Ideas

Tuesday is the middle of my training week. I call my weeks Saturday to Friday. This is because my race is on a Saturday, and this is just how I want to do it. I skipped my long Saturday run, which really sets me back for the week. I knew I had to get a long run in sometime. I made it happen today!

I went the longest distance yet, but it was slightly broken up. I did 6.1, stopped at the dog park for about 5 minutes, ran 1 mile, stopped at home for about 5 minutes, and then finished up the last 1.5 miles giving me 8.6 miles total. I was running much slower than my usual pace, with some miles over the 9 minute mark. Whatevski, I got it done.

While running, I usually think about something, visualize myself racing, daydream, or talk to God. Most often, I do a little of each. I try NOT to think about stopping or how nice it would feel to walk a little bit. :) I have come up with movie ideas, business ideas, and now, a book idea. This book idea, in my head, is really cool and I do think people would read it. It is essentially a documentary style book that tells the story of homeless people in America (or maybe just the Midwest). I would want to focus on respectfully interviewing and photographing homeless people, and through each of their stories, create an overarching story of the homeless' outlook on non-homeless people, not the other way around. I would want to ask questions about what they think, not about what everyone else thinks of them. I think it would be important to allow them to explain exactly why they are in the situation they are in. I feel like it might take away some of the social stigma surrounding homeless people if we would just give them a chance to explain themselves. I almost think I should start working on it. But, ideas like this come to me all the time, and I have a full time job, a husband, a family, ect...I guess I'm not passionate enough about this idea to see it to fruition. I'll just let it fester in my mind for a few more runs and see where I get with it. If its good enough, I'll record it for later.

Here's a business idea, how about I sell MY ideas to others so they can see them through? I don't know that I have enough good ideas just yet, but with the amount of run time I have to think about things and come up with stuff, I could be on the way to quite an idea bank. Any takers? I would also be ok with someone offering to cover my costs while I took the time, in this example, to go to different cities and find some willing homeless people who would talk to me and share their story...

Why homeless people? When running, why did my brain take me to homeless people? The answer is simple: it is the beauty of running. Running, to me, is like stepping out of the world and into your mind. On days that I am less concerned about my pace, I find myself deeper in my mind then I once thought possible. Running, in and of itself, is addicting. It causes the release of endorphins in your brain. I can feel them. But when I get to experience what it is like deep inside my head, without the numbing noise of the world, the addiction is intensified. It might just sound crazy, but it is one of the best things about the act of going for a run - you get to know yourself better. What did you think all those runners you see were doing?