I thought I’d lighten things up after Wednesday’s weighty topic. Get it- WEIGHT-y topic? Ha ha! See, I’m already lightening things up. Here are some fun and interesting things I’ve found this week:
Cari informed me that Dr. Jill Biden is a runner! In this article she’s described as a “passionate runner” who has completed a marathon in 4:30. Nowadays she runs with the U.S. Secret Service- one guy runs in front of her and another behind. I’m not sure if I’d like that! I mean what if she wants to do a fartlek? After a brief hiatus (George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama were all runners) it’s nice to see the tradition continue.
This podcast talks about the culture of running in Ethiopia. Interesting insights include the fact that Ethiopians consider running a group activity- running alone would be seen as weird and deeply anti-social. Also of interest was that running slowly is a skill to be valued- they take their “easy” runs very seriously. My favorite fact from this episode was that they don’t place much importance on the idea of “talent’ as a predictor of great running. Instead, they believe that anyone can be fast if they work hard enough and have the right training. Lot’s of great takeaways here.
This might not be so. The absolute best article on cultivating gratitude by David Cain. Rather than just thinking “I’m grateful for my house,” (or whatever) David suggests that you vividly imagine how it would be if that thing weren’t there. While you’re sitting on your comfortable couch in your living room, imagine how cold and miserable you’d be sitting outside… then bring yourself back to the present moment and truly experience what it means to be in a nice warm house. The part where he describes doing this exercise with your loved ones will make you cry.
TGIF! I hope everyone’s weekend is filled with long runs, waffles… and gratitude. See you Monday!
14 Responses
I heard our new First Lady was a runner as well. Love it! Funny how once you’re famous your marathon time gets put right out there. Ha! I do believe there is truth to the Ethiopian philosophy about being fast. With the right training, many of us could be much better runners. As a coach I see so many people with strong self-limiting beliefs.
Yeah, it would be weird to have your marathon times be common knowledge (George W. Bush has a sub-4:00 btw.)
I love that Jill Biden is a runner! It’s great to have fitness-minded people leading the country–hopefully, she’ll be a good role model and get other women into running.
Yes that would be amazing! Time for another first lady our girls can look up to.
I heard that Kamala was on a run when she got the news about the election. I wonder if she and Jill run together? All I know is that if I trained with the secret service I would get crazy fast!
I think Jill is more of a runner than Kamala, but who knows- maybe she’ll inspire Kamala to run more and they could run together! How cool would that be.
Isn’t that exciting that both Jill Biden and Kamal Harris are runners. Go women!!
Girl power 🙂
I can relate to the thankfulness topic. Having had two lengthy (in my opinion) running sabbaticals, I don’t take any run for granted, regardless of how hot or cold, slow or sloppy. The fact that I’m able to CHOOSE to run is pretty sweet 😉
Yes, I think once you’ve been injured you stop taking running for granted!
Thanks for the positivity. I had heard Jill Biden was a runner. It is so cool that she goes running with secret service guys!
I love David Cain’s suggestion. What a visceral reminder of everything we should be grateful for. Thank you for sharing!
I’m glad you liked that- I’ve been thinking about it a lot (and putting it into practice) lately.
Didn’t realize George W was a sub 4 marathoner. Impressive training given all else he’s always had going on. Have you read Becky Wade’s Run the World? She ran with some E thiopian runners and I found that a fascinating complement to all we hear about Kenya.
Love reading in the comments that Kamala Harris is also a runner. Healthy and pets. Such refreshing change.
I haven’t read that book but I’ll look into it! I don’t think Kamala Harris is as much a runner as Jill Biden, but there was an article about her being out on a run when she got the news about winning the election.