Runner Insight

If you’ve read my book, I just want to say Thanks!! I’ve had so much great feedback and I’m just thrilled with the response.

I’m committed to getting the word out and spreading the message that you can do anything you believe you can, and I’d like to ask for your help in making “Running Blind” even more successful. Here’s how you can help make that happen.

1. If you haven’t read it, and you think it would be useful and engaging, please go to this link “Running Blind” and purchase a copy or two for yourself and/or as gifts for people you feel would benefit from a motivational and inspiring book about lifting yourself up to do seemingly impossible things!

2. If you have read it, please leave your comments and feedback about the book here on the blog.

3. If you have great things to say about it, you could even help me out by posting a comment or update on your LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter feeds and recommending it to all your friends, family, acquaintances, hairdresser and strangers on the street as well  

4. You could go to Amazon.com  and leave a book review on the Running Blind page.

5. You could inquire at your local bookstore to see if they have a copy or two in stock.

6. If you have video capabilities, you could create a video recommendation and post it to the “Running Blind” book  page on Amazon.com – that would be really cool!

7. You could call your local newspaper and any contacts you have at blogs, magazines, bookstores, running stores, talk shows, etc., and suggest that they do an article, story, segment or promotion featuring me, Rhonda Copeland, aka “Vision Runner” author of “Running Blind – The Journey of a Blind Runner Training for her First Marathon.”

8. If you have any other great ideas…definitely include them in the comments below – we’d love to hear them!!

Thanks again for helping me to spread my message!

How ’bout it?

- Vision Runner

Popularity: 10% [?]

Living Vicariously Through the Eyes of Others

I was reading in a book…err… listening to a book, and the author was explaining how when her partner tells her a story about an experience or a story about his life before he knew her, the story – simply by the telling of it – became hers, too.

That thought really resonated with me.  Not only did I get what she meant because T and I relive each other’s childhood stories, but even more profoundly, with my vision deteriorating to the point where I can walk within a foot and a half of someone I’m looking for and not see them, I actually live every day through other people’s eyes.

For example, one morning while we were out for a walk, T stopped in the alley and told me there was a squirrel up ahead trying to move something.  As we got closer, she told me the squirrel was hunched over something, and seemed very anxious and wary.  We started walking again, and as we passed the squirrel, he did not run away but seemed to spread his body secretively over the object under him. 

T laughed when she recognized that the reason he didn’t scamper off as we encroached on his space was because he had one of those 6” seed bells that people hang from a tree or post to feed the birds.  That little guy was protecting his “Mother Lode” with his life!  Not even the close proximity of “HUMANS” could deter the greedy little fellow!

Okay mind you, I saw none of this.  But from the detailed description T gave me of the event, it is so clear in my mind’s eye that when I tell the story to others I say “We saw a squirrel….”  It is totally “my” story. 

T kids me and says she could tell me that there is a Great Blue Heron, a Canada Goose, and a fox drinking tea with lemon out of mason jars, and I’d believe her.  I told her “Don’t be silly; I would not… However, if you’d have said a Loon instead of a fox…”     

Anyway, you get the point. I rely a lot on T’s willingness to describe our surroundings and what’s happening out there in the arena of her vision…not just to tell me there is a curb and to “step up” or to duck under the low hanging branch…although I greatly appreciate that, too!

Even the insignificant things that a person with their eyesight may take for granted, like a single leaf dangling from a limb, slightly twirling in a light breeze, T will point out to me.

So when you see a “Willy Worm” crossing your path, or a bird preening its feathers, be sure to send up a thought of gratitude. I know I do for my “Sight Donor”.

How ‘bout it?

-Vision Runner

Popularity: 7% [?]

My Marathon Book

Yahoo!  My new book is finished.  It’s called  “Running Blind: The Journey of a Blind Runner Training For Her First Marathon”

I got it done just before I ran the 4^th annual Missoula Marathon last month. The marathon I finished in July was actually my second time running the full one, cause after I ran the inaugural Missoula Marathon, I’ve run the half marathon the past two years.

When I was finished with my first marathon in 2007, I was convinced that I had no need to put myself through that torture ever again.

It wasn’t until I started writing my book about my first marathon experience that I decided to run another full marathon, so that’s how I ended up running it again a few weeks ago.

But let me tell you about my book – I’m so excited!  “Running Blind” is all about my first marathon experience. It includes everything from what lead up to my decision to run a full marathon, to the long months of dedicated and consistent training and finally to the running of the full 26.2 mile marathon, including all of the many lessons I learned along the way.  It’s full of great stories and the humorous tales of my journey.

I hope you’ll buy a copy for yourself, for friends and family, and be sure to tell everyone you know, too.  ’Cause it’s not just for runners – it’s for anyone who enjoys a great read. We all have obstacles to overcome in our life; this is just my story of how I took on the challenge of one of mine.

Right now there’s a couple of special promos going on to get a discount on the book – Purchase Running Blind: The Journey of a Blind Runner Training For Her First Marathon with 15% off with coupon code BEACHREAD305 or

You can get free shipping with a purchase over $19.95 with coupon code FREESHIP. So use whichever code works better with the amount you’re purchasing!

Just click any of the  links on this page to order your copy today! Click here:  Running Blind or download the first chapter for free at the top of the right hand column/sidebar!

And Enjoy!!

How ’bout it?

-Vision Runner

Popularity: 71% [?]