2014 Writer's Market by Robert Lee Brewer

And then, of course, pumping my fist in success. Instead, I took my run one mile at a time, increasing my pace gradually throughout until I was charging up the steep uphills in my neighborhood and clicking the stop button on watch. Just enjoy the morning and take it easy.' Which brings me back to this past weekend: I could've gone into that 7-miler on Friday and said to myself, 'You're going to hurt yourself again, old man. Me finishing a 10k earlier this month in Georgia After all, that's how I got my first poetry collection published. Over the years, I've learned how to get through the ebbs and flows of the quiet times to enjoy the published times. Thankfully, I was able to get over it, and I have a beautiful family as a result.īut there have been times in my writing when an overwhelming wave of rejections combined with a lack of acceptances makes me doubt whether to continue submitting my writing (though the writing itself will always happen-for the sake of writing). The first time I suffered a serious heartbreak, I swore off falling in love ever again. This is not the first time I've had to overcome injury, but disappointment has tried to handicap me in several phases of life throughout my entire life. I expect to be disappointed, so it's been a struggle to push for something better. Ready to meet me at the highest peak of euphoria and drag me back down to earth.Īnd it's made me hesitant. Not physically, but mentally, it's there-ready to strike when I least expect it. My amazing momentum had officially been halted.Īnd the injury has been with me on every mile of every run since. Then, I strained my hamstring during my first attempt at an 8-mile run.ġ0 days later, I tried running a very slow 3 miles, but strained the same hamstring again around the half-way mark. Of course, I was nowhere near my trackstar days of high school and college, but I was creating a big divide from only a few months earlier when I weighed more than 265 pounds. I was even starting to get a bit cocky, to tell you the truth. I'd stack the miles up and knock them all down. Me in April before the Longhorn Run in Austin, Texasīack in April, my training was humming along. Why was I so worried about hurting myself? I was too old I was too out of shape I was too heavy I was too used to not running hard I was (fill in the blank). The major excuse was that I would end up injuring myself. In fact, I kept coming up with excuses to modify the workout or alter it completely. Needless to say, I was ecstatic!īut for weeks leading into this 2-day training session, I'd been filled with dread.

This is after running 7 hilly miles the day before at 7:30 pace to 'tire myself out' for Saturday's long run. My overall pace was 8:02 per mile, but the final two miles were in 7:44 and 7:49-and I was holding myself back to avoid injury. On Saturday, I completed my first 12-mile run since 2005, and I aced it.

2014 Writer's Market by Robert Lee Brewer