I am a road runner

I am a road runner – not because I am fast, but because I run on the road. On the occasion that I am residing in a hotel with a fitness room and the weather is poor or I am unfamiliar with the territory I will hit the fitness room and climb on a treadmill.  I prefer the road because I am a bit dangerous on a treadmill!

Perhaps I am dangerous because I am not very experienced with treadmills. I have to admit that it could be more innate than that – you see I also have trouble with balls, nets, bats, clubs, rackets, and baskets. That’s why I am a runner – and I can swim, thanks to my teen years spent in Lava HotSprings.

I recently found myself in the fitness room at Shore Lodgein McCall, Idaho.  It was snowing and slick outside. To my delight, I had the room all to myself.  It is a similar experience to having the swimming pool at Lava open to the lifeguards after hours. I climbed on the treadmill and attached the little safety lanyard because I am obedient – not because I thought I needed it.  I began an easy workout.  Hey, I was kind of on vacation and the elevation … I use the elevation as an excuse any time I can. I had been treading along for about twenty minutes when I was joined by a taller younger runner. Attempting to hide my disappointment, I made a friendly comment and then focused on my iTunes and the digital information on the treadmill. I had noticed that I tend to run on the left side of the belt and assumed this is because I am a road runner (I like saying that) and run on the left side of the road. 

Something happened!  I believe I may have strayed too far to the left. (No political pun intended.) Whatever it was, my feet suddenly found themselves in a tangle, my shoulder slamming into the side rail, and my face turning bright red with embarrassment. Really? I couldn’t have stumbled before I had a witness? I have since discovered by the tender bump on my chin that my face also made some kind of impact with the apparatus.  My shoulder is bruised, my face is bruised, and my ego was bruised as well. 

As I said before, I am a road runner.  I am much less dangerous there!

What kind of runner are you?  Road?  Gym? You only run if you are being chased? I want to hear about it.  Comment below.

Happy Running!

The Underwater Window: A Review

A few weeks ago I was approached about doing some publicity for The Underwater Window by Dan Stephenson which I did here.  I was also asked if I would like to review the book and share it on one of my blogs.  Although I was flattered, I was also hesitant. I wanted to read the book before giving it my stamp of approval.  (There is a lot of junk out there!) One might wonder why I am using this blog as a vehicle rather than my creative writing blog, CMGWrites. Here are my reasons:

I am a swimmer. The Underwater Window is a work of fiction featuring swimmers and relationships.

I am a runner. Runners experience similar pain (minus the oxygen depletion) that swimmers experience.

I am a little bit competitive. The competition described in Dan Stephenson’s book made my heart race and my arms and legs ache as I read about it.  It is very well written.  Of course, it may have helped when I remembered my own swim racing experiences. (They were not very stellar.)

I believe that experience in physical things brings us strength in mental and spiritual things.  This book supports those beliefs.

Did I mention that the book is well written?  Yes, I read for entertainment; however, I also read with a critical ear. Is this story believable? Are fragmented sentences used for effect or are they used so much that it is apparent the author has a grammatical weakness?  You get the drift.

The bottom line?  I loved The Underwater Window!  It had depth.  It had character development.  It had conflict resolution. Above all, it kept my interest and that can be a difficult thing to do! 

Way to jump into the deep end Mr. Stephenson!

Here are links to The Underwater Window website and Facebookpage.

Running Granny Green encourages women, especially grandmothers, to gain greater fitness by providing tips and inspiration to insure long years of joyful grand-parenting. The cookie recipes are a bonus!

Happy Running!

Carol - aka Running Granny Green

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