Phedippidations

It’s been almost two years since I produced an episode of this goofy little podcast featuring the thoughts and words of a man I admire a great deal: Dr. George Sheehan.  There’s no specific reason for that…episode 258 titled “Dr. George Sheehan: Seeing” was my reading of the final chapter of his book “Running and Being – The Total Experience”, probably his best known work. Cardiologist, Philosopher, author and record setting marathoner, Dr. George Sheehan was diagnosed, in 1986, with inoperable prostate cancer.  By the time it was discovered, it had already spread to his bones.  He fought with the disease for seven years, living each day to it’s top.  His last book “Going the Distance: One Man’s Journey to the end of his life” was all about the experience of dying from the perspective of a runner…or better put, someone like us who sees value in our life and accepts pain, sweat and exhaustion as a way to live well. “Going the Distance” was published shortly after his death. Today I’m going to read for you a

Who are you?   When we contemplate those elements of our origins, personality and physical being…we have to consider our genetic history, the environment in which we were raised and live and, the behavior and stories of those who influenced our lives.   I come from a long line of farmers and fishermen, hard working people who worked the land and sea….growing potatoes, milking cows and living off the natural resources of a picturesque island named after the fourth son of King George the third, the father of Queen Victoria, and the Duke of Kent and Strathearn: Prince Edward. I am descended from dedicated, persistent laborers with indomitable spirits and everlasting endurance: who cleared rocky fields, sailed rough seas and overcame obstacles that we would consider enormous. They met adversity with acceptance, fortitude and faith. My ancestors were Scottish Catholics, devoted to their God and each other.  They had names like Angus, Theresa, Peter, Mary, Sarah, James, Donald, Ellen, Penelope, Allan, Johanna, Pi

This episode celebrates the 7th anniversary of this podcast, the first episode of which was published on Independence Day, July 4th of the year 2005. As you’d expect, my life is very different today than it was back then, in many ways better, in other ways…different; but I’m not complaining.  This is Life 2.0; the world has moved on, and so have we all. One major point of improvement in my life is the many friends I have been so fortunate to make, as a direct result of this goofy little podcast.   There have been days, sometimes weeks, where I haven’t felt like stepping up to the microphone.  There have been days and weeks when I haven’t felt like running.  The thing is; with your friendship, kindness and support: I’ve been inspired to run and motivated to podcast…to share with you my thoughts, opinions, observations and yes: even the tidbit details of my life; because when you run together you share something special…and even though this is a digital audio reproduction of my voice, somewhere in the world

The universe is different for runners, because we have a far more personal relationship with it. Non-runners can jump on a bike, in a car, on a boat, strap themselves into a plane or a rocket, and discuss the many miles they’ll travel in shorter periods of time: but a runner has to work at it. A runner has to take her or his own body, with only the fuel pumping through our own blood streams across the distances of miles and many miles…we are creatures who move under our own power across distances that many of our species no longer treks through.   This is kind of a big deal.   I wanted to talk to you about space and time because when you’re out there, on the road, you are running across a beautiful blue planet that every form of life we have ever known about, has ever lived upon.  We assume that there is life on other worlds, but we don’t know that for certain. What we do know for certain is that we have this one life, limited by a short duration, and we can chose to live it without passion, just getting thro

You’re out on a five mile run, the sun is setting and the stars are beginning to shine.  You are traveling a measureable distance across a tiny blue bubble in space that has been in existence for 4.5 billion years within a universe that was created out of nothing 13.7 billion years ago.  It would be easy to feel small.   If you took the time to contemplate your short life and insignificant size…you could easily ask yourself the questions “Why am I here?” “What is the point of my existence?” “Would the Universe miss me if I was suddenly gone”? The answers will come to you eventually, but when I’ve asked myself those very same questions over the past year: my answers seemed clear to me:   I am here to observe and be observed.   The point and purpose of my existence is to make the universe that I observe better… and the Universe would not care if I was suddenly gone…but the Universe doesn’t care about anything…unless, of course you’re talking about other people, people who I care about and who care about me…

Running the Groton Road Race was like running with an old friend I had never actually met, with one friend I had met before and another I’ve known for years through the running community of which I am a part. This was our pack.  Not in the lead, nor all the way at the back…but a pack of three friends running 6.2 miles through a beautiful colonial New England town.   Alett, John and I could have run at our own pace; we could have run with the goal of setting our own PR’s and attacking the course to the very best of our abilities…but for the three of us, good conversation and camaraderie was the goal for the day…and we ran together as friends, fellow runners…and most of all, as a pack. Links: http://runnewengland.blogspot.com/ http://www.runrunlive.com/ http://4feetrunning.blogspot.com/ http://grotonroadrace.com/ On Twitter: @petfxr @johnvaughn @painternik @misterfonzie @cyktrussell “A Dogs Purpose” By W. Bruce Cameron  Happenings: June 16th: Liberty Loco –http://arunningskeptic.blogspot.com  Whip it, Whip it

We should be proud of we are, and act as a positive examples for others: but at the same time remain wary of vanity – because while we are certainly worthy of having pride in our actions and through our running: we’re not all that, and a bag of chips.

This is a story of passion, determination and guts in a marathon road race that is very much like the one you may have, or may one day run.  It’s a story that demonstrates the importance of experience, the rage against physical limits and the strength…of youth.

This was Ernest Hemingway, a man who inspired his readers to stand up against facists and bullies, while in many ways he tended to be somewhat of a bully himself.  Hemingway lived his life to the fullest, and set an example to everyone who knew him to turn to nature, both on land and sea.

The guy who said it was a “miracle that he had the courage to start” is full of crap.  Courage has nothing to do with starting a road race, and he’s a fool to push that slogan on new runners.

Treadmilling is not a bad thing.  But I think everyone listening to me understands that given the choice between running in place for an hour within your home, or at a gym and moving outside, under the sky, within the elements and across the ever-changing terrain of your place: the more significant way to exercise is the one that lets you better experience the world around you.

Today we’ll hear from six fellow runners (including myself) who will relate to you their personal stories about “Their First Times”.

Today is my 50th birthday.   I was born at exactly 7:48 PM Eastern Standard Time in the maternity ward of Milton Hospital on Reedsdale Road and Highland Street in the town of Milton, Massachusetts on January 19th, 1962. Turning 50 feels good, because it’s good to be alive.  The milestone reminds me to take a walk break in this race, and turn to look behind me to see how far I’ve come.  The past 50 years of life included great joy, terrible sadness, and the agony and ecstasy of blood, sweat and tears…but I wouldn’t trade any of it. Regrets I have, many in fact: but those regrets are all part of a life well lived: a life, lived to its top.

We're traveling back in time on this episode; through six and a half years in PodCasting AND BEYOND! 

When oenophiles think about wine, they rarely consider the sport of running with regards to it’s enjoyment; and when runners consider our passion for moving our bodies through space: the topic of wine is not chief among our hydration strategies.  Yet these two areas of interest have their complementary intersections.  In this epsiode we'll visit some "Cool Races in Beautiful Places" where wine grapes are grown. 

In the summer of 1975 I was a 13 year old skinny, big eared, pimply-faced teenager with a frown full of braces and a head filled with big ideas.  This was the first time I had ever been able to express my creativity to an audience greater than my immediate family, it was the first time I took a thought and converted it into something for others to experience.  My words, my story, my imagines, my voice and that of my friends Andy and James…we created a movie that entertained our family, friends and neighborhood for one magical night in the summer of seventy-five: The Summer of the Shark.

Part two of a series of episode where we prepare ourselves to win an argument with a non-runner!

In order to start the conversation that plants the seed of an idea into someone’s head that they might want to begin the process to adopt the running life style, you need the right ammunition: you need to commit to memory at least a handful of logical arguments that will make your proposal effective and produce results.

“To be or not to be?”, that is only the second question we have to ask ourselves: the first is: Are we? or Are we not?  Do we exist or is this all just a dream?    Descartes had something to say about all this, and it’s to Descartes that we will go, as we begin to contemplate that one thing that makes us appreciate the way it feels to run across the Earth, to feel the sweat, effort and joy of getting our miles in and moving these bodies that we either are or inhabit.  Descarte can help us begin the process of understanding why, as we run a race or by ourselves on the open road: we feel, very much alive.

In this episode I present for you an abridged for podcast version of Henry David Thoreau’s essay “A Walk to Wachusett”.    As you listen to these words, think about the excursion you might make wherever you live; knowing that you could cover the distance on a long run, but instead taking the time to walk and explore the world around you.    This is one of the great lessons of Thoreau: that we should savor the journey and experience our environment.  It’s as Professor Nancy Etcoff said in my episode 274 on the Pursuit of Happiness: The pleasure system in our brain responds positively to the beauty of the natural world.     I love to run, as I know you do: but maybe every once in a while we should slow down, and just go for a walk.