themojo

my running over christmas break was disastrous—and by ‘disastrous,’ i mean ‘i never went.’

but i’ve ramped back up really, really quickly. ran 12 miles today. never run that far before. finished very strong. stride never got sloppy. very good run.

and by the way—i never ever ever run when i do not hurt. it’s not a sharp, i’m-injured pain. it’s a throbbing, what-the-hell-are-you-doing pain from my knees down. it never, ever goes away. in my mind, i should get some sort of kantian extra credit for gutting it out every single run.

been running for 5 weeks or so. ran 8.2 miles yesterday at 10:05 pace. never run that far before in my life. not ready to do it again today, but i felt pretty darn good today. not really very sore.

i’m a little ahead of schedule. i wanted to be at 8-10 miles by the end of the year. i’m pretty confident i’ll be able to do 10, maybe a bit more just for good measure.

and my fear of boredom has not yet been realized, thanks to a running partner and (when she’s not running with me) an ipod. god bless apple.

the problem is that there’s a bit of a stomach between my great looking abs and other people’s eyes. so i guess the real mission is to lose the 3-5 pounds hanging out around my waist.

i’m not willing to arrange my life around perplexcity.com so much that i actually win. there are too many people who evidentally are spending their entire lives trying to figure the game out, and i can’t compete with them.

but i do intend to solve the mystery. my few hours of investigation have led me to be absolutely enamored with the depth and richness of the game.

and i even do it when i’m speaking publicly. generally, my problem is not focusing on what i’m saying closely enough. so i’m either thinking ahead or thinking about something totally unrelated while my mouth is still moving. yeah, that needs to stop.

i have a great video camera that i do not use nearly enough. not to mention, i have way too many great memories that should be recorded (and not just by video). this is a great way to do that.

how did i exist prior to having an ipod? if you’re on a college campus or work downtown or walk very much at all, an ipod is indespensible.

my best friend has run a bazillion marathons. i’ve run zero. confession: running 26.2 miles isn’t what’s hard for me to think about. what’s hard is training to run 26.2 miles. another confession: i’m really afraid i’m just going to be bored with the whole process, and make no mistake, boredom is completely anathema to me.

so the bottom line is that i’m doing this because i want to say i’ve done it, but i’m skeptical as to whether or not i’ll enjoy training or actually doing it.

i’m scheduled to run the oklahoma city memorial marathon in april ‘06. i’ll start training in late ‘05.

the beginning stages of writing a book are easy. the final stages aren’t that bad because i can see the finish line. but from about 20% to 80% is pretty darn tough. i’m in the 50% range right now, and it’s getting to be pretty tough sledding.

the publishing part of it is locked down; so as soon as the manuscript is finished, i’m in good shape.

looooooved it. the stock market is intensely interesting, and the basics are pretty easy to pick up. “one up on wall street” by peter lynch has been around a while, but it’s a great book for starters. entertaining reading. also, just clicking around on sites like fool.com and investors.com is a great way to learn about the market.

my best friend and i are doing this next fall (2006). we’re teaming up w/ starbucks to raise $159,000 for a charity called jumpstart (jstart.org), which helps children with literacy skills. we’re raising the money by visiting every starbucks in manhattan in a single day. that averages out to be 1 starbucks every 6 minutes for 16 hours. yikes! crazy, but lots of fun!

my best friend and i are doing this next fall (2006). we’re teaming up w/ starbucks to raise $159,000 for a charity called jumpstart (jstart.org), which helps children with literacy skills. it averages out to be 1 starbucks every 6 minutes for 16 hours. yikes! crazy, but lots of fun!

most amazing concert i’ve ever attended. u2 is a unique band in that they are not only intent on playing music. they are intent on changing their world, and their concert experience reflects that significantly. it’s not just a concert; it really is a spiritual experience, and i do not use that term lightly.

make sure when you go that you’re not in the frame of mind to see ‘just another concert.’ seeing them live is so much more than that.

writing my first book was wildly exciting the first several weeks into the process. by the end, i was just ready to get the blasted thing over with. the exuberance and enjoyment over writing the second book is lasting much longer—probably because i enjoy the subject matter a great deal more.

but finishing writing a book is nothing like actually getting it published. believe me, those are two totally different things (as many authors can attest to)!

getting a book published has been life-changing. huge confidence booster, grand sense of accomplishment. it has powered me forward on many non-writing fronts.

best wishes to those who are writing a book and trying to get it published! if i can be help in the process, let me know. i’d love to help if i can.