Alan Kaufman, Queens, NY - Achilles International

Automatic transcription

Alan Kaufman from Queens

   Alan Kaufman: I saw bill, I saw the Achilles shirt. I said, this man is my hero. If I'm going to volunteer with any charitable organization, people with disabilities and various challenges, it was going to be Achilles international. 

Joe Borchard: welcome to the, I run because podcast, we all have a reason why we run. Each person has a unique purpose to answer their why. Your why moves you your why gets you across the finish line. Your why can motivate others. I run because seeks to inspire others by exploring the why of athletes who run for charitable organizations and causes. 

I'm your host, Joe Borchard, and I have my lovely guide for life. My wife Christine. Hello. This season of I run because we are highlighting the running club, Achilles international, a running club that partners guides with runners of different abilities to compete in mainstream running, running events.

While Achilles focuses on running. The truth is. Running is simply a tool for accomplishing their main objective, to bring hope, inspiration, and the joys of achievement to all. Tonight we have one of Achilles, probably most famous athletes, and, uh, somebody, if we're talking about Achilles, we have to mention, uh,  Alan Kaufman from Achilles Queens with us.

Christine Borchard: Alan was the first person that came to my mind when you set up the list of people. Oh, yeah.

Alan Kaufman: flattered. I'm flattered. Thank you.

Joe Borchard: Hey Alan, how you doing?

Alan Kaufman: Good guys. Hi, Christine. Hi, Joe.  Thanks so much for having me.

Joe Borchard: Oh, listen. When this, this podcast talking about people's why of why they're running, , would not be complete if we did not have Alan Kaufman on our podcast. I mean, your story is one that inspires moves and is at the heart of what Achilles is about and really at the heart of what this podcast is seeking to find.

So, uh, with that being said, Allen, why don't we start with why you started to run.

Alan Kaufman: I remember specifically when I started to run and why I went to the start, why I went to the beacon running. I was in Seattle in early 1991 downtown and there was a five K going on along the waterfront. It was an absolutely beautiful day, and I thought to myself. It would be great to be a runner. And of course I did nothing until my wife got pregnant a couple of months later in may 91 and the elevator was at our buildings.

So I decided I'd run up the four flights of steps to get to our apartment, and I was completely, I couldn't catch my breath. I was gasping for air, and I thought, if I'm going to be a dad, I need to get in shape. And that's when I began running May 1st, 1991.

Unknown: We don't. 

Christine Borchard: We just passed your anniversary.

Alan Kaufman: I 29 years.

Joe Borchard: Wow. 29 years.

Alan Kaufman: A lot's happened in 29 years, but I remember running, I walked a block, I ran a block, I walked a block and then I vowed in 18 months in the, , I guess was the 1992 New York city marathon.

I was going to be an entrant and that was my goal. 18 months later, I went from doing no running to my first New York city marathon.

Joe Borchard: you went from climbing a flight of steps, being out of breath to saying, Hey, we're going to, I'm going to do the New York city marathon in 18 months.

Alan Kaufman: I 

was completely, I was completely smitten. I, you know, the running community back in the pre-internet days meant you'd send in a postcard or you'd get a flyer at a race, fill it out, mail it in with a check, and then you'd do the race and get the tee shirt. And in those pre-internet days, all you need to do is send out a postcard to Roadrunners.

And you were pretty much guaranteed an entry into the marathon.

Joe Borchard: So you were still on the West coast in 92

Alan Kaufman: No, I was always living in New York, but I traveled to Seattle and so that was kind of where the seed was planted on a road trip. I worked for Nickelodeon for many years and I was always traveling, and I later learned once I was a runner, it was a joy to go to different cities and run, so I was completely hooked.

Unknown: I 

Christine Borchard: think about the movie, Brittany runs a marathon, and like what you just explained was almost like Alan runs a marathon.

Alan Kaufman: We 

watched the movie, Christine and I laughed the hallway cause it was the same thing. I, I, it was amazing. I was slightly overweight within I, I dropped 25 pounds in like three months and got down to fighting weight almost instantly. But there's that moment when you decide you need to change something in your life.

And me, it was just being an expect a parent to be. And living in,  in Queens where I live. There's wonderful places to run. Flushing Meadows, park, forest park, so it wasn't a great place to be a runner.

Joe Borchard: And so, uh, so you did your first marathon, 1992 and then did you stick with it or was that a a one and done.

Alan Kaufman: Nope. I, there's always a moment when you run a marathon and you think, what was I thinking? I'm never doing this again. But the elation, the one mistake I made was like, never predict what your first marathon time's going to be because you're going to be awfully wrong. And I was. Pronouncing a three and a half hour marathon.

I came in just shy of five, but I was, I vowed to do it again the following year, and I have to tell you, , from 1992 until this past year, I did every marathon except the year Superstorm Sandy canceled. And the year that I got sick, but I was completely hooked, both as an entrant. And then when I didn't get in, I decided that was, that was the change of my life.

I became an Achilles guide.

Joe Borchard: You've done every marathon since 92

Alan Kaufman: With the exception of the year they canceled. And, , my cancer diagnosis in 2017, my doctor looked at me and said, eh, , you may want to sit this year out so that, but otherwise, I've done. I just completed my, well, this past November was my 26th New York city marathon, and hopefully if all the hysteria, and I know that 53,000 people converging on New York city from all over the world seems very counter intuitive right now.

I am hoping that marathon 20 sevens in the offing for me in six months.

Christine Borchard: So Allen, when did you start guiding? Do you have a year when you started guiding.

Alan Kaufman: It was either 96 or 97 what had happened was the marathon was getting increasingly popular, and I think Roadrunners realized that a guy like me doing the marathon pays that subway fare. Goes to the expo, goes home and contributes nothing to the economy. So they started limiting the amount of local runners to a certain amount.

I forgot what, but the first year I didn't run the marathon. I, I'd seen all these people with Achilles shirts and was completely like, I, you know, it was just, I was fascinated by the whole Achilles program. So the first year that I didn't get in. And this is kind of self serving. I admit, I just said, Hey, this is the year I'm going to volunteers and Kelly's guide.

And I did, and they took me and I foolishly underestimated my overstory, but I said, I do. I can do the marathon at three and a half hours. So they paired me with two very fast blind runners from Thailand. There was a complete disaster, but after that I learned, you know, whoever I can be with would be. I started guiding 96 97 and I have to save the 26 marathons.

I've done 11 was as an entry official entrance. 14 was a guide as guy as a guide, and then one is an F, an Achilles athlete. So, , once I started guiding, I know this is, for me, this is a wonderful way to do the race.

Joe Borchard: So, just out of curiosity, , there's a lot of charities that you could run with, and especially in New York city, what was it that drove you to Achilles.

Alan Kaufman: It was the site of bill Riley. The first year I did it. If you don't know bill, he's got cerebral palsy, he's in a wheelchair and he goes backwards in his chair. I saw bill, I saw the Achilles shirt. I said, this man is my hero. If I'm going to volunteer with any charitable organization, people with disabilities and various challenges, it was going to be Achilles international.

And even in the first year going with runners who were too fast for me, I realized that in years after that, I would just, I started doing the race with, uh, members of Achilles Japan, uh, with blind runners from that team. And they would ask for me every year. They would look, they'd reach out to me in April and say, are you going to be available in the fall?

And I always said, yes.

Christine Borchard: You know, when I ran the New York city marathon in 2015 bill was my inspiration for joining. I saw him on a bridge, I forget what bridge it was, and he had two guides and he was going backwards, you know, , over the bridge. And I remember thinking to myself, that's what I want to do next year. And, uh, every time I see him, he reminds me of like, why, why I did it.

Alan Kaufman: Right. 

And what thrill and what a thrill Christine, for to have him as a teammate now to be on Bill's team, another fellow member of Achilles Queens.

Joe Borchard: That's amazing. That really is. 

Christine Borchard: No, he really is the reason why I remember seeing him, and I remember saying. I have to find out what these yellow shirts are about. And then I came home and Joe and I looked it up and we found that there was Achilles. And long story short, he was my inspiration as well. It's 

Joe Borchard: so true.

Alan, she came home from the marathon, you know, we were so proud of her and, and celebrating, and she said, you know what? I saw this guy. He was going up backwards on, on, on the, uh, one of the bridges. And she's like, I couldn't believe it. And, uh, that's when you said, I have to find out what this club is all about.

And coincidentally, that's how we hooked up with Joe

Alan Kaufman: It. Everybody's got their story and their moment of inspiration. Mine was bills. Being with seeing bill the moment I saw bill. And then of course once I became a guide and the look on an athlete's face when you get he or she over the finish line is indescribable. And I, one year, uh, 2008, I remember vividly we were the last ones to finish the very last, we were out there for 14 hours, but we made it and it was the greatest moment of my life to get this woman.

She was. My, she was, I guess her late fifties she had was a stroke survivor. Japanese didn't speak English, and the smile on her face was just overwhelming. It was just fantastic.

Joe Borchard: That's 

Christine Borchard: great. So Alan, I know you mentioned that you have one year as an athlete, so you need a guide now when you run.

Alan Kaufman: , I do, I've actually done, I was diagnosed with cancer in 2017 and I resolved that year that I was going to join Achilles Queens, our local chapter and do the marathon is an Achilles athlete. So 2018 was my first year as an athlete. Actually, I was incorrect early. I've done too as an a, as an Achilles' athlete, 2018 and 2019 and I had two guides each time I did the race.

Unknown: So 

Joe Borchard: 2017 your doctor said, , it's not happening this year.

Alan Kaufman: What happened was in June of 2017 I was diagnosed with advanced metastatic melanoma. I had five brain tors and one of my lung. And I had back to back brain surgeries that pretty much hobbled me. And that year I was scheduled to be an Achilles guide and I knew it would be irresponsible for me to get anywhere near the race as a guide to put an athlete's fate in my hands when I was struggling.

So that was my transitional, the transition period for me from going from guide to guide it, as I like to say. 2017 was the hardest race I've never done. , and the Achilles team, God bless them, sent me, I don't know whose metal it was. They sent me a finisher's medal from the 2017 New York city marathon.

Joe Borchard: I just got chills.

Alan Kaufman: , it was something, I got this envelope in the mail and it's heavy and it's got Japanese writing on it. And what is this? I tore it open. And it's a, it's a finishes metal and I just lost it. I just like, and I hung it and again, it was the toughest, rarer, it was the easiest marathon I've never done in the hardest.

At the same time, we went to the race,

Christine Borchard: I was going to ask you that if you went and did cheer people on, or was it too hard.

Alan Kaufman: We went to the cheer station in long Island city, and thankfully with cell phones and everything else, I was able to coordinate where they were. Hey, we're on the plasticky bridge. Hey, I'm by the white garbage truck in long Island city. I've got photographs.

Christine of me hugging, , Toshi ITTO, he's the guy that I would guide most years and he's blind and he heard my voice and the look on his face. , it was something, this is what makes Achilles so special.

Unknown: Wow. That's 

Joe Borchard: such a great story. I 

Christine Borchard: tell people there's nothing like the Achilles' tent right before 

Unknown: the race.

Alan Kaufman: Oh, it was unbelievable. I haven't, the first year back in 2018 was my comeback year. And everybody was just like so wonderful to me, and even Lee, I mean, every year is wonderful. Then you Kelly send, whether you're a guide or an athlete, the electricity you ended up, every akin pain that you have goes away when you see an a Kelly's athletes strapping on a prosthetic leg or lowering himself into a wheelchair or the Achilles have the grabbing her crutches.

Suddenly like the little annoying pain you had in your ankle completely goes away.

Joe Borchard: Amen. So, so take me through 2017 you were sidelined, , because the diagnosis with cancer son. Now, if  I remember correctly, your doctor said that you were, we're going to be able to do marathons again or that this was it.

Alan Kaufman: I, my, my doctors knew I was a runner. You know, we as runners were a little crazy to begin with. And when I was diagnosed with metastatic melon, stage four melanoma with a. Traditionally for like six month product, you had six months to go and then you were gone. And the first question of my mind is, I'm going to do a marathon and the dot.

And the neurologist is looking at me like, this guy's crazy. But he nodded. He said, I look at you and I can tell you will. And, , the post I had back to back surgeries, 11 hours worth of brain surgery, and it was. And I mean the, the neuralize neural ICU. And two days after the surgery, a nurse came into my room and said, how'd you like to start training right now? And they got me out of bed on a Walker and I said, I don't need the Walker. She took me by my, the crook of my elbow, and I did my first lap around the hospital.

Christine Borchard: So she was your first Achilles' guide.

Alan Kaufman: Well in a sense, yes. Essentially. Yes. Christine? , my wife and my brother were both there with their cameras through tears taking pictures of me, the sky, you know, I, I.

Hair down to the middle of my back. Now, my head was completely shaved with these two gnarly scars on my skull. , I had five tors, two, they got through surgery, three were an operable. So we got those through, , through radiation and immunotherapy. But here I am two days out of surgery, and I'm doing my first lap around the hospital in my, in my, in my, you know, my booties.

But, , it was the most memorable run I've ever done.

Christine Borchard: and then Alan is the reason why when Joe was compiling a list of runners, I said, you need to put Alan on this list because you are the most inspirational person I've ever 

Unknown: met.

Alan Kaufman: I, I, I'm grateful to hear that Christine. I, you know, we inspire each other. Uh, we will inspire each other. When I go to the workouts on, on Sundays in Queens, wherever, a flushing Meadows park, the guides inspire me. I inspire the guides, we, we, the energy goes back and forth. And that is the beauty of being an either an Achilles athlete or an Achilles guide.

Joe Borchard: So Allen, if you can take me through 2018 you've been to the New York city starting line, New York city marathon, starting line for over 30 years, whether running it on your own or as a guide. So here you are, 2017 you're not sure if you were coming back. What was it like being on the starting line on 2018

Alan Kaufman: Aye. We get the early start. , ambulatory athletes with disabilities get the early start. So here we are at, at the foot of the Verrazano bridge, maybe 30 of us. The bridges, empty buses are coming from the other direction onto Staten Island. The race starts and people are honking their horns and cheering us on.

My guides that year were my good friends. , Frank who lives in the house right next to me and Phillip who lives around the block, both said the moment I got sick, they were going to be with me. 

I was just, 

I what goes, it was like being in the super bowl in the world series at the same time. It was like the greatest moment.

You, you can imagine you're sick. You know, we were all wearing our names on the backs of our shirts and people are calling our names and it was the super bowl is the super bowl and the ninth game of the seventh game of the world series, bottom of the ninth score is tied. And of course, Joe, the thing is the pressure, I've been talking about this for like for months and months, Achilles has gotten me press, I've done interviews with Bloomberg, the local papers, the local TV stations.

I thinking to myself, I better finish this thing.

Joe Borchard: Oh, I don't think there was a doubt in your mind that

Alan Kaufman: What am I going to tell the team when the our most wonderful founder and captain Kelly's Queens was, , I think I spoke to the day before. I said, when the, I'm like a little nervous about this, or it was the week before, so you're going to do it. Just shut up into it.

She didn't really say it that way, but you know, it was, it was supportive and it was like, of course you're going to do it. How can you not.

Joe Borchard: Yeah. But I can only imagine what you must have been feeling that morning, you know, being back after a year of what you've been through. And then getting back on that starting line. That must have just been electric.

Alan Kaufman: It's very life affirming. If you have any concerns about your life. I mean, good health is the greatest thing you could possibly aspire to. And here I was, I, I got sick at a very opportune time. They had introduced, , to oncology, oncological medicine, something called the menu therapy, which is not chemo, but it teaches your body. Your body's immune system to fight cancer. And when I started immunotherapy, it was like, okay, this is your, this is your hail Mary. This needs to work. Uh, metastatic melanoma. Stage four is there's a six month time period between diagnosis and your expiration date. I had already gone past that almost by almost a year on that day, on that marathon Sunday, I was feeling great and I knew if I could finish this race, I was capable of anything.

Joe Borchard: That's nice. 

Christine Borchard: Ellen, how are you feeling 

Unknown: now?

Alan Kaufman: I feel so great. I know we're living in this very challenging moment. All of us collectively, but I feel fantastic. , I was diagnosed, , almost three years ago, June, but in this past January, two and a half years after diagnosis, my doctors, we did the MRI of my brain, my lung, and everything else, and I'm in remission.

Joe Borchard: That's the best news I heard.

Alan Kaufman: Remission. It's the most magical word. You can pause. Yeah, thanks. We continue to fight and monitor, but I'm starting to run again. My balance was thrown off significantly after the brain surgeries. I first walked with hiking poles and used a cane, but now I'm starting to run. I run with the cane, held parallel to the road, and the one upside of this whole horrible thing with the pandemic is there's no traffic here in Queens, so I can run comfortably in the street.

Christine Borchard: So you have been training during this time.

Alan Kaufman: I've been training nonstop. I'm doing between 45 and 50 miles a

Christine Borchard: Oh my

Unknown: goodness. 

Alan Kaufman: I have, the thing was, guys, when I wasn't working, I'm on disability. I had plenty of time on my hands, so what would I do? I'd go at for two hours in the morning, first just walking, then maybe running a bit and walking, and now I'm doing a lot more running and being careful.

Of course, I. Once the tor in my lung had resolved, my breathing got a little better. I've still got issues with balance, but it's crazy. I need a cane to walk, but I could run without one and I'm not sure. My neurologist really can't figure it out either, but I'm training. Yes. Even though we're not sure about New York city in November because of all the horrors of the pandemic, I'm treating this moment as if I'm like training has begun.

The six month window is opened.

Christine Borchard: Alan, that's why we need to talk to you. See, I on the other hand, am the exact opposite. I was the lady that we used to like. I used to like be jealous at stay at home moms and I would say if I was a stay at home mom, I would be a size two. I would run every day and I would cook delicious meals. We've been home for seven weeks and I averaged three to six miles a week.

I make sure I go out twice. I do two five Ks a week. And, and I walk, but I have done the exact opposite of whatever I said I was going to do. 

Joe Borchard: And there has not been a delicious meal. No. I'll tell you that much. 

Christine Borchard: Whenever I would see like a really pretty girl, I'd be like, well that's cause she stays home and I am the complete opposite of what I thought I was going to do with my time.

Walk.

Alan Kaufman: I get out of the morning each day and I say out loud or not loud enough to wake my wife Susan, but like every new day is a gift and I'm thinking, okay, I'm on disability. I was in the television business both as a producer and as a performer, and right now everything in that field is. Nothing's happening.

I've got time on my hands. My job as a cancer patient was to get better and part and my doctors, my oncologist, my neurologists, all my doctors agree that having a healthy physical. Base, you know, be somewhat physically fit. , helped me both in getting out of bed right after brain surgery and in my recovery.

So I've been treating, I'd always treated the walking of the compulsive walking as, as, as part of my treatment. Not only the immunotherapy and the scans and the radiation, but walking copious amounts of walking. Also, I think have contributed to my recovery.

Joe Borchard: And your 

Christine Borchard: positive outlook.

Alan Kaufman: I try. There are moments of course, but I've remained positive and Sunday mornings are adjoined with Achilles. Seeing Achilles, New Jersey, , is also a joy and the times we've met up the hope and possibility race last, last fall and also on the occasional meetups. I'm hoping we'll do that again sometime soon cause those are terrific.

Joe Borchard: I believe we will. I believe we will. So, Allen, , we talked about when you started running and we talked, uh, about your running career. , let's answer the question. Why, why do you still run.

Alan Kaufman: Life affirmation. Plain and simple to me. If I can move, if I'm out there and I can breathe, I can't be too bad. Things can't be too bad. And especially now if I can wake up and my breathing is good, I know my health is good. It's, , is the thing about me is that like, I need to be in motion doing something.

I'm a creator by nature, by nature. And when I'm running or walking, I'm writing in my mind.

Joe Borchard: And I also know you do quite a bit of painting as well.

Alan Kaufman: That was actually a self prescribed, , occupational therapy. The brain surgeries left me unable to sign my name or hold a pen and. Yeah. It was a slow build back to being able to like write, you know, sign a check. How I knew I was getting sick with Susan and asked me to endorse the back of a check and I forgot how to write my name.

The tors were starting to really present. So, , I guess. Physical therapy, occupational therapy all comes in the way of walking and running because then I'm thinking about what will I paint today? What will I write today? I wrote a sitcom during a 20 mile training walk for one of the marathons. So, you know, people think we're self-indulgent as runners to some degree, but there's a lot of creativity.

There's a lot of good things, a lot of productivity that comes from being out on the road or in the street or in the woods,

Christine Borchard: That's where I usually do my honeydew list. As I'm running, I'm like, when Joe comes home, I'm going to have to make sure that I, or I usually, honestly, what I, my lesson plans while I'm running, I'm like, all right, this week we're going to be doing Roman history and maybe I can get this resource. I do a lot of reflecting of my teaching while I'm running.

Joe Borchard: I think Christine should spend more time with you, Alan, and maybe like she could write some more things. Maybe drop the honeydew list when you're 

Unknown: running.

Alan Kaufman: Well, 

my, my real job was as was a TV producer, which is an organizer by nature. So when I'm out running, you know, it's that my own like, like self honey do list. What am I going to do today? And I should probably do a wall. I should do the laundry, call my account and paint a picture, write a story. So that's the, that's the me time, because when I go running, I people think it's stupid.

I leave my phone home, so they're, excuse me. So there's no interruption, there's no pinging, there's no ringing. And if I get hit by a car, God forbid, I've got a piece of paper in my pocket with my wife's phone nber on it.

Joe Borchard: Yeah. I'm still so amazing from. 2017 where you were learning how to re write your name again too, and I'm so excited. I didn't know you were training. I didn't know you were running again, and that year you're starting to run again and you're looking training for the New York city marathon. I think that just an amazing, amazing success story.

Alan Kaufman: It helps me with forward thinking. Also, honestly, I'm 62 so my running isn't quite. W what it was 30 years ago, and I admit to that, and sometimes I don't know how to compare myself to before I got sick, but if I can get at even fast walk, I run a block, I walk a block, I run a block, blah, blah, blah, and that's good enough for me.

Christine Borchard: Alan, you mentioned that you had aspirations of having a, I forget what time you said, like in the three did you ever achieve that in all your years of the New York city marathon?

Alan Kaufman: Christine, I will tell you that. , as somebody over hydrates, it was never, I, I, after I really got over the fact that it was never going to break three, I, I aspired to break four hours and the year that I came close, I drank more water than any han should drink. I was stopping at every port-a-potty I came in at four Oh one and they could say it was that last port-a-potty stop in central park.

That lost me my four hour. But I, and then as I tell people, we're always nervous about doing a marathon or half marathon or even a 5k. Don't worry about how long it takes. Just have the best day of your life.

Joe Borchard: Yeah. For me, it's, it's always been about enjoying, like we have our group runs on Sunday, , for my wife and I, we spend a lot of time doing our runs together and it's just that time together of just running training with others. And then when it comes to the starting line, that's just a celebration.

That's all it is. It's, I don't care what time I come in, I don't care what place. It's just really reflection on what it took to get there. And

Alan Kaufman: Right? You're out there enjoying the crowds and the New York city marathon. You've got 3 million people, I think, lining the streets from. Brooklyn, all the, wait a minute. That Manhattan and then central park and you put your name on your shirt and everybody's calling your name. When I did that, my first comeback marathon in 2018 I had, they name my back of my shirt and everybody's calling out to me and my guides looked at me.

He said, has everybody know you? And say, my name is on the back of my shirt, Frank. Uh,

Joe Borchard: No, haven't, haven't done the marathon so many times. Uh, last year was my first time completing the full marathon. , what's your favorite part of the race? Like favorite mile marker. Favorite landmark?

Alan Kaufman: I like arriving in Queens, getting up the Palasky bridge into long Island city. I'm a Queens guy and I like, I used to love to tell my athletes when I was guiding, this is where I live. And then the translator would say to my Japanese athletes, this is where Alan's son lives. And they'd say, Oh, here. And it's, well, not exactly here, but I liked the entry.

I like Queens. And of course the final turn into central park is always a relief. But I think. The Queen's leg is always my favorite. , it's the opportunity for anybody who lives in my neighborhood to get on the subway ride the three stops and actually see me pass by.

Christine Borchard: And that's the halfway point, correct?

Alan Kaufman: Yes, I'm Pulaski bridge. It's a little past the halfway point when you get into Queens.

 Joe Borchard: so Allen,  we have a segment called the finish line questions, and these are just some rapid fire questions that Christine's gonna throw at you.

 Alan Kaufman: I'm ready. Christine,

Joe Borchard: ready 

Christine Borchard: too. Okay, ready, Alan, here's your finish line. First question, what is your favorite race that you've ever run?

Alan Kaufman: the New York city marathon,

Christine Borchard: I knew you were going to say the softball. Your favorite distance.

Alan Kaufman: the half marathon.

Christine Borchard: Hmm? Your post race meal.

Alan Kaufman: Spaghetti.

Christine Borchard: And is there a GoTo song, something that you get pped up to? I know a lot of us don't listen to music when we're running as guides or athletes, but is there a song that gets you pped up

Alan Kaufman: I like running on empty, you know? Of course, the Springsteen stuff always works for me too. I like Ramona. I'm a, I'm a Queens guy. The Ramones are from Queens. I like, Hey ho, let's go. You know? Blitzkrieg bop. I liked, I liked Ramon stuff too. I like punk. Punk gets me going as

Joe Borchard: Nice. 

Christine Borchard: I didn't think 

Unknown: that. I wouldn't think, I wouldn't, I wouldn't 

Joe Borchard: have thought that about you. to see what you learn 

Unknown: about somebody. 

Christine Borchard: That's all I have, 

Joe Borchard: Joe. Yeah. So, uh, Alan, is there anything that we didn't cover that you want to mention about running, about Achilles, about, , just about anything.

Alan Kaufman: I just say to friends and family and anybody who wants to know, just get up, get out of bed, have a cup of coffee and get out, walk, run, enjoy the day and just celebrate. Really just celebrate. Especially now, you know, with all this, all this stuff going on. Just celebrate, be grateful

Joe Borchard: Yeah. Puts things in perspective for

Alan Kaufman: and I'm grateful that you had me as a guest.

I SU, I really enjoyed this.

Joe Borchard: No, the honor is all ours. Please. Really, we wouldn't have been able to have any Achilles podcasts without having you on this show.

Christine Borchard: Never Joe. And I see you at like, you know, we've met up a couple of times. Every time we're in the car, we have such long conversations about you and about how you inspire us.

And I'm not just saying that. It is, just listen to your stories and the way you articulate and, , you know, there's no woe is me in, in, you know, I just complained. I had a bad toe and I laid on the couch and complained and I'm not running. And then sometimes we'll, Joel will say to me, you know, you know, Allen's out there and you really do inspire me.

Alan Kaufman: I that that means a lot to me. Hearing that I, I've learned that if you can't, if, if you can't take the lemon, you know, this sounds corny, and so try to make the lemonade out of the lemon. I got, I got a lemon. But if I can inspire and help others just from what I've learned through being sick and getting better and meeting wonderful people like you and, and Achilles, New Jersey and Achilles Queens, then you know that this is the gift.

Christine Borchard: Oh, okay. Thank you for your gift. 

Joe Borchard: Yes, thank and thank you for sharing it with us.

Alan Kaufman: I appreciate it.

Joe Borchard: Alright. Uh, so there you have it. We learned why Allen runs Alan Kaufman from Achilles Queens. Uh, thank you very much Alan, and, uh, we'll talk to you soon.

Alan Kaufman: Okay. Thanks again. Thanks, Christine. Thanks, Joe.

Joe Borchard: All right. Time to connect with hella and get an update on the run everyday challenge.

Take it away. Hello.

what's up. My beautiful people. Welcome back to the podcast. I appreciate every single one of you for tuning in and now whatever you're doing, keep it up. You're doing amazing. I see some of you are doing some run street. I met some of you as well. It's very encouraging to see you putting in that hard work and you deserve all the credit.

We're going to push it now to week five. So, this is what we're going to do. We're going to up the energy a little bit. And the first few weeks the energy was calmer, but now we're going to start pushing it a little bit. And the very early morning, since it's getting hot out there, I want you guys to get out there and run three to five miles minim.

It can be conversational pace, which means you should be able to run at that pace where you can have a conversation. And then in the very evening, when it's cooler again, I want you guys to get out there and run some interval or temple runs, run for. One minute, as hard as you can walk for a minute and a half and repeat that five to eight times.

So we're working on or stamina and we're working on or speed and that attitude, the conversational pace one, that's going to help us when we get to the very end of all of this, when you're ready for that race that you're preparing for 

Joe Borchard: Thanks everyone for listening. We really hope you enjoyed those amazing stories. They are truly inspiring people. We get to talk to here and are forever grateful. Make sure to share this episode with your friends via social networks. We need these athletes and guides stories to get out there.

So until next time, I'm Joe 

Christine Borchard: and 

I'm Christine. Thank you for listening.