I know the Run Arounders are just getting started here and I can't wait to meet others training for the marathon. I look forward to supporting them and the other runners and walkers helping us out October 4!
I've kicked things off with a fundraising letter sent out to family and friends which talks about Run Around for Write Around and urges them to help me reach my goal before the starting gun goes off. Go to the link below to see the draft of my email and feel free to steal for your own!
www.firstgiving.com/stacybrewster
If you have a Facebook page, firstgiving also makes it easy to post a little widget on the front of your page that tracks your fundraising goals and progress.
Happy running!
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
It'll Soon Be Race Day
So, less than six weeks till race day?
I'll be running the humble five miler so my training schedule isn't intensifying in these last weeks. (I anticipate finishing with a respectable but not spectacular time and enjoying the rest of my day as a Run Around for Write Around Portland volunteer supporting the marathoners. Hey, doesn't that make me a biathlete?)
Anyone out there in the blogosphere run a marathon before and want to share past experiences or helpful insights? Feel like sharing how Write Around Portland has impacted your life or your run? (I plan to blog here every day I run.) Just feel like putting something out there for other runners to see?
Send me an email at ms.andreaspeedie@gmail.com and I will officially invite you. Please include your name and contact information, which will not be shared with anyone.
Hope your running and your writing are free and effortless this week!
Monday, August 24, 2009
Run-Reading
Thanks to Andrea for getting the blog going! I have sort of a funky practice that I thought I’d share here in the spirit of Run Around for Write Around.
I read while I run. I run-read. It’s safer than it sounds and pretty much a requirement for my process, both writing and marathon training.
That is to say, running in the morning, as I do, helps me sweep away my cobwebs, sharpen my pencil and add focus to a day that will involve working a day job before getting a lick of writing in. Running sustains me for a multitask sort of day. Similarly, reading short stories, novels and nonfiction, which I do throughout my day, opens my imagination, forces my mind to make connections it wouldn’t necessarily make, and inspires me to hit the page.
So, efficiency expert that I am, I do both simultaneously. I read-run. I run-read. I check out audiobooks from the library (reserving dozens at a time because availability fluctuates and you want to have a good variety on hand), download them all to my computer and upload one to my iPod at any given time, then run-read. I delete files as I go (off my computer and iPod both) and consider that upholding my end of the covenant. I don’t consider this blasphemous to traditional reading, either. I listen to unabridged versions, no exceptions, and preferably ones read by the author. Reading this way, I feel tied to the tradition of oral storytelling and it's super stimulating, no matter what genre the material. I’m an aesthetic reader and an aesthetic writer and listening to stories this way lets me see clearly what may work or not work on the page with my own writing. Furthermore, I'm able to read 80% more than I would otherwise. Not too shabby.
If for no other reason, read-running keeps my brain active on something other than wondering what the hell I’m doing running up Balch Creek at 6:30AM with a sore shin.
I read while I run. I run-read. It’s safer than it sounds and pretty much a requirement for my process, both writing and marathon training.
That is to say, running in the morning, as I do, helps me sweep away my cobwebs, sharpen my pencil and add focus to a day that will involve working a day job before getting a lick of writing in. Running sustains me for a multitask sort of day. Similarly, reading short stories, novels and nonfiction, which I do throughout my day, opens my imagination, forces my mind to make connections it wouldn’t necessarily make, and inspires me to hit the page.
So, efficiency expert that I am, I do both simultaneously. I read-run. I run-read. I check out audiobooks from the library (reserving dozens at a time because availability fluctuates and you want to have a good variety on hand), download them all to my computer and upload one to my iPod at any given time, then run-read. I delete files as I go (off my computer and iPod both) and consider that upholding my end of the covenant. I don’t consider this blasphemous to traditional reading, either. I listen to unabridged versions, no exceptions, and preferably ones read by the author. Reading this way, I feel tied to the tradition of oral storytelling and it's super stimulating, no matter what genre the material. I’m an aesthetic reader and an aesthetic writer and listening to stories this way lets me see clearly what may work or not work on the page with my own writing. Furthermore, I'm able to read 80% more than I would otherwise. Not too shabby.
If for no other reason, read-running keeps my brain active on something other than wondering what the hell I’m doing running up Balch Creek at 6:30AM with a sore shin.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Running for Writing
This week's run in Washington Park was full of blue skies and soft breezes. I climbed the steady incline with the skill and ease of a mountain goat. While I waited for my running partner to catch up I caught these rays of errant sun slicing throught the giant redwoods.
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