Author: FeetForBrains

Leave a comment Posted on Endurance, Gear

Stand Back, It’s Tele Time

“My-my-my-my gear makes me so hard makes me say oh my Lord.” Yeah, you’re going to have to give me a good long minute or two because I just came across this binding.

It’s everything I’ve ever wanted in a boot interface. Most of you are like, “What?” What you don’t understand is that secretly I’m a free-heal fanatic. I love to telemark. Between declining health and lack of pow-pow I’ve stayed off my boards for a couple of years now.

Add to this, when I lived in Crested Butte and up sloped every morning I’d already switched over to an ultralight, AT set up. I carried more in skin weight than bindings on those runs and I loved how light everything was despite the binding pinning my heal to the plank.

With cables, this bad boy comes in at 500 grams! Moonlight Mountain Gear. This! So much this!

Leave a comment Posted on Call to Action, Writing

So Close

I’ll begin by offering my sincerest thanks, seriously, I am overcome with gratitude. Writing is a rollercoaster, one where you almost never see where the tracks are headed, and since launching this Patreon near the end of last July I’ve been surprised by the support little-unknown-me has been able to generate. So, also a huge thank you to the makers of Patreon. Seriously, you guys are the best because this whole thing is helping me find new readers.

But, I’m not writing this to thank those of you who have already helped me turn my short fiction into a living. Rather, I’m looking for new eyes. In the last couple of days, we’ve added four new readers to our ranks and we’re five readers away from breaking my second funding goal.

PatronButton

So, I’m reiterating my request from a few days ago, I’m encouraging you to make a bet on me. If you can put down a dollar you’ll be helping create something new and special. If you can’t put down a dollar, maybe you can tell a friend. Thank you for helping, thank you for sharing.

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IOTD

Recently, I was just interviewed for a radio show and one of the things we talked about was my belief that you cannot be a contemporary reader who doesn’t read science fiction. Rationally, it’s an impossibility. Even if you’re scanning the virtual pages of your Kindle, engrossed in a pre-historical treatise, you’re reading science fiction. You’re living it.

I bring this up because there have been so many instances since I became a full-time wordsmith that I’ve been asked, “What do you write?” Sometimes people show genuine curiosity, but all too often the response I hear is, “Oh, I don’t read science fiction.” Yes. Yes you do, and that should inspire you, is what I think.

I have friends who have been diagnosed with MS. I was born and raised in a place with a high incidence of the disease and I’ve watched vibrant, active and helpless people as their own immune systems eat them from the inside out. As little as 10 years ago, the idea that there would be a therapy to reverse this disease and return them all to full and productive lives was little more than fantasy. Back then, for them, we had some synthetic chemical treatments — their working mechanics a complete unknown — and a comfortable, lonely spot in an assisted living facility.

But, oh, the breakthroughs! Today, we’re on the threshold of rebuilding damaged neural tissues. Think about that for a moment, let it sink in. Despite what the standardized media outlets would have you believe, there is hope. We can fix inequity, right injustice, live together, and discover happiness. We just need the imagination to peer into that future.

Leave a comment Posted on Book Release, Call to Action, Uncategorized, Writing

Shadow Over Your Shoulder

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I’ve just posted the short story for September on Patreon. I’m very proud of this creation and Shadow Over Your Shoulder arguably one of the better pieces I’ve written. I’d describe it as literary speculative fiction, a fantasy of sorts where the magic can be found in the mundane. It’s also a bit of a love story — not the spicy, passionate kind, but the stuff of commitment and compassion.

If you haven’t subscribed yet, don’t fret, there is plenty of time. If you’re not interested in subscribing, but would still like to read Shadow Over Your Shoulder I’m going to try something new. FeetForBrains is henceforth a small press all on its own, and that means you can buy my short stories directly.

Here’s how it should work. You can purchase access to Shadow directly, no monthly commitment, by clicking on the PayPal button below. You’ll run through their purchase rigamarole and eventually get a link to a Scribd version of the story. Keep in mind that my overhead is increased with this method of distribution, consequently so is the cost of the story (yep, $2 whole bucks). Go, go gadget micro-transactions!

shadow-over-your-shoulder

Buy Now Button

However you choose to support my art, thank you! And that’s what this is all about, we’re building a creative empire in increments. Of course, I’d love to hear your comments and impressions.

Leave a comment Posted on Recovery, Training, UltraHike

Primal Endurance

Last week was some sort of hell and not for any of the reasons you might suppose. Near the beginning of September, I started reading Primal Endurance written by Mark Sisson and Brad Kearns. Mark is the guy behind Mark’s Daily Apple, and Brad’s name may be familiar because he dominated much of the triathlon scene in the late 80’s, early 90’s. These guys have conspired to write a lifestyle manual for endurance has-beens like myself.

Grok!

Grok!

Their biggest piece of advice? “Live like Grok.” Last week was its own particular circle of hell because I’ve high glycemic index addict. I’ve been living very much unlike Grok, and this fact was laid bare when I tried to quit carbs cold turkey.

Day 1

This day wasn’t so bad. I felt the desire for high carbohydrate foods, but only fleetingly. As if, yeah it might be nice to have an energy bar or maybe a bowl of granola. I moved around, got things accomplished around the house and just sort of turned my nose up at the possibility of these treats.

Until the late afternoon, when my snobbery was fully exposed by a zombie-like desire to consume the flesh of oats. I struggled through the evening and went to bed early.

Day 2

Oh, shit! Was my first thought of the day. Things didn’t get much more complicated after that because I was dealing with a serious blood sugar deficit that only got worse as the day went on.

Needless to say, my activity level was way down on Day 2, and I ended spaced out in bed by the afternoon. Perplexing beyond words was my desire for brownies. I don’t usually eat brownies much, but since that evening I’ve experienced this overwhelming, mouth-watering desire for a big baking dish of dark chocolate brownies. Go figure.

Day 3

When I woke up, I felt the brain cloud of low blood sugar. I made myself some eggs and a small salad with olive oil, lemon, and garlic dressing and prevailed.

The day passed, I got things done. I even went for a frisbee run with A-bear. I did not track the run, nor did I follow my heart rate. I was probably in the block hole for at least some of it.

Day 4 & 5

Still craving brownies, but in more of an intellectual way now. I had a great deal of difficulty sleeping both of these nights, tossing and turning a lot.

sleep patterns

In fact, observing my circadian rhythms has been the single hardest part of this whole program. Carb cravings at the beginning were really overwhelming but very acute. Once my body started to get over its need for high blood sugar, I was able to stay mindfully aware of that desire. Even when I get to sleep after the sun goes down, I’m waking up a lot. Tossing and turning, no bueno.

Heart Rate Slow Burn

I went for a low burn “run” on Day 5 which is a lot harder than I’d expected it would be. Keeping my heart rate below my maximum aerobic threshold is going to require some fine tuning

Day 6

A pair of eggs and tasty salad. I had pretty good energy this morning and made it through the pre-school routine with a smile on my face. Also, I’ve noticed that I’m eating quantitatively less and going longer between meals than I used to be able to get away with.

I also noticed that my hands are significantly less swollen than they were a week ago. Apparently, this weekend we had a huge drop in barometric pressure too. My foot remained free the whole time, which indicates that the background level of inflammation has been reduced.

This evening I’ll likely go for another slow burn run.

Summary

Okay, so we’re only into this for a few days, but at the time I write this I’ve noticed some significant changes in my body and my mentation. Obviously, I have some work to do, also quite a bit more reading. However, the program seems to be having some positive effect, and that’s nothing to scoff at.

I’m going to give what I know and what I’ve read of this program a tentative endorsement and trust that I’ll be able to continue to adapt my life to their lifestyle program.

Real quick, thanks to Matt Hart of Coaching Endurance for the heads up on this program.

Leave a comment Posted on Admin, Writing

Taking Responsibility

September, my birth month, has become sort of my Little New-Year. This year I’m starting a new fitness and nutrition program. Revitalizing my interest in endurance sports as well as training for those kinds of events. Renewing my commitment to my family, my friends and myself.

In short, I’m taking responsibility for all the things I influence. I’m taking ownership. This also means I’m going to take more ownership for my artistic vision.

Last night I re-read METAtropolis: Cascadia and this made me realized how far away I’ve gotten from the speculative-fiction vision I started with only a few years back. Yeah, in the last two years I’ve written almost nothing but space opera, a fact of which I’m keenly aware. I’ve been happy writing these stories, but this kind of fiction isn’t really what stokes my coals.

Consequently, even though I have many outstanding projects I’ll still be diligently working on, I’m going to add some more input to my vision. Writing for my perception of “what the market wants” often means abdicating responsibility for what I think it could become. I don’t need to repeat Ford’s Edsel failure to realize a Mustang is what most people would love to drive.