James loves to write, but he doesn't like to brag. Just
kidding, he totally loves to brag. And refer to himself in the third person.
Because both those things are cool. Right?
Right?
James Duckett is a founder and Chief Technology Officer of
the Authors' Think Tank Facebook Group and Podcast. He wrote his first story in
the 2nd grade and has been excited about writing ever since. He wrote his first
book when he was 14, but one of his friends did the world a favor and
accidentally threw it away.
“Pushing the Wall: A Memoir” is his first book. A
contemporary romance (yeah, you read that right) novella will appear in an
anthology on March 31st, 2015. He's introverted, geeky, funny looking,
unpredictable, and easily distracted by the latest gadgets.
Blog:
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Book Blurb:
What kind of idiot would run a marathon without training for
it first? Me.
Sure, I’d heard all the horror stories. Endurance athletes
always fear “hitting the wall,” that point where the body runs out of energy
and, BAM! Roadkill. With no conditioning, I feared smashing into this wall hard
enough to leave a dent.
I wanted to train for the 2010 St. George Marathon, but
after breaking my foot, the only marathon I could handle was on Netflix. When
the race came, I just wanted to pick up the shirt I paid for, but peer pressure
and the energy of the other 7,000 runners convinced me to go for it. My plan?
Push the wall past the finish line. Then I could grab some ice cream, crawl
into my truck, and drive home.
This memoir details my love/hate affair with running, why I
didn’t prepare, and how I survived 26.2 grueling miles that I had no business
attempting. This book also includes running tips for anybody looking to
maximize their training experience, covering topics like:
- Finding
the right running pace
- Speed
workouts
- Running
safely at night
- Tapering
and carb-loading before a race
- Basic
first aid for runners
- Injury
prevention
- And
more!
It’s whimsical, yet educational. It’s whimsucational!
Foreward by Aaron Metler, winner of the 2010 and 2014 St.
George Marathons.
Story Excerpt
Setup:
I signed up for the marathon the next year. That night, I thought I'd take it
easy and not jinx myself for a run. Instead, this happened:
My
son had a better idea. He and his friends wanted to play a little baseball and
asked if I’d drive them down to the local softball field. I love baseball—it’s
one of my favorite sports—and I agreed to not only drive them down but ended up
participating as well. Out of everybody there, I was the only one who could
consistently put a fastball over the plate, so they elected me the full-time
pitcher.
We
only had a handful of players, so it wasn’t a real game. The kids took turns
batting while the other kids went into the outfield to throw the balls in. I
pitched a bucket of balls until it emptied, then we filled it back up and moved
on to the next batter. One kid popped up and I chased after it, thinking it
would be an easy out.
Then
I rolled my foot.
The
kids in the outfield were throwing the balls back in as they retrieved them.
There just happened to be a ball on the ground and my left foot came down on
it. Yep, the same foot I had rolled the year before. Again, the flash of pain.
Again, I screamed. I fell, unable to sustain weight on my foot any longer.
My
wife was nearby walking the dog and came running over. “What’s wrong? What’s
wrong?” All the kids had come in as well, overcome with curiosity. None of them
knew what happened. They’d just seen the ball go up in the air, heard me
scream, and saw me go down on the ground.
Remember
earlier when I said I’d done a lot of stupid stuff to my body? My wife started
going through the list.
“Is
it your back?” she asked.
“No.”
I’d hurt that trying to dead lift a power generator. Don’t ask….
“Your
shoulder?”
“Not
this time.” I’d had rotator cuff repair surgery only a year prior.
“Your
head?”
My
head? Where
had that one come from? Oh, yeah, I once played chicken with a tree while
skiing with some friends—the tree won. I wondered how many accidents she was
going to rattle off until she got to the real problem. Despite the pain, I
started laughing.
“What?”
she asked.
“My
foot!” I finally said. “I stepped on a ball and rolled it. The same foot as
last year.” I was still cracking up at this, despite the fact that I was in
agonizing pain.
The
kids began to chuckle uncomfortably, wondering what joke they were missing. My
wife asked, “So what’s so funny?”
“I
signed up for the marathon this morning!” My wife and my son burst into
laughter. Two years in a row I end up rolling my foot the same day I set my
sights on the marathon. Oh, the humanity!
Tour Schedule:
February 28
March 1
March 2
March 3
March 4
March 5
March 6
March 7
March 8
March 9
March 10
March 11
March 12
March 13
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