Run Log // June 15 - June 21, 2020

Summer runnin' is in FULL FORCE right now! It's been non-stop hot an humid here in New England so I've been trying to transition myself back to being an early morning runner (which I HATE 😩#snoozebuttonlife) so that I can beat the heat, especially for my longer miles. I've been running three times a week pretty consistently these days which is exciting as consistency is something that I've definitely struggled with as a runner. I'm glad that I've been good about staying on top of my running even though I haven't had anything in particular to train for.

Tuesday, 6/16 → 5.01 miles @ 9:21 average pace

Friday, 6/19 → 6.01 miles @ 10:18 average pace

Sunday, 6/21 → 10 miles @ 10:30 average pace

Chicago Marathon training starts this week for me. I'm still aiming for a sub-5 and I believe Chicago is the perfect course for me to achieve that goal for the first time. I've been pretty upfront about the fact that I'm pretty confident that Chicago will be cancelled, at the very least for non-elite runners. Brett and I even took bets last night on how far I'll be into training before they officially pull the plug (Brett is betting 8 weeks, I'm wagering 5 weeks). 😂 BUT I'm still going to train like I'll be on the starting line in October. I still have another 26.2 planned for November which *may* actually happen, so I can just have my training go toward that race instead. I guess we'll just have to wait and see!

This week I have a couple of shorter runs to kick off marathon training, but I'll also finally be running the Virtual Providence Half Marathon! I was planning to run the Providence Half in person in May, but, of course, it was cancelled and turned into a virtual event. I finally got my swag pack in the mail last week (including my bib and finisher's medal!) so this weekend I'll finally be running the race. I'm going to be joined by my pal Cassie for these 13.1 miles as she will also be running a virtual half of her own, so it will be a great time! I'm looking forward to have a buddy to pass the long miles with this weekend.

Friday Reflections // Happy Juneteenth! + Many Thoughts on the Bookish Community

Happy Friday, everyone - and most importantly, Happy Juneteenth! Like many white Americans, I really had no idea that Juneteenth was a holiday that was celebrated until a couple of years ago, and even then I did not really understand what it was. This isn't something we're taught in schools, thanks to the systems that are put in place to continue to oppress Black folks in our country. That's why it is so important to educate ourselves and continue to strive to do better each and every day. I highly recommend checking out one of the links below to learn more about the history of Juneteenth. It is my hope that it can one day be recognized a federally observed holiday!

What is Juneteenth? 
A brief overview of the history of Juneteenth and why it is celebrated.

Juneteenth Syllabus 
A collection of resources including articles, music, podcasts, and more about Juneteenth.

Enjoying my Backyard Paradise™ after work yesterday!

This week was the first week that I've been able to feel somewhat productive over the last month or so. I've been able to put a lot of my activism energy into collaborating with colleagues in order to create more educational opportunities at our institution, which has been so motivating and energizing. I've been able to feel like I'm checking off more items on my to do list, and adding less to it which feels *fantastic* (but I'm sure will be short lived lol). And I feel like I've gotten into a good groove of how I'm managing my time for the first time in a while. Now that I've put that out into the universe, how much you want to bet that I'm going to get called back to work at the office? 🙃

Read Your Face Off Discord Server

I've been trying to think of ways to engage better with the Read Your Face Off community. I gotta be real with myself and say that I haven't done a great job of maintaining the community since I took a little bit of a break in early 2019, but I'm itching to get back to it and find a better way to engage with the folks who have been loyally following RYFO since its founding. Enter our Discord Server! I don't know too much about Discord but after watching a few tutorials I feel like I've been able to put together a space for us to chat about our 24 hour readathons, buddy reads, and other non-bookish related topics. I'm looking forward to seeing how this community grows! If you'd like to join us, you can follow this link!

*reminder that we have a 24 hour readathon tomorrow, June 20th from 9AM in your time zone to 9AM on June 21st! I hope you'll join us!*

J.K. Rowling's Blatant Transphobia & TERFs in the BookTube Community

I feel like this has been pretty public, but in case you missed it, J.K. Rowling has chosen *yet again* to be overtly transphobic on Twitter. Obviously her extremely harmful rhetoric has been met with much-deserved backlash and it is honestly so heartbreaking to see the creator of such a beloved story which has shaped the lives of millions (including myself) use her platform to reinforce such hateful ideas. Additionally, one of BookTube's own - Hannah Tay - has decided to "stand with J.K." and post an extensive video discussing how much she agrees with everything that J.K. Rowling has recently said regarding the Trans community. Absolutely disgusting.

I am going to leave two excellent response videos below. The first from G from The Book Roast (who hosts the Magical Readathon) discussing her feelings on the situation as an avid Harry Potter fan, all sentiments that I relate to so much in this time. The second is from Rhiannon from Crescent Moon Reads discussing their reaction and thoughts as a non-binary individual on BookTube. It breaks my heart that they felt the need to make a video to educate the masses (it is NOT their responsibility to have to explain why transphobia is bad) but if any voice needs to be heard on this subject, it's theirs.

While all of this is so, so horrible, a piece of positivity comes from this response written by Daniel Radcliffe, and the condemnation of JKR's words by all three actors who played our beloved trio in the Harry Potter films. At least we have the knowledge that not every public figure tied to the HP franchise share's JKR's damaging opinions, and that these individuals with major platforms are using them to speak out against her.

Reading Rush 2020 Dates Announced!

Literally 5 minutes before I started this blogpost, Ariel and Raeleen announced the dates for the 2020 Reading Rush! Due to having an extremely tough mental health year, I really didn't do that great on the Reading Rush in 2019. I'm hoping to redeem myself in 2020 and participate in as much as I can! I'm also thinking about doing daily vlogs, but I'm going to think on that a little bit more before making a final decision. Anywho, I'm looking forward to joining everyone on July 20-26 for The Reading Rush, and I can't wait to see what the challenges are for this year! 😊 Find more information about the 2020 Reading Rush over on the announcement video!

I'M IN!!!: Medford2Medford Virtual Run Across America

Disclaimer: I received an entry to the Medford2Medford Virtual Run Across America to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

Exciting news, y'all! I'm participating in another awesome virtual running challenge and I am pumped to share it with you! I am participating in the Medford2Medford Virtual Run Across America! This running challenge is in honor of Dave McGillivray's 1978 journey of running from Medford, Oregon to his home town of Medford, Massachusetts. I am always so fascinated by the individuals who continuously challenge themselves with cross-country treks, and I knew I had to participate in this challenge to join in on the fun!

There are three different distance options, and you can choose to run the distance solo or as part of a team. You can participate in the Massachusetts2Medford: The Home Stretch challenge (complete 142 miles solo or with a team of up to 5 members), the Mississippi2Medford: The Eastern States challenge (complete 1,258 miles solo or with a team of up to 10 members) or the full Medford2Medford: Run Across America challenge (complete 3,452 miles solo or with a team of up to 20 members). I personally signed up for the Massachusetts2Medford: The Home Stretch challenge. 142 solo miles feels totally doable, and as a resident of Massachusetts, it felt like this challenge was the perfect fit for me!

Map for the Massachusetts2Medford: The Home Stretch challenge in red,
in comparison to McGillivray's entire trek!

While the challenge ceremoniously ends on August 29th (as that was the day McGillivray completed his 3,452 mile journey), participants will have all the way until November 17th to complete their mileage. Being the type-A personality that I am, I'm personally going to shoot to have my 142 miles done by August 29th. I think that's a pretty attainable goal for myself, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see!

There are two levels at two different price points that you can choose from when you register. 

The Starter Pack ($35) includes:

-Bib

-Finisher postcard

-Invitation to participant-only Facebook group

-Access to tracking and mapping platform

The Premiere Pack ($60) includes everything in the Starter Pack, plus:

-Finisher's medal

-Neck gaiter

-Dave McGillivray's Run Across America illustrated children's book

I opted to go with the Premiere Pack and I'm excited to show you all photos of the swag once it arrives!

You can see images of all of the items above if you're impatient like me and want an idea of what everything looks like. 😄

I am so looking forward to taking on this challenge and sharing with you all what my experience is like as I virtually work my way across the state of Massachusetts! Be on the look out for lots of updates on my progress right here on the blog and on my Twitter and Instagram. If you'd like to join in on this fun as we run our way across America, you can register here!

Read Your Face Off 24 Hour Readathon // June 2020 TBR

This weekend we will be hosting another round of the Read Your Face Off 24 Hour Readathon! If you're not familiar, Jess and I host the Read Your Face Off Book Club, which holds monthly 24 hour readathons to get you caught up to speed on your TBR. These readathons happen from Saturday at 9AM in your timezone to Sunday at 9AM in your timezone, and this month we're running the readathon from Saturday, June 20 through Sunday, June 21. These are extremely low-key readathons, especially these days when the world is stressful enough as it is! The main point is to read as much as you can for the allotted 24 hours, whether that is 5 pages or 5 books!

This month I'm planning on reading a thrilling historical fiction novel and a romance novel. I'm in need of titles that are fast paced that I can breeze right through while I'm reading, as I feel like the world is in a place that is very heavy on my mind. When it comes to the books I'm picking up for recreation, I want them to be easy to read (this, of course, is in addition to the educational, anti-racist books that I'm trying to integrate in to my daily reading practice). I'm looking forward to spending my weekend reading these two titles:

November Road by Lou Berney

Beach Read by Emily Henry

What are you reading this weekend?

Friday Reflections // Recharging My Batteries

I've been feeling a little better the last few days. Much better than I've been feeling for the last few weeks. I have definitely been putting my mental well-being on the back burner lately because I've been wanting to stay as engaged and dialed in to national events related to the Black Lives Matter movement as possible. Doing so, I've obviously been exposing myself to a lot of disturbing and violent images and videos, learning about stories of police brutality, institutional racism, and oppression of my fellow American citizens and fellow humans, and also working to highlight my own internalized racism and biases and strategizing ways to work on those parts of myself. All of that isn't exactly the recipe for happiness, but it has been necessary to take these actions at this point in our shared history history. Knowledge is power, and staying informed has been my number one priority.

On Wednesday night I had the opportunity to connect with some of my student leaders on a Zoom call and, whether they realized it or not, they made me feel SO much better. I mentioned this in last week's reflection, but I've been struggling a lot with being associated with organizations that are proving to hold values that are different than my own. It's hard to be able to rationalize that within yourself, and it really makes me call into question whether or not I'm in the right place. However, hearing my students share their ideas for action and strategies to make change on campus has totally reminded me why I continue to do what I do and why I am meant to be in the position that I'm in. I woke up on Thursday morning feeling like my mindset and emotions had totally been turned around, and I've been re-energized to continue the work that needs to be done. There is a lot ahead of us.

Today I'm feeling good as well. Brett has worked for most of the day and is planning to spend the evening at his friend's house, so I'm mostly flying solo. My main plan is to focus on restoring my mental health a bit and doing small things that bring me joy. I want to spend a lot of time reading. I want to go for a bit of a run. I want to order myself sushi for dinner. I want to color and listen to podcasts and watch the YouTube videos that I need to catch up on. Mainly, I want to recharge my batteries, and I want to take the steps that I need to take to do that. I'm planning to pursue whatever feels the best for me in the moment as today, and the rest of the weekend, moves forward. 

Other things on my mind this week:

Going to Pittsburgh in July! 🎆

Brett and I were discussing what we wanted to do for the 4th of July this year. In our conversation, he suggested maybe heading to Pittsburgh to hang out with Erin & Cullen. They were also on board for this idea so Brett and I booked our flights yesterday and we will be spending an extra long weekend with them around Independence Day! It will be so good to spend time with our very best friends in a city that we really enjoy. (And it will be really interesting to fly during a pandemic. We'll be sure to keep y'all updated!)

Virtual BibRave Pro Summit 🧡

This weekend is the Virtual BibRave Pro Summit and I can't wait to partake in all of the activities! It looks like we'll be doing a virtual group run, we'll have a few opportunities to connect as a BRP cohort over Zoom, and there will be a couple different expert panels on a variety of running and social media related topics. I'm looking forward to seeing what it's all about!

Chicago Marathon Weekend Backup Plan 🏃‍♀️

Soooo... I personally am not super confident that the Chicago Marathon will happen as originally planned. If we're facing the facts, it's an event that draws about 50,000 athletes, and on top of the runners, you have hundreds of thousands of spectators, media, coaches, agents, etc. With the pandemic, it's just not super likely that I will be toeing the line in Chicago like I hope to be. I'm still going to train for the race and keep all of my fingers and toes crossed that I can run Chicago this year, but in the event that I can not, I have come up with a back up plan. 

On that same weekend, the Cocoa Beach Half Marathon is running, and it's a race that I've always so interested in running. Cocoa Beach is so close to my parents' house and I already have the time requested off from work, so in the event I can't go to Chicago, I'm going to plan to hang out with my parents in Florida and run Cocoa Beach instead! It looks like Florida has already started to have smaller in person-races, and it looks like this race company is pretty confident that the race will run as planned, so hopefully if Chicago doesn't work out, this race will! 😊

Weekend Reads 📚

In my last weekly vlog, I mentioned that I really wanted to dedicate a lot of time this month to reading, as I've really not been doing that in 2020 (and if we're being honest, most of the last 12 months haha). Since I'll have a lot of alone time this weekend, now is the perfect opportunity to read! I also now have outdoor seating and it's looking like it's about to be a gorgeous weekend ahead, so why not enjoy the beautiful warm weather and dive into some books? Here's what I want to read this weekend:

→ The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

→ Heartstopper, vol. 3 by Alice Oseman

→ How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

→ Happy & You Know It by Laura Hankin

Race Review: Run for the Zoo Virtual 10K 🦁

Disclaimer: I received a registration to review the 2020 Run for the Zoo Virtual 10k as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

It feels so great to be writing a race review again! I have been missing racing so much these last few months, and I feel so lucky to have been given the opportunity to virtually participate in the 2020 Run for the Zoo! This race is usually based in Chicago at the Lincoln Park Zoo, but due to the pandemic they were not able to have the race in person. Instead of cancelling the event outright, they opted to make the virtual and open it up to runners from all over!

The Run for the Zoo has been running for 42 years and all proceeds directly benefit the animals that live at the Lincoln Park Zoo, as well as ensures that the facility can stay free and open to the Chicago community. I really love running races that have a direct charitable cause, and especially one that directly benefits animals. Upon registration, you had the opportunity to make an additional donation to the Lincoln Park Zoo, and if you donated at least $25, you would earn a commemorative medal, pictured below!

Runners had until June 7th to register, and then had the chance to run their miles between June 7th and June 21st. I love that they gave runners some flexibility in when they could run their miles for their race. I opted to run my race on the 7th - the date the race was originally scheduled for - so that I could keep it as close to the actual race experience as possible. It was great because a lot of my fellow BibRave Pros were also running on the morning of the 7th and having a blast. It was so fun to check in with everyone on the Slack channel after the run!

As you can tell from my #flatrunner above, I definitely rocked some zoo-themed attire. I bought these awesome mint zebra striped shorts from Fabletics, and also picked up a lion tail and some lion ears from Amazon! Since we can't come together to race in-person, I wanted to make the day as fun and as festive as possible. I may or may not have gotten some funny looks from everyone out on their Sunday morning walks, but I know they weren't having as much fun as I was! 😋

The run itself could not have gone more smoothly. I didn't want to push too hard, as the week leading up to the race was particularly stressful at work and I have been having some trouble with foot pain lately, but I listened to my body and ran at the pace that felt good in the moment. I ended up running 10K in under and hour which is *so* good for me so I am thrilled with my time, and I am also so happy with how I felt throughout the run!

Look at those sub-10s across the board! 😁

Submitting your times to the race was super easy. I don't think I've done this before for a virtual race (I usually just sign up and run the miles and it's all based on honor system) so I wasn't really sure what to expect. When you sign up you get a confirmation number for your registration, like most races. Once you're done running, you needed to hop on to the Run for the Zoo website, look up your confirmation number, enter your race time, then put up proof of your run. I uploaded the first Garmin screenshot above for my proof. If you don't have a GPS watch, you can always use a free run tracking app - there are dozens out there! Once I hit submit on my time, I could officially say that I had completed the Run for the Zoo!

All participants of this race received a participant tech shirt, which I ended up wearing for the rest of the afternoon as a symbol of achievement! It's a super comfy, loose-fitting tech tee (which I prefer!) and I know that it will easily fit into my running attire rotation. Here's an image of what it looks like, because for whatever reason I didn't take a photo of myself for the rest of the day on Sunday. 😂

Overall, running the Run for the Zoo virtual 10k was a great experience! The crew at Lincoln Park Zoo that managed this event communicated with participants so well, and I never felt confused about what I needed to do in order to complete the race. I'm sure that coming together and racing in person in Chicago would have been exponentially more fun, but I so appreciate everything that the Lincoln Park Zoo did for its runners and pivoting so seamlessly to a virtual race. This is a great organization and race to run for, so I definitely recommend signing up for their 2021 race!

Thank you again to both BibRave and the Lincoln Park Zoo for allowing me to run this race!

I am (finger crossed) going to be in Chicago this fall for the Chicago Marathon, so I might try to swing by the Lincoln Park Zoo for a little visit while I'm out there! 💗

Friday Reflections // Black Lives Matter

I want to state emphatically that 

BLACK LIVES MATTER.

All that I've felt like I could focus on this week is working to fight against racial injustices, continuing my anti-racist education, and using my privilege to work toward dismantling systems of racial oppression. It's been a long week. It's been a challenging week. I've been realizing that I'm part of a lot of organizations that don't align with my values, and that is extremely difficult to come to terms with. However, I'm committed to continuing this fight even if (especially if) it makes me uncomfortable. I encourage you to do the same.

If you're looking for resources, you can find a ton on this Google Doc.

I'm reading How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi and will be reading through it on the coming days. I want to read it slowly so I can take my time to really absorb the material. I feel like this book is a great discussion on the importance on why it is so, so important to take a stance on racism. Calling yourself "not racist" is an act of complacency. In order to take a genuine stride toward change, you need to be vehemently and vocally anti-racist. I know that everyone is on their own path when it comes to this work, so please don't overwhelm yourself by trying to do ALL THE THINGS right away. Start where you need to begin, and always be striving to learn more and do more. 

I wanted to end with my favorite quote of this week:

"In a racist society, it is not enough to be non-racist.

We must be anti-racist."

-Angela Davis

Product Review: ROADiD Wrist ID

Disclaimer: I received a ROADiD Wrist ID to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find, and write race reviews!

One of the things that I worry about a lot when I'm out running is what would happen if anything happened to me. Would I be taken care of? Would someone call my emergency contact? As scary and uncomfortable as it is to think about those situations, I think it is extremely important to take every safety precaution possible and prepare for the worst, especially if you're running solo. I've had my eye on obtaining a ROADiD for quite some time as I knew that they are an extremely easy way to protect yourself when you're out and about alone. I'm so glad that I've gotten to try one out for myself over these last few weeks and I'm here to let you know my thoughts!

I ordered the ROADiD Wrist ID in the Sport style, pictured above and linked here. I'm not someone who likes to wear a ton of jewelry or things on my wrist, so I went with the smaller option for the band at 13mm. The color style I went with was Coral for the band and Slate for the hardware. I also wanted to add a Badge to my ROADiD and opted for this one which made me chuckle:

Here's what it ended up looking like on my wrist!

I really love how light-weight the Wrist ID is. I was a little nervous that adding one more piece of jewelry to my wrist was going to feel cumbersome, but it doesn't in the least! The nylon strap is super breathable and I don't notice it at all when I'm out on my runs. The Velcro keeps the band super secure so it's not bouncing all over my arm while I'm running. Overall, it feels great and it's easy for me to just pop it on my wrist and continue on with my day. I even find myself wearing it around when I'm not running, which I think really speaks to its comfort!

Out on a walk with Cassie's pup Abby on a particularly warm day. 

I wanted to wear my Wrist ID to feel safe in the hot weather!

With the 13mm Wrist ID, you're able to get 4 lines of text engraved. You're allowed to select any text you want on your ROADiD product, and I've seen people include multiple emergency contacts, allergies, blood type, different disorders that they would want someone to be aware of... literally anything you want, they will engrave for you. I opted to go with my name, my hometown, an emergency contact name & phone number, and even a motivational mantra for myself - ONE STEP AT A TIME. (Obviously I can't show you the personal info, but you can get the gist!)

My favorite thing about owning and using a ROADiD product? THE PEACE OF MIND. When you're out running around, you never know what might happen and it's super important to have some kind of identifier on you in the event of an emergency. If I'm ever in a situation where I need help and I can't communicate with folks, I am so thankful that I'll have my Wrist ID on my wrist to do the communicating for me. I'm a big fan of ROADiD and I think anyone who ventures outside on their own should have one. They have so many different products so I highly recommend checking out their website and giving one of them a try! 

Use the code "SAVE25BRP" to save 25% off your order, 

and let me know in the comments which product you're trying!

Still not sure?

Check out reviews from a few of my other BibRave Pros below!

Cass_ontheRun

Run with Coach Fischer

Scootadoot

Run, Eat, Ralph

Lisha Runs Life