Yes, I Still Run

 Hard to believe. This YouTube business, plus my latest book, are chewing up all my time. I'm attempting to branch out into different markets for my books as well as crank out audiobooks.

Meanwhile I'm still running. Not much, usually three days a week. I fell on a run back in April and broke my left hand. (My first broken bone since 2017.) It's healing slowly. We have a big vacation planned for this summer. Afterwards, I should have just enough time to train for a late-November, early December marathon. I'm thinking something local, perhaps the Santa Clarita race. I won't be setting any new prs, but I'll be content with another medal.

letsdothis.com

 

Happy July 4th!!

 

Falling While Running v.2

 

iconscout.com

Why Do You Do That?

Not by choice, but I'm old and possess hobbit-like feet without all the hair, and was running in thick Hokka trainers that cut me off from the ground. Anyway, while running ten miles yesterday on the rocky trails leading into the Angeles National Forest, I hit a rock and fell.

This happens once or twice a training session and I've gotten better at dealing with it. First of all, I don't fight the fall and avoid tensing up. Second, I perform a half-roll while in motion. This mitigates the scrapping away of flesh and the impact of striking the ground. Unlike March where I rolled into chaparral,  this time I was unmarred. Of course, wearing excessive sun block, my legs were breaded with dirt.

The fall was witnessed by three people and two dogs. A woman asked, "Are you all right? Did you hit a rock?"

I replied, "The only thing hurt is my dignity."

She smiled.

A couple asked, "Are you all right?"

I said, "Only my pride was damaged."

They smiled the weak grin of the uncertain.

All that aside, training continues for the California International Marathon, taking place the day before my birthday. The longest runs will take place over the next two months. I'm going to experiment with limiting my long runs to no more than three and a half hours. Recent info informs me that any time on my feet more than that won't help my overall aerobics. It also takes more time to recover. Last year's 21-miler was rough. Perhaps I can do less with more. 

Falling While Running

I'm good at it. I have the knack. However, not since marathon training last fall have I sustained a tumble. And not since 2019 have I banged myself up so neatly.

Running two miles uphill on asphalt, I elected to tackle a substantial hill along narrow walking trails. Lizards scuttled out of my way. But it didn't take long to note that the trail was covered in scree—small rocks—over more substantial rocks. My shoes were not designed for trail running. Slipping, I scrambled up a 40 degree slope realizing I'd need to return the same way on a surface without much purchase.

Rising up before me was a sixty degree slope. I turned around. 

Too late.

The way back down was like roller skating on plexiglass. You couldn't slow down. At one point, I felt myself accelerating. Seconds away from losing control and landing on rocks, I chose the lessor of two hurtful evils: I feel into the chaparral. The tangled thorny bushes cushioned my fall but left me with the interesting markings displayed below.

No more unknown dirt trails.

Can't really see the scrape too well. It's just above the knee.

Here is a charming bouquet of wounds.

Running Book Speeding to Release

And not just any book: mine. Hoping to have an ebook version up by March 25. It's a short, snappy read about my 13-year journey to once more run a marathon. 

Be careful what you wish for.

dreamstime.com

Twenty Mile Run Tomorrow

Medical Island

 

This will decide whether or not I tackle 26.2 next month. My chi running form—good enough for 3 and 4 mile runs—tends to fall apart at longer distances. I've been focusing on my form, but there may not be enough time left before race day. So I'll proceed as long as I safely can. If it feels like Mr. Injury has again come a'calling, then I'll cut it short, eat my entry fee, and work on my form. It'll take a bit longer than anticipated, but I'm finishing another marathon. 

I contemplated my first 20 mile run a mere 15 years ago.

Thoughts on My 2020

A Land Remembered Journal

2020: I thought last year's post below was pretty comprehensive. Sadly, running—and weight loss—didn't pan out as I'd hoped. Back in November I injured my knees by forgetting everything I knew about chi running and attempting to "boost" my locomotion with extra force. And I'd been doing so well. In October I ran 48 miles for the month—the most since February—including 5 and 6 mile days. I had recovered from my spring Chinese Covid slump enough to enter a Virtual Challenge and was crushing it. Plus my wife and I were signed up for a 10k in Mesa, Arizona slated for February 2021. (We're going to Mesa anyway, just not to run.)

Self-inflicted running injuries are the absolute worst. No one to blame but yourself and I HATE blaming myself.

As for writing, it blossomed as in former days. I finished several short stories, including a whopping 12k word job. Sending them out wasn't resulting in sales, though the rejections were generally polite. So I assembled this year's crop along with stories dating back to 2009 and published the lot—all nine—in ebook form. Death Honk is out now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Kobo, and more. The paperbacks will arrive in January. This is the first fiction book I've published since 2016. I bask in such warm accomplishments.

But writing is only a fraction of the battle for the indie author.

Unlike previous book launches, I obtained a few reviews in advance. Also, unlike previous launches, I bit off a good chunk more than I could chew. By attempting ebook and softcover launches on Amazon and Draft2Digital, I found each platform operates with different rules. So four sets of formatting required attention, eating up time with an appetite most voracious. Because my wife and her vast publishing experience were unavailable—I never interrupt her paying work—I was forced to hunt in the freelance veldt. The woman who proof read Death Honk was outstanding. The man who formatted the print version less so. As mentioned elsewhere, the cover designer rocked. 

No audio version for prostate, but I think that line has been jumped by Death Honk. We shall see how 2021 shapes up. I'd like publish a second edition of Hallow Mass with a new cover, add it to Draft2Digital, then write the second volume. Plan meet life. And for the second time in a paragraph I'll say: we shall see. 

This November marked fifteen years of blogging. Over 2k posts with entries topping 100 for the first time since 2012. Not that my traffic is that hot. But inconsistency carries a cost. I've really come to loath social media. (Do watch The Social Dilemma.) But I should examine which platform provides the most pop sales-wise for an author's effort. 

Canva proved a useful took in developing my own promotional materials. Even a digital butter fingers such as myself was able to figure it out. I highly recommend the website.

I end 2020 in reasonably good health, awash in efforts to publish two separate paperback versions of my anthology and eager to see what the future holds. 

And a Happy New Year to you!

The Express