The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-346 – Joe De Sena on the Spartan Movement  (Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4346.mp3] Link epi4346.mp3 MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks - http://www.marathonbq.com/qualify-for-the-boston-marathon-in-14-weeks/ Hello my friends and welcome to episode 4-346 of the RunRunLive Podcast.  Thank you for listening.  Sometimes I don’t hear from you for a while and I get lonely.  I wonder if anyone is listening.  I thought it might due to a lack of positive feedback.  I grew up in the 70’s and we were all about positive feedback.  That’s why baby boomers are so needy.  The topic of today’s show is Spartan.  I interview Joe De Sena the owner of Spartan Races.  He’s a tightly wrapped dude with one of those clear, focused minds and the work ethic to support it.  In the first section I’m going to talk through my initial impressions of the Spartan race and its training.  I have one coming up in September and I’m starting to worry about my fitness level.  I expressed my concerns about things like not being able to do more than 2 pullups to coach.  He says I’m taking it too seriously and, I quote, “A Kardashian could do that race.”  Except he’s not the one running it! In the second section I’ll think a bit on our fascination with Sparta and what it says about us.  My training is focused on strength and biking right now.  I gave my Achilles a week off after the trail marathon but not really because I was down on the Cape over the next weekend walking the beach and riding for hours.  It was great to spend some time with myself but I think I may have overdone it.  I tried to do a 1:30 run on the roads when I got back and I ended up walking back the last mile.  It was the heat and my Achilles.  Now I’m giving some more time to heal.  I’m stretching and massaging and rehabbing.  I’m spending time on the bike and working on my core.  It is a good time of year to be taking a break from running.  It’s still super hot and humid.   Speaking of hot and humid I watched the Women’s Olympic Marathon and I though Amy, Shalane and Desi did a really good job of running their plans.  They hung with the best runners in the world and all finished in the top 10.  They inspired me and I’m sure they’ll inspire the next generation of American women.  Buddy the old wonder dog is doing well.  He’s almost all recovered from his lump surgery.  That should make him more comfortable in the short run.  It’s too hot for him.  He hasn’t been running except for what he normally does when we go for walks off-leash in the woods.  This time of year we get a lot of thunderstorms rolling through at nighttime with all the energy in the atmosphere.  Katie brought his crate up to the living room and when it gets really bad we can put him in there so he doesn’t hurt himself.  Thunderstorms make him mental.  He’ll go into the tub in the girl’s bathroom or into one of the closets and start digging.  We cage him up for his own protection. By the way, I went for the follow up visit with my heart doctor and there’s nothing wrong with me that they can see.  Which is good.  That leads me to conclude that my issues earlier in the summer were due to the heat, jet lag and the case of pneumonia with the course of antibiotics.  Basically my body, mind and soul were out of synch! Which is why I’m focusing on doing a bit of foundational bio-reengineering this month. … The RunRunLive podcast is Ad Free and listener supported.  We do this by offering a membership option where members get Access to Exclusive Members Only audio Last week I uploaded an essay on why vacationing is so hard. Member only race reports, essays and other bits just for you! Exclusive Access to Individual Audio Segments from all Shows Intro’s, Outro’s, Section One running tips, Section Two life hacks and Featured Interviews – all available as stand-alone MP3’s you can download and listen to at any time. For the cost of a