In this latest issue of our blog
you will find all the great content listed below
Testing your Endurance
When one is training for any kind of race there comes a day, a weekend, a point in which one must test their endurance by doing a long training session.
Obviously, if you are running a 5k, you might actually run that distance many times before race day. Even when I have run half marathons I have typically run the distance several times prior to the actual race.
If you are running a marathon or an ultra you tend to train a little differently. Sure, you are still building miles, but most people believe you don’t need to stress your body to the point of actually doing 26.2 miles before your marathon. They believe that if you can crank out 20 miles then surely you can manage another 6.2. I’m not going to lie, that last 6.2 is HARD. Now, I am no master of training. In fact, I’m the opposite. I like to do the bare minimum of suffering prior to the actual day of suffering because who suffers needlessly?
However, in order to build endurance one must push themselves beyond their comfort level before race day. You can’t expect to go the distance if you haven’t tested the limits of your abilities.
I love Grammarly
I am not sure if we have established as common knowledge that I am a bit of a nerd. I like to read and learn and I am a sucker for school supplies. When those crisp folders and flashy post-it notes line the aisles of Target around early August my heart rate creeps up and my palms start to sweat. I try to come up with all sorts of reasons that I need a brand new folder, spiral-bound notebook, or a glue stick.
All of that information will allow what I am about to tell you next to make sense. I love the app called Grammarly but more specifically I love the progress email it sends me each week. Grammarly is what you may have surmised, an app that helps you improve your grammar, punctuation, and all things writing. In fact, I hope I get some bonus points in my email next week for writing about Grammarly while using Grammarly.
Deep Work
This week I want to tell you about the book Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport but first, I have to share that based on Lowi’s recommendation I am reading The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah and I am gripped. This book is wrecking me with its ravaged tale of the Dust Bowl in the 1930s but at the same time, I cannot get enough. I am about 80% done and I wake up in the morning wondering if I have time to get a little further because I have to know what happens to these characters. I know this is not how book reviews are traditionally supposed to go but I put the G in Lowi & G so I am taking creative license.
“The greatest strength is the spirit of endurance.”
– Lailah Gifty Akita
Off Your Rucker
There is a conventional, or maybe not-so-conventional wisdom that says the universe conspires in your favor. All of us at one time or another have looked for signs to know we are on the right path. We have maybe even visited a psychic, polled all our friends, or flipped a coin to determine what the next best step is.
One of the ways I often make decisions or know that I should pay attention is when a theme is recurring. If I keep seeing the same car, keep hearing about the same book, whatever the sign may be, it takes a few appearances but I start to catch on.
A similar preponderance of signs was collected for me earlier this year about the value of rucking. If you are new to this term; rucking is a low-intensity exercise in which you add weight to your back while walking or hiking.
Lowi & G 