Avalon, Chattanooga, Dinosaur Valley, Kohler, Sedalia + Washington D.C.
Races you'll love running + a few great reads
Good morning, my friends! ☀️
Like you, most likely, I read a range of newsletters. One of my favorites is one that has nothing to do with running — it’s about writing — but often I find so much in it that inspires me in many different areas of my life.
It’s called The Maven Game, and to be honest I’m not quite sure why it’s called that, as I’ve been a subscriber for years and have long since forgotten when, why or how I stumbled across it. Now, it’s just simply a part of my intellectual life, part of the water I swim in.
What caught my attention this weekend was a note its author, David Moldawer, included from another writer named Jane Friedman, who writes about the publishing business for her series of newsletters and her website.
Noting her success with a relative lack of output compared to many other newsletter writers — she publishes her Electric Speed newsletter only every two weeks, not multiple times a week like many do — he was especially intrigued with why this works for her.
Friedman wrote:
“I don’t send as frequently as most, I don’t study my metrics, and I don’t follow best practices on email length or subscriber retention. Could I be doing better if I modified my practices? Maybe. Probably. (OK, certainly.) But what’s more important to me is sustainability. I’m only willing to do what I can reasonably sustain for years.”
As Moldawer wrote, Friedman’s sentiments are “true of newsletters, true of all writing, true of any creative practice. This is a marathon, not a sprint. You need to stick with it to get anywhere good.”
That’s so true. It’s also an idea I’m more drawn to recently, as I’m used to training cycles that escalate over a period of 3-4 months, after which you kind of feel like you fall off a cliff. But when you run a little bit every day — or do anything a little bit every day — you build and sculpt yourself in a way that’s sustainable, that you won’t abandon when the level of effort gets too high.
What do you think? Do you approach your running — or your creative/artistic pursuits — in this way?
I’d love to hear. As always, I hope you’re able to get outside and enjoy a great run out there — keep in touch!
Your friend,
— Terrell
Still Hollow Half Marathon
Chattanooga, Tenn. | Saturday, August 6, 2022
Filled with some 2,800 acres of forests, biking trails and walking paths, Chattanooga’s Enterprise South Nature Park is the setting for this small trail race, which usually draws a few hundred runners every August. You’ll run across a range of terrain, from dirt to mulch, with plenty of rocks and tree roots to contend with. There are also plenty of hills in the first half of the race, so expect lots of up-and-down terrain. The park has an interesting history — for more than 30 years, it served as the Volunteer Army Ammunition Plant, where TNT was made. So don’t be surprised if you see more than a few sealed ammunition bunkers when you’re out running through the woods.
$60 and up | Sign up here
Old Plank Sunset Half
Kohler, Wis. | Saturday, August 6, 2022
Perhaps known best for its resort village Destination Kohler, as well as its famed golf courses like Whistling Straits and Blackwolf Run, this small village of just over 2,000 people in southern Wisconsin plays host to a late-summer half marathon that runs in the evening, when temperatures will be warm (but not too warm), along a recreational trail that stretches more than 20 miles across the county.
$75 and up | Sign up here