Marathon + Book Updates
Last week, I went for an incredibly hot, humid and intense run at lunch. It was my first time doing 800 meter repeats in ages and damn, I forgot how hard those are. Woof. I got home, drenched as though I’d just hopped out of the shower, and immediately saw a text from a friend saying “marathon officially canceled.”
I’ve said multiple times that I expected the marathon to be canceled, but there was definitely a large piece of me that secretly thought the race would go on. It was in Utah after all, and they seem to make their own rules. I watched several races happen just recently in Utah so I had hope it wouldn’t get canceled.
Alas, it was canceled. My first thought was, “well, I won’t have to do those 800 meter repeats again!” but within 10 minutes, I already forgot the struggle of those intervals and found myself registering for a virtual marathon. I chose NYC because it happens to be my favorite race and pre-COVID, it was my 2020 marathon choice.
I decided I will make up my own route, point to point through San Diego. Friends can hop in along the way. Johnna will meet me with water and fuel at certain spots and I will treat it like a real race. No stopping my watch. Every second counts. It will be a tour de San Diego and it will be wonderful! (I hope.)
I’ve already completed two 16 mile runs and an 18 miler. I haven’t done a ton of speedwork but have managed to do some Peloton guided tempo runs. My average weekly mileage is around 42-45. I see some runners racking up 50-65 mile weeks and I sometimes wish that was the case for me. But my weekday runs are already 7 miles and I run 5 days a week. I just don’t know if my body could withstand that heavy a load. It’s taken me over a decade to get up to 5 days a week of running injury-free so I’ll just be grateful for what my body can do, rather than play the comparison game.
I was primarily running alone for awhile but I’ve gotten back to morning runs with friends. It helps me to get it done earlier when I have someone to meet. With the heat lately, early is better. I tend to skip the speedwork when I run with friends – the only downfall. Since I don’t have a “real” race on the horizon, I’m letting it slide. This is solely for me. I won’t be getting a medal or have this 26.2 logged anywhere as an actual race time, so why not bank the miles with friends?
LET’S TALK BOOKS!
some recent reads
Since I’ve been a reading machine, I thought I’d share some of the latest with you:
A Good Neighborhood by Therese Ann Fowler: Wow. I thought this was a book about a tree but it goes so much deeper. It was way heavier than I expected and very relevant. It starts slow but I recommend hanging in there.
Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolver: I was excited to see an author I’m familiar with come out with a new book! Like some of her others, this book is about nothing and everything, all at once. I love a good family story interwoven with deep meaning.
Saint X: This book was recommended to me because I enjoyed Fates and Furies, but honestly it didn’t even come close. It was interesting enough for a novel, but the cadence was too slow to be fairly categorized as a thriller (which it is). If you’re looking for a fast-paced thriller, I’d recommend The Woman in Cabin 10 or In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware.
All Grown Up by Jami Attenberg: I read this in less than 24 hours. Very short and easy to breeze through. Mediocre at best.
The Beauty in Breaking by Michele Harper: This is a memoir written by a Black, female ER doctor (a field predominantly made up of white men). I actually expected her to write more about that experience, but it’s so much bigger than that. I found the stories of her patients fascinating and enjoyed some of the life lessons sprinkled in. Definitely worth a read.
Currently Reading: The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes
This is my latest pick from Book of The Month Club and I was sucked right in. (Honestly, most of my favorite books this past year have been from Book of the Month.) I devoured over 200 pages in a day and I am about ready to take a vacation day to finish it. (Just kidding. Kind of.) I’ve been leaning towards lighter reading lately. I’ve picked up and put down multiple books on the Civil War and the Holocaust and I just can’t mentally go there right now. I hate even admitting that, but my capacity for that type of content is maxed out with the news and social media and all that is happening in our world. You can call it escapism; that’s fine. It probably is. But it’s all I have the energy for before bed (which is when I do most of my reading).
I want to hear from you:
I’m in the market for good running memoirs! Drop your suggestions in the comments.
Do you know of any fall races still scheduled to happen?
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