Tag Archives: racing
Kick
I raced a hilly, wintry 10K on Saturday, and my valedictory kick had something special: You could actually see it. I’m 58, so this was refreshing. Age brings a litany of losses to older runners: reduced muscle mass and pliability, increased stiffness and soreness after training, substantially slower race times and a phenomenon I experience as the invisible kick: […]
A different kind of gold
The 2016 Rio Olympics have provided the usual jaw-dropping display of human strength, speed and agility, but the moment that many of us will most remember showcased a quality of spirit that embodies the best in ourselves, and the best we can offer each other. The story is by now well-known: How American runner Abbey […]
The race set before us
Thirty-five minutes into my last race I developed a stitch that spelled trouble. I was less than halfway through the 7-point-something-mile course and the usual remedies — slowing to a jog and jabbing a few fingers stiffly under my lower ribs — had no effect. That was when the nature of the Fall Series — […]
Grace, gratitude and ibuprofen
Sometimes the hardships that visit us feel insurmountable, the losses unbearable. Sometimes it feels as if a million unknowable things conspire against us to create a death by a thousand cuts. And yet. And yet. Sometimes it feels as if they align behind us, around us, beneath us. Lifting us up. Joining our little lives with the big and buoyant life of this world.
Knowing jack
Being a terminal geek, I was thrilled to learn recently that Roku has added to its line-up of television streaming options a channel devoted to The Jack LaLanne Show. If you are of a certain age — say, prehistoric, like me — you will recall LaLanne as the more knowledgeable, more appealing and way less […]
No one left behind
As I was looping through the Garden of the Gods this morning on one of my last pre-race runs, I found myself remembering a group I trained with there 18 years ago, and a runner who taught me the meaning of camaraderie. I am by nature a solitary runner, but the group that met twice a week […]
Becoming a quitter
When I was a little girl, I had an autograph book. It was not for rock stars or celebrities; rather, I filled its pages with the thoughts of people I admired in my 8-year-old world. It had a sage-green, glossy cover — vinyl maybe, but nice vinyl — and creamy paper pages. Linen stock. Its […]
The X factor
The first double-digit run in a training regimen carries a lot of psychic weight for a runner; it occupies an outsized space in the mind while — at least for me, now — moving the body into the realm of serious mileage. I wasn’t looking forward to tackling the distance this morning. An 8-mile run two weeks […]
I’m not her
My body surprised me this morning. I was 48 hours past an 8-mile training run that left me feeling physically and emotionally defeated. I undertook it as a test of my ability to train for one last half-marathon — a distance I swore off five years ago — but it felt more like an indictment: You are […]
The turning of the wheel
We were laboring up the last hill yesterday, past the Mile 5 marker, when a young woman drew alongside me. “Hey, lady,” she said, in a friendly way. “I’ve been watching you, every race.” There was respect in her voice. I looked over. She was young and fit, and had a sweet smile. I learned later […]
Meditatio Ephemera 