Maybe this will make sense at the end.

Some people set goals, some people attain goals, and some people have goals. I’m not sure I’m any one of those three.

That sounds terrible. And maybe I am forgetting or denying goals set in the past. For example a friend and I wanted to cycle down the west coast one summer. We did, more or less. It was not a goal, it was more like an ordeal, something you get yourself into and then have to negotiate to get out of. But you buy a plane ticket and basically you have to get there or not come home.

I don’t know that I ever set a goal of becoming a professional photographer. For starters, I did not know how you did that. All the compass points were in the form of book jackets and introductions, for example the Bill Allard book on his years becoming a National Geographic photographer. I got to thank him for that, by the way, last year, at a loft party at David Alan Harvey’s. He took the genuflecting well, considering. He allowed that that book had had a good response. Perhaps not what you want, it’s about the pictures isn’t it? Well, I like the pictures too. I think I forgot to say that.

I don’t know that I ever celebrated “becoming” a professional photographer. Does that still mean I am “emerging?” I have a copy of Joel Sternfeld’s “American Prospects, 1987, and on the back cover is a quote from Time magazine, it reads “Pictures that were once compelling oddities are now linked into an original meditation on the national life. It clinches the case for Sternfeld as an emerging American master.” (italics mine) I guess you can always be emerging, even when you get to be a master.

I do remember a job in the Bahamas sometime in 1999 or 2000 for W magazine where during a lunch hour break we were all in the pool and I was thinking to myself, “I should be really happy right now. Here I am.” Of course I wasn’t, I was beating myself up over the next picture or the last picture, or the next job or the last job, and feeling not secure about anything.

I don’t know that you get a triumphant moment in photography. THIS, HERE, IS THE ONE PHOTOGRAPH! FINALLY!  the headline reads. I feel like Garrison Keillor, reading the News from Lake Wobegon, where all the women are strong, the men are good looking, and the children, above average. I should know, having a Lutheran pastor in the family.

Photography is not something that submits itself easily to goal setting. That said though, I think it is easy to deny yourself a payoff. Think of the piles of prints you have in boxes in neat little rows somewhere in your studio. And some people don’t photograph for others, they just do it for themselves. But I think sometimes they are not being honest with themselves, don’t we all do it for recognition of one form or another?

Which brings me to Marathons. In order to run one you have to train, you have commit to four months of work and more beyond that just to be ready. In January I half decided that I was going to run the Vancouver Marathon coming May 3rd. I put the mileage on the calendar, numbers I had never seen before, and wondered if I could do it?

Well the training is over, nothing that I can do now will make much of a difference two weeks from now. I couldn’t afford the Vancouver travel, but beautiful New Jersey has a popular seaside marathon in Long Branch. It is not the perfect first marathon. But the perfect is the enemy of the good. What is the point of doing all the training, all four hundred miles, without some painful payoff?

I know some people live by goals, by to do lists, by achievements. When you look at it backwards though, it makes more sense to me. The fact that you can put something on the calendar four months away and break it down to the quotidian, as a way of getting it done. It might apply to photography too.

Ok so this is strange, my bib number last week was 3924, this week it was 3923. Two weeks ago I ran 13.1 in 1:50:44. Yesterday it was 1:50:46. Groundhog day effect?

Course was a series of out and backs, it really screws with your feeling of getting anywhere. You just see a long stretch and doubling back. Side benefit is that you see the lead runners a couple times, and you get to see everyone behind you…

Brooklyn Half coming up in May. That will be the sub 1:50.

Going to keep this one short and sweet: Was not expecting anything on a cold 14 degree morning, mostly survival. I ran with a friend and we breezily chatted our way around the park twice, probably annoying a great many other runners-in fact one race volunteer-curmudgeon admonished in our direction, “I wanna hear less talking and see more runnin’!” Guess we were that thing we hate. At least no foot flapping.

Did not realise until the end that a pb was in my grasp, we had started far back in the pack, lazed our way through the first two miles (9:02, 8:39) but then settled into some 8:20′s and 8:15′s for the rest of the way save my potty break at mile 6 which cost us a 9:30 and me a sub 1:50:00 finish…

I will save the sub 1:50 half goal for another day. I have however bested my previous half (1:54:51) by a goodly 4 minutes and change, and this in the winter under less than ideal conditions. Obviously it reflects simply having logged over 500+ miles since I began in June. It’s nice to be faster even if I don’t always feel faster.

This was the scene at 6:35am heading across the Manhattan Bridge. Thinking a Lumix or Dlux-4 is in my future specifically for running pictures. Thanks to “Si” for keeping me occupied those 10 miles…after which he dropped me (again) like a dirty shirt… » Read the rest of this entry «

One word-COLD! Second word-SHORT!

Mile splits are 7:34, 7:10, 7:34, 7:26. 

Not much to say, it was over before the snot had a chance to freeze in my nose. One to remember on those hot days in June.  

But my goal was a 30 minute 4 mile, based on last weeks performance the McMillian calculator says I could do a 30:57, so I knew it was possible. But it would mean I would have to run a lot faster than I am used to. In other words, I would have to race…This is not my natural inclination. I am more of a zone out grinder. Plus any time I have gone out to run intervals I have had the worst experience, I just get wacked out and can’t recover. So pacing in a race is new to me.

The first mile I thought I went out way too fast-everyone was cold and it seemed we had the wind behind us, and the timer at mile 1 was not working, so I had no idea. This got me a little worried, but the ticker was not really pumping so I didn’t have any thoughts of Fred Sanford yet. Wheezy!! Then the second mile was downhill along the West Side of Central Park, this was even faster and really had me thinking reel it in. I saw the time of 15-something so I knew I was pretty close to 30 but would need to keep it up. Like the girl says, “just breathe.” So mile 3 was Cat Hill, I finally saw the damn cat sculpture just before the Obilisc, never knew why people called it that. I remember the split to be 22:22, and subtracting the starting offset of around 20 seconds I knew it was looking good. Faded a little in mile 4 or so I thought but got the gift of the downhill at the end and rounding the corner I saw 29′s on the clock and knew I had it.

Next week is a 15K in Central Park, we will see what the weather is. I am running that one with a friend so I don’t know what the target is, enjoyment or punishment. According to the calculator it says I can run a 1:13, or 7:50′s the whole way, I somehow doubt that. A loop and a half of the park, some hills, I think 8′s are optimistic still.

Yes I will talk about photography. on monday, some words about the Eggleston show at the Whitney.

This is iphone from the N train on the way in at 7:30am this morning. What were you doing?

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I don’t know who this Joe Kleinerman is, but I really like him. And I’ve got his t-shirt.

MASSIVE PR – (for me) – 10K – 49:09 – 7:55/mile pace…oh yeah

That’s right-sub 8 minutes-my first ever. 

Better than any training run to date on that distance, blew the previous Nike 10K way outta da water, but that was a terrible course (53:26, august 31) and three months ago.

Not sure what I did right here except go out fast and hold the line. Weather was a blessing, little wind, cool but not cold yet, no sun. Roadrunners president Mary Wittenberg introduced some guy from ‘Da Bronx-that’s how he was introduced, and I could swear after ever sentence I heard the Law and Order “doink-doink.” “I’m a man of few woyds…on ya mahwks…!”  Race started at 103rd Street and went anti-clockwise around the park, beginning in the Harlem Hills. (“ya, youse godda run ‘dem Hawlem Hills…”) I was actually looking forward to this since my own runs always begin with the hill up to Park Slope, so this was similar. There were only a few moderate climbs for the rest of the course and it seemed like lots of downhills. I think that is where I picked up a lot of time.

I don’t have splits that are accurate because I was running on a new nike ipod and it was not calibrated. Christmas is coming and if the Garmin-Gods can get their Mac update out I will be changing over in the new year.

Can’t report anything interesting during the race-not a lot of time to look around! The first two miles was spent trying to find space and pass a lot of people. You can see that in the graph. It is really great when you pass people who are clearly aiming for comfortable 9-10-minute mile who lined up in the corral in front of you and are going out in happy-chatty groups-yeah maybe you can run 7:00′s all day long but the 9:00′s are behind me in the next corral…

Didn’t get hit by any snot-rockets or lougies. Which is saying something in this cold. Sounded like a Seniors Residence cafeteria during breakfast! Oy! Around mile four I had to drop a foot-flopper (plop plop plop plop) with some heavy asthmatic breathing and grunting going on next to me-turned up the ipod and tried not to listen while running faster. Guess I can thank him for my PR? Around mile five there was an lady who like to split runners with an open-sesame-arm move. Coming Through! Yeah right. We are all here for ya lady!

Time for a nap. It was fun while it lasted…

Edit: I figured out the splits I think. Based on total time and time between ipod markers and using the differential of avg miles per hour (7.10mph vs 7.47mph–.95%)

mile 1 8:11     8:11/pace

mile 2 15:58   7:47/pace

mile 3 23:50   7:52/pace

mile 4 31:47   7:57/pace

mile 5 39:58   8:11/pace

mile 6 47.33   7:35/pace

mile .21  49:09  7:37/pace

A little bump in the middle, I remember thinking at mile 5, save something for the last little bit. Probably shouldn’t have thought that. 

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They get older and yet they get better. I think that is what is amazing about the elite women of the marathon. For some reason the men don’t inspire me, they are just too fast to think about. They complete a full marathon in the time it would take me to complete a half or thereabouts. Not that I think I could ever touch the women’s times either…

What did she say you ask?

I fibbed a bit. Earlier last week somewhere in the rolling hills of Omaha after my run Paula came on the headphones through the nike ipod and said congratulations on completing 500km! 

She didn’t seem to remember me this time…

Congratulations to the 39,000 who ran this years New York City Marathon.

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Christopher Wise commented on a previous post that I had caught the Murakami bug-writing and running, and he wondered if there was any spillover into photography. 

I just discovered what it is: innocence is bliss.

Andrew Hetherington came over recently and we had ‘nutella forum’ meeting which was basically him tearing my portfolio apart and killing all my favourite pictures to help me get a new book together. During the process I dug out some older older stuff which he dismissed also, and that was only the tip of the iceberg, after more than ten years you have stuff in the “archives” that no one has seen, and you remember just how fearless you were in the beginning. You’d bring the polaroid, the 4×5, the Hassy, the Leica, and you’d somehow use them all on a shoot and you’d actually get more. Now if you do that, after all this “experience” you just get confused and feel like you are getting nothing. 

So innocence is bliss. What you don’t know about the job encourages you to take risks with it, encourages you to accept whatever happens instead of trying to control it all, and lets you function with some freedom. Ten years later, it is not so easy to do that. 

So this was the second half marathon for me officially, a week apart, and it was definitely more of a mental game. Last week, everyone was having a lot of fun or so it seemed, this weekend, for whatever reason, the course, the sun, the lack of foliage, it seemed harder. But then I had a goal also to best my previous time, which officially was 1:55:42 for Grete’s Gallop. I was thinking 1:52-1:54.

One of the reasons I signed up for this was the Staten Island Ferry ride, something you need to do every few years or so to remind yourself of New York in that classic way. And that is how it was as 5000 of us piled onto the ferry for the trip over. Since we were all guaranteed to be on time it was as mellow as you can get considering you have 5000 caffeinated bunnies penned up together waiting to escape. When the ferry was delayed some Bruce Banner type had a ‘roid-rage in the bathroom punching the helpless baby changing table, but other than that we were all excited to be there.

9:40am, 70 degrees, 65% humidity CAVU- Ceiling and Visibility Unlimited. Line up, and we are off.

1 8:38
2 8:27
3 8:26

I had recalibrated the nikepod the week before so I was pretty sure it was close, and it was within a tenth of a mile, which was a relief. So what was my strategy? I knew that this course was flatter than the rolling hills of Central Park, so I thought possibly I could just run and hold at the same pace for the entire race. But it was clear that there was going to be a significant uphill in miles ten and eleven as we were now rolling downhill effortlessly. These out and back courses do play a little game with your mind, you are enjoying the pace now but know you will pay later.

4 8:34
5 8:44
6 8:32

The night before the race lying awake I did the math equation, or tried to at least, if a train leaves chicago etc, in this case, at what point would we start to see the lead runners double back on us, if they were running 5-somethings and I was running 8-somethings. Well, I’d go into detail about how that scrambled my brain for a while but my prediction was between 4 and 5 miles, and I was pretty close, I’d forgotten the offset at the beginning which was about three and half minutes, or nearly a half mile and there they were at mile 5.5, eating it up hill, looking dare I say, average? But they were still way ahead of us…

I should mention that we had some fan support out there on the course, the trip wound through a few neighbourhoods and there was a smattering of S-I’ers cheering us on. But there was also a long portion along the water by the navel station, a flat derelict area which I would have enjoyed photographing but not running. 

I also posted my fastest 10km time of 52:28… according to the nikepod which is variable, so who knows?

7 8:52
8 9:00
9 8:39

The double back came between 6 and 7, and very long straight stretch where you got to see all the fastest runners heading back. Eventually, I would be one of those, looking back at the slower runners coming up behind me. There is a profound lesson there that I cannot elucidate! I think the times reflect a few too many miles this week on tired legs, and also a sense that there was a lot to go and I needed to conserve. This is the part about ignorance. When you don’t know so well how you will feel at mile 10 it is easier. But this just seemed like it was getting drawn out. I think the long straightaways do that. It just goes on and on and you are getting nowhere. The best part about this was that we did a divert into some national park which had trees and shade. The sun was giving me a headache.

At mile 8 you go under the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge sort of, and looking up, way up, you realize that that is the bridge the NYC marathon begins on, and it really is kind of freaky, it is so high and so long, 2 miles, I think it must preclude anyone with a fear of heights. Serious business.

10 8:25
11 8:51
12 8:46

Back along the waterfront and I am doing the calculation overall. At mile ten the readout was saying something like 1:30:00 less the offset of three and half minutes for the start meant I was on track for between 1:50-1:54, a lot faster than last week. So I tried to kick a little along the flatlands of the industrial area, but that didn’t last long. Payback time for those early downhills came at 11 and 12, where we had one steep uphill and then a lot of rolling uphill along Richmond Terrace. But there were people out cheering us along, also clearly some early finishers getting in their additional miles I assume in marathon prep, hard to think about that at this point…

mile 13 8:22

Some numbskull always says, “its all downhill from here!” Which may have been true at that point between 12 and 13, however, you still have 1.1miles to go! So I am wheeling downhill and the 13 marker is at this curve, you get around the curve, and the finish looks a long way away! But it’s only .1, and I am doing the calculation, do I want this to be a personal best by a lot or a little? And you are trying to hold or race other runners just to keep yourself moving.

At the end I forgot to shut off the nikepod exactly, so I really didn’t know what the time was, it was saying 1:54:51, which I thought, I might have broken 1:54? I was just glad to be done.

It wasn’t until I got home and checked the race results that I saw 1:54:59-oh that precious second, it was still 1:54 in my mind! (we can have our fantasies can’t we?) And better than last week by :41. But lets call it a minute saved…so I was slower last week but felt faster, faster this week but felt slower. The difference was last week I went out a lot slower and saved more for the end, this week I just wanted to see if I could hold the line. More or less I did, pace was 8:46 avg.

Big lessons are don’t run the previous night for 5 miles, wear sunglasses, and pray for an interesting course. This may be the last official race report for a while, there is nothing on the calendar in the immediate future. I will just be out there Nov. 2 watching everyone go by on 4th ave, very conflicted, knowing I would be there if I could but got into this a little too late in the year, never mind that fact that getting in is difficult in itself. And knowing that 26.2 is a very very long way. » Read the rest of this entry «

 So here is the race report!

It was chilly this morning heading out to the start of the race near the bandshell in Central Park. I had about twenty minutes which was not really enough time to stow the bag, hit the WC, and stretch, and get in my corral. It was full but not crushingly so.

The sponsor of the race was the Norwegian Consulate General (wonder if they pay their parking tickets?) so the theme was all things Norwegian, and the race is named after Grete Waitz, nine-time NYC marathon winner-lets say that again, out of 52 runnings or so of the marathon, this Norwegian has won it NINE times. Probably will never be matched. So she was there at the beginning to start the race.

Then we were off! The first three miles wound south from the bandshell across the southern width of the park and then headed up the west side. Flat with a little uphill that I stowed away for the end, uphill to Tavern on the Green. Will have to save something for this little hill which is certainly to hurt more at the end. You don’t want you legs turning to Norwegian Wood…yuk yuk. Ok bad joke. Mile splits:

1 8:32
2 8:35
3 8:28

At this point it was obvious that the Nikepod was short compared to the mile posts, but since I have based my pacing around it I decided to stick with whatever it was saying in terms of pace. I also knew I was going out a little fast but in the crowd you notice it less. We would see…

4 8:10
5 8:21
6 8:26

Between 3 and 4 is the back half of Central Park, the notorious hills, but since we were running clockwise it was all a long downhill. You can see that in the 8:10 coming off that hill. And then 5 and 6 are going southbound along the east side from the 90′s through the 80′s, which is actually a steady gentle rolling uphill. I remember looking at the reservoir as we went by it, a little misty, and I thought I saw ice on the surface! Probably not. But the light was gorgeous, and there were other runners doing the reservoir loop. When I got to mile 6 I knew things were looking good for me, I felt fine, my breathing was very easy. I think I had a cliffshot in there somewhere, yeah 50mg of caffeine!

7 8:10
8 8:19
9 8:27

Like miles 1,2,3, rolling up the west side again. Before the race I heard someone give advice to someone else who had never run in the park, he said, check yourself every mile, ask yourself if you can continue at this pace because CP is not flat, there is always another hill, it is very hard to maintain a steady pace. Good advice, and you can see my times are all over the place. Somewhere in there, another cliffshot, and at mile 9, which is descending the hills at the rear of the park I had a similar kick to the one I described in my previous 10 mile night run. Except I knew I still had another 4 to go, and the finish uphill, so I checked myself and didn’t really let it out.

10 8:07
11 8:10
12 8:07

At this point I know I am going to finish well, and probably under two hours. You notice people around you, and there were a few that I had been with for several miles now. I just set myself to not lose them at this point, because you are really not sure. Also, I had begun to let it out a little as you can see. It also started to rain a little at mile 10, and I was thinking, lets just get this finished before the rain! But it never really got going. So I was definitely “breathing” on this backstretch. I was also passing some people, and taking advantage of every rolling downhill to really turn over the legs. Mile 12 and I know, here is the last mile, the one I knew was going to be the toughest, your mind starts to play tricks on you, it wants to say “enough, you are there” but you can’t do that. So I was pushing.

13 7:49 

Evidently pushing a lot! Musta been smellin’ the waffles and lingonberry jam (or is that Swedish?). I could see the finish time which was counting up from 1:57, and I knew the difference between the clock time and the chip time was about 4 minutes, which meant it was really nearer 1:53. So easy to be under two hours at this point, but I really wanted under 1:54, and I think I got 1:54:45 but we will see what the chip says…pace should be 8:45/mile because the Nikepod is short or this course was long! I think really, if the course distance was accurate, although I did not run the shortest route either, but if the distance is correct I should be adding 30sec/mile onto those splits. Anyway, maybe next time a good old watch will work better!

Then it was out of the chutes, chug some nasty gatorade, and go get warm clothing. While in line for the waffles, talking to another runner from England, all of a sudden she says “Thats me!”, and indeed they had called her number in the raffle, and she won the Grand Prize which was return airfare to Norway! Stroke of luck, missed it by that much! Actually, I forgot to put my number in, so I will settle for a sub two hour half as my prize.

Thanks to all my sponsors…um, none. Definitely a recommendation for Zensah clothing-please send me some more of your oh so soft microfibre shirts. Warm, anti-bacterial which means friendly to those around you, and keeps you dry. The longsleeve was the way to go today. 

So now do I run the Staten Island Half next weekend? Word is, it is flat:)

UPDATE: official time was 1:55:42, 8:49 pace according to the chip, the nikepod was out about what I thought. I think it is a good idea to recalibrate it as your running style changes. » Read the rest of this entry «

Joerg put a bug in my ear this afternoon after reading the last post, he said;

“Can I be the next person uttering a wish about what you can write
about? How about writing about that there basically does not exist any
“negative” criticism of photography in the blog world?”

This is something I have thought about a lot, most of what you read is “check this out..” and you have a paper thin endorsement of someone else’s work, but little engagement.

Maybe I will write about that someday.

However, on a completely different note, I have mentioned running in the past here, and I wanted to share my run with you from tonight-10 miles, average pace, but lots of gas left in the tank at the end and faster all the way. Runners call this “negative splits” or mile split times that decrease the farther you go.

So tonight was one of those nights, the first time in a long time I have had no pain, no issues, no heat, no fatigue, just miles unfolding without incident. I have entered a half marathon scheduled this weekend in Central Park, “Greta’s Gallop”, two laps and a bit of the park, on what should be a fresh fall Saturday morning. The idea today was just to get an idea of what I would be feeling like at mile 10, and to establish a pace that I could be comfortable in. 

Generally you don’t want to go out too fast, the first mile is just to get loose, and in my mind, actually the first six miles were to just relax into the distance. Here are the splits:

1.0 8:24
2.0 8:31
3.0 8:34

Alright, so here it is obvious to me that I am going out too fast, time to reel it back in.

4.0 9:06
5.0 9:05-cliffshot here YES 50mg Caffeine!
6.0 9:00

this is more like it.

7.0 8:44
8.0 8:34-second cliffshot, nothing like ANOTHER 50mg CAFFEINE! 
9.0 8:28
10.0 8:00-7:15 at end

And the negative splits. Part of it I must attribute to Cliff Shots, whoohoo.

But it wasn’t the time or the speed or the distance (or the caffeine) that made this run special. It was everything along the way. Rosh Hashanah had plenty of Orthodox, rank and file and probably lapsed Jews, out with the young ones hooting on the Shofar or ram’s horn, awakening us all to the new year.  Near the lake, Tashlikh was being observed, prayers casting the sins into the water. Send a few for me please…

So contrast that with kids longboarding down the hill crouched low on their boards, the light fading, and seeming like everyone going faster, including me! Of course the cyclists, pelotons going 25mph and those really crazy folks running pushing strollers uphill, I’m not sure how they do that. It was a scene.

Mile 9 rolls around and it is the beginning of the hill leading up to Grand Army Plaza. Steep but short, depending on the day I don’t have too much trouble with it. Well, clearly something was different, I blew up the hill like it wasn’t there. I think the fact that it was getting really dark makes you feel like you are getting faster. But even then, I wasn’t breathing hard. Behind me, just under my iPod blasting Toto’s “Hold the Line” I hear another set of footsteps, tracking up behind me and starting to pass me, looking strong. Well, fella, “It’s On Like Donkey Kong!” 

You don’t want to look like you are reacting, but gradually I let it unwind, and still going uphill at this point, left him in the weeds. That was a strange thing, after 9 miles, to have a kick left. So, fine with that, who else can I reel in? A couple other people joined me at this pace, sometimes you attract runners like the rabbit at a dogtrack. And there are lots of very talented runners in this park, people who regularly leave me in the weeds. I stopped for water halfway, took a quick 3 sips, and bolted back to regain the group. Well even that was no big whup, so I decided, lets just let it all out. Before the Nike+pod came undone it was registering 7:15/mile pace, not sure if I can believe that, but the train was moving now, and I carried that all along the rest of the length of the park until the exit at The Pavilion Movie Theatre, where I warmed down for another quarter mile on the way home.

Looking ahead to Saturday I feel I know what I need to do. Of course a lot of other things come into it, running in the morning vs. running at night which is what I usually do, breakfast, the weather, other runners who will undoubtedly be peeling past me sub 7 minutes. But if I take it in stages, the opening 3 miles warm up, a comfortable middle 7, and a race for the final 3, I think I will have a good day.

Sub two hours would be very good, and based on the 10mile estimated time of 1:30 I am just squeaking in at 1:59 for the half. Depending on the hills, I think I can do better than that…thanks for listening… » Read the rest of this entry «

Well, not photography, actually. In preparation for the Bhutan trip I got all nervous about the altitude and decided I needed some exercise, and at about the same time I was working a job where the art director decided after the 12 hour day to run home-to Park Slope from 50th Street and the West Side highway, about 10 miles. I was flabbergasted, I could not imagine having the energy left at the end of the day to think about anything like that, less that it might even feel good. Well guess what, it does feel good. I ran 10 miles on Saturday last, my best Forrest Gump pace of 9min/mi. and it was very enjoyable.

So I’ve “become” a runner, “again” if you count the previous times, going on incarnation number four (a little Bhutanese/Buddhist joke there). Except this time I am a little older, but I think wiser, more mentally prepared. For some reason it is less daunting this time, I am really not sure why, I think because I had a more open mind about it, also I think I see the benefits differently. It is a hour a day or so when I don’t think about photography or career or the sky falling, and it really is a wonderful break after the last ten or fifteen years of being “at” it 24-7, at least in my head.

There is an expression in running I have found, “start where you are” and this could be applied to photography as well. Especially for me, someone in mid-career who is not where I thought I would be, however, I am not sure I knew where I was going! You look at old work, jobs you used to have or do, and at a certain point none of that matters any more, you have to start where you are. Everyone has another “level” that they are trying to get to, no matter where you are in your career. So it is a block at a time. I began in June running in the middle of the heat wave, and I thought, well, it can’t get worse than this, and every block is another block, and if I have to walk, so be it. Now I am 200 miles in, and I really look forward to getting out there. Sometimes I run fast, other times I run slow. The agenda is just how I feel. 

So I may mix this blog up from now on, it may become a personal training diary sometimes. But I am still trying to figure out how to photograph what my run is “like” but have not figured it out yet. See you in the Park.

» Read the rest of this entry «