Thursday, July 30, 2015

Hey, they tried... (my first and maybe last UltraRunnerPodcast interview)



During my interview on UltraRunnerPodcast yesterday (that aired today), I was reminded that I haven't posted on my blog here for quite a while.  Kind of like the projected El NiƱo this winter and the California drought, even if I blog ten race reports in the next month, I'll still be hopelessly behind on telling all the goofy stories worth telling (if not reading about).  Despite the futility of it all, I thought I should at least make a little post about the interview.

It reminded me of a typical ultrarunning race:

1. Several times I failed to answer the question (...which is sort of like coming into an aid station thinking "I must apply more lube to my crotch....I must apply more lube to my crotch...."  Some friends say hi, take a few pics, good stuff to eat, but I'm offered this quesadilla which I don't really want but it kind of looks good even with the flies buzzing around it, and then I almost forget my bottle, and then decided I should have cool water teeming with bacteria squeezed onto my head cause it feels soooo good.  And I leave without having applied lube to my crotch....)

2. I went off on all these tangents, that led nowhere (...which is like getting off course and then you have to find your way back-- bonus!)

3. I answered many questions badly, especially the ones I should have anticipated, like the ER doc questions, especially the grossest thing I've seen one, which we emergency physicians get all the fricking time, so I should've had a pithier, funnier answer (...which is like coming to a race that I've already run, completely clueless and unprepared, having no idea how far between two aid stations, and then bonking due my preventable ignorance....)

4. Eventually, though, we got there, and as messily and inefficiently and it went, it was still fun!  (... = I got my damn buckle, oh yeah, it was all so worth it!)

My worst gaffe though, was when Sarah kept tried to cue me to say how awesome my wife is for letting me run these races, and to thank her publicly on the web-- I totally blew it!

Honey, thanks so much, love you lots!!!

Thanks, Sarah and Eric, good times!

http://ultrarunnerpodcast.com/mark-tanaka-interview/

3 comments:

notthatlucas said...

That was a lot of fun to listen to - I liked how challenging you made it for Eric and Sarah to try to keep you on track. Your legend continues to grow! (And it helped to picture you calling in a few minutes late without having prepared at all, doing last minute scrambling to get your thoughts in some semblance of order. But you're quick enough to handle it all like a pro, just like all those races.)

Paul said...

I thought you were awesome and I hope they have you on again. I was seriously wishing they'd just keep it rolling.

Mark Tanaka (Ultrailnakaman) said...

Thanks, guys! I actually think I went over the usual interview time.