Expisode 300 – Coach Andrew Kastor and much frivolity…
(Audio: link) [audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4300.mp3]
Link epi4300.mp3
Intro:
Hello my friends and welcome to episode 300 of the RunRunLive podcast.  For those of you who have been friends for a bit you’ll realize that this is a necessary departure from our standard format to celebrate our Tri-centennial.  For those of you who may be new to our little endurance sports journal, well you’ll just have to figure it out by listening to some of the other shows.  
Thanks you to Tony for the marathon prayer intro.  Tony does a regular segment called Tony’s Trials on the Marathon Talk UK Podcast (link).  One of our executive editors, Alex form the UK got permission from them for us to use it. 
Marathon Talk UK -> All about running. A weekly podcast dedicated to keeping you on the inside track to successful running. Presented by Martin Yelling and Tom Williams
Tony Audenshaw - Tony's Trials
I’m guessing we are going to go long today, so you’d better schedule a long run or ride or whatever for this one.  I’ve invited some of my friends to submit audios and I’m going to be completely frivolous and indiscrete with too many musical interludes.  Just sit back and let it wash over you like a wave of warm molasses.  Chill out.  No rules for this one. 
It’s going to be a long show and the format is going to be different than usual, but you want to hang around until the end because the ASICS team has asked me to give some shoes away and I’ll set up the contest in the show outro.  Everybody likes free shoes.  
It’s been a long run, huh?  We’ve seen births and deaths and marriages and divorces.  The cycle of life.  For everything there is a season and you’ve certainly ornamented my life for the better through these many seasons.  
In today’s 300th official episode I’m going to talk about community at some point and this strange and wonderful long distance relationship we all share wrapped around our sports.  I may tell a zombie story, for the Halloween season, just for fun.  
I’ve gathered up some guest commentary for you to enjoy, if for no other reason than to quiet the voices in your head. 
But, Fear not! We are going to wrap all the frivolity around a great interview with coach Andrew Kastor who I met through the ASICS NYC marathon Editor’s Choice boondoggle, I mean ‘program’.  I really enjoyed talking to Andrew about altitude training and geeking out on training topics in general.  
It’s a great running-content-rich interview and I feel I’m doing it a disservice by sandwiching it into all this 300th episode frooforal. 
Nothing significantly new in my training.  I’m feeling fairly strong.  I got a nice 2:30 long run in over the weekend that was significant in that I was able to maintain my HR and pace consistently throughout without power failure.  Too many of my long runs over the summer ended with a death march – so I think that’s progress.  
I’m still trying to find my racing speed.  Maybe it’s gone for good.  I appear to be healthy, so maybe I’m just entering a new phase of slowness.  It really doesn’t matter because either way I’m going to get up every day and throw myself at my workouts as part of my balance.  
With the MCM and NYC coming up in couple weeks on back to back weekends my plan is not to race them but instead try to walk away healthy.  Then we can throw in a targeted cycle for either a mid-winter race or a spring race.  I’m looking at some shorter stuff too to fill the gaps.  
Looking forward to some grand adventures with new and old friends alike. 
So…my friends, bear with me as we take off our shirts and dance on the tables today, throwing all rigor and caution to the wind, because, hey, we’re among friends, and friends take the time to celebrate their accomplishments.  
On with the show! 
Steve Runner
What can you say about Steve that hasn’t been said?  He’s the five-star General of running podcasts – a landmark – a fixture – a guiding light for a