• 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)
• Accommodating • [2 MIN READ] All the phone gazing I do that SRC-ers tell me to stop caught up to me. What with the starting and pausing of MapMyRun or the logging of a thought or detail, club runners are worried about me injuring myself. “Ah, I’ll be fine,” I say dismissively. Until I’m … More Lessons from a Sprained Ankle (#196: ZY Weekly Newsletter 8/30/25)
• Avoiding • [2 MIN READ] Minimizing distraction would be a good way to avoid spraining an ankle. I could read a book and walk home from elementary school as a kid, but using a smartphone and running is not the same thing. Spraining an ankle off the roadbed where there was no curb was … More Lessons from a Sprained Ankle II (#197: ZY Weekly Newsletter 9/6/25)
• 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)
• Certainty amid uncertainty • [<2 MIN READ] Every marathon training cycle I’ve gone through lately has seemed to bring something unprecedented. With Philadelphia coming up 11’23’U (Sunday), this one has me needing to work especially hard on pace and bringing weekly mileage in line. Since the last marathon, Delaware Running Festival Marathon (04’06’U), I’ve … More Working Toward Philadelphia Marathon: 2025’11’23’U (#194: ZY Weekly Newsletter 8/23/25)
• 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)
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