Pansies have been my favorite flower for the longest time. It’s their colors. It’s their sweet little thoughtful faces, their name derived from the French, pensée, “thought.” All the different varieties, from tiny violets to the rich, wide spread of purple or yellow or multicolored blooms. It never made sense to me that the word […]
I’m not sure how to count this break any more, because last week (week six, I guess), I ran twice. Last Wednesday, I slipped out of bed to an early alarm while my husband took a rest day. It was warm and drizzly rain out, and he probably figured I was going to do a […]
I wasn’t sure how this break would feel. If it would make me happier, or depressed, or rejuvenated, or cranky. I honestly expected a combination of these things. And while I’ve had moments of negative feelings surrounding this break* , most of the feelings I’ve had have been positive. (*mostly following interactions with well-meaning acquaintances […]
I have decided to stop running for a while. Those words are really hard to say, to write, to feel. But I need to say it, to acknowledge it, to do it. I’m burned out. And it’s not going away. It’s hard to say for certain when this all started, but I feel like it […]
“Comparison is the thief of joy.” So they say. Running can involve so much comparison. Other runners to ourselves. Yesterday’s pace and split data – or last week’s, or last year’s – to today’s. Three-year-old PRs to today’s finish times, when life is completely different. Apples and oranges. Then me versus now me. So how […]
I’ve been thinking about writing all day. Between dragging myself out of bed (despite a warm and cuddly cat who crawled in for a while), lifting weights, dealing with various frustrations at work, sitting and waiting around at the end of the day for someone to finish a meeting so I could transport that person […]
It’s been a little while. Where do I even begin? The last several months have been…difficult. Uneven. Challenging. Heartbreaking. Motivating. Fun. Rejuvenating. All of these things at different times and sometimes a few at the same time. In June I ran a trail half-marathon – my first – and it was one of the hardest […]
[Ed. note: This race report is posted as it appeared in the June issue of the Athens Road Runners Quarterly Newsletter (which can be viewed in full here. It’s pretty awesome, because I have help from some pretty awesome people to create it.) Given this, some backstory will be familiar to those who have read […]
The Jewish holiday of Passover just finished last night at sundown. I was a little less than observant this year. I went to one seder (at my rabbi’s home, which was wonderful), and I broke the dietary rules a day early (I wanted to do a dry run of pre-race oatmeal before my last 20-miler, […]
In many ways, running is an inherently selfish act – at least it can appear that way from the outside. But most of us who run and race long distances spend a lot of that time on our feet – all of those long and lonely miles over hours and hours – thinking about others. […]