8-mile run

Today marks the day when I ran the furthest I've ever run.  8 miles in 75 minutes.  I felt good enough to do another mile or two but stopped as I've read you shouldn't jump ahead to far too fast in a training routine as you're likely to do yourself  more harm then good.  But eight miles is  a good 3-4 miles more than a typical run so I'm thrilled.

Part of the reason for the ease of the run was different terrain. Royce, Marguarita and I drove into Greensboro this morning at 7:30 and met a friend of Royce's. (This friend is over 60 and averages 50 miles a week. He's in incredible shape.) But instead of running over traffic bridges and through scenic K-mart parking lots as we do in Madison, today we ran a hiking trail with trees creating a canopy shelter, wooden bridges that crossed lakes and beautiful scenery to look at.  It's so much easier to run when you're focused on how pretty the world is versus "I can't breath."

My challenge now is to increase not only time but the number of days I run each week. Right now, Tuesday and Thursday are running days along with one weekend day. I probably need to start doing Saturday and Sunday (one hard run, one easy) and maybe one more day during the week. Finding time is always a challenge but even if I just hopped on the treadmill for 3-4 miles one evening, that would help.

There's a 10k in Winston next weekend I might sign up for. See what I can do about increasing my time.

I hope everyone reading this is experiencing as beautiful a day as we are here in NC. It doesn't get much better than what's outside my window today.

What's Your Word?

 A few weeks ago a friend sent me an e-mail that asked me describe her in one word.

One word... I sat and mulled it over for almost 10 minutes, trying to pick the word I thought best encapsulated who she is. Part of the challenge was that I really don't know this person well but I wanted to give an answer to the best of my ability.

Naturally (me being me) I became curious what words I would get back if I sent out the same request. So out went the e-mail to family and friends. I'm flattered by the words I got back although being that I sent the e-mail to friends I didn't really expect to get "annoying," "psycho" or "opinionated" back in return (well--maybe "opinionated').

Here are some of the words I got back: Fabulous, smiling, inspiring, genuine, frenzied, shiny,  dynamic, motivated, balanced, controversial, and funny.

My favorite out of the group is "frenzied" as I think it comes closest to describing me and I appreciate the person's honesty who sent it. She even said in her reply that "Frenzied implies energetic with a dose of frazzled thrown in."  Mmmm... shows she's been paying attention. =)

The interesting part of doing this was less what words were used to describe and more about which words specific people chose. It's fascinating to see what word your mom, sister, best friend, or friend you only see now and again ascribes to you.

Now that I think about it, I note no one came back with "Kick-ass-writer." (The dashes make it one word). Well. You're all in for it now. The new Dena word for the day is "huffy."

Have a good one.

Headshots

I have spent the last 3 evenings staring at my face. 130 images of my face, to be more precise. And it wasn't enough that I do it. I have forced family and friends to spend their free time staring at my mug as well.

My headshot photos are in. As a whole, I'm exceptionally pleased.  Out of 130 pictures we discarded half right off the bat. We narrowed it down to a broad 30 that were "maybe's" and then sent the photos out for feedback. We entered the responses in an Excel spreadsheet so we could track who liked what and where there was consensus (sometimes having a CPA for a husband really works to your advantage).  

We got it down to a final 12 and it was hard to pick from there, but I went with 4 that I'm pleased with. The only thing missing is that most of the shots are casual. I was hoping for one strictly business shot but those photos didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped. Not the fault of the photographer, who was brilliant and who I HIGHLY recommend. No, I just didn't wear enough jewelry with the business outfit I chose and the result was that I looked kind of "incomplete." No harm done, as I still really like what I have. 

The photographer, btw, is Stacey Hines at staceyhines.com. She's from Nova Scotia and is settled now in Greensboro but still travels extensively for her work.  Exceptionally friendly and professional and did a wonderful job putting me at ease. I will use her for all my photo needs from now on.

I've just ordered the photos so I'll post them once they are mine to post.  Many thanks to those of you who looked through the photos without complaint!

Cabin Fever

Knowing what I know now, here's what I would have done differently for my Wildacres experience:

• I would have taken more fun or "intense" books to read. I took one wonderful manuscript of a friend and a bunch of "how to" writing books. Curling up at night with a book on how to write better dialogue wasn't cutting it. I would have been better off taking books I could get "lost" in to make the time go by.
• I would have gone out more. This was advice written by prior cabin dweller's in the journals. "Go to town, go out for a meal, leave the cabin," they urged.  But I was there to work! Surely three hours driving into town and hanging out would be wasteful. So I didn't go. But wish I had. I think a little more time spent around people during the week would have made me appreciate the alone time at the cabin.
• Worked on a different project. This one is a maybe. I spent all week working on my non-fiction book and accomplished a lot. The book was 90% written when I arrived but in desperate need of order and editing. So most of my time was spent cutting/pasting/editing and not writing.  I wonder if the experience would have been different if I had exhausted myself with some creative writing time. Still... the editing had needed to be done for a month and being at the cabin finally gave me the chance to sit down and knock it out. The book is close to done-done at this point. (Or, done enough that I'm ready to have it read and critiqued).

As it was, I spent so much time in the cabin (it rained a good deal which I kind of enjoyed. The cabin had a tin roof and the rain rustling in the trees heard through the open windows was pleasant) that I quickly grew weary of it. Coming back from a walk and walking the gravel drive that led to the cabin door, my body and mind would feel heavy. I'd sigh as I entered the room. I missed people. Specific people, yes. But even just having a body sitting in the chair next to me, not talking, would have been nice. I missed the presence of people.

I have to admit, I was disappointed in myself. I'd been so looking forward to this week of solitude. A whole week just to write and be creative! And yet I was ready to pack it up on day two. But I found comfort in a writer friend, a woman who I consider to be a gifted and "serious" writer. She spent a week at Wildacres last year and said she was unnerved by the experience as well.  She's done several residencies and said she's never had trouble anywhere else except Wildacres. It was just too much solitude. (She is also very into energies and she wonders if there is some sort of negative energy flow around the cabin or mountain). I don't know about that, but this woman is someone I would expect to thrive in this environment and the fact that she found it a challenge as well makes me feel better.

On the bright side, there is nothing like time away to make you appreciate what you have. Our home was in desperate need of a good cleaning and I cheerfully spent 4 hours Saturday morning whisking dust away, happy to be home and have the chance to do it.

This week is one I would normally describe as a "nightmare" of projects and talks and due dates, but I'm whistling as I go about my work. So much to be done--yea! What a full life I am fortunate to lead.  My meltdown on this blog last month about my doing waaaay to much volunteer work has changed over to gratitude. Being away reminded me why I'm involved with all the groups and projects that I am. It's because I like the people and the projects are important to me. That got lost in the "This is due now and I'm overwhelmed and stressed" living of daily life.  For the moment, at least, it's more "This is due now and I'm stressed but lucky me--I get to work on this."

Speaking of which, a multitude of projects are staring at me from my desk, awaiting my attention. Cabin Fever is gone, lots of good energy back in the worklife. So the cabin probably gave me what I needed after all.