November 3, 2012. That is the date for the Really Big Free Marathon. I have been signed up for it since last Fall. So far in 2012, I have ran a combined… 6 miles. That was in two, approximately 3 mile runs each.

I now have just about 9 months to build my legs and lungs up for a 26.2 full marathon. Reviewing the course map today, I noticed that there is over a 1,070 foot elevation gain from the start line to about the halfway mark. From there it’s mostly downhill.

Thus far in my running “career” my longest single run was an 8.5 mile uphill run in Washington during the Summer of 2011. My total single day distance record stands at 21.5 miles during three and a half legs of a Ragnar Relay event. That was done without training, which definitely showed.

Being that this will be my first long distance race, I am not setting goals for the event, aside from finishing.This year may include a couple half marathons to gauge my training progress as the year runs by.

If a child can grow from two cells into a real, miniature human being in 9 months, then there is no reason that I can not focus on running regularly and become… a marathoner.

Only a couple short weeks away until I join a few thousand other crazy people to run from Friday morning, into the evening, straight on till morning and afternoon until we finish the 188 mile Ragnar Relay Las Vegas at Desert Breeze park. This will be my third Ragnar Relay, second time running the Las Vegas event.

This year’s course looks like a total blast, and I am more anxious to get out and run my legs than I have been the past 2 events. Perhaps, because I have been running more and want to see how I have improved, as I run against myself. With most acts, we are our own worst critic, in this case, I am my own worst opponent. I train some, but not in the “proper” way. I run quickly, but not quickly enough.

A challenge I am nervous about tackling may be taken out of my hands. As it sits right now, our team is short one runner, in our van. This means, there are three extra legs that need to be picked up. Am I up for, essentially, doubling my miles to 30 miles (more than a full marathon) in 6 legs over approximately 33 hours?

That is the 11 team member question. My first two legs look like cake, the first two legs of the open position look doable enough. As the saying goes, “the third leg is the hardest.” Which is most definitely true, times two, in this case! If I am needed to run the extra miles, it will be my most challenging task to date. It will also be a good jump start into training for the full 26.2 mile marathon we are signed up for in 2013.

Since May, when I received my new position everything has been running full tilt. It seems like the moment my days were spoken for that all of the other efforts that had been put in for 12 months came to fruition. Customers for design and print services have been steadily increasing each month since May.

Add to that the extremely busy couple months that October and November bring each year with Ragnar Relay Las Vegas as well as the Scoobies For Boobies fundraiser that we help with each year, and the notion of free time is gone. Luckily, it is a labor of love, and being busy and productive is much better than wondering where the next project will come from.

Another venture was brought to my attention a couple weeks ago, an acquaintance messaged me looking for someone with Search Engine Marketing (ie pay per click) experience to handle PPC campaigns in his new project’s overall SEO/SEM efforts.

Each new project is another opportunity to challenge myself, expand my skills and knowledge.

Somehow, I have also worked in time to start a semi-regular running routine as well. A nice 4.5 mile route on Mondays through Green Valley, a traffic filled 3-6 mile route Wednesdays in Western Las Vegas, and hoping to fit in another day or two worth of regular “training” runs, in addition to weekend 5k/10k/Ragnar race runs.

Pushing my mind and body has helped to fuel the fire burning inside me to succeed.

These past few weeks have been very busy with the day job, photo shoots and training for the October Ragnar Relay in Las Vegas.

Over the weekend, a second weekend full of photo shoots in a row, I had the pleasure of talking with a photographer from a local lifestyle magazine. He told me his story on how he started shooting for the magazine, it was an interesting turn of events with some luck sprinkled in that landed him the position.

Finding more of his shots online following our conversation, I have once again been asking myself why I have not been hired for these gigs. The only good explanation is I have not self-promoted as much as I should have. This site will evolve from a job seeker’s blog into a portfolio of my favorite / best photographs, new and old. Along with that is a hope of continuing to stay busy and have more and more photos to post, which should lead to meeting the right people too!

Three months in and things are going well. The job is keeping me busy, adding new tasks on a regular basis, while improving workflow and methodology too. It does not seem like 90 days ago my tenure of unemployment ended. Time flies when you have a purpose and structure flowing in a daily routine.

July also marked the second Ragnar Relay I started, and finished (with extra miles). Starting the event, I was set to run 3 times for 8.5 miles, two 2.9 mile legs. 14.3 miles without training, who would do that? After running 17.5 miles during the Ragnar Relay, Las Vegas in 2010, I figured, why not try for less?

As with the Vegas event, extra miles were aplenty for our team. Starting out with a team of 11 (instead of 12) we were already tempting fate. Fortunately for us, one of our team members was training for the Burning River 100 and offered to pick up the extra legs as her training. Fantastic!

After our group of 6 runners finished up their first legs, one of the runners suffered from heat exhaustion with a possible side of dehydration. She had to end up in the ER to get two bags of IV fluids put into her system. Our team captain picked up some pain and numbness during her run, so she kept the other runner company in the hospital.

That left our van two runners short, being the idiot that I am, after running the single longest distance at one time earlier in the morning, I attempted the second longest run of my life: 7.5 miles. This was a combination of a 4.1 and 3.4 mile legs back to back. My legs were feeling pretty good as I finished those legs as the sun descended below the horizon. Trouble almost popped up as I was cooling down and felt tendons popping with each step in my left ankle.

The next morning came around, time for run #3, a 5.5 mile leg of steadily increasing hills. Starting slow and steady as to not aggravate the tight muscles, I kept (what I thought was) a moderate, steady pace up the course. That 5.5 miles seemed to go on endlessly! Each time a Ragnar course sign would appear, I would look for the chute and my team’s next runner, such a torturous run. Finally, the chute was in sight, a large number of teams were there watching for their runners to run into view. Utilizing the last bit of reserved energy I had, my legs churned faster as I sprinted to the exchange.

Photos later showed me nearly collapsing as soon as the exchange was made. A dip in a frigid lake and a hot tub helped keep me from being sore or tight the next morning. Northwest Passage was another incredible event, and I can not wait for the October Las Vegas run to arrive!

It was said after last year’s Vegas event, this time, I am serious! I will actually train! Shocking, for sure. After running a respectable 12 minute mile average for the first 8.5 miles, slowing to a 16 minute mile pace for the 7.5 mile section and an embarrassing 20 minute mile pace for the last 5.5 mile section, I need to step up my game!

That being said, this morning was the first where I woke up and started on my conditioning. One day down, 80 more to go until Ragnar Relay Las Vegas 2011!

Keeping myself in close proximity to a standard 8-5 schedule during my unemployment has been a big help now that I am employed once more. It was very nice to not have a battle with internal clocks to re-learn how to wake up in the mornings.

Another benefit to employment, at least with my current position, is the lack of monotony. So far, projects have ranged from daily photo taking to heading to Colorado Springs, Colorado to shoot the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb for Zenkai Motorsports.

It was a tough year, and getting caught up and closer to being ahead, with savings accounts growing each month is one of the best feelings. 2011 has been good so far, and is looking to continue improving my outlook.

Good luck to those still seeking employment. The jobs are starting to appear, competition will be fierce, each job gained will be helpful to the economy as a whole.

That is the number of days I was unemployed in Las Vegas. Starting on Monday, I go back to being an employed member of this city and society.

It has been a long time coming, and a rough year. Figures that as soon as this position comes through, I get word on another position I had applied to months ago. We shall see what happens as time moves forward. Having “too many” job offers is a much more positive “problem” to have than too few, that is for certain.

Had a very promising interview/meeting two Fridays ago. The position would be a good fit for all parties involved.

Was offered the position, accepted it, the only caveat, the boss was told by the higher ups that a hiring freeze is in place. If there is room for an exception, I will have a job any day now.

Otherwise? The search will continue. With the increased interest in people with skills such as mine, I am hoping to soon help reduce the percentage of Las Vegas unemployed residents by a small, small percentage point. Every little bit helps in an improving economy.

I will be volunteering with some of the Ragnar Relay staff this weekend to assist at the 6th Annual Laughlin Half Marathon / 5K run. With a wide variety of runners and sponsors involved, networking with more people in the community is always a good idea.

If this overcast, windy weather sticks around, it should make for an interesting event. Hopefully the runners are ready for non-optimal running conditions.

In other areas of the job search, there may be more opportunities appearing in the city. All it will take is one good company in need of a well-rounded employee to have their interest piqued by my cover letter and resume. Once I get an in-person interview, I am positive that I can get an offer.

So far, I have ran quite a bit. Finished the ‘Fat Boy 5k’ in under 25 minutes, with an average 8:05 minute mile. This was quite surprising with the lack of training in the past.

Upcoming scheduled running events will hopefully see a fairly drastic improvement in my times.

On other fronts, the past couple weeks have included visits to various events and seminars. These have been quite fortuitous, as I have re-connected with people I have not spoken with in a while. Some of which are in need of assistance for upcoming projects. This can, hopefully, turn into some steady work.

In the mean time, the job search is continuing, as tough as it is out here, there seems to be decent positions opening up from time to time. Now it is just a matter of figuring out how to capitalize on them.