Marathon training

This is the part of training I hate--the long runs. Ernie and I ran 17 miles on Saturday. The day couldn't have been better for a run. Cool, no rain, no wind. Trouble was, I had missed the 15 miler the week before because of Ike and spending time at the EOC, so I wasn't ready for 17. Between 8.5 and 11, I was really starting to feel the effort. At about 13 I began feeling lightheaded. I think we walked 2-3 of the last 5 miles. All in all, not very encouraging. One thing I know, however, is that sometimes the worst day of training ends up giving the most benefit. I hope I get over this hump and get stronger.

Here it comes-- a lame sports metaphor for writing.

Sometimes writing is like that, too. There are days when the words won't come, when every sentence is a struggle and when the story just seems to stall out. All you can do is fight through it. A lot of times, those tough periods are followed by great breaktrhoughs. You just have to tough it out.