Spring? Is that you?
It feels like it’s finally spring, although I’m afraid that if I say it out loud, I’ll somehow jinx us all and make the beautiful weather disappear. But you guys, it’s so nice to see blue skies.
And I wish that I could take advantage of it more. I haven’t been able to run (or do much of anything) the past month, thanks to a super cranky hip. I went from feeling okay to OMG-I-can’t-move overnight. Good times. Needless to say, I’m not running Broad Street Run next weekend. Boo.
But it’s gotten me thinking about getting older. Frankly, I don’t feel old but I know that I’m squarely in middle-age range. But are we / am I destined to get creakier and creakier with age? Even if I’m active, strength train, and prehab and rehab the heck out of my body? Is it just the accumulated wear and tear and years weighing down on our bodies that are finally taking a toll? Send help and massages and acupuncture, please!
Are you sick of hearing about the Boston Marathon? If you are, you can just skip this section.
I still can't get enough of Boston stories. Not just because Des Linden was the first American woman to win the race in 33 years. What really struck me about the race (and continues to stick with me) is the way the American women worked together as a team, the way Des was willing to put herself out there as a sacrificial lamb to help pull Shalane back to the group after her potty stop and to try help Molly move with the women in the lead pack. We think of running as such an individual sport yet it's often the fellow runners that help us excel and endure.
But for me, this story from Outside sums up why this race was so special:
“In the age of hyper-professionalization, this kind of stuff isn’t supposed to happen anymore. If the big marathon story of 2017 was the Nike-sponsored Breaking2 Project, a meticulously controlled, closed-to-the-public attempt to get a few superstars to run obscenely fast in perfect conditions, Boston 2018 was the perfect foil for such elitism. It was as though the marathon gods summoned a mid-April tempest just to remind us that the event isn’t supposed to be about the sterile pursuit of arbitrary records.”
And then there’s this: Just like Shalane passed the torch to Des after her win in New York City, Des just passed it on to Molly. So, Molly's next, right?
If you haven’t read Bonnie Ford’s interview with Des, you should.
What I’ve Written
Inflammation. Yes, it seems to be the root of all trouble. I wrote about inflammation and how you can tame it for the May/June issue of Eating Well magazine.
And for those of you curious about what it takes to train like a MMA fighter, here you go.
What I’ve Been Reading
Why America’s Black Mothers and Babies Are in a Life-or-Death Crisis (The New York Times Magazine): While we often hear about health disparities, I think there’s an assumption that it only affects low-income people, but if you look at the statistics, education and income don’t protect black women or their children. For example, a black woman with an advanced degree is more likely to lose a baby than a white woman with less than an eighth-grade education. This is a super powerful piece on staggering health disparities facing black women and how it relates to their lived experience as black women in America.
The Wellness Industry Thrives on the Fear of Death (Quartzy): This says it all: “How did our culture reach a point where the highest form of aspiration is to eliminate more and more things from our diets, our bodies, and our lives?” A great look at the wellness industry/machinery.
I’m Chinese American and I don’t speak Chinese perfectly. That’s okay. (The Lily): Oh, the struggle of being bilingual but not perfectly bilingual.
I Found a Dead Body on My Morning Run—It’s Something You Can’t Run Away From (Runner’s World): {Content warning: This story contains details that may be sensitive and disturbing to some.} On any normal Saturday morning, I would have been out running in Prospect Park too, but I was still in Arizona for a conference. This story is more than just click-bait and than just the spectacle of seeing a dead body on your run.
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