The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-303 – Bruce Van Horn - Running and Self-esteem
(Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4303.mp3]
Link epi4303.mp3
Intro Bumper:
Hello my friends and welcome to 2015.  Who woulda thunk it? We made it.  I can remember sitting in elementary school and thinking how old I’d be when we got to the year 2000, and here we are 15 years later.  
You have once again found yourself with me, Chris, in your ear buds.  Whether you’re out on your frozen roads or the tropical antipodean outback I’m thrilled and honored to be your running-related mental succubus. 
…
Well it’s been a quiet week out here in Independence Kansas along the banks of Spring creek.  As I look out onto the frost covered acreage I can see groups of feral yaks cavorting in the sleet.  Except for those sick ones.  They don’t look so good.  They’re in rough shape with fur falling out in bunches and they walk with a strange stiff-legged lurch.  
I called the local animal control officer out and he should be here shortly.  It’s that government neuro toxin research facility.  I know it is.  
Well the beat up F150 of Dick the animal control officer just pulled into the field.  I think he’s the manager of the local grange too.  He’s out of the truck now, approaching the yaks…
Oh my god! They’re attacking! They’ve got him down! Heavens to murgatroid! They’re eating his brains! They’re Zombie yaks! 
That’s it.  I’ve had enough of the Midwest.  I’m moving back to New England. 
By the way…”Zombie Yaks” would make an awesome name for a punk rock band…
Intro: 
Yeah – how about that running stuff?  Well I’ve dropped into training for Boston.  I’ve had a small set back with going on vacation for a week and coming down with a vicious head cold.  
I’ve got an interesting challenge this year with my heart acting up.  I can train in Zone 2 all day long but Zone 3 and 4 work is dicey.  I’m going to have to figure out how to train with a missing gear while I get this sorted.  
The issue is that the tempo stuff is where my arrhythmia kicks in.  Instead of going from zone 2 into zone 3 and 4 it flips out and goes from zone 2 to max.  But that’s not really what’s happening.  It reads as max HR but what’s really happening is the heart muscles are out of synch and the blood isn’t getting to where it needs to be to support the effort.  It’s the equivalent of a missing gear or a flat spot where I lose power.  
It doesn’t do me any good to tough it out because I’m not getting the benefit training while my heart is working ineffectively.  I talked to coach and we’re working on training on things I can control and are effective.  
Since I have no problem in Zone 2 we’re just going to continue to build a giant base.  Push those weekday runs up into the 1:30 range and the long runs up too.  
The other issue I have is the HR tends to flip when I’m running up hill.  The increased load going up a hill caused the Arrhythmia to kick in.  Again, it doesn’t do me any good to train in that state so I have to figure out how to get my hill strength for Boston without doing hill work.  
What can I control?  I can control my nutrition, I can control my flexibility and I can control my strength and I can control my sleep.  That leads me to my initial plan for Boston, which is build a huge Zone 2 base, get my weight down to race weight, work my flexibility and work my strength.  I’m pretty excited about this experiment.  It’s a challenge.  It’s like fighting with a hand tied behind my back and it will force me to grow. 
If the cardio doctors manage to fix something then I can add on the fine tuning of racing and tempo later in the cycle.  That’s easy and comes quickly if you have the strength, the flexibility and the base.  
Today I have a chat with Bruce Van Horn who is a life coach and marathoner out of Virginia.  At first I wasn’t super attracted to Bruce when I listened to his stuff because it was basic positive thinking and self-esteem stuff delivered