Category: Read Run Write

Summertime Slacker

Books Read:

25. Hysteric — Nelly Arcan
26. Chinese Blue — Weyman Chan
27. Forthcoming organized labour history book

Kilometres Ran:
week thirty — 58.3
week thirty one — 56
week thirty two — 69.7
week thirty three — 56.6

To date: 1,922 km

So rather than read and write about it I decided that since I’ve barely read anything there wasn’t much point in writing about how I’ve barely read anything. So I didn’t. As you can see. Does anyone enjoy reading Nelly Arcan? Are you even allowed to enjoy reading her? I think I have two left to read of hers. Her work is so good but so heavy and depressing. I got to see and hear Weyman Chan read at the Talonbooks launch for Human Tissue, which I also purchased along with Chinese Blue but haven’t read yet. But I will, not least because Chinese Blue is so damn good. Trudging through nearly 400 pages of MS Word manuscript is rarely enjoyable, but I find the subject matter very interesting. I hope it gets published. And properly edited. You know, unlike this blog.

In three week I fly to Copenhagen for the Copenhagen Half Marathon on September 17 and I’m pretty excited about that. Travelling gives me an excuse to update my wardrobe, so travelling for a race must mean new running gear, right? It’s not like I need a new pair of racing flats but that didn’t stop me from picking up a second pair of the Adios 3. Plus they were on sale. I’ve been very curious about On Running shoes since their propaganda somehow started ending up in my Gmail inbox. They’re a bit pricey to just take a chance on, which makes me lament that there’s no test drive for running shoes. And then, as if my mind had been read, on Thursday at Forerunners on West 4th’s sunset run On was supposed to be on hand to demo their line up so I showed up. On, however, did not. But I had a good time anyway, with a short 9 km out to Spanish Banks and back to the store. The group is really friendly, and the run met at 7:30 p.m. rather than the typical 6:00 p.m. that every club seems to love but precludes me from being able to participate. I make it sound as if I would if I could. I’ve written here before, and numerous times, how I enjoy running for its solitude, But once in a while it’s nice to get out and be around people that also like to run. I do not know very many.

untitled 7/23

Books Read:
22. The Mood Embosser — Louis Cabri
23. Why I am not a Feminist — Jessa Crispin
24. The Year of the Flood — Margaret Atwood

Kilometres Ran:
week twenty seven — 100.5
week twenty eight — 65.2
week twenty nine — 62.4

To date: 1,681 km

Three weeks ago I sort of lamented the fact that I’ve read only 21 books over the first half of 2017 and here I am reporting that since then I’ve managed to fumble my way through a book of poetry. It’s good poetry though. But I’m a Cabri fan. This is his first book. It very political. There are glimmers of his later work here and there. I definitely like his more recent stuff better, but it’s worth reading. I’ve commented previously that this year seems to be the year of reading dystopian post-apocalyptia and so after a short break from that I’ve fallen back into it as I wade through Crispin’s manifesto. I mean Atwood’s second piece in the MaddAddam Trilogy. My goal by week thirty is to maybe hopefully possibly have both books finished. It could happen.

I finished June and started July running nine days straight, which I think is a record for me, and completed my first 100 kilometres in a week. I was feeling pretty proud of myself that Sunday afternoon when I probably should have been writing something about it here but instead I was reliving my 100 km glory on Strava when in my feed a saw that another runner who lives just down the street, let’s call her Audree, had run 50 miles. On Saturday.

Mid Year Check In

Books Read:
20. Same Diff — Donato Mancini
21. Bad Feminist — Roxane Gay

Kilometres Ran:
week twenty six — 54 km

To date: 1,453 km

I’m trying to read 95 books this year and by 95 books what I mean is that I’m trying to read 62 books this year so that I can beat my 61/95 attempt from last year. And I’m not doing so well. At current pace I’m set to get through 42 books. Since this blog is about reading and running and I’ve spent a lot of time writing about running half and full marathons I feel the need to point out that the 2017 on pace to read and read so far numbers are coincidental. Honest. Anyway, at this point last year I had read 40 books, but I also read a lot at the beginning of 2016 and much less so towards the end of the year. So maybe the trend will reverse. It could happen. I didn’t know why it was called Same Diff instead of More Or Less I thought to myself while drinking a pint during Wednesday happy hour at the Three Brits (I’ve no shame) when like a lightening bolt from heaven I got it! and now I cannot remember. Probably because of the pints. Today I sat on a different patio in a different city drinking a different beer and also read Roxane Gay’s excerpt from her new (forthcoming?) book Hunger in the Guardian online and it was really good. I feel like I’m not allowed to read Roxane Gay (or Jessa Crispin or … ) in public for fear that people will think that I’m an MRA looking for ammo. Because I read social media and there are people that do. Both. Anyway, here are some numbers.

Books read: 21
Books needed to beat 2016: 41
Poetry: 2
Non-Fiction: 9
By Not Straight White Dudes: 7
Post-Apocalyptic: 4

I’m trying to run 2,600 kilometres this year, which is 600 km more than last year. I have obviously done better than my reading. At this point last year I had run 917 km, which was a bit behind pace but I had a couple anomalies along the way. I hurt my knee, suffered a bought of macroscopic hematuria (the first time is the most terrifying), and I stupidly neglected to take my running stuff along on my spring sojourn in Spain. This year, knock wood, other than a nasty bought of a terrible chest cold, I’ve been rather footloose. I remember that cold. I’d never had a cold like that. As an ex-smoker I was pretty sure I was going to die. I’ve gotten to that age where every little weird but new problem I immediate think cancer. I blame the internet.

But I digress. So far this year I’ve ran 1,453 km and to be on pace I would need to be at 1,300 km. I’m over 150 km ahead of pace so now I’m contemplating going for 3,000 km. But maybe instead I should read a bit more instead. Numbers!

Runs so far: 109
Average distance: 13.3 km
Runs 21.1 or farther: 17
Birds shat on by: 1
Emergency WC stops sans TP: 1

At the end of last year I set a few other goals to go along with the running and the reading, including exercising above my waist (pretty pathetic), completing six evil needlepoints (to date: zero), and figure out why I’m sick all the time and fix it. I’ve made a lot of progress on that last one since paying attention to (though not strictly following) the FODMAP Food List. So that’s good but I still have work to do on the other two. Back to work.