November 15, 2010

A pause in the story

Oh, man am I behind. Five days - no running and no writing.

I went to Arizona on Thursday and flew back this morning. Scott and I have been going down to Arizona once a year to visit Bill who moved there ten-odd years ago. We travel down sometime in October or November each year to play some golf and watch football. Most years we travel down to see either the UW Huskies or the WSU Cougars play one of the Arizona teams (two of us are Dawgs, one is a Coug). We didn't go to a football game due to some schedule conflicts, but the way the teams are playing this year, we didn't miss much.

It has been a great annual tradition, and a way to stay close to someone who has moved a few states away. He is now married and has a two-year-old daughter, so the boy's weekend has a different dynamic these days, but it is still a good time with friends.

I brought my running shoes and my netbook so I had the ability to stay on schedule, but I did not pick up either one. Truth be told, I did not think I would get much writing done, but I thought I could sneak in a run. Most mornings, it takes a while to gather momentum, so my writing so far has been in two hour chunks in order to get something done. I did not think it was realistic to break away for a couple of hours to write while visiting friends, but I thought I might at least have the story running in the back of my mind while I was there. Maybe I could come up with some ideas to run with when I returned. But the story is stuck right where I left it on Thursday.

Thursday morning was vaguely productive, but once I stepped on the flight it was over. Planning ahead a bit, I moved my weekend long run to Thursday and I ran 13 miles the morning before I left. I was hoping to get in a five miler sometime over the weekend, but we were up late every night and early every morning, and I just did not have it in me to go for a run. I was also early for my flight, and was able to write about 600 words before takeoff, but again once I left San Diego, nothing was written or plotted.

I am not mad or upset that this is the way it went. I was there to see friends, not to stare at my laptop. I look forward to this trip each year, and we had a great time visiting and catching up. I am just a little worried about the hole I have dug, and more specifically about getting moving again. The story is stalling a bit right now, and after five days the storyline has gone even colder. But I don't have any time to waste if I am going to meet the deadline. I'm about 8,000 words behind, and need to average an extra 500 words a day to catch up by the end of the month.

Better set the alarm a little earlier tomorrow morning.

No comments: