Fitness, Running

You’re doing what?!? #running #halfmarathon #areyounuts

erika leigh

Never say never. Isn’t that the cliche? When I finished my last NYC Marathon (with a stress fracture) a couple years ago, I gave up running. I didn’t intend to, really – but the doctor put me on complete restriction (including no swimming!) for 10 weeks. [Okay, technically 4 and 6 since “unintentional running” (I forgot! Don’t judge me!) landed me back at square one, but I digress…]11124442_10208074848699202_7965970397228468056_o

I’ve only run short (and shorter… and shorter…) distances since. When my running club started up around 6 weeks ago, my friend Tess asked me if I’d be interested a Run & Ride 5K. We both love amusement parks (especially ones that feature Snoopy), and had been tossing the idea around for years. I said Absolutely! Then, a couple weeks later, I got a message from Tess saying she may be off her rocker, but she’s considering the half marathon instead of the 5K… and then she got on a cruise ship and left! Really?!? I toyed with the idea the whole week, just like Tess knew I would. [I may or may not have gotten her to run a marathon in a similar fashion.]

So…apparently I’m a distance running again. I’m actually pretty excited about it since I can never seem to reach the level of mindfulness and peace I get from a long run. I’m running a 5K with my running club in May and then I’ll begin a proper training program for the half. I am putting something new into my training this time around, though. When I quit running solely in preparation for races, I quit focusing quite so much on distance or speed and starting just running a set amount of time. I always thought if I did that, I would run slower (no goal, no measure, etc.). The opposite happened. When I’m not looking – I’m just running? I’m actually faster! By quite a bit. Is there a such thing as a non-training training program? There should be! So while I will do one day of speed work and one long run each week, I’m doing all of my other runs freestyle. No Garmin watch. No distance goal. No per-mile requirement at all.

I’ll be interested in seeing how it goes. I already committed to play in my work golf league, so this season I’ll take on two sports at once. However, I’m hoping that mixing up the training plan will take off some of the stress that comes with training (and risk of overtraining). Ready or not, here we go…

Fitness, Reblog, Travel

Two Loves Together #travel and #running

erika leigh

Marathon season is in full swing. Don’t worry about how you’ll get to the race—take Amtrak and focus on setting a new PR instead! Boston Marathon Held in early spring, the Boston Marathon’s historic course starts on Main Street in the rural New England town of Hopkinton and finishes near the John Hancock Tower in…

via Take Amtrak to Your Next Marathon — Amtrak

Reblog, Travel

Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride – Reblog of a great message from a great lady. Go. Live it. 

erika leigh

No sympathy for the devil; keep that in mind. Buy the ticket, take the ride…and if it occasionally gets a little heavier than what you had in mind, well…maybe chalk it up to forced cons…

Source: Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride

Random Thoughts

Fashionable and Confident over 40

erika leigh

Julia Millies took on “her look” just like any design project. Now she shares the fabulous results at When the Girls Rule.

via Fashionable and Confident Over 40: When the Girls Rule — Discover

Random Thoughts

Check this out: Scrivener and Endnote: a simple guide via @alawuntoherself @scrivenerapp 

erika leigh

Using Endnote & Scrivener couldn’t be simpler. Here’s  a quick guide to help you out.  As regular readers will recall, I really love Scrivener. It’s an amazing writing tool wh…

Source: Scrivener and Endnote: a simple guide

On Writing

Positive Thoughts for Writers #amwriting #quotes

erika leigh

Despite being home sick today (on another round of antibiotics with a trip to the asthma doctor scheduled for tomorrow), I very much remain focused on the important things. I find it exciting to purposefully shed things that have taken my time and energy without providing benefit (and in some cases causing harm).

One of these things is writing. For me, I love the fact that writing can be hard. Challenges give me energy and drive. If writing were always easy, I would probably get bored. Most of my writing friends feel the same way. That being said, sometimes we get stuck. Sometimes we spend too much time worrying about what people will think and it slows us down. Today I gathered some of my favorite quotes and images to inspire me – to give me that second wind and push me toward the finish line. I hope it inspires you, too.

writerboat
via WriterStat

twitter @WrtrStat

vkvjlp1gI went for years not finishing anything. Because, of course, when you finish something you can be judged. ― Erica Jong via Writers Digest

“Writing a novel is a terrible experience, during which the hair often falls out and the teeth decay. I’m always irritated by people who imply that writing fiction is an escape from reality. It is a plunge into reality and it’s very shocking to the system.” ― Flannery O’Connor via Goodreads

tattoo
via Guff

“When I sit down to write a book, I do not say to myself, ‘I am going to produce a work of art.’ I write it because there is some lie that I want to expose, some fact to which I want to draw attention, and my initial concern is to get a hearing.” ― George Orwell via Goodreads

audacity
via Positive Writer

“You can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will.” ― Stephen King via Goodreads

“Finishing a book is just like you took a child out in the back yard and shot it.” ― Truman Capote via Writers Digest

“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” ― Anaïs Nin via  annepeterson.com and Positive Writer

Random Thoughts

New Site Design #amwriting #blogging

erika leigh

thefaulknerportableI got some good advice from my friend Tess after my blog post yesterday. If I really want to shake off the negativity, I need to lighten up. Not just my content, but also my site design. I agree!! I’ve had that old design for a long time and really liked the idea of making a change. I had a lot of fun selecting just the right colors and fonts and layouts. I think the end result is bright and happy. I hope you like it, too.

In addition to a new look and feel, I made some changes to make navigating the site easier. On the main page, I ditched the boring Categories section and added an Archive by date and a Category Cloud instead. I moved the Creative Commons License to the footer, so it’s still on every page, but isn’t taking up space on the side bar.

My favorite addition, however, is content I’m starting to add to provide additional value for my readers. On the side bar, I’ve created a couple of lists for links – kind of like a custom blogroll. I follow around 600 blogs, so I thought I’d use some space to introduce my readers to some of my favorites. While I’ll likely keep a couple of links static, I really like the idea of rotating the list to highlight different blogs, and especially to give some newer blogs a little attention.

In addition to the links, I’m adding resource pages (where I may put some more permanent references to some of the top blogs in each of my industries. So far, I’ve added a resources page for Agile, and plan to add pages for Writing and User Experience, too. I’ll see how that goes and decide if everything still works together or if I need to think about creating more than one blog (one for writing and one for technology).

I hope you enjoy the changes and additions. I’m certainly open to comments and suggestions, too, so please feel free to send them my way!