Hi Everybody!
You don’t need to worry about scrolling down to check out the next podcast episode yet. It will be back shortly as it is going strong and better than every. As a matter of fact, there has been a huge spike in listeners over the past month. So thank you very much for listening! It is going to keep getting better.
I just wanted to take a moment to get back to basics. I originally started this Rhode Runner journey because of my love for running, traveling, and…WRITING!!
The running has been going well this year. I’ve been injury free all Spring, Summer, and (so far) Fall. I started up my Couch to 10k training again. We are losing daylight quickly at this time of year, and my runs are getting longer, which means I will be running in the dark a lot more. This week was one for the books as I ran three 17 minute intervals with a 1 minute walk in between, for a total of 4.2 miles.
Races
As for the traveling, all I can say is F.U. Covid!!! I feel bad that I couldn’t travel this year. But, I feel even worse for the many charities out there that lost out on fundraising through these races. However, there are some that were able to coordinate virtual races. I have done a couple so far, and have a couple of more that I already paid for and still need to run.
First was the Run for the Dogs Virtual 5k. It was more than a month ago, but I d remember I struggled. But, I got it done!
Next up was the Gloria Gemma 5k on October 4. I did much better than the Run for the Dogs, but nowhere near to as well as I was doing pre-injury. But, I felt a lot better, and it was great running weather that day. This is such a great organization, so I’m sure I will be doing more of these in the future.
I notice that in all the other sports, there is crowd noise piped in to the stadium/park/arena and there are cardboard cutout fans. I think that we runners deserve the same treatment! I think speakers should be put in place in some routes, and have cardboard cutouts of people holding out their fists for fist bumps! Well, we wouldn’t be able to actually do the fist bump cuz that would defeat the purpose of distancing, but you get the point.
Writing
So far we’ve covered running, (lack of) traveling, and racing for charity. My other inspiration for starting this journey is my writing. The writing morphed into podcasting, which I also love. I may not have been writing as much here, but my writing has actually increased. Starting August 2019, I went back to school to get my Master’s Degree in Creative Writing. It is all online classes from Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), and I love it! It is much different than high school or an undergraduate degree. It is laser focused on my major, which is creative writing. It is actually useful and I am getting a lot out of it. A couple of semesters ago, I was in a class where I was developing a story. The story I am creating is going to be a series of books that will be Young Adult Action Adventure/Fantasy. But, it had to be shelved for now as my other classes have been super busy. And now this semester I am developing a short story. I should have a final product when this class is done. My story is called “Earthquake.” And as soon as I typed that word out right now, I just realized that another year has gone by since I survived the Great Quake of ’89 on October 17. Many people remember that one as it occurred just before Game 3 of the World Series between the Oakland A’s and San Francisco Giants. My story isn’t going to be about that particular earthquake. But, I am able to use my experience to describe it really well.
In addition to all that writing, I have begun writing a memoir called Journey of the Rhode Runner. I am excited about that!
On top of all that, I do have a full time job. Luckily, I work for an awesome company and I can work from home every day.
Since this is getting long, I will bid you goodbye for now. Next up, I will write about some of my favorite things I’m enjoying right now, including music, podcasts, books, and a television show.
Until next time, I’ll see you all out on the Rhode!
