Runs and Blurbs

No, I don't mean the runs. I am referring to running, however. Yesterday I ran my first half-marathon in a whopping 7 years. Now, I run almost every day and I prefer long distance runs into the desert mountains of Nevada, but that doesn't mean I have a specific time goal. This time I did. I wanted to beat my PR (personal record) that I set in the San Francisco Chronicle Marathon back in 2001. That was my first half marathon, and I did 1:42:43. That's 13.1 miles in one hour, forty-two minutes and forty-three seconds. I was ten pounds lighter and 7 years younger, mind you, and at sea level. This time I was almost a mile up in the air with gray hair, but I managed to get a very happy 1:36:39. That is a huge jump, baby.

Now, how did my lovely wife reward me? Being a non-runner, she thought it was just a bit longer than my usual practice runs. She wanted to 'reward' me with a healthy dinner. She made me a freakin' salad. Oh, joy. When you come back from slaying the beast, you don't want a salad, man, you want to EAT the beast. Over a fire, squatting and grunting with triumph. Girls are strange.

But the real triumph came from my publisher, Travelers' Tales. They sought out a leading travel writer, the hilarious Doug Lansky for a blurb. I am immensely proud to say he read my forthcoming book, Cruise Confidential, and loved it. He is considering adding a blurb for the cover. Needless to say, having a National Geographic-award winning travel writer give me a blurb would be flattering! Here's a great interview with him, check it out because he's great!:

http://www.rolfpotts.com/writers/lansky.html