Hello runners and non-runners,
I hope you’re doing well. I apologize for not sending this newsletter in quite some time; I fell into a black hole where the only productive thing I was able to do in the last month was a daily lesson on Duolingo. But I’m back!
I’m in Los Angeles where the sun is shining, the produce stays fresh longer, and the running is *chef’s kiss.* Griffith Park is one of my favorite places to run in Los Angeles (and the world!) because I can run on trails and not be in the middle of nowhere with no cell reception. There are so many people around, even celebrities. What fun!
I’m entering the bulk of my Boston Marathon training and to spice things up, I incorporated some trails into my long runs the last two weekends. The first was an 18-mile run in Palm Springs with 8 miles on trail and 2,000 feet elevation gain and loss; the second was a 20-miler this past Sunday in Griffith Park with 11 miles on trail and 2,100 feet elevation gain and loss.
You might ask, are these runs fun? Fun is absolutely not the right word. Strictly speaking, they are not fun. They are very fulfilling though. They reset me, mentally and physically. It’s not lost on me that it is a privilege to run for hours by myself on the weekend, and I cherish the uninterrupted time to sit with my thoughts and move my body.
Though I net enjoy long runs, I almost never want to run 20 miles. I’m a consistent-enough endurance runner that 20-milers are more of a mental than a physical challenge, but my body inevitably starts to hurt at some point during every run nevertheless. Every week it’s something different—my left knee, my right hamstring, a blister on my toe, even my shoulder on this most recent run. When the pain starts, I try to remember this quote from Haruki Murakami in What I Talk About When I Talk About Running: “Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.” Good quote to live by in general, I guess.
Before I leave you, I couldn’t talk about a long run without talking about the podcasts I’ve listened to while putting the miles in. I listened to a few episodes of the Ali on the Run Show—her most recent interview with running and strength coach Jess Movold was 10/10—and I really liked an earlier episode she recorded with Olympic bronze medalist Molly Seidel and running coach Anoush Arakelian. I also listened to ultra-runner Dylan Bowman’s interview with Camille Herron on his Freetrail podcast; Camille recently broke the 100-mile World Record with a time of 12 hours 41 minutes. She averaged a 7:38 minute/mile for 100 miles, lol, read all about it in The New York Times!
That’s all for today. More to come soon. Happy running!
Elaheh