They Took My Prostate Approaches in Softcover

Two posts in one month. How loquacious I've become! Set aside your Kindle. The softcover version draws nearer.

JP Mac Fiction, Non-Fiction, and Running

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My tale of murderous witchcraft in a Hollywood apartment building has been selected by Soteira Press. "Mark of the Bruja" will appear in an upcoming anthology of stories themed around horror in California. Keep an eye out for publication updates. A lot of water under the old author bridge since I last published a short story. Nonetheless, no better promotion for a writer.

"Prostate" inches toward publication as a softcover. The PDF should be finished by tomorrow and, hopefully, the back cover and spine by Tuesday. Possibly a dummy copy will be in our hands by week's end.

On the running front, my knee has been tender since early July. I've still been going out 3x a week, but taking it easy. Yesterday, I put in 3 miles, but failed to arise early and suffered from the late summer heat. Slow on the running front, but speeding across the literary veldt like a cheetah on the keyboard.

Griffith Park Luau 5k: Thoughts, Insights, Ruminations

Back with yet one more huge 5k medal.

I loath 5ks that allow strollers and dogs. Especially when the women pushing the strollers are faster than I. Also, it's not a grand idea to run 3.1 miles along Griffith Park bridal trails on a Saturday morning, which is a peak usage period. People training for marathons and sundry other races bolt through the pack and around the runners with dogs stopping to talk to non-runners with dogs. For the second 5k in a row, I felt a slight lactic acid buildup at the start, followed by fatigue, and the desire to quit and walk the race. Fortunately, such thoughts, if unentertained, turn listless and meander off.

On the upside, this was home ground. I often train on these very trails during the week when no one is about. On mile three, I was passed by a woman pushing a stroller and talking on the phone. This was too much. But I knew something she didn't. The final .1 mile featured very loose soil. Tricky for runners, especially those pushing wheeled conveyances. I passed her in the home stretch. But she found a patch of solid ground and came on strong. I gave it the gas and almost reinjured my knee, but extended myself enough to keep from being picked off at the finish line.

Thanks to this woman and child, I achieved my modest running goal for the race. (Sub 36 minutes, if you must know.)

Oh, Chi

Back in May, I noted different features of Chi Running. Today, I did quite well staying with cadence and leaning forward. But I lacked a speed burst. When stroller woman kicked, I fell out of chi running form and tried to race old school. This resulted in a tortured hybrid style that inflicted a sharp knee pain—the signal that I'm doing something wrong. This week I'll mark out 200 meters or so and practice sudden accelerations. In case I encounter more strollers.

Hallow Mass Volume II Outline  

Sloppy, scattered, but underway. I need to set solid deadlines if I hope to publish by Christmas of this fine year. I reread the original and was pleasantly surprised it didn't offend me with as many errors and poor writing as I'd feared. But onwards to December. 

Running and Prostate

Maximum Performance

A lonely ebook seeking softcover company. 

Both are doing well, thank you. Ran 4.4 miles today in new Brooks trainers. (Maybe not so new. I've had them 11 years, ever since injuring my knee.) Reading old 2008 posts, I was quite an optimist. Even with a known tendency to push myself and get injured, I always recovered eventually. The idea that my marathon days were a memory only registered very slowly.

And finished those days may be. But I'm game for one more go. After all, this time I have a book to write. Speaking of which, another marathon possibility might be my old target of the California International Marathon.

On the subject of books, I advance at a glacial pace in formatting my prostate ebook for softcover. Niggling details of a fraction here added to a fraction there. Such exacting trivia. I'm considering adding artwork, but if it looks like too much effort, I'll put it off for another edition. 

A Marathon for Me?

What's happened since July 4? Steady progress and early morning runs to beat the heat as I continue my plan of running a monthly 5k. In addition to augmenting a considerable technical tee-shirt collection, the races keep me focused and motivated to pick up the pace a bit on my 3x a week training runs. Coming up in August: the Luau 5k in Griffith Park.

Was a Marathon Mentioned in the Post Head?

 

Yes, good catch. I have set a goal: to RUN a marathon. Not soon. Not in 2019. Possibly in 2020, or so. But that distance will be target as I intend to chronicle my running comeback with a book detailing the decade of injuries, operations and dashed hopes that upended my dream of completing the Boston Marathon. The attempt to once more cover 26.2 miles—locally—will be the scaffolding upon which I construct a tale of defeat and . . .? Time, effort and a bit of luck will write the ending.

Who Are the Fine Contenders? 

Van Garner suggested I shoot for the all-downhill Ventura Marathon. A solid choice. Another selection might be the Surfers Point Marathon, a flat ocean-front course. In fact, my wife shall be joining me this November for a 5k along a portion of said marathon. Courses fast and flat or all downhill lack terrain variety and can stress your leg muscles through repitition. But I wont' be breaking any records. To finish an upcoming marathon, is to wear victory laurels—from a writing standpoint.

Hopefully, I don't end up like Pheidippides.

Santa Clarita 5k 2019

Back home and safe in time for the earth to move beneath my feet.

(Wow. Hot little earthquake just rocked the house as I sat down to write this. On it shook. But everyone is okay and the Internet didn't cut out.)

Back up in the foothills once again for a 5k. Super running weather: overcast with temperature in the mid-60s. I've run this race in 2007 and 2010. As you may note from the picture to your left, Santa Clarita has succumbed to the giant 5k medal bug.

No goodie bag, but a nice technical shirt.

I slept poorly last night, hated getting up early, and almost walked the whole thing, but I stuck it out for a 36:57 finish. That's seven minutes off from my January 5k.

Like '10, there are no more mile markers. Many people now run with phones in hand, listening to apps like Runtastic. Not me. I focused on my goal: finishing before anyone with portable oxygen.

Glad I went and did what I did. Happy July 4th! The grand experiment continues!

UPDATE:

My official finishing time and pace.

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