• Challenge,  running,  workshops

    Anthology Workshop News and A Cat Picture

    On Teachable Now for Assignments If you are in the anthology workshop and did not get a letter from me tonight (Sunday) on how to get into the anthology workshop on Teachable to get the third assignment, write me. ANOTHER RUN… Two in two days, although the Santa Run wasn’t much of a push because with that many people, running was almost impossible. Too much fun, anyway.  But today was another matter. I was up before the sun came up and we were going off the starting line in Henderson at 8 am. Cold, wind in our faces, and uphill for exactly 1.5 miles. Without a break. Brutal. But I…

  • Challenge,  running

    Well, That Was Fun…

    Actually the Run Was Fun… Then I got home and couldn’t load the first assignment to the Anthology workshop group list. So after giving it some time and a dozen different tries, I created an entire new workshop on Teachable that no one could see but the people I sent direct links to it. And I put the first assignment in the anthology workshop there. Did a cover for it and everything. And just about as I was about to start emailing everyone in the workshop with the code, I tried one more time and ended up loading the assignment. So if anyone in the anthology workshop has not gotten…

  • Challenge,  On Writing,  running

    Some Misc Stuff

    I Got a Couple of Questions About Why… … I was cut off the marathon course at mile 11 instead of later on. Simple math is the answer. I had reached the 11 mile turn at 2 hours and 10 minutes. Now I had on my planned-out schedule that was about the latest I could hit that point and I was wrong by a few minutes. It was too late. Actually, I wanted to hit it under two hours. Here is the thinking… I did 11 miles, while fresh, in 2 hours and 10 minutes. That means if I was lucky, I was going to do the next 11 miles…

  • Challenge,  running

    13 Plus Miles

    A Half Marathon… That’s what I mostly ran tonight on the Strip in Las Vegas with about 35,000 other runners from all over the world. I had left it up in the air if I would try for the full marathon, even though I had signed up for the full. The full marathon leaves the half marathon course at 11 miles. The full marathon has a very tight time on it because they have to open back up the Strip and if a runner is falling behind, they divert them ahead and still give them credit for running a marathon. I was not in good enough shape to really run…

  • Challenge,  Fun Stuff,  running

    35,000 Close Friends Went Running

    Kris and I Joined Them… That’s right, what better thing to do than run 5K with 35,000 of your closest friends on a Saturday night in Las Vegas in the dark on narrow streets. (This was the run I fell in last year and got so badly damaged.) And tomorrow evening is the Rock and Roll Marathon that shuts down the the entire Las Vegas Strip, from downtown to beyond the airport. Tomorrow no one in their right mind will get in a car in Las Vegas. Not only is the Strip completely closed from 2 pm until after 10pm for the run, but on the Strip at 7 pm…

  • Challenge,  running

    What a 69-Year-Old Does On A Nice Fall Day…

    Runs Six Miles… Kris, Val, and Steph did the 5K, I went for the 10K. Needed to see if my time would allow me to run the marathon next Sunday. Well, it was a good test. The first three miles was all uphill. Steep between mile 2 and 3. Then it was downhill back. Did the first three miles in a run/walk in about 45 minutes (mostly walking), did the next three miles back down the hill in just about 35 minutes. 1 hour, 20 minutes, and got third in my age category of 60-69 so got another medal for that. But not fast enough to run the marathon. I…

  • Challenge,  running

    Running 10K

    Got to Be Up in 7 hours… So not going to do anything tonight because I would like to get some sleep. The course tomorrow morning is out though the desert up above Henderson with a fantastic view of all of Las Vegas in the distance. Up a hill one direction, downhill coming back. If I can make it between and 60 and 70 minutes, I might be able to do the marathon next Sunday. The problem is that if I do that time, then I will still be dithering. (grin) No matter what, there will be pictures later. And this post kept the blogging streak alive.  

  • Challenge,  running

    Instead of Reading Stories

    As I Wanted to Do… I spent most of the night figuring out if my running times allow me to try a marathon in a week. Same marathon I have been aiming at now for four years, losing weight to try to get to, and so on. But my weight isn’t down enough yet, although close. And my pace is lacking, and this marathon I want to try to do a week from Sunday has a 5 hour cut-off. And my training is far, far from normal marathon training. So logically doing the full is a really bad idea. But the course is flat, running on the Strip for over…

  • Challenge,  Fun Stuff,  running

    The Promised Pictures

    Completed the 10K… (6.2 mile run) It wasn’t pretty, but I did it. Actually, the course turned out to be 3.1 miles uphill to start, and it turned out to be a ton warmer than I expected. All desert and concrete. So I got overheated, which for a person with my heat history, is not a good thing. And the hill made it harder for a person like me who is still too heavy. I managed to stay hydrated just fine and slowed down some to even walking and running, so didn’t hit the time I was hoping for. But finished alive and without heatstroke. Win. So here are some…

  • Challenge,  Fun Stuff,  running

    Friday Night In The Fall…

    So For Me That Means An Early Run in the Morning… In fact, up at 6:30 am or so tomorrow, three or more hours before I normally get up. And tomorrow I am running a 10K (little over six miles) instead of my normal 5k runs. Seems like all fall there are runs on the weekends. Great fun, actually. My time goal is under 70 minutes, although I would love, love, love to get it under an hour. But got a hunch I will do a little too much walking to hit that. And I am still a little too heavy. We shall see how it goes. 70 minutes is…