30 Before 30 Journey in a Year

With two lumps of clay, some water, a wheel, heat, glaze and much instruction from an excellent teacher, I present to you my first hand crafted ceramic projects. Why pottery? I think I was drawn to this particular medium because it is both artistic and functional. Or maybe I watched this scene from Ghost one too many times.  A quick Google search made it clear that the Marian Heintz Pottery Studio was the place to go in Chattanooga for a wheel thrown pottery class. Marian had excellent reviews and an easy, affordable class schedule. On a Saturday morning in late February, I went to her studio in Brainerd and was greeted by this little guy as I checked in. Wren the Cat.  Cats aside, the class had six participants which I felt gave everyone enough one on one time with Marian and created a fun atmosphere for us all to compare projects.  In the beginning stages, you have to build the clay up and bring it back down for internal strength.  ...

It's been a while since I've posted about this journey. And I can answer the reason for this delay in one word....running. I'm now half way through training for my half marathon set to occur at the end of April. And while I'm excited and can see definite progress in my running abilities, training is all consuming.  The plan that I'm using is Hal Higdon's Novice 1 plan . I feel like I know Hal. He's the little voice in my head that keeps pushing me when I'm tired, and the man I curse internally when I'm struggling up a hill. Hal, you better get me to 13.1 miles on April 30th And concerning Hal's plan, it works so far. I never imagined I would be running 4, 5, 6 miles at one time, and I'm able to do that currently without much soreness and residual fatigue. But with his plan, you're committing to 12 weeks, 6 days a week of something - running, cross training and/or strength training. The cross and strength training are important f...