Photo Credit: CarrieSnyder.com

Girl Runner

is a strong contender for my favorite new book of the summer. It is the story of a former Olympic runner, Aggie, and her life. From the title you would expect it to be strictly about Aggie’s running career, but it evolves into so much more. This story shows how running impacts Aggie’s everyday life, provides her an escape, and makes her the woman who narrates the story.

One thing that I did find slightly disappointing, but did not detract from the story, was that the Olympics are mentioned very briefly. I had thought there would be this whole big section dedicated to it, but in reality there is a few chapters that deal with the Olympics while the rest focus on the pre and post race events. Though, in retrospect this could be seen as how some things happen briefly but make a huge impact on an individuals life. 

This book caused me to feel a range of emotions from cheering Aggie on to anger at some of the events that Aggie encounters. I would recommend this to everyone from runners, to those that cringe at the thought of running.

Ms. Snyder is an author who I would expect great things from in the future. 

Photo Credit: SarahMacLean.net

Every so often I like to pull a book from the Young Adult season for a quick and easy read.

The Season was one of those choices.

This book tells the tale of three friends, Alex, Ella, and Vivi, and their experiences during the 1815 Season in London, England. The girls encounter mystery and adventure during the Season, along with a hint of romance.

Overall, this is a fun, quick read. It never gets too elaborate or exciting which was disappointing. But it does force the reader to try and guess what the final outcome is. I will definitely be looking into additional works from Ms.McLean

Life loves to get in the way of plans and dreams. You plan on one thing and the complete opposite of your plan will happen. Such as planning to move back to the state you love, but life decides to have you to stay in your hometown. When I lived in FL I had a group that I would run with, I had people who would encourage me and help me achieve my goals. Moving back to IL I suddenly found myself alone; no friends to run with, no one to encourage me or help me train. Long story short, being a runner without a support group isn’t fun. So, when I was in my local running store getting fitted for a new pair of shoes, I jumped at the chance to participate in a Half Marathon training group.

The 12-week training group is hosted by The Running Depot in Crystal Lake, IL, and consists of two group runs (Wednesday and Saturday) and about three solo runs with suggestions about cross training on “rest days”. There are also weekly motivational emails and five informational sessions covering various topics. What I already like about this program is that there is a run group and a run/walk group. The “goal race” is the Crystal Lake HalfMarathon, with the Fort2Base being a “training race” towards the end of the program.

Today was the first day of the program (aside from an information meeting on Thursday night). Initially, I intended to participate in the run group, but after some soul searching on the drive over I decided that doing the run/walk group would be a better choice for my first half. The last thing I want to do is injure myself and potentially lose the chance at a race I have planned for February.

The group consists of individuals of all ages and paces. Today, as a way to determine where everyone is at in their training my group did a 3/2 run/walk and averaged a 14’27” pace.

Fitbit stats from the run

This pace is considerably slower than my normal 10:30 pace, but I figure I can always jump to the training group if necessary. Feel free to laugh, I know I’m relatively slow.

Overall, I’m super excited to participate in this group and can’t wait to do my first half with them!

Currently Reading:

Dangerous Deceptions by Sarah Zettel

Voyager by Diana Gabaldon

The Strain by Gulillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan