Challenge,  On Writing,  publishing,  running

Started Running Finally

Not Much in Distance, But a Start…

Like every book or story, you have to start with a first line, a first word.

Today, finally, I figured out how to motivate myself enough on the running to get the goals I want done. And interestingly enough, it is a twisted gambling structure that helped me get started.

Now, for the folks who love to toss money away in casinos, yet feel they are winning, there are gambling systems. A Martingale is one. (Really silly.) Another is a simple Positive Progressive Betting System. All that one does is give some structure to betting and make a gambler feel lucky at times while the casino takes their money.

Now I am NOT a gambler. I play poker which is considered a sport. I do not stick anything into a casino machine or sit down at any table without the clear knowledge I am spending entertainment money.

(Realize, I paid my way through college playing on Blackjack teams, so I do know what I am talking about here.)

But I do know gambling systems because the math side of me found them fun to study. Not to use, but to know.

Well, I decided to use a simple progressive system for my running. Now this is not found in any Runner’s World Magazine I am sure. But it will work for me if I can stay healthy as I go. And focused.

I am starting at the bottom of this progression. I ran a quarter mile today and stopped. Still got my four miles of distance, but only a quarter mile was running. (The fact that I have been doing four or five miles a day in distance walking allows me to do this as well.)

Tomorrow I will run a half mile. The day after three-quarters of a mile. The fourth day one mile.

Then a day off.

Then the progression starts over. Only at a half-mile start distance, adding a quarter mile each day for four days. Then rest again.

Then restart at three-quarter miles.

A simple four-day running progression without lowering my milage on walking.

Now if I maintain this, by September my long days will be six miles and I will need to switch to a more traditional training for the next two months of longer runs, shorter runs, more rest, and so on, to prepare the last two months before the marathon. But through the summer this progression system should do the trick to get me from square one to a training distance.

We shall see.

I also got 1,900 words on the novel done. No end in sight, but it still is feeling like it might be short. As I get near the end of this, I’ll show you all the rebranding on this series. New titles and everything.

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JUNE ONLINE WORKSHOPS…

All have openings at the moment. Information at

www.wmgpublishingworkshops.com

Any questions at all, feel free to write me. And if you are confused as to which workshop to take first, we have a full curriculum posted on its own page.

Class #51… June 6th … How to Edit Your Own Work
Class #52… June 6th … Point of View
Class #53… June 6th … Writing Mysteries
Class #54… June 6th … Speed
Class #55… June 6th … Teams in Fiction
Class #56… June 7th … Depth in Writing
Class #57… June 7th … Expectations (Writing on the Rails)
Class #58… June 7th … Character Development
Class #59… June 7th … Writing Secondary Plot Lines
Class #60… June 7th … Advanced Depth

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SPECIAL PRICE FOR LECTURES

The time on this is almost up. You can get all six new lectures Advanced Business Lectures for $250 subscription or 12 lectures in total for a $400 subscription. (You can bank the extra ones or take any existing lecture.)

All the details and planned new lectures after the business lectures are listed under the lecture tab. More detailed descriptions added as the recording starts for each one.

If you want the subscriptions, write me directly with lectures in the subject line. Very short-term offer. After that you can just get them on Teachable for their regular price.

All the available lectures are on (and these new ones will be on) http://wmg-publishing-workshops-and-lectures.teachable.com
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Tracking Running… May 20th, 2017
4miles. (.25 running.)
Weight 195. (Goal 170)
Month to date distance: 86.5 miles
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Tracking Word Counts… May 20th, 2017
Totals For Year 4, Month 10, Day 20 (Year started August)
Writing in Public blog streak… Day 1,339

— Daily Fiction: 1,900 original words. Fiction month-to-date: 16,100 words  
— Nonfiction: 00 new words. Nonfiction month-to-date total: 00 words 
— Blog Posts: 400 new words. Blog month-to-date word count: 11,300 words
— E-mail: 18 e-mails.  Approx. 800 original words.  E-mails month-to date: 489 e-mails. Approx. 29,900 words
— Short Fiction Goal: 120 stories (July 1st to June 30th). Stories to date: 38 stories.
— Novel Goal: 12 Novels. Novels finished to date: 5 novels.

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3 Comments

  • Thomas

    Mostly a lurker here, seeing as I can’t teach anyone much about writing 😉 … but I do know a bit about training, so I thought I’d share an alternative to your otherwise fine plan. Keep walking and try HIIT to build up your wind. Warm up with a brisk 1-minute jog, dash/sprint for 20-30 secs (fast enough to be out of wind at the end), walk for 2 minutes. Repeat until you’ve done at least 3 sprints, or (as I do) 4, just to be on the safe side of the minimum requirements (see Gibali). Then wind-down with an easy 1-minute jog. Training done in less than 10 minutes. 3 sessions a week, 30 minutes in all. Saves the ol’ legs a lot of wear and tear. Benefits (vis-a-vis long-distance training) are equivalent — or better.
    .
    Began doing it during rehab for an injured foot and found I could go right back into 5-mile runs without any actual distance training. Now I only run 5-to-10 mile runs once a month (to test/verify I can do it as well as ever, and it so happens I do *better* each time). Walking round the golf course seems to provide the “miles in the legs”, and HIIT keeps improving the wind. The HIIT theorists (Gibali, Tabata) have the details on how it works, but I’m still amazed by living the proof (been an afficionado of middle-distance run for decades, but this works faster and better for a busy person — such as a neophyte wannabe writer like myself ;o)
    .

    • dwsmith

      Thanks, Thomas. I have studied that plan, actually. I have some plans on bringing that in as I get down in weight and up to shape. Thanks!