I’m an American, and the only reason I have a vague idea of how far a kilometer is is because I’m also a runner.

I learned quickly how far a few common distances are in both kilometers and miles. A 5K is about 3.1 miles, a 10k is about 6.2 miles, a half marathon is about 21 km and a full marathon is about 42 km. These are common race distances all over the world. You might see the odd 5 or 10-mile race distance thrown in there, but all in all, Americans also prefer to race in metric.

Alternately, most American training plans use miles. Why? Well, you’re asking the wrong person. …

Quiet, unassuming, no one knows
The thoughts he has beneath the flows
Under the surface, under the sun
Cool depths shield him from the “fun”
Inflicted by well-meaning souls
Who can’t see past the end of their nose.
The pressure of outside keeps him in
And when he’s “freed” his pain begins.
The ugliest creature beneath the sea
Was once a normal-looking fish indeed:
Pulled out of his shell, too late to retreat,
Teased mercilessly until defeat
Melts him into a blob of fish. …

HUMOR

I’ve decided to turn over a new leaf. While in the past, I’ve spoken about my inability to use Twitter as well as my lack of fashion sense, the time has come to embrace my new calling.

A new follower on Twitter was kind enough to announce my new career as a budding freelance fashion designer.

This article is just a self-deprecating joke! I ran a race by myself and there was no planning involved whatsoever. Happy Thanksgiving!

I decided on this race at the last minute. Traditionally on Thanksgiving morning, I run a half marathon which benefits the local food pantry, but this year the race was virtual so I decided to skip it and donate money instead.

Anyway. This was the worst Thanksgiving 5k I have ever run in my life. This race was called

Brynn’s Flat, Fast, and Fabulous 5k Turkey Trot.

The course

First of all, parking for the race was a mile away from the start. A mile! Terrible planning on the part of the race director. Who wants to run a mile before running a 5k? …

I watched a boy get hit by a car.

It was just before dawn, the winter sky dark and heavy with clouds, and I was running near a high school. I’d only been running for a few minutes and was approaching an intersection. The streets are well-lit with street lights, and traffic signals let pedestrians and drivers know when it was their turn to go.

The boy was riding his bike to school, waiting at the other side of intersection for the traffic signal to change. The light changed from red to green, and the white “Walk” sign lit up. …

Back in April, after the pandemic was in full swing and I had begun the love/hate relationship with my treadmill, I signed up for a virtual race through Zwift, an online platform for runners and cyclists. My real-life race had been canceled; otherwise, I never would have dreamed of running a race on the treadmill on purpose.

After my race, I was surprised to see the first comment ever on any of my Zwift workouts. It was from a guy inviting me to join a group called ZLDR — Zwift Long Distance Runners.

Curious, and with no running community in real life and real-life races canceled for the foreseeable future, I joined their Facebook group and was surprised by what I found. …

Being an eternal optimist can really bite you in the butt sometimes.

I talked my friend into signing up for this trail race. It was 20 miles long and scheduled a few weeks before the marathon we were training for. Perfect timing, right? And running a race with water, food, and other people is way more fun than slogging out 20 miles on your own for a training run.

It was on “single track” trails, whatever that meant. At home, I ran on sidewalks and gravel roads. Elevation gain for the race was 2,600 feet, “only” a little over a hundred feet per mile. …

I thought I’d missed my window. A few weeks ago, we had our first snow of the year; usually, this means that the ground will soon be frozen until the thaw comes in April. A bag of daffodil bulbs sat on my shelf, frozen in time in their onion-like existence. Just waiting.

I’ve always loved daffodils. They are one of the first faces of spring, the first bit of green and yellow of an otherwise brown and rainy season. For some reason, I never took the time to plant any of my own, but they brought a smile to my face when I saw them in the gardens of others. …