Benji Durden: From 2:09 Olympic Marathoner to Cancer Survivor - R4R 045

Doesn’t everyone love a good running story? Well, you’ve come to the right episode because this one is full of them. Benji Durden’s delightful stories truly document his journey of running. Benji begins by taking us through his journey of getting into marathons. He shares how he has become famously known for saying, “Anyone who runs a marathon is sick.” He gives us advice on listening to our bodies and not expecting too much from ourselves too soon. We talk about information overload, i.e. watches, and what he sees as being better at the beginning of his career compared to now where information overload can sabotage us. Working towards faster times, it is easy to let expectations take over and beat ourselves up. Benji describes and shares examples of how he worked and currently works with expectations. Benji recalls personal stories of the Olympic trials and the 1980 boycotted Olympic games. Athletes often think that because they are healthy that a physical ailment won’t happen to them. Benji openly shares his experiences with cancer and chemo treatment. Today's Guest Benji Durden Benji Durden has a smoking fast PR in the marathon of 2:09, and has run 25 sub-2:20 marathons in less than a decade’s time. He is one of the 461 athletes who received the Congressional Gold Medal after the Olympic Games was boycotted in 1980. Currently, he and his wife time races in and around Boulder, Colorado, where they live What You Will Learn About How Benji divides up his races to keep motivated. How he used the hard / easy approach to get a 4 minute marathon PR. Why he used to train in double sweats. What made him walk away from his first marathon saying, “Anyone who runs a marathon is sick.” How pomegranates are involved in his running for real moment. How someone mistook him for a space alien. Inspirational Quotes There is no perfect plan for everyone, like there is no perfect nutritional plan. Well, part of it is you have to enjoy the process. It’s not simply about how fast you can run. It’s about the whole process. If you’re not having a good time with your training, and you’re not having a good time with racing, something’s wrong, you’re not doing it right. One of the things you have to learn is patience and don’t try too hard. I mean, you gotta try, but not too hard. You have to listen and know your limits. If you don’t know your limits, you find out the hard way what they are. For me, it’s always been about running against other bodies. The clock always wins. If you focus too much on that, you never win. You are never satisfied. Being satisfied is part of the goal. The first ten miles or so I consider a fast social run. Then the next ten miles is sort of a transitional period. And by the end of that, I’m trying to pick out people I going to catch. Resources Mentioned Last week's interview with Richie Hardcore  Thank you to the supportive Health IQ and favorite recovery product BodyHealth for sponsoring this episode of Running for Real. Finally, rather than being punished for the way the rest of the country does not look after themselves, we can be rewarded for taking the time, effort, and heart we put into our sport. Health IQ gives us better rates for being active, and you can learn more at Healthiq.com/runningforreal When I was running 90 miles a week as a pro, I would take 5-10 BodyHealth Perfect Amino tablets every day without fail. They helped me recover faster, and feel better. Now they have Perfect Amino XP, which makes it even easier. Get 10% off at Bodyhealth.com using coupon code TINA10