Books and 20 Miles

This week has not been ideal in terms of running. Work obligations became overwhelming in the latter days of the week, and something had to give. (I am hearing, "Excuses, excuses, excuses!" in my head right now.) I've gotten in 12 so far, and I'll do 3 more this afternoon, followed by 20 tomorrow.

Ah, the 20 mile mark. This thing is really starting to become a reality. I am almost convinced I can pull this off...but no, I won't be confident or assured until I cross the finish line on December 4.

My first, but definitely not my last (Hello, New Orleans!)

Tomorrow's celebratory brunch will be at Empire Cafe with my two favorite runners, and truth be told, the promise of unlimited food might be what gets me through those last miles back to my car. And of course the opportunity for us to commisterate over things like chafing, chapping, waking up too early, gu's, gels, chafing, energy bars, hydration, sports bras, chafing, chafing, and people in our running group who smell weird.

I've been preparing mentally all week for this run. I'm freaked out yet doing my best to trust - trust in myself, in my preparation, in my running buddies, and in my ability to push through when things suck. This, by God, I have proven able to do.

Well...by God and by Florence.

And Jay and B, too.

So, onto a little book clubbin'.

Latest Read:



On the Divinity of Second Chances, by Kaya McLaren

Honestly, didn't love it. The characters were kind of flat, and you could tell the author was trying to spin this magical story in an imaginative form of writing, but it didn't take. Missed the mark. There was, however, a storyline involving the death of a pet that left me sobbing - literally - one night in my bed, stroking Benny and Roger extremely pathetically.

Currently reading:


Sybil Exposed by Debbie Nathan



Though not very far into this book, I'm very interested. It's an expose on the book titled (can you guess?) "Sybil" written in the 70's, which brought Multiple Personality Disorders into the limelight. However, the case based on "Sybil" was created through malpractice, abuse and extreme conflicts of interest between the patient, doctor and journalist. Still, if everything was a hoax, why did tens of thousands of people (mostly women by the way) resonate with the lie?

Future read: 



Once a Runner by John L. Parker, Jr.

This is another book I can't wait to dive into. A fictional work about what it takes to be a distance runner. Enough said.

Please note I'm an extremely judgemental, opinionated critic, and that goes for everything - books, movies, TV shows, characters, people, restaurants, etc. Cookies are pretty much the only exception. (Herego most of the preceeding categories can be positively affected by the presence of cookies.)