Lucky Dog

I call him Lucky Dog, because he is next in line to be painted.  His real name is Freeway, named thus as he was found roaming Rt 17 in upstate New York.  A good dog that has been in the Marinich family for years.  He belongs to my nephew Scott and his family. Stay tuned to see how the painting comes out.

I call her "Finally"

Yeah, this on was long over due. I have had the photo in my studio for years, no kidding years. All that time must have been well spent looking at her and finguring out how to best capture this wonderful dog.  Once I started painting the paint flowed easily off the brush onto the canvas. I think she is a beauty.

Sasha "Finally" 2012

Method to the Madness

I thought I would show a couple other paintings that were delivered for Chirstmas.... the one on the very bottom is captured about half complete.

Baci

Willie

 Leah almost there

Christmas Dogs... Sammy and Leah

These two wonderful dogs were commissioned just recently. They are two good looking dogs.  I just put the finishing touches on the paintings today.  It was nice to relax and just paint while enjoying the Christmas spirit.

Both are 20 x 20 and live together. 

Sammy

Leah

The clock is ticking...

As we head quickly into the holiday, I am happy to have a few minutes to paint.  The winter evenings can be so dark and dreary that I find painting lifts my spirit. 

I also took a few minutes last week to complete the edit of my "script"  I finished writing the script nearly two years ago and upon completion placed it in my file cabinet.  It has since been brushed off and cleaned up, I think now I will give it a shot and send to the very few connections I have for an official "read".  There may be no interest, however I am pleased with this little story and equally happy that I completed this project.

I may consider revising the script into a book for publishing.

Hey is anybody here?

Just checking... It's been a while ya know

Well where have you been

Man, I find it hard to believe that is have been over a month since my last entry.  Okay, I am going back to keeping track of life as I move through it and try to pack as much "life" as I can in my short time on this earth.

Some housekeeping.  My last Marathon, Chicago, was miserable, happy to have participated and really enjoyed my time in Chicago with friends, however my inconsistent training showed in a poor time and significant cramping along the way. 

Following Chicago, the next race started... launching the inaugural Worlds Hoppiest 5k Road Race. The race a huge success and we are already making plans for next year.

I have more to catch up on, but this is a start.  I will close the blog entry with a recent painting for a client.

Same time tomorrow.

World's Hoppiest 5K Road Race | Alpharetta, Georgia 30004 | Saturday, November 06, 2010 @ 9:00 PM

http://www.active.com/running/alpharetta-ga/worlds-hoppiest-5k-road-race-2010

Come join us ont enovemebr 6ht for a hoppin' good time.

Fooling myself

Last night was our first scrimmage for the AYFA Black Eagle… what a blast. I had a great time and the players did really well. I love coaching, the only way it could be better is if I could suit up and play. I do not think anyone would know, most of the players are taller than I am anyway. Jack did great, a few errant throws, but he hit 3 out of 6 passes, no interceptions and 2 passes should have been caught. The kids all played well.


At the end of the scrimmage, I was exhausted, but knew that an 11 mile tempo run was the start of my day tomorrow. Lately my running has been erratic and poor. As well as I did training for Hunstville and qualifying for Boston, I am 180 degrees in the other direction.

As my plan is not working, I have mixed things up… I slept in until 6:10, this gave me over 7 hours of sleep, I need more by my schedule would not permit more. I did wake feeling refreshed, but my leg was already hurting in anticipation of the upcoming 11 miles. Knowing that half my battle lately has been mental, I broke my run into two sections in an attempt to fool myself, a 6 mile out and back and a 5 mile out and back, that provided an area for refueling. My left leg hurt from step one and is still hurting. That’s is life, mentally, I was stronger, but not where I need to be yet.

I felt better on the last 5 and found myself enjoying the run a couple of time, (I know, that’s the idea right), at the turn a runner went by and I click on his heals with about a 25 yard gap. He must have known I was there as he dropped his pace the last couple of miles and I followed, at least I kept myself from running him down as I would in the past, that said, I did not let the gap increase.

Pace target was 7:38 I ran 7:31, mostly because I hit a 7:08 on the last mile with my rabbit in front. That part, of the run, I liked!

Sunday I will run 15 miles. Let’s see what the day brings.

Busy Signal

Busy… that in a word is describing my life right now. With work, football, the boys, school activities and my other commitments, I am busy. Oh and I did not mention training! As for training, typically it is my salvation, that point where I can work off the stress of the days. However my training, specifically my running is in the crapper. I am out running thinking about the 2 million things I could/should be doing.


I need to keep myself organized and be judicious with my use of time.