Archive for March, 2010

Crossing the Finish Line - 2008 Marine Corps Marathon

I’ve been a runner off and on most of my life. Over the years I’ve run a few local races; mostly 5Ks (3.1 miles). A few years ago my daily mileage was averaging 5-6 miles, so I thought it would be easy to do a half-marathon. The first one I did in training made me feel invincible. Then I started training for a real half-marathon – a race – and found out how hard it can be! But I completed it and, as is usually the result for people who do this said, “Never again!” Two days later I said, “I wonder if I could run a marathon?”

Two years ago I trained for, and finished, the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, DC. Training was hard, but I really enjoyed it. I find running can be like meditation and the more I do it, the more I crave it. Turns out the actual marathon was a very difficult race for me, as I had injured myself within a few weeks of the race. And as I did after my half-marathon I said, “Never again!” And just like before, two days after that, I said, “I wonder if I could run another one faster and better if I wasn’t injured.”

After taking a very long year-and-a-half off to recuperate from my race (and just being lazy), running is now something I’m doing once again. And I’m training for another marathon. On October 3rd I’ll be running the First Annual Crazy Horse Marathon in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Now I’ll include in my blog a little about my training, my general thoughts, and anything interesting I find on running.

I read a LOT. I’m usually reading at least a couple of books at a time, one fiction and one non-fiction. Books are my candy, and I can’t pass a book store or book shelf without stopping to browse.

When I find a well-written story, I like to share it with others. When I find something I can’t believe ever got published, I find the need to let that be known as well. I’ve written a few book reviews for PaperBackSwap.com and Amazon.com. I’ll also begin posting them here as well. Of course, it’s all subjective. What is one person’s caviar is another person’s smelly fish eggs and vice versa. But it’s fun to share and helps me learn the techniques of writing. Hopefully anyone reading will find it helpful, or at least entertaining.

Why not? If you’ve been online for any time at all, you’ve come to find that a lot of people are bothered by a lot of things. Some of them are trivial, and some not. Some are bizarre, but most are universal. The truth is, we’re all more alike than we think we are and if you’re anything like me, too many times you’ve heard, read, or seen something that made you nod your head and say, “Oh, yeah.” So every now and then when I find something I just need to comment about, I’m going to do it here under the RANTING category. It might be political. It might mundane. It might just change the world (probably not). Feel free to read and respond. Trust me, ranting can be very cathartic — and it’s a great way to exercise those writing muscles.