Non Sequitur Box

On Wednesday of this week, I ran a mile around a track (yes, a true mile, not a 1600m). I did the same thing this morning. I had a good race on Wednesday and a bad race today. I was really aiming to run faster today. Wednesday was a long day of hydrating at work and making it through traffic to a warm, overcast track mile race. DC Road Runners put on the race at T.C. Williams High School. Our coach uses the race day as the team photo day. I ran in the ladies' fast heat (under 6:00, over 5:15) with a few of my teammates from Capital Area Runners. It was okay. It felt good, even if I didn't negative split. Here are my splits: 1:22 2:44 4:09 5:29 I was happy with that, seeing as I ran a 5:28 at the Loudon Street Mile (downhill road mile), and this made the track mile official. On Thursday, I ran 3 miles and 10 miles, both relaxed and slow. On Friday I ran 6.5 miles. **This next paragraph has TOO MUCH INFORMATION. Stop reading if you can't handle female body cycle...

So much for reading a book a month. I'm all over the place this year with reading books, papers, and work-related information. My new goal is just to read 12 books non-work-related this year. The most recent book I finished was Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell. I really enjoyed this book. Gladwell covers various instances of success who are seemingly "outliers" at first glance. He delves deeper into the subjects, exposing each person's unique circumstances that allowed them to succeed. As someone who wants to consider herself a "success" someday, I was slightly disheartened at the thought of not being able to "make it" through my own hustle. At the same time, I realized all the people and sheer luck that has led to my success so far. In Outliers , Gladwell explains why being at the slightly older age range of your learning or sport group gives you an edge. He uses a team of hockey players as an example. The difference lies in childhood--if you...