Maine Days and Learning to Run Wilder

Two weekends ago, I spent four days on the coast of Maine with 50 women for Wilder, a running and writing retreat that’s the brainchild of former pro runner Lauren Fleshman and co-facilitated by Marianne Elliot. 

We ran, wrote, yoga-ed, and hiked. We spent time on a boat, roasted marshmallows at a campfire, and watched the sun set. We ran silently through beautiful trails—all in service of supporting the creative process and re-connecting with our “wilder” selves. It was my second Wilder retreat (I attended one last May in Bend, OR) and it was just as magical, even though I wasn’t running as much as I hoped. Stupid ankle. 

One of the highlights of the weekend was spending time with my friend and virtual colleague Amanda as well as some other friends I stopped and visited with along the way. It was a much-needed weekend and time to kickstart my creative process, which has gone missing much of this year. Plus, a nice respite and refuge from the crazy news cycle.
 

What I’ve Written

I wrote about diabetes technology and what it means for teens with diabetes and their families for the November issue of Family Circle. It was incredible to hear some of the stories from teens (and their parents) about how it’s changed their lives—mostly for good.

On a lighter note, I also wrote about why your head is always so damn itchy and what to order when you’re craving Taco Bell and Pizza Hut. (Pulitzer please!)
 

What I’ve Been Reading

• In Praise of Mediocrity (New York Times): Apparently, we’ve totally killed the hobby because we’re afraid of being bad at them. After all, if we’re spending our precious leisure time to do something, whether it’s sports or music or art, we should be good at it, especially if it’s something that’s tied to our identity. (I’m a runner. I’m a yogi.) 

• Fists of Fury (Sports Illustrated): It’s been 50 years since John Carlos and Tommie Smith’s protests at the 1968 Olympics. This piece takes a closer look at these two men, tied together in a moment in time, before, during, and since the ’68 games. 

• Where Are All the Women in Play-by-Play Broadcasting? (The Ringer): Seriously. Where are they?

• Why Two Chefs in Small-Town Utah Are Battling President Trump (The New Yorker): It seems like an unlikely story about how and why the owners of a restaurant in remote part of Utah are fighting to keep the land unspoiled.

• Teens Are Being Bullied ‘Constantly’ on Instagram (The Atlantic): Two things: 1) I’m so glad social media wasn’t around when I was a teenager, and 2) OMG my kids are never getting an Instagram account. 

• How instant access to grades and other data is contributing to helicopter parenting (The Washington Post): Now that he’s in middle school, we have instant access to my older son’s grades and assignment and it feels like overkill to me. (I haven’t signed up for an account yet.) Plus, I met the author of this piece at Wilder!

• Daniel Radcliffe and the Art of the Fact-Check (The New Yorker): Fact checkers on Broadway? Apparently. To prep for his role, Daniel Radcliffe embedded in The New Yorker’s fact-checking department. FYI: Here’s the article he fact checked.

• Rita Bullwinkel (Full Stop): Interview with writer Rita Bullwinkel (I’m kind of in love with her name) but what really interested me in this interview was how she described her experience playing water polo and the weird culture of youth sports, especially youth women’s sports.

• Congratulations! You Did Five Minutes of Writing! (McSweeney’s): haha. This is my life. 

What I’ve Been Listening to and Watching

• The Hidden Side of Sports (Freakonomics): A three-part series that pulls back the curtain on sports—our fascination with sports (episode 1), the business of sports, specifically one NFL team (episode 2), and what it actually takes to be an elite athlete (episode 3). I actually started listening to this series backwards (I still need to listen to episode 1) but I’ve really enjoyed it.

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