Tag: Margaret Atwood

2018 week forty seven

Book Read:
50. The Tiger Flu — Larissa Lai

Kilometres Ran:
week forty seven: 32.9

To date: 2,290 KM

I remember one of my instructors in journalism school who use to write book reviews who said that she wouldn’t write a review of a book she didn’t like and I thought “that’s a cop out.” And then this morning on CBC Radio One Michael Enright was talking to Margaret Atwood during a fundraiser for the Literary Review of Canada and the subject of book reviews came up and Atwood said she never writes reviews for books that she doesn’t like and there was something else about bloggers being hacks because they were essentially anonymous and couldn’t be sued but I’d zoned out by then. I really wanted to like this book and I really should have liked this book and I really, really tried really hard to like this book but I just didn’t. I really did not like Kirilow. But I did like Kora and the pandemic-induced post-apocalyptic theme and the sprinkling of Vancouver landmarks and locales. I don’t think I’ve ever felt bad about not liking a book before.

At the halfway point turn-around getting a beat down from Meredith MacGregor, who was the top woman in the 1 Mile race just 45 minutes earlier. Also, just like Meredith’s, that thing on my face came off very soon after the race.

Yesterday was the Moustache Miler and I raced the 5K and managed to raise a little over $614 for the Movember Foundation. It was a great event and I had a lot of fun with it. Facebook did not like it. At least that’s what I’m telling myself…it’s the algorithms, stupid! I still think that my “Movember Foundation: Men are dying young; Most of my social media feed: GOOD!” joke was pretty funny, but crickets on that post. I did get one person ask when I’m doing the Merkin Miler — which is a great question, btw. Anyway, I wanted to raise over $500 mostly just to see if I could, and as well to run faster than 20:09. I’ve never raced a 5KM before. My 20:09 PB is from what my watch says I ran the first 5KM of the Eastside 10K back in September of this year, where I set a personal best in the 10K (officially) and apparently the 5K (unofficially). I did not run a personal best time. I went out pretty quickly and then faded and finished in 20:28, which I still think is really great considering what these past two months have been like trying to get past this knee injury. Later when I checked my splits I was really surprised to see how consistent my times were for 2-3-4-5 kilometres. By 3KM I thought I was going to die but the clock seems to say it was all in my head. I finished third in my age group and 19th overall.

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.