Rundown: July, 2024

It's a free concert (again).

In the June Rundown, I wrote this:

Next week, some Running Lightly content becomes paid-only. Rundown will remain free. Maybe the snippets here will convince you to become a paid subscriber.

Today, I’m writing this:

Our fleeting flirtation with the much-maligned paywall has passed. Everything is free for everyone again. Consider these articles and journals my gift to running. If you find them valuable, buy me a coffee or support the work with a paid subscription.

Or not. I’m just glad you’re here.

Thank you for sticking around as we figure out together what Running Lightly wants to be. You’ll always get to say you subscribed before it was cool.

Run lightly,
-mike

Over the Shoulder

Here’s what we published in July. Quite a variety, and always somewhat of a surprise, even to me…

👉 Curated: Issue 2

Published July 4 - The Independence Day edition of our “Best of the Internet” column wove in a few topics I figured might be on your mind: Food, freedom, and fear. These are strange days for America. I’ve read it in more than one meme: “How about some precedented times?” But, if there’s a consistent theme you’ll find here, it’s that each of us has the ability to shape our lives (and our running) via the thoughts with which we choose to engage—the bears we feed.

👉 Stride Ahead, Reach Back

Published July 11 - The 5 at 50 series chronicles my attempt to PR five road racing distances in my fiftieth trip ‘round the sun. On the last Sunday in June, I checked a biggie off the list with a three-minute best in the half marathon. Per usual, this race report has an underlying takeaway; that one of running’s “magic powers” is how it can pull others along in their life journeys. When we all do this—accept help from those in front, and extend it to those behind—we start to change the world.

👉 Unboxing Hurt

Published July 27 - In the June Rundown, y’all voted for an article on run journaling. So, really, it’s your fault that I ended up digging into my dad’s old logbooks for inspiration—instead uncovering dusty, decades-old confusion. It’s okay. We’ll work through this one together. Stick around for Part Two, coming… Whenever I can bring myself to look at the rest of the journals.

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Down the Road

Here’s what’s on my mind for August (subject, of course, to the unplanned whims and whiffs of inspiration that make a project like this fun)…

Running Liminal Spaces

On our recent vacation to Seattle, I had a chance to explore some of the town’s hidden staircases. These transitional places—once critical for movement around the city, now often overgrown and dark—can stir emotions that are hard to pinpoint. Same goes for alleyways. What are we experiencing when we run the spaces between?

5 at 50 Part V

By the end of the month, I will have 10k and mile personal record attempts to write about. PR or not—win, lose, draw—I hope you find some inspiration in these stories. The running and writing have both been an adventure, drawing out a patience with process that I didn’t expect. There is only so much “forcing” of effort a person can do with such different running disciplines (and uncharted writing waters) all jammed together. At some point, I resigned to simply showing up every day.

Run Aloha

Mid-month, Lisa and I jet to Hawaii. We’ve spent a lot of time in the islands and feel grateful for the good fortune and Universal happenstance that make it possible. You might picture running in Hawaii to be barefoot beach strolls at sunset. More common are battles with traffic on narrow roads not designed for the bloat of modern motor vehicles. Still, it only takes the shadow of a palm tree on the pavement to remind you… This is a special place. Someday—maybe in August—I’ll write about Oahu running in a way that transports you there.

Hey, you. Thanks again for being here.