The Marathon Mindset

It still feels very much like summer with temperatures still in the 80s, almost 90, but next week is supposed to cool off. The New England Asters have been blooming as well as the common white asters that many people consider to be a weed (but I find to be cheerful and beautiful) and provide much needed late-season fuel for the pollinators. By the way, the native plants that I divided and have planted along the curb and in the front yard are doing well and despite it being dry and hot, and not getting a lot of water they are doing okay and even new plants have started to emerge from the dead looking stems. This is why native plants are so great; you don't have to do anything and they still thrive!

The hot weather for the past couple of weeks has made it hard on my body at times as I am training for the Indianapolis Marathon on November 8. This week wasn't so bad since I stepped off the gas a bit before next week being my peak week before I start tapering. I am going to do a 22-mile run next week! I believe that I have learned a lot since last year's marathon, my training has been better and more effective as I have learned that not every day is supposed to feel like a race (haha), and just trying to also enjoy running as much as I can! My goal is still 3:45, but I think and some people have told me that I can probably do it faster even maybe 3:30. This includes a student of mine from Turkey, who is on the Turkish national team for the triathlon, that I have ran with twice and that was nice to be able lto run with someone! We will see on race day and I plan on starting slow and gradually picking the pace up as the race goes depending on how I feel. Overall, I feel good though and I am excited to see how I do this year!

We are still in high school cross country season with Yena, and it has been a season of ups and downs. She started okay and then did very well at the home meet,, which is a major meet in the state here and PR'd at 20:38 a good minute and 40 seconds off of her fastest time last year. Then after a meet a couple of weeks later she stated that her hip was bothering her. This resulted in taking quite a bit of time off and not running in a couple of meets or not doing as well. Last weekend, we went to a meet and it was hot and she still wasn't feeling very good and it did not go well. Unfortunately, I got pretty mad and said things that I shouldn't have said or yelled out of anger, which of course did not help. Tonight we are going to the Nike Twilight meet in Terre Haute, which is a very big meet with teams coming from all across the nation, which is exciting. However, because Yena's performance has faltered since her peak earlier in the season, she is running the JV race and it is her last chance to try to secure a varsity spot and be in the top 7, so she can run in the sectionals, regionals, and possibly state meet. She has the sixth fastest time on the team for the season, but tonight she has to do well and have a time in the top 7. I don't want there to be a lot of pressure and stress, but I know that there is some, and it is frustrating because I know that she can and what she is capable of, but have told myself that I am not going to get upset no matter what happens. It is hard even though in the grand scheme of things, it's okay if she doesn't do as well as we hope because she is only a sophomore and there is still time, but I think that part of me wants her to do well because I know she wants to do well!

September actually surprised me a little because sales of my novel The Zumba Class actually started to tick up again. I am always unsure how these things happen, but any sales are good, right? I also decided to submit my third unpublished novel, which I am calling Clark's Legacy to a contest for best fiction through a publishing company. They are supposed to announce the short list or winner sometime in November. The winner gets $5,000 advance and also they will publish your novel to sell. It sounds like something that could help me get more discovered as a writer, but we will see and my general expectations are quite low that I would actually ever be selected.

As far as reading goes, well to the left is an actual picture from one of my tutoring sessions at my home with a middle school student. We are currently reading The Renegades, a superhero novel/series, but in the picture you can see that these tutoring sessions are turning into like a cat café with our three cats that you can clearly see all of them in the picture!

I finally got a copy of East of Eden by John Steinbeck for my birthday, not a used copy that I had originally hoped to find, but still a copy. I have started to read it for the first time since my freshmen year of high school when I apparently thought it was boring and I hated it! However, with age I find John Steinbeck's writing to be like a masterclass in how to write a novel or story. I am also continuing to take free classes online through Bible Project. I have completed Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph, and now I am going back to the story before that from Adam to Noah in Genesis. I am interested in this because East of Eden is John Steinbeck's retelling of the story of Genesis (Adam and Eve to Cain and Abel) in his novel and think that it is fascinating on so many levels! It is going to take me a while though right now with the semester in full swing to get through both the Bible Project class and East of Eden, but I find it rewarding and important.

Okay, that is all I have for now.

Please continue to take care of yourself and those that you care about!