mile markers

by kristin armstrong.

i like her.
i love her blog.... and her book is just a long blog post.
i always feel like i can relate... she is accessible, honest, funny, self-deprecating in an appropriate and human sort of way.... and she loves running....for so many reasons: for health, for mental sanity, for camaraderie, for space, peace, and well-being, for the challenge.... and while the book itself can be redundant and things don't connect linearly.... i loved it.

it was far superior to the other running book i read earlier this year... it was more personal without being trite. i love her perspective... and wish i was in her running group. it did make me miss stef terribly.... and cause me to evaluate every woman running at 6:15 in the morning as a potential running partner..... but i loved how it challenged me to consider challenging myself more as a runner.... since i am one. and i was sad when it was over, almost like i had gained a running friend for a brief moment in time.....and then she was gone.

here are some good quotes:

"making time to take care of ourselves is essential so that we don't sputter, stall, and come to an inopportune (or even dangerous) halt in the middle of a busy intersection. that's what running is to me, a refill. . . . after my morning run, i can return to my house, my children, my relationships, and my work and feel replenished and rejuvenated to make my offering to the world. . . . [others] might think us a bit odd or decadent in our passion for running, particularly if they misinterpret it as an entitled pursuit of vanity or a luxurious use of personal time. if only they could see the reason we have the overflow and the awareness to be concerned for them is that we take the time to refill and clear our vision in order to see beyond ourselves."

"i don't train because i want to be able to do things (run a faster 5-K, beat my marathon PR, make someone eat my dust on a trail, though those things aren't bad). i train because i want to be someone better than i would be if i didn't train."

Comments

Jessie said…
Can't wait to run with you again. though you might have trouble getting me back into that 6:15 routine....
10:50 PM EDT
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