Obviously this show and I have changed quite alot since July 4th of 2005 and there's quite alot that you can say about change.  It's scary, it's sometimes sad, sometimes amazing, it's ongoing and ever constant.    Heraclitus of Ephesus, a pre-Soc

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’s a good thing.   These people, this race, that feeling of being a participant in something great and fun… it’s so much of what I’ve missed about running.  Happiness is feeling accepted…it’s being with others who live their lives to the top.  It’s the charm, the spell or the mojo of a moment in time.   I had a fantastic time at the Groton Road Race, aka “The Mojo au Groton”.  It was great to get together with Deb, Doug, Donna, Kathy, Jay, John, and Jack.    “Start, Finish and Have Fun”. Is there a better way to describe the purpose of a road race? Medals and prizes, trophies and awards are wonderful to achieve,

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 explore.   Training is important and I’m not suggesting that we abandon our training…I’m just putting the idea out there that as runners we have a gift of motion that does not limit us to the road, or trail…it doesn’t require a certain pace or time for completion.  I’m proposing, that instead of punishing ourselves with devotion to a schedule…no matter how much we love adhering to said schedule…that we should instead look at our running as “playtime”.   Links:   Intervals between episodes and the complete conversation with Coach Jeff can be heard over at   Melodious advice by Neil on Twitter @neilbearse    Both openi

“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 and duration. A tree isn’t ruled by a ten percent growth rate. I’m not trying to convince you to follow or ignore any rules but I do think that we should train with the patience, strength and persistence of a tree.  Maybe, the best way to increase my mileage is to just get out there, running down the road ignoring time and space, and focusing more on living my life the top. Links: Thanks to Coach Jeff Smith for sharing his thoughts on training and the 10% rule. You can hear much more from Jeff over at  Intervals between episodes and the complete conversation with Coach Jeff can be heard over at   Melodious advice

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 mere choice or accident.  Maybe you’re there because of work, or family, or because you like the temperature of the Mojitos, but at some level you are where you are because you want to be there.     It’s not just because I’ve grown up in New England that makes me want to be here; it’s not just the people whom I care about: family and friends who for whatever reason call New England their home; it’s because this place has, to a great extent, made me who I am. I fit in well here, in fact: despite my complaining about the cold and snow, I actually thrive here.   Well, maybe “thrive” isn’t the right word, but I do f

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, but to regain that passion I once had for this sport and to feel like a member of the running community again.  In returning to the road, health and happiness will be a welcome side effect.   Today I'd like to talk a little bit about those side effects.   When you head out on a geographical journey, you can usually tell when you’ve arrived at your destination.  En route to Key West, I knew that I had arrived when Route 1A ended and the bartender at The Green Parrot handed me a cold margarita.   What does it mean to be happy and healthy?  What is the measure of such happiness and health? If this is a journey, I sho

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, past the birthplace of the “Angel of the American Civil War Battlefield”, Clara Barton, past St. Roch’s Church and the Roman Catholic congregation that I left a few years ago, past our town library, built in eighteen sixty-nine where I wrote the first scripts for Phedippidations and then past the hearthstone marker of the Johnson homestead, where John Johnson and his three children were massacred in sixteen ninety-six.   I “once belonged” to a group of running podcasters and bloggers in a “run net community” of content creators who spoke and wrote about their passion for the sport.   I “once belonged” but I lost my w

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 produced...specifically …WHERE it was recorded, could be improved upon.   Thus I can think of no better place to record an episode about running across the Frozen White Wasteland than from this barren, remote and isolated speck of an island at the end of the East Coast of the United States...a little place first known as "Bone Cay" for the littered piles of skeletal remains found here by Ponce de León in 1521.   And so while it might be a bit strange for me to talk about cold weather running from here in Key West, it may help to get you in the mood by listening to a nine year younger and significantly COLDER version

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 accomplishments.  I disagree with the Christian view that pride is one of the so called “seven deadly sins”  I agree with Aristotle that is is the crown of virtue, not to be confused with vanity…although…let’s be honest, sometimes there is a bit of vanity involved in the self promotion that all of this new technology allows us. But when it comes to fitness trackers, heath apps and the ability to record and sometimes share our every step, stride and vital statistics…I think there’s something else going on.  In a way, I think we’re looking to improve ourselves through technology by better understanding our behavior as a way to ch

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 David Hume didn’t think much of the “Teleological Wish”…he wrote that:  “A very small part of this great system, during a very short time, is very imperfectly discovered to us, and do we thence pronounce decisively concerning the origin of the whole?” The Anthropic argument for or against God, misses and the Teleological argument is just something that we wish for. There are, generally speaking 5 arguments used to prove the existence of God: The Teleological, Cosmological, Ontologocal, Moral, Miracles and Religious Experience.  Today, we will focus on the Teleological, which leads to a discussion of the Anthropic. The

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 to her craftily…and well worded arguments.  But unlike my usual vitriolic attacks pointing out the blatant logical fallacies presented an article…and I must tell you, Dr. Landa has made many weak transgressions here…I’m going to try and be “fair and balanced”.   I say try…I’m not on par with Dr. Landa’s intelligence: but I think I’m pretty good at refutations…so, I’ll give it a shot.   It’s good to warn readers about the dangers of any activity…but you absolutely MUST comment on the validity of the proof.  That wasn’t done here, and that’s both egregious and misleading.   It’s important, to me at least, that I mak

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 of our (Time) Lord 2010.  It was a good year; as years go.  Since then, so much has changed in my life…as it has with yours.     Back then I was still running road races and marathons, back then my weight was below 190 and my injuries were minor.     Now, I’m not telling you this as someone who laments the good old days…or to garner sympathy for the darks times we’ve experienced since…I’m simply putting this out there to remind you that the period of four years both seems like a long time ago, and yet it’s demonstrably not.     So what should we learn from this?  I think it’s best that we live in the present. 

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 takes practice, as we’ll discuss.   In the second chapter, I’ll tell you three important wine terms that you need to know when talking about wine…and finally   In the third and final chapter, I’ll tell you three rarely used, high level terms and concepts that when used in the right situation, will make those who you are talking to, believe that you are on par with a master sommelier…a wine expert…in other words, just by using these phrases convincingly, you will gain “wine cred”.   The thing about wine is that it’s really, just another thing in the universe to appreciate like music, art and nature.  In a way, this e

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 good animal I could be.     She is a perfect example of love and joy…and she’ll always be that way for me.  People change…I’ve changed over the years in some ways for the worse, in some ways for the better…but Eva has…for the past four, been an important constant in my life.   This episode concludes with a eulogy for a friend.  The greatest biffer I’ve ever known, and someone who taught me the importance of living your life to the top.   Links:     Melodious advice by Neil on Twitter @neilbearse    Both opening and closing themes songs were by Jim Fidler at .   The song - “A Raven Has my Heart” at   FitBit at

  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, and it was awesome.  This is their story.

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 of my passions.     The purpose of this episode; if there was a purpose, was to demonstrate the importance of passion in our lives and to highlight, for those who may not be fans of baseball or of my beloved Boston Red Sox, how it feels to not appreciate or understand another persons passion.  I’m not really into movies or theater, I don’t understand someone’s passion for dance, baking, T'ai chi ch’uan, floral arraignment, crochet or scrap-booking…but I can appreciate the passion someone might have for those things, and I’ll keep an open mind for my own possibly developing passion for those things and more.   Lif