Tim Twietmeyer, Long run goodness and the Western States 100

Morning, everyone. I had a stellar 14 miler early this morning around midnight. I spent alot of the time concentrating on my running efficiency and form, and I gotta say that I had the best 14 miler I've had in a long, long time. Really concentrated on my foot landing, gait and stride economy. It's really amazing what level of feedback your body will give, but only if we 'unplug' long enough to be able to hear it.

So, I'm listening to a podcast leading up to today's running of the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run. Tim Twietmeyer is now on the board of directors and heavily involved in operating the guts of the race. For those of you that may not know about Tim, he's a past 5 time winner of the WS, and has 25 sub 24hour finishes to his credit. A real ultrarunning legend when it comes to Western States.

Over the course of the podcast interview, one of the hosts asked Tim how he managed to balance extensive WS training with the demands of a family, home life and the balance between  them. Tim came up with what I consider to be one of the most brilliant things I've heard in a long, long time. He said that he always relied on the "Domestic Tranquility Index" or DTI. Basically, if the DTI was high, everything at home was in good shape, his wife was happy with him, the kids were cheerful, etc. On a day with a high DTI, he felt that going out for a long run was acceptable. However, on days when perhaps the DTI was low, he called the run a wash and didn't go that day.

Domestic Tranquility Index.

Brilliant, man. Absolutely brilliant.

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PS - I'm running a local 5k here in town later this evening, and I should have a race report soon thereafter. Haven't run a 5k in a couple of months, but I've got a fellow colleague that is going to be there, and has been talking a fair degree of smack regarding performance in the race. I intend of smoking him, but we'll see....

A little plug for some running podcast hilarity...

This is turning out to be one of my top 3 favorite running podcasts. If you are looking for some podcast goodness that covers running marathons and ultras, this is one you will likely enjoy. Ashland Dave puts the podcast together, and he's got a fairly warped sense of humor, which I really can relate to..

Running at the Center of the Universe
http://ashlanddave.podbean.com/

...and "No", Dave is not sending me any $$$.

(unless he really wants to)