Mini writing breakthrough I guess.

Running, lots of slow long distance on the treadmill, trying to run somewhat like Yuki Kawauchi. A hard long run on the weekend (usually) plus a short tempo or intervals mid week, plus plenty of easy jogging. Have that damm half marathon in less than a month. Don't want to suck. Trying to get lots of long runs in. I have two more weekend attempts. Did 11.4 miles at 9:47 pace, which is awful. It will be downhill and I'm going to do non-alpha male training. And I'll rest up I guess... And hopefully these next two long hard runs will go better. Was hoping for 9 min/mile pace for 12. Actually two years ago I only did 9 min/mile pace for 9 and then managed 8:15 pace for 13. Hip isn't quite 100%. Hopefully I won't injure myself and not even make it to the start.

Yuki is interesting in being an elite marathoner who still works a normal job. His training routine is pretty basic. Also for entering so many races.

Pretty just dropped cello. All the stuff I'm doing in the yard, etc. Just a bad time of year. I guess.

Really disliked book two The Blade of Tyshalle(sp) by Matthew Stover. Quit 40 pages before the end. All the different people stuck in each others head. And people dying... but no! Not really. Got confusing and just boring. Had liked the first book and there was so much injustice that I wanted to see rectified. So tried to hold on. But blah, sorry but just blah. Seems like a relatively intelligent guy compared to most of these fantasy fiction guys but the story just wasn't so good.

Sleep is a wonderful thing and I've been doing it great lately. Drinking more water.

Hurt my hip a little. Annoying. Running was feeling so good. Have so much energy. Praying this doesn't turn into this year's nagging injury. Except for that would want to run 50 plus miles per week. Taking it easy for a bit. Maybe get rid of harder runs for a few weeks... Really would like to just knock out 8 miles a day.... And sneak up to 10 for a week or two before half marathon. But that will probably just lead to injury.

Really neglected cello lately. Just too much to do. Have also returned to writing for better or worse.

Reading this Blade of Tyshalle by Stover. It's a bit weak. The hierarchial dystopia combined with a fantasy fiction otherworld keeps it going but not by a lot.

Had been trying to improve at running despite only doing 10 or so miles per week. Was doing all my running on the treadmill at 2% incline. Finally went outside and found out that 2% incline was not enough and that I had gotten slower from 2% plus so few miles. So started trying to run just about everyday (that I have time). All "easy" runs on treadmill while watching TV. Two harder runs each week outside. Want to get back up to near 40 or so. At first was thinking to keep my easy runs very easy, (5mph) but thinking to do them around 6mph for now. In the short term my fast runs won't be as good. But in the long term I should improve more.

Decided I need to drink like 3/4th's a gallon of water a day. Did so and immediately felt better. Had gotten a little lazy with my water drinking before. Had insomnia for the first time in a while and wondering if slight dehydration can lead to insomnia. (Unable to flush out toxins as well.... )

Have 6 weeks till half marathon. So got 4 long runs left. Yesterday did 9 miles at pretty easy 9:15 pace. Want to hit 13 miles 2 weeks before race. Yesterday did last mile in 7:10. Could have done quite a few more miles but trying to keep things gradual... Felt really good afterwards.

Really neglected the cello here recently. And quit writing. When I had insomnia I felt miserable and decided I had to start again. But now the insomnia is gone. Also it's springtime. And expanding the garden.

Read The Fell Knight and The Red Knight by Miles Cameron. Really enjoyed them. Very long. Partially why stopped writing. The Captain AKA Gabriel or The Duke is a magician and fighter. Leads a band of mercenaries. Including Bad Tom and Sauce. Jehan and so on. In Red Knight they are defending some place from an attack of the Wild led by the sorceror Thorn. Dameons and Wyvert(sp) and boglins and irks and trolls and golden bears, etc. In the Fell Knight they are fighting for an empress against a traitorous duke. Lots of characters, constantly jumping around. High level of detail concerning the middle ages. Lots of words I've never heard before. As if Miles figured most people are on a kindle/nook now and can look them up in a second. The Captain hates christianity. He has a place in his head where a person lives. Later on it's Harmodius, the great mage.

Really got to quit reading and start writing though.

At IVF in MD downloaded The Blade of Tyrelle(sp) by Matthew Stover. Book two of Heroes Die. I liked book one. It's about Caine/Hari. The dialogue is a bit cheesy in places but when he goes from futuristic earth over to the middle ages fantasy fiction world, it gets better. But again, I need to stop reading and start writing.

Time travel before and after the genocide. Back to kill father when he was young. Lighthouses and seaships. And fuck if I can remember.

Bloodsong by Anthony Ryan
Originally self-published yet a great book. Hero with an ace. Faces some injustice but not really all that much. Being in the 6th order where you might die I guess is a sort of injustice. The king who is holding people he cares about basically hostage is a sort. Nice long book. Unfortunately book one of a series that may take a while to be finished. something Al Sorna. Almost arabic names? Plus arabic-like religious intolerance. Their own "faith" though is strangely very vague. Why they question it so little doesn't quite make sense. The ending in the desert had a Lawrence of Arabia feel. Some plot stuff seemed a bit thrown in. Plot was maybe a bit too involved.

Heroes Die by Matthew Woodring Stover
Another book one I guess of a series that may be a long while before another book comes out. Parallel worlds, one is a typical fantasy fiction world, the other is a futuristic dystopia. Started and quit long ago as didn't care for the futuritic dytopia. Didn't like the lingo that was used especially. Or the extent to which the hero is in love. But it gets better. Almost gets very good. I guess not as good as Bloodsong. The characters aren't as complex. But really quite good. Surprised to find these two books. Perhaps there are more still... Really dismissed this one before. The plot is too involved in this one I think. Too many holes as a result. Was expecting him to overthrow the futuristic dystopia, which he did not. He's kind of dumb about that.

These are ultimately two books about tough guys, guys who never lose fights. I find such stories enjoyable. Oh well.

Really enjoyed reading these two books. They were page turners for me. Read them during vacation. Most of each during the long drives. On drive home I wrecked the car early on and J refused to let me drive the rest of the way. LOL! So I got to really sit back and enjoy this book on the way home. Wonderful way to stand a 9 hour or so drive (with traffic).

Heroes Die by Matthew Woodring Stover
This started out in the middle ages with an assasin trying to kill a king. And it was really enjoyable. I guess I middle age assasins. Like Brent Weeks. Funny as I find it miserable to write about assasins myself. But then it turned out it was some virtual reality thing and it's really some science fiction, including a vernacular way of speaking that's extremely annoying. So much for this.