On the surface writing and marathoning  seem polar opposites, One is done usually indoors in couch potato fashion, the other outdoors producing sweat in places you didn’t even know you had had glands.  Having some experience with both I find more parallels than divergence.  Both require a commitment, you don’t get up one day and decide to run a marathon that afternoon nor can you (at least I can’t) write a 50k plus word novel in a day.  You have to build up to it, practice, even on days you don’t feel like it.  Which leads me to my next parallel.  On those days that you don’t feel like it, you strap on your shoes anyway and hit the pavement and after a while you find your stride and may even finish your miles with a smile on your face.  The same I find with writing.  On those days I don’t think I can write, the housework is piling up, my day job requires me to do homework, or I just can’t think of what I want to write, I find if I just  sit down and start, before I know it another 1,000 or so words are down and I am happy.  A marathoner learns that it is not the speed (at least runners like me) and ergo the time you finish a marathon in, it’s the accomplishment of finishing. As I have never finished a marathon under five hours I would dare to go father and say the joy of the day not only comes from finishing but enjoying the people and the sights from mile marker to mile marker along the way.  I think my journey as a writer is much the same.  I would not say I have crossed a finish line yet in writing, as I have not gotten a book published yet, but I persevere.  I have met wonderful people along my way.  Some coach me and some cheer me on.  I am enjoying the journey from mile marker to mile marker: my first blog, my first tweet, submitting my first manuscript and getting my first follower to name a few.  Now if only I could find a way for writing to burn calories like running . . .

Me after the Myrtle Beach Marathon (I like to call it my most exotic locale) I also have run: Marine Corp in D.C., Chicago, NYC, London, Paris and Dublin