After running for five “official” weeks and still loving it, I’ve decided to join a local running club. I’ve set a goal of another half marathon for the beginning of winter. And if I know myself, the cold wimps me out. I’m not as motivated to run when I’m inside my warm house. So I felt that if I were a part of, and somewhat accountable to others for my running, I’d be more motivated to participate. (Also the fact that I paid to join the club is motivation as well).
I could be hasty in my committment level because I haven’t even ran my first half marathon yet but even if the race doesn’t go well, the experience preparing for it has been worth it and I don’t see myself not running. It’s who I’ve become and who I want to be.
I think about San Francisco every day now, my thoughts divided between an unbelievable writers’ conference and the race. It’s funny how the two are tied because when I run, I think about my appointment with an editor or the manuscript I’m revising and when I’m writing, I think about San Francisco which makes me think about the race and how I need to run more to be better prepared. Craziness! I know.
But after August 3rd, the two will separate and go their own ways. I won’t have to try and accomplish both in the morning since I’d much rather wake up early, early than stay up late. Which will help me devote more time to each, I believe.

Hope everyone’s summer is going well.

During the fourth week of officially training for the San Francisco half marathon (totaled 42 miles this week), I’ve come up with three reasons why I might not be ready for the race. Heat. I’ve been running in the heat lately. Summers in Texas are just plain hot…even at night it doesn’t always get below 80. I worry my lungs won’t be prepared for running in 25 degree cooler temps. Which leads me to my second concern. Wind. Depending upon how much wind blows off the ocean, the temps could feel even colder than they are. Which could make breathing harder. I’ve ran in cold temperatures before, but I was also training in the colder weather. No such luck this time. And the third reason why I might not be prepared for the 13.1 miles of San Francisco are the hills. Even if you haven’t been to there before (which I haven’t) you know about the monster hills. On TV, even walking up them appears daunting. I haven’t checked out how much of the course has hills but I do know, we’ll be running over the Golden Gate Bridge.

At least that part will be flat.

Week 3 training was as I suspected-not on target or schedule.
I still ran 35 miles and one day was 10 but it should have been at least the same as week 2 totals. Oh well. More work to come this week. I’ve started to notice a comraderie between runners. Like motorcyle riders here in Texas who wave to one another when passing (as kind of a ‘hey we both share a common interest in motorcyles’), runners are turning out to be the same. Faces have become familiar to where more words can exchange between myself and another runner besides an initial greeting (hi, hello, morning, evening, etc). Now we’ve progressed to, “Are we done yet?” “How many you got today?” (miles) “Not somethin we see everyday” (referring to the loose cows)

Is there a unique comraderie in something you do? Any unique gestures or words to exchange?

I’m so excited!!! I have an appointment scheduled with an editor from Harlequin. I will meet with her in San Francisco at a conference I’ll attend. I can’t believe it either because I signed up so late. Oh well! Hopefully, it’s a meeting with Fate.

I know…a little dramatic but it’s the little things in life that release the butterflies into the air and into our stomachs. Even though I’ve already had the pleasure of meeting with an editor before, it’s still a nerve wracking experience. We (as in writers) all have this huge fear that editors or agents are these inhumane creatures from another planet when they’re actually great people. The woman I met with before was very nice, genuinely interested, and did a great job of putting me at ease. I hope this appointment coming up goes just as well.

Have you ever had an appointment, job interview, meeting with someone you’d never met and were nervous as all get out? What did you do to prepare?

In week two of my half marathon training, I stepped it up a notch. Here’s the mileage breakdown:
M-6 miles
T-6 miles
W-6.5 miles
T-6.5 miles
F-6 miles
S-8 miles
S-6 miles

Yep, 8 hours 37 minutes recorded on my watch and 4549 calories burned over those 45 miles (it actually averages out to less than 100 calories per mile because some of those eight hours were spent walking during the cool down). If you’ve read my Ache post, you know they weren’t all ran in painless bliss. Some of them down right hurt.
Due to the holiday weekend, I have a feeling that week three will total out several miles less even though I have to run 9 miles this weekend. My hubby will no doubt want to grill a bit and kick back.
My top five things I want to do over the 4th of July weekend are (in no particular order) 1) Get as much writing done as possible. I’m working on revising and editing Destiny’s Flight. An editor from Harlequin has the first three chapters so I’m working on polishing the rest in case she requests it (a girl can dream big right?) 2) Spend much needed time with my hubby. He’s been working so hard lately. We’ll finally have some alone time to just hang out or go on a date. 3) Run. No surprise here. 9 miles this weekend baby! 4) Eat something grilled. Whether it’s hamburgers or brautworsts or steak, sometimes I just crave that barbequed piece of meat. 5) See some fireworks. It’s the 4th of July. How could I not?
What are your plans for the holiday? Anyone taking a vacation or because of the high gas prices are you staying home?

Ok, what happened today during my run might sound stereotypical of Texas but it’s not something I’ve seen.

Within the first ten minutes of my run, I came along the first curve and saw about 6-8 cows standing on or by the running path. They hadn’t made it over to the bike path yet so I jumped over to it just in case. Not that a cow would do anything. They were waayyy more enthralled with the lush green grass in between the two paths to care about anything or anyone else. It’s just, you know, they’re big animals. I wanted to give myself at least some form of a head start if they did decide to do anything.
There were other people around biking or running by, just looking at them. One man, who was dressed in running atire, seemed to be investigating the fence line and where they escaped from. I kept running and eventually noticed a sign along the fence that had the owner’s phone number and name. So the next woman I saw, who happened to be nomadic (okay, fine–homeless) had TWO cell phones. One was in her lap and the other was in her hand (she was sitting on a bench). I know how much cows cost because my dad has some so I asked her to give the phone number a call. She said she would do it but didn’t punch in the phone number. Hhhhmmmm. So when I came back around, I asked her if she spoke to anyone. She said no. So when I reached the cows again and saw they were still out, roaming a bit further, and no one trying to round them up, I called the number myself. A man answered within two rings and said he would send someone out immediately. He was very appreciative that I called.
Have you ever called an owner about a lost dog or pet? If so, what was the owner’s reaction?