and I’ve been getting out by 6:00.  Really nice.  You should try it.  Today we have a conversation with Brian Burk who is a an ultra-runner with many adventures to his credit and is also a writer.  In section one I am going to read you an old post on how to recover from a marathon because I thought that might be timely for people.  In section two I’m going to talk about future narratives and red blood cells.  A bit of the old vinny-vin-vino.  … I’ve been exploring a meditation site called ‘Calm’.  They have a free 7-day beginners program where the guided sessions are about 10 minutes long.  A lot of it is exposition, i.e. instruction, but it’s a good basic introduction to breathing meditation.  is particularly good.  Or at least I found it resonated.  It addresses the ability to let go of the need to do something.  It’s primarily a phone app, but I went to the website instead.  As an extra-bonus of the web site they have a looping white noise track that is pretty good for concentration enhancement that plays automatically. But, I digress.  I recommend you find a quiet place and listen to the day 5 session.  (Ironically I stopped to take some quick notes so I wouldn’t forget to tell you about it!) We all have our lists and impending deadlines and these things tend to push us through life by creating tension that drives us to do stuff.  But that causes us to rush through life without looking out the window to see what is going on within and without.  This session explains how to shut that rush to do things down and how that gives you a healthier perspective.  And ‘perspective’ is the correct word.  Because, through focus you can observe the scurrying of the mind to get things done, and without judgement, know it for what it is.  You gain an awareness that you don’t have to fill every moment with something.  That there is a value of non-doing.  Through practice you learn to give yourself permission to pause.  Learn how to give yourself permission to pause.  But not now! We have to get… On with the show! … I’ll remind you that the RunRunLive podcast is ad free and listener supported.  What does that mean? It means you don’t have to listen to me trying to sound sincere about Stamps.com or Audible.. (although, fyi, my MarathonBQ book is on audible) We do have a membership option where you can become a member and as a special thank you, you will get access to member’s only audio. There are book reviews, odd philosophical thoughts, zombie stories and I curate old episodes for you to listen to.  I recently added that guy who cut off is foot so he could keep training and my first call with Geoff Galloway.   “Curated” means I add some introductory comments and edit them up a bit.  So anyhow – become a member so I can keep paying my bills.   … 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 and articles. Member only race reports, essays and other bits just for you! Links are in the show notes and at RunRunLive.com … Section one – Recovery after a marathonhttp://runrunlive.com/9-steps-to-recovery-after-a-marathon Voices of reason – the conversation Burk Brian Burk ULTRAMarathon DISTANCE RUNNER Brian’s running adventure started in 2000 stationed on top of the world, at Thule Air Base, Greenland he ran 1200 miles.  As a member of the Air Force Special Operations Command the worlds events around Sept 11th distracted him from his running.  In 2005 he ran his first marathon while stationed in the United Kingdom. Since that time with a lot of help and inspiration from the running community he has raced distances from 5k up to and including three 100 Mile races and nine 24 hour events.  Some of Brian’s achievements and personal bests are: Marathon 3hr 53m 47s Umstead 100 miler, 21hr 36m 36s Graveyard 100 miler solo 23hr 05m 05s Grand Canyon Rim2Rim2Rim 19hrs 30m JFK50 Miler: 9hrs 36m 27s With a passion for writing Brian has had two features published in a national running magazine, on various running blogs and on his own at briansrunningadventures.com.  Brian’s first novel, Running to Leadville, a fictional story about running the Leadville Trail 100 has been well received by runners and non-runners alike.  His second book 26.2 Tips to run your best MARATHON, will help you shave time off your race results with running any faster.  You can follow Brian on Twitter @cledawgs  Instagram @cledawgs and Facebook at Brians Running Adventures.   Section two – The importanceof narrating the future – http://runrunlive.com/the-importance-of-communicating-a-future-narrative   Outro My friends you have stumbled through the finisher chute of episode 4-385 of the RunRunLive Podcast.  Time to get something to eat, rest those feet and treat those blisters. We switched from winter to summer up here.  I went out at lunch for 6 miles of easy road work yesterday and it was in the high 80’s Fahrenheit.  I wanted to see how it felt.  I tried to convince my body that the heat wasn’t uncomfortable or even unknown, just a new thing, or a remembered thing to run with.  It wasn’t bad.  My Plantar Fasciitis is flaring up right now.  I think it’s a combination of things, but I have to keep an eye on it.  Make sure it doesn’t’ go chronic on me.  I have a couple back to back long runs this weekend in the trails and we’ll see how it feels out the other end of that.  Have another podcast tip for you… With these longer runs I have a need for some long-form content.  I listened to a great interview of Irish poet ”.  This is one of those podcasts where you have to read the notes and see if the topic or person is really something you want to stick in your head.  Some of it is not for me.  But the interview of Michael Longley was chock full of wisdom.  Nuggets like “self-importance engraves its own headstone”, and “art and poetry require a certain insouciance”.  The episode is called “ the vitality of ordinary things”.  Maybe it was the heat, but I very much enjoyed the wisdom when I was out on my lunch run yesterday. Ok my friends, I have to go, but remember you have my permission to pause and when you pause to remember the magic in ordinary things.  And thank you all for the compliments on my Boston piece.  As the poet says, ‘It’s ok to accept compliments, but don’t inhale them.” I’ll see you out there. MarathonBQ – How to Qualify for the Boston Marathon in 14 Weeks -