I tried an experiment last night.

I just sat down in front of the keyboard, closed my eyes, and began writing. It was an exciting experienced. I believe I produced about four solid pages of prose without stopping or pausing or even finding a typo. Now, the grammar might need some room for improvement, but the writing was there, and solid.

I love to write. I always have aspired being a writer. It is ironic how life takes many turns. When I was young, my favorite writing was poetry and fiction. I even wrote a huge compendium of poetry. I took the steps to get it copyrighted, but never had it published. That dream just came true ... to a certain, small extent. I put the book up at Lulu.com so I could get a copy for myself. Who knows? If it looks okay, I may even publish the link. I am very happy with the poetry I wrote, just not as excited about the book itself - I'm not cover artist (I designed the cover myself) nor a professional typesetter (although I did set the type).

My upcoming Lose Fat, Not Faith is a different story. I previewed the professionally designed cover, and love it. They are working on the final revisions. I already submitted the book to the Bowker books in print and registered it at Amazon.com - the official release date is July 4, 2005. Not that the book is patriotic, but it works.

Today was the longest run of my life. I know I said that last week, but this week I ran further!

My wife and daughter once gain dropped me off at Englewood. This used to be a bustling town because it was a major junction of the railroad. Now, it is simply a small wooden building that marks the spot, a large water pump, and a sign that says, "Livestock at Large." they dropped me off, I grabbed my Gatorade bottle and began running.

The run starts out with an incline, so I was hugging and puffing fairly quickly. This wasn't an effort to run myself into the ground, however, so I gave myself permission to slow my pace and just keep a steady focus. The ground was wet, but well graveled, so it wasn't a huge concern. The views once you reach the top of the ridge are phenomenal.

This time, instead of continuing the climb up the ridge, I whad a different route. I decended via a connector and ran down an old, grass covered road back to the main line, and continued my journey in the valley rather than on top of the ridge. It really was a blessing, beacuse this made most of the run downhill.

The run is really beautiful. It starts by meandering through ponderosa pines, the kind that whistle loudly when the wind blows through. Then, I ended up on the path and passing between two towering walls of stone where the hillside was blasted to make way for the old train route (the trail is a refurbished railroad line). There were a few large, wood bridges than spanned huge valleys filled with loud streams gushing water, and then you suddenly come out in the Kirk area where there is a lot of activity. One section actually appears like a wasteland, completely cleared of trees and grass. It was melancholy and depressing. Soon, I was at a major highway. I paused for a moment, crossed, and was heading into the historic town of Deadwood.

I passed a couple and asked the time. They said, "1:30pm." This was awesome. My wife had dropped me off at 12:20pm, so I expected to arrive at the trailhead, 10 miles down the way, at around 2:00pm. Instead, I was making fantastic time. I crossed another intersection, passed behind several buildings and homes, then hit the short section of the trail that is actually paved. This was just a small jump until I reached the wooden "X" that declared, "George Mickelson Trailhead."

I was done!

I found another group of people to solicit the time from. Quarter until 2:00pm! I had done it in 1 hour and 25 minutes. Not bad at all! It wasn't the full 10 miles I had predicted, however. Maintenance on the trail rerouted me and in fact I calculated it to be a 9 mile, rather than a 10 mile, run.

Another big surprise ... my wife and daughter were early to pick me up. No long waits! So I came home, showered, had a bite to eat (flaxseed waffle and organic apple whole wheat streussel) then we headed out to go to a movie. After that, we had dinner and then came home.

Now, I feel like I was pushed from the third story of a building and landed in a pile of bricks. Definitely time to catch some rest. It has been a very exciting weekend watching the launch and rapid growth of my new coaching site. So far, positive feedback. Only one glitch that I am aware of, and that will be fixed soon.

I really like doing major software launches as the customer, NOT the IT person in charge of making it all run! LOL.

Have a wonderful weekend. In just about an hour, it will be my 7-year anniversary with Doreen. Every year only gets better.

Blessed be,

Jeremy Likness