The RunRunLive 4.0 Podcast Episode 4-446 – Running the World with Nick Butter  (Audio: link) audio:http://www.RunRunLive.com/PodcastEpisodes/epi4446.mp3] Link MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks - Intro: Hello and welcome to episode 4-446 of the RunRunLive podcast.  Here we are at the start of a new year!  How about that?  2021.  Happy new year. Today we have a chat with Nick Butter that I recorded a couple weeks ago.  Nick has recently run a marathon in every country in the world, so you may hear him making the rounds of the podcasts.  I’m always a little hesitant to interview folks that come off on the surface as a bit self-promotional.  But, as you’ll hear in the interview, Nick is a thoughtful, honest runner.  It’s another one of these stories that’s good for the new year.  Another, chuck everything and do something big, story.   I’m looking out the window of my home office as I write this and it is just about freezing.  There is a covering of icy snow on the ground.  Yesterday we got one of those slush storms where it’s warmish and snowing and raining at the same time.  I went out with Ollie for a couple hours in the slush in the trails which was fun. I told you about how Ollie likes to ambush me.  He’ll come running directly at me, hit the brakes, snap and growl and take off growling with a stick.  I have managed to avoid getting bitten since we last talked.  (Although, he did spear me from behind with a pine tree one day this week.)    So, yesterday we’re out running in the slush and he comes tearing down the trail straight at me, throws on the brakes, but because there’s two inches of slush, he can’t get any traction and slides straight through me like a ball through a bowling pin.  I went down on top of him and got nice an slushy.  I know sounds funny now, but I was pretty mad at the time.  Now all the slush is frozen.  It’s going to be dicey out in the trails today. My shoes are wet from yesterday so I’ll have to switch to an old pair.  I’ve started training a bit.  My plan is to be in 50 mile shape for the end of April.  Today will cap a pretty big week for me.   Ran a ½ marathon on the roads with the club on Sunday, 7ish in the trails Tuesday, 8ish in the trails Wednesday, a 10 X 60 second hill repeat set on Friday, 10ish slush miles yesterday and I’ll get another 7ish trail mile in today – so mid 40 miles for the 7 days and over 50 for 8 days.  In section one we’ll talk about how to build a spring training plan.  In section two I’ll give you one of the finished episodes of my new apocalypse podcast – so you can hear what I’ve been putting my energy into over the last couple weeks.   I’m not going to talk about New Year’s resolutions.  But I will talk a little bit about attitude in the outro.  I thin 2021 is going to be a interesting year.  After all of use being artificially tamped down for 2020, 2021 should be a barn-burner! I would counsel you to be prepared.  To take these slow times around the holidays to plan and reflect.  Because every thing that happens is an opportunity.  The failures as well as the successes teach us something – if we’re willing to learn. I’ve often quoted Teddy Roosevelt’s “Man in the Arena” speech.  You’ve heard it.  It’s famous.  Teddy Roosevelt was a real character.  He’s on Mount Rushmore with Lincoln, Washington and Jefferson.  Which is a bit strange if you think about it. What’s this dude from the early 1900’s doing up on the mountain with the founders and the great emancipator? This little squirrelly guy with the squeaky voice.  We know he had a squeaky voice because this was around the time that audio recordings started to be made.  You know how Teddy got to be president?  He was such a pain in the ass they made him Vice President to get him out of the way.  Basically, they buried him in a do-nothing job so he couldn’t cause any trouble.  Then an anarchist put a bullet in McKinley and the rest is history.  You have to be ready for your moments.  2021