Friday Spotlight: Brotherbock
Hey ya'll! I'm really excited to introduce this week's Spotlight athlete. Over the last few months this runner has been a frequenter of the subreddit and his company is always much appreciated. Yet another individual that I've been curious about for a while now. We're finally going to get to see what he's all about. Ladies and gents... u/brotherbock!
Let's do this...
The Runner:
First Name?
Brother ;)
Age?
42
Where are you from?
Iowa, by way of Wisconsin, by way of California.
Occupation?
Adjunct instructor in philosophy (so the following may be wordy :)
Running Q&A's:
What are your PR’s?
- 5k – 19:45
- 10k – 46:00
- 1/2 – 1:47:00
- Marathon – Pending (sort of, otherwise 5+ hours. See below.)
What is your distance PR?
26.2 – In an Ironman, after a whole bunch of swimming and biking. (That’s why I don’t list my marathon time as a running PR—I think I’ll do better than the 5+ hours it took me that day when all I have to do is run :)
What’s your highest recorded weekly mileage?
40 – I’m still primarily a triathlete in terms of racing, so my training is usually split with the other tri disciplines. Most of my weeks are under 20 running.
What’s your comfy pace?
I can do 8:30-9:00 for a long time.
How long have you been running?
Ran some in undergrad to prepare for belt testing in my martial arts club, but really only test-specific. Running to prepare for a single 4 mile run, 6 mile run, etc. Started doing the odd 5k/10k (and the Bix!) 15+ years ago after getting married. We ran for three or four years, then not a lot. I was always active, but I got into volleyball and ramped up the martial arts. Got into triathlon in 2010 after burning out on martial arts, but thought of running as my worst discipline until the year of my (so far only) Ironman. I hit my all-time PR in a 5k a month after the IM, to the tune of 3+ minutes faster, and suddenly had the occasional person saying I was ‘fast’. Very strange to hear that. (The trackies I know still easily blow by me during track days…but I’m out there for a lot longer :)
Tell us why you began running?
My wife and I have always been active. She was a basketball player and general workout fiend in HS and college. I enjoyed an odd collection of things like martial arts, paintball, pickup soccer—kind of whatever. When we got to grad school, we thought running might help us keep from getting out of shape when we saw how much sitting and reading we’d each be doing. But I always felt like a ‘plodder’. I’m a tall guy, 6’4”, and in the general range of 200 lbs. Running wasn’t easy—I blame a form and gait that just wasn’t good for me, big time heel striking and slooooooow turnover. So I never really enjoyed it, and mostly did any running because I knew it was good for me. My original martial arts club for example used to stress developing the ability to escape from harm—“if you had to, could you run 4 miles, and then fight someone, and then run another mile to safety?” So I knew, okay, yeah, I should be able to run somewhat. But after getting into triathlon—which was more or less on a lark—even when I wasn’t seeing speed improvements, I just found myself enjoying the running itself at one point, and started thinking of myself as ‘a runner’ (instead of just ‘someone who runs sometimes’). Now it’s something, like cycling, that I get restless if I don’t do enough. I bring my running shoes on mission trips :)
Most memorable running moment?
Crossing the finish line at my Ironman, my wife waiting for me. That was a day of emotions all the way across the spectrum, really high highs and really low lows. The training was a beast, a part time job in itself. But I’d do another IM in a heartbeat if I could get that much time to train.
Do you have a running mantra?
When I’m struggling to hit a pace or generally grumbling (“Why am I running today, I have so much work to do!”), I do Running Math. “1/5th done…1/4th done…1/3rd done…1/2 way!” No regular mantra. Although, I’ll admit…in my IM training, there was a time when I wasn’t sure I’d be able to stay in triathlon. It’s an expensive sport, and I’m an adjunct college prof. I don’t make much money. So there was a time when I was thinking that maybe, after the IM, I may not be able to stay in the sport. At that point, the line from Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” would hit me pretty hard on more difficult runs – “Feet fail me not, this may be the only opportunity that I got.” Hit a little close to home. There was some running through tears at times.
What time of day do you prefer to run?
I’ll run whenever. I have to cobble together work between three or four different employers in a given year, and it’s college teaching (with non-academia jobs filling in), so my schedule changes semester-to-semester. And sometimes month-to-month. Morning runs, afternoon runs, noon runs. I guess I don’t do much night running, unless you count a run that started before the sun went down and kept going :)
Any big races coming up?
I have my first (Just) Marathon on April 9th. Second marathon already registered for in October. I’m hoping for a half-ironman in September (that’ll be some interesting training between those two). And I’ve got a ‘double sprint’ tri hopefully in June—swim, bike, run, then right back into the water for another round. Never done that, sounds fun.
What are your short-term running goals?
It’s all about this marathon right now. A-Goal of <3:30, B-Goal of 8:15s, C-Goal of 8:30s.
What are your long-term running goals?
There’s a guy who used to show up to some triathlons I do in Illinois, name of Lou. He was the only one in the 80-84 age group when I met him, he’d do 4 or 5 sprint tri’s each season. I want to be Lou.
What’s one piece of running advice you’d give to the younger version of yourself?
“Switch to forefoot running, YoungBrotherbock!” Seriously. I don’t claim that any footstrike or gait works for everyone, but switching to more minimal sort of shoes and moving to a forefoot strike did nothing but good for me. Faster speeds, better hill climbing, less soreness after any and all running, easier transition off the bike in a tri. Maybe not for everyone, but it’s been a big change for me.
Oh, and also, I’d tell the me who was struggling with depression a bunch of years ago to go run. I wasn’t running when that all started, and I think it would have helped a lot.
What is something you need to work on to become a better runner?
I could stand to like sweets and cooking with butter a lot less. And beer. And wine. Nike is pimping their super light shoes, and I’m thinking—if I was worried about a few grams, I’d eat fewer donuts. I could also improve my cadence a bit, particularly at slower speeds, and I was recently shown photographic evidence that I am still overstriding a bit more than I thought I was. I think I could develop more of a forward lean for shorter distances, too. And more core strength. Oh, and not keeping my upper body overly tense. And not going too hard on intervals. And better nutrition…
What is your current shoe choice?
Newton Gravity. I luvs the lugs! I don’t know what I’ll do if Newton were to go under. I used to run in Kinvaras (before that it was Mizuno’s, big built-up things). But over 12 miles, the Kinvaras were killing me. Friend at the local running store turned me on to Newtons, never looked back. Big yellow and red clown shoes FTW!
Trail? Road? Track? Or Treadmill?
Road and track. I like trail running, I find myself smiling like an idiot when I do it, I just don’t do it a lot (I count the gravel roads around my house as road). And treadmills for shorter distances when I’ve been stupid and not brought the right kit with me for that day’s weather. I’ve done distance on the track and intervals on the road, but it’s nice to not do 14 miles going in a 400m circle :/
What is your ideal running weather?
If I’m doing any sort of running by pace, I like cooler but not cold weather. If it’s a long slow run, I don’t mind hot days, because I love summer so much and the heat reminds me that it’s not winter. And running in a blizzard is oddly enjoyable once you commit to it.
Do you have any social media accounts you’d like to share? [Facebook, Strava, Twitter]
Facebook is the tribalism of the modern era. Or maybe the HUAC of the 21st Century. Not sure about Twitter yet. Sometimes I think it’s horrible, and then I see a funny Peter Sagan video and all is forgiven.
Just For Fun:
Warning: I have a problem picking favorites and narrowing my interests :/
What’s your spirit animal?
Gwen Jorgensen.
What hobbies and interests do you have besides running?
Too many to be able to satisfy them all. I enjoy my chosen field, so I do a lot of philosophy research (not as much writing as I should…). Cycling, of course (swimming and I have a contentious relationship). Cooking. Reading. My undergrad degree is in writing, and I still kick out the occasional short story. I also play board games and role-playing games—I write live-action board games, murder mystery sort of stuff, except that the players are doing the murdering :) I still play a bit of volleyball. And I live in a 150 year old house, so I’m constantly dreaming of improvement plans, geeking out about tools and such. I also used to run a very small non-profit, and even though that’s done, I try to stay active in the world of charity, disaster relief, mission trips, and the like.
Do you have any hidden talents?
I can twiddle my thumbs in opposite directions—one from back to front and the other from front to back. I have a ‘super sniffer’ (like Gus from Psych!), and I suspect I’m a supertaster as well.
Biggest pet peeve?
I get irritated and whiny about a lot of things that don’t really matter in the end. Poorly timed stop lights. Verbal tics (‘like’, ‘ya’know’, ‘just’, the fuckin guy who fuckin says fuck with fuckin every fuckin other fuckin word), generally people who don’t pay attention to the fact that there are other people around them. Oh, and ‘things that catch on other things when they aren’t supposed to’! A screen door handle is my nemesis when I’m carrying any bag.
Dream job! What would it be?
Honestly, the job I’m going now—teaching—just for real life adult money and a full-time position and job security.
Favorite Quote or Poem?
Here are a couple of candidates:
- “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” – Jesus of Nazareth
- “I will not say ‘do not weep’, for not all tears are an evil.” – Gandalf (Tolkien).
- “Stab at thee he that will, No stab the soul can kill.” – Sir Walter Raleigh (from “The Lie”). The whole poem is like a battle cry, ending with that great line.
For poems, anything by Gerard Manley Hopkins, Langston Hughes, Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon, “The Lie” by Walter Raleigh (see above), and I just discovered “A Message” by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward, and it’s brilliant.
What is your favorite movie?
These ‘favorite’ questions are the hardest. I complain about a lot of things, but I also like a lot of things. If I just listed some movies I could watch anytime, anywhere: the original Star Wars (New Hope), Jaws, Groundhog Day, The Abyss, Shaw Brothers films, Lord of the Rings trilogy, the Robotech Saga(!), Four Weddings and a Funeral. Oh, and my two Christmas movies: Rare Exports, and Mixed Nuts.
What is your biggest character flaw?
Impatience. Willpower that fails me at predictable times. Taking people close to me for granted. Forgetting to try to be kind to people. As the Dalai Lama might put it, failing to see the sameness in others. I am far, far away from ‘nying je chenmo’.
What songs have you been listening to recently?
I’ve been learning the ukulele, so I’ve been listening to a bunch of gospel, bluegrass and old country lately. My music player always has the Avett Brothers, early Janelle Monae, Peter Fox, Galactic, and the Metermaids on it.
What are some of your favorite non-running subreddits?
I really only hit r/triathlon and r/cycling anymore. I used to have others, but I sometimes go on introvert kicks and back away from a lot of interaction for a while…I can sometimes go into a temporary lurk mode. When I came back to Reddit after one of those pauses, I realized that I didn’t much care for a lot of the other subs. Meh.
One Last Question:
What is the origin of your username?
I was playing in a role-playing game years ago, Dungeons and Dragons. We were a team of beer-brewing monks with beer themed names. Father Dunkel, Cardinal Lager…Brother Bock :) It just flows, I like it. (And, to be honest, years later I like the reminder, brotherhood of mankind, all that.)
That's it folks! Have a great weekend and enjoy the miles.
####Thanks for reading everyone!
#Please tag u/Brotherbock when asking a question in this thread.
Previously Featured Spotlight Runners:
Posted Mar 17, 2017, 11:51 AM UTC