Somehow, in the bitter (and I mean bitter) cold that has descended on us in the past few weeks, I have lost touch with the runner inside me. Don't get me wrong, I have still been running, but inside on a treadmill. I don't hate it, but it can get boring. So I was beginning to think that maybe I'm not so much of a runner. Maybe I'm just someone who works out.
Leave it to the January edition of Runner's World to remind me that I am, in fact, a runner. Just reading the list of 2007 marathons made my heart race. And then I found the Valley of the Sun half-marathon in Mesa just before Spring Break. So I'm thinking about it. The problem? I'll be in Spain when my training should begin. I guess if I run twice a week or so when I'm in Spain the whole thing could work. Plus it will give me the chance to run in Spain. Yeah! Spain!
In other news, I'm doing pretty well on my Finishing Books I Started This Year in an Attempt to Bolster My Year-End (reading) Numbers. I finished Michael Martone by Michael Martone (hilarious), Success Stories by Russell Banks (pretty good), The Evil B.B. Chow by Steve Almond (decent), and I'm almost done with Body Toxic by Susanne Antonetta. This last one is really good. I think I got bogged down in the earlier chapters, which focus more on the environment, but I'm really liking the later chapters which focus more on the "self-medication" she does, and on her journals, which are banal but fascinating. I have one or two others I need to finish, which may or may not happen this year.
I'm also done with all the grading I can do until Monday. Then it's a mad dash to the finish line. (I'm awfully fond of running metaphors as well.)
3 comments:
The Body Toxic has been near the top of my reading list for a few years now. Somehow, school stuff and trashy stuff keep rising above it. I shall make the effort to at least get a copy in the house...
You need more exclamation points for whenever you mention Spain. Like, Running! In Spain! Cool!!
I am most definately NOT a runner. I don't even run inside on a treadmill- I ellipiticize....well I blame my asthma cause it sounds better but the fact is I really do actually despise running. I am quite happy "working out" and only running in dire emergencies!! I would go watch you run though. I guess running in Spain would make it a bit better but I would prefer walking.
You're killing me with your running talk and your "I finish books" talk. My knees gave out at me last summer Just when I was starting to run 10K, four times a week, which was huge for me. Now it's getting warmer and all I want to do is run, but no. It's all yoga and walking and physical therapy. As for books, I have been nearly done with Dracula and The Magnificent Ambersons forever. Why don't I finish? Seriously, why? I did just finish A Contract with God by Will Eisner, but I had to finish it, as my students would have wondered why the teacher didn't do the reading for his own course.
Michael
PS you linked to my site for reasons unknown to me, but I'm quite grateful.
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