Those of you who were here for the most recent 168 Hours Challenge know that I decided that week to sign up for the Philadelphia Half-Marathon in an attempt to revive my zeal for distance running. We all went to Philly this past weekend (incidentally, we’re considering moving there) and I got up bright and early and ran 13.1 miles through the streets.
It went well. I don’t run fast, but I ran the whole thing, and had enough energy at the end to spend the day walking around with my family, picking up little kids and running around the Please Touch Museum, and so forth. Despite the summer slump, it’s been a good year for running, with the Big Sur Marathon in April and the race this past weekend. I had worried that running would fall off my list of priorities as life got busier, so I am grateful that it hasn’t. I’m grateful for the ability to run 13.1 (or 26.2) miles and still be able to function afterwards.
I’m also grateful for the perspective that running gives me. I’ve been feeling a bit overwhelmed these past few weeks with starting to write my new book while still doing publicity for the last one. I’m also writing a lot of columns and will be officially announcing a new career blog gig with BNET soon. But as I was running my 13.1 miles, I realized that just as you run one mile at a time, you write a book one chunk at a time. One interview here, one interesting factoid there, one new revelation somewhere else. This is the sixth time I’ve written a book, and I know how it goes, and how it will go, and it is really just a matter of stringing sentences together, and then making them sound better. One step, one sentence, until you are done.
I’m also grateful, though, to be taking a few days off. I’m traveling to visit family over Thanksgiving, and won’t be posting until next week. So I’ll see everyone then!
In the meantime, here’s a Thanksgiving blog post from last year, Thanksgiving and the new home economics.
