The Grapes of Wrath

I'm currently Rereading The Grapes of Wrath by: Jon Steinbeck and am really loving it.

But now, everything that I see reminds me of the book. I see old cars I think of jalopies. I got a flat bike tire I think of families patching their last tire while looking for work. When I tell someone about my family I want to say"fambly" instead of family. When I ran my race on Sauvie Island, an island where people often go to pick their own produce off of farms, I thought, "Hm... people pay for this experience" In contrast to the Joads (the protagonists) who were begging to do this stuff and get paid. I ran past an engine rebuilding store yesterday and thought about the book. I saw a homeless person's sleeping area and thought of Hoovervilles.

This book is inside my head in a way I don't think a book has ever been. I wonder if it's just this book or if it's a transition in the way I think about my reading materials. I kind of like it. It gives me a lot more ability to reflect on what I'm reading. I might go on a bit of a Steinbeck kick and see if the others are like this.

Hope you all have been finding some good reading material. I'm off to bed. Got to get up early and go for my run in the morning.

Under Two

So, I ran my half marathon this morning.

Woke up at 4:45, ate oatmeal, drank water, took a shower to clear up my lungs and left for the race at 5:30 in order to get there around 6:00 for my 6:45 race. After getting stuck in 42 minutes of traffic and then waiting in line for a port-a-potty for the next 10 minutes I ran over to the race start (where they had just started the race a bit late). And, not knowing my start time or what pace anyone around me was running, began the race.

I ran the first 10-11 miles at a pretty steady clip. After the first couple of miles I stayed pretty close to the same group of runners. But, kinda faded out a little with the last 2 miles or so. I checked my time though and ran the race in under two hours which is always kinda my main goal. My official time was 1hour 51minutes and 15seconds. That drops me at just under a 8:30 mile pace so I guess I can't complain.

During the race I meet a girl who was running barefoot and she was really nice to talk to and after the race everyone got strawberry short cake. Those two things were probably my favorite thing about the race. Now, weather to keep training for another race. My biggest hang up is that I want to run a race with a bigger crowd to cheer for you and none of the races I've been training for really fit that bill.

Anyways, happy 4th to all of you. Hope you're having a great day holiday!

Pre-race (and work) allergies

I woke up this morning feeling down right awful. My allergies are destroying me. I took an allergy pill and am drinking some tea that should make me feel better but what a bad way to start off a day of work and the day before a big race. Hopefully, I'll continue to feel better and better and by race time this will be a distant memory.

I'm packing some cold and allergy meds with me to work today. Fingers crossed that they don't make me totally spacey. I actually looked up the ingredients in the pills I'm taking and one of them is (not fully researched) supposed to work as an antidepressant. Interesting... Maybe it will be a fairly happy, spacey day (if it is any of those things).

Gots to go. You all have a great Sunday.