Running Ruminations

Suddenly we’re nearly at the end of June, and we’re still fifteen weeks into what can only be described as a raging dumpster fire. I consider myself a decently-put-together person, but it is increasingly hard to stay patient and keep on, keeping on. One of the best professors I had in undergrad (hey, Vic!) once said that if you’re not pissed off, you’re not paying attention, and dear lord, it sure feels that that has never been more true than right now. I mean, pick your topic of angst. There are several from which to choose.

So what’s happened in the past week? Hot takes off the top of my head: COVID cases are (arguably, rather predictably) spiking across the country, including here, and I think it was last week Friday that my governor ruled that people must wear masks indoors (and sometimes outdoors). I don’t understand why wearing masks is such a contentious issue, yet I can’t help but wonder (and thought experiment it to death) how COVID would look different, if at all, if it happened during Obama’s tenure or during that of another Democrat — or hell, just for fun, even under a different Republican. 

I completely understand that the personal is political, always, but at what point can someone reasonably argue that refusing to heed medical advice is an expression of political free will or agency versus … I don’t know, just being reckless and irresponsible and selfish and (pick your adjective here)? I’m dumbfounded. It’s something that takes minimal effort, and you do it out of love for other people, including strangers. It’s not a hard concept. 

As a result of the amplification of Black Lives Matter and the horrific tragedies surrounding Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, and Breonna Taylor’s murders — among others — I’ve been trying to keep abreast of each individual’s case as it advances (or fails to) through the justice system. Besides reading the news each morning, with the books I just finished within the past week — Between the World and Me and Me and White Supremacy — it’s hard to not be pissed off all the time. That Arbery’s killers have been charged with murder gives me a modicum of hope in an otherwise very hopeless situation. 

On occupying time and settling mental unrest 

Listening: Code Switch has had some excellent pods lately, including Karla Cornejo Villavicencio talking about her book, The Undocumented Americans (adding that to my queue) and about last week’s DACA decision. I also really liked Mario’s conversation with Kamilah Journet on the morning shakeout (she’s so great! I got to spend time with her on the Women Who Fly trip with Hoka One One a few years ago). Two more listening recommendations — the entire 1619 podcast (only six episodes long) from NYT and Keeping Track’s chat with Gwen Berry about her podium protest at the Pan-Am games. There have been many runs in the past week where I thought I’d only go out for a couple miles but end up spending over an hour running simply because I don’t want to stop listening. These podcast episodes really are that good. 

Watching: Last week, I talked about New Found Glory’s songathon to promote their tenth studio album on Friday. We tuned in and watched it — A watched all of it with me, start to finish, all three+ hours of it — and it was amazing!! I rewatched it on Saturday before they took it down, and it was better than I thought it would be. No doubt that that was one of my most-enjoyed quarantine purchases. What’s yours? 

Reading: Like I said above, I finished both Me and White Supremacy and Between the World and Me last week, and they were both phenomenal, powerful, hard reads that I wholeheartedly recommend. Queued up next is Thick and White Fragility, and I have more library eloan requests pending. I also got some books for the girls the other day that we haven’t yet begun, Resist and Flying Lessons & Other Stories. A is especially excited about summer reading this year, which is pretty cool, and I’m interested in exploring anti-racist lit for kids with her and G. 

Running: A is in week 9 of her 10 week training, so this week includes her longest runs: 40 minutes (today), 42 minutes on Friday, and then 42 again on Saturday or Sunday. On Father’s Day, she participated in the Mermaid Series’ virtual run (a 5k), and she completed the distance (again! I’m so proud!). With COVID cases trending upward, it’s likely that her swim team’s returning to practice will be delayed, which may mean that she’ll keep running with me all summer long … about which I would surely not complain. 🙂   Otherwise, I’m in the final week of Wolfpack’s June-long vert challenge, and I’ve enjoyed all the runs in ARP since it opened. (And today NYRR announced that the NYC Marathon for the fall was cancelled, which is obviously the right call. It’s bizarre to me that Chicago [and other fall races] haven’t canceled yet). 

Stuff to do with the kiddos: I took the girls to ARP the other day, thinking that they’d enjoy playing in the streams for a bit. They did — which I expected — but I didn’t expect that they’d be interested in going for a hike (up half of S. Rim) with very little complaining. We dropped a couple hours there (protip: parking is free throughout the entire park right now), and they’re already looking forward to going back there again and hiking more of the trails where Janet and I run. Free fun, outdoors … I like it. 

Stay healthy, be well, read and listen, and take care. xo

Writing these weekly summaries for the past 14 weeks now has been enlightening. Ever since last summer, when I was visiting my family for over a month and suddenly had some available time and the interest, I decided that come hell or high water, I’d force myself to publish something — anything — every Wednesday. It’s easy to write when I’m in the thick of marathon training, or racing a ton, because those types of experiences lend themselves to recapping and reflecting. Writing and running are pretty similar in that way; getting started can suck if you let yourself overthink it. The best way to become a better writer is to write (more). The best way to become a better runner? Run (more). 

Anyway, like I’ve said a million times at this point, with COVID overtaking our lives, there has been both so much and so little change simultaneously (which can be disorienting, as we all can probably attest to by now), so figuring out what to write each week has sometimes felt like grasping at straws. Really, it wasn’t until the recent vociferous and necessary societal reckoning related to the plight and systemic mistreatment of Black and brown people — magnified by the recent murders of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd, among others, and amplified by Black Lives Matter — that figuring out what to write week after week here in this small space became more a matter of there’s so much to potentially discuss; where do I even begin??? and less how many times can I talk about how the tacos I’m making or how my family and I aren’t leaving home unless it’s absolutely necessary. And like I’ve said in previous weeks, I think it’s a good thing. No one cares about my tacos; we have more important stuff to discuss. 

And as though the race-based reckoning weren’t enough to talk about, Monday’s Supreme Court ruling related to sex-based discrimination in the workplace — and the monumental 6-3 ruling stating that LGBT employees are covered by the civil rights law protecting employees from race, religion, or sex-based discrimination — I mean … holy crap! And especially in the age of Trump  (with two Trump-appointed judges) … holy crap! And in an election year … I mean, again, holy crap! Excessive exclamation marks!!!!

There’s so much going on right now, which may make it sound like there’s ever a time in society when a ton of stuff is *not* going on, which we all know is disingenuous. On part of my morning run today, I listened to the most recent episode of Code Switch aptly entitled “Why Now, White People?” It’s a short episode, as it often is — I wish their episodes were about twice as long! — but I encourage you to listen. Today’s unprecedented times (is that cliche now?) make for the perfect recipe for a whole lotta societal change. The episode is powerful and (without giving away anything) fascinating (and echoes some of Me and White Supremacy). Maybe that just gave away something.  

On the very proud mom front, as part of A’s 10-week 5k training last week, she bumped up to 1’ walk intervals for the first time (from 2’) and ran also 40 minutes for the first time (bumping up from 35-36 minutes). In the process, she also completed her first 5k(+) distance! And even better, it was in ARP, since it just opened for the first time in months last week Thursday! She was so excited to run in the park for the first time and to run for 40 minutes and to complete her 5k goal. Needless to say, it didn’t come without a lot of hard work, sweat, and the occasional tears, making the process (I think) even more gratifying for her. 

On occupying time and settling mental unrest: 

Cooking: The other day, A and I — well really, almost 100% A by herself — made this recipe I saw in NYT, and it was super awesome and turned out great. A couple days before, she decided to make some homemade strawberry jam (and followed an experiment/recipe from one of her kitchen science/STEM-type books). Now that the girls and I (primarily G) made homemade lemonade the other day, I have a feeling we’ll be buying lots of lemons for the rest of the summer, too. It’s (messy) fun. Oh, and my aerogarden basil was on the brink of explosion last week, and this pesto that resulted was practically drinkable. 

Running: A’s 5k accomplishment, all my Janet runs, and ARP finally being open (!!!!) were the highlights of my running last week. May was a pretty heavy running month for me — over 260 miles and 14,846’ of climbing, mostly thanks to the Wolfpack vert challenge — but I imagine June will be a little lighter. We’ll see. I’m participating in Run Local’s California Coast Run the One 500 summer-long challenge to virtually “run” from LA to SF, and that just began a few weeks ago. Also, Saturday is the Mermaid Series’ virtual 5k race (for which I registered A), so she’s looking forward to that, too. While the virtual stuff is obviously not the same as the “real” stuff, I think it’s all still a lot of fun and something to look forward to — and it’s an opportunity to support local businesses — so it’s all still a win in my book. 

Reading: Last week I finished Mindy Kaling’s Why Not Me?, my “keep it light” book in the midst of reading Between the World and Me and Me and White Supremacy. I’m almost done with both those, so if you have additional reading suggestions, let me know. I’m stoked that our local libraries have begun express pick-ups from some branches, too, and I’ve put in a bunch of requests for the kids and me. Never enough time in the day for everything I want to read and listen to. 

Listening/looking forward to: When I was in Chicago last summer, I saw New Found Glory perform, and it was seriously one of the highlights of my summer. This summer, I was hoping to see them in Berkeley before we went to the midwest, but after COVID upended everything, the band decided to have a “songathon” — a 40-song (!!!) set– to promote their new album that drops this week. I am so stoked!!! It starts at 2pm PST Friday, and “ticket” (the ability to sign in and stream it live) proceeds benefit Color of Change.

Stay healthy, be well, read and listen, and take care. xo

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