• Serendipitous and deliberate • [1½ MIN READ] Since travel during race-training season often overlaps with customary training runs, one must make allowances. For me, making them gives me an opportunity to make friends in new spaces. Take Wife’s professional meetings, for instance. I’ll have her put out an announcement about a morning group run … More Accommodating Has Its Rewards (#324: 2025’10’01’W)
• I did 2024 okay • [2 MIN READ] Last week’s ZY Newsletter feature, “Elsewhere on the Web” (“Rumination 2”), got my attention because I wanted to compare notes with my experience last spring 2024. Then, I did two marathons in a row for the second time in my 14-year running career, those were to … More A Double-marathon Season (#198: ZY Weekly Newsletter 9/20/25)
• Instead of “Run” • [1½ MIN READ] It’s odd to think how many JRC GGR-ers, back in the day, were not actually denizens of Jenkintown, given the store’s name; but, you know, retailers can’t discriminate: it’s bad for business (Jenkintown Running Company online and this website). What’s odd, relatively, is how many Jenkintonians there … More Walk Report (#323: 2025’09’24’W)
• Yer a big deal already • [2 MIN READ] Newbie Kate joined the Growlers for the first time and created trouble immediately. For me anyway. As someone who writes about the club and its peeps, I don’t use full names. So, the first appearance of any name among the crew is not a problem, … More Welcome to a New Runner (#322: 2025’09’17’W)
• Begun as early as possible • [1 MIN READ] Torin was bor’n [sic] just 2 months ago and he’s already getting out there on the course. We’ve had a bunch of infants and kiddos joining the crew—some actually running—so we’re hoping good things for Torin’s interest in the Growlers. Whether the early exposure to … More Positive Influencing (#321: 2025’09’10’W)
• A certain kind of failure • [<1½ MIN READ] Using both Strava and MapMyRun to track every week’s run is a thing for me—both apps—as is getting a nice, round number to prove my compulsiveness. So, imagine my dismay when my phone battery died on me last week, midrun. Some people will argue running … More Run Report: 08’27’W (#320: 2025’09’03’W)
• But I made it too easy • [1 MIN READ] “Hey, Calvin, check out these leopard-skin tights! You could wear them.” “You’re right! They’re awesome! Who couldn’t use a pair of leopard-skin running tights?” And so the conversation went. Or some variation of it. They were on the discount rack at the running store … More She Did Me Wrong, Stacey Did (#319: 2025’08’27’W)
• Getting the details right • [1 MIN READ] Under other conditions, the comments would have been: “Drinking club with a running problem? It’s raining: Let’s go. Then, let’s pour.” Under last week’s conditions, though, it was raining mighty hard. One runner messaged me with: ‘Bail’. The others didn’t message at all but just…bailed. Four … More It’s Pouring: Let’s Go. Then, Let’s Run. (#318: 2025’08’20’W)
• Now just a little older and more familiar • [2 MIN READ] Hanging out again post-run at The Pizza Wheel, I looked at the name of our young server on the bill. Sometimes restaurant staff use other people’s logins, so I confirmed it with her as we made to go. Meredith took the opportunity … More You’re My Neighbor (#317: 2025’08’13’W)
• Communities in community • [2½ MIN READ] At Black Men Run Wednesdays Five years ago (virtually to the day), Train Dave and I joined Black Men Run Philadelphia as the inaugural Growlers travel team. We attended a 2nd time in 2020 then went on hiatus while we waited for the Growlers Group Run to … More Good Times with BMR for Wednesdays and Juneteenth (#316: 2025’08’06’W)
iCandybyWangC 