Blog

The Kandahar Marathon: Week Twelve

Week Twelve “Your anger is a gift.” ~Zack de la Roca Monday was the Afghan New Year, or the Persian New Year, based on the cycle of the seasons. I find it romantic that the start of spring should also be the start of the year. The Gregorian Calendar’s many flaws are perhaps best encapsulated…
Read more

The Kandahar Marathon: Week Eleven

“The world is nothing but a moment.” ~Rumi I think that I had almost completely forgotten how to relax. I can vaguely remember times in college when I seemingly had time to play video games and basketball all day long, when as I remember it I was neither ambitious nor productive, and when I was…
Read more

The Kandahar Marathon: Week Ten

“Living gratefully begins with affirming the good and recognizing its sources. It is the understanding that life owes me nothing and all the good I have is a gift, accompanied by an awareness that nothing can be taken for granted.” ~Robert Emmons Monday morning I was sitting, well, if I’m to be entirely candid with…
Read more

The Kandahar Marathon: Week Nine

“I don’t need a ride. I need ammunition.” ~Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky It is beginning to get light outside earlier in the morning, and this comforting phenomenon has been coupled with a general if erratic increase in temperature. I began formal marathon training Monday, using Bart Yasso’s sixteen-week plan. It’s odd to think that I’ve…
Read more

The Kandahar Marathon: Week Eight

“Time passes; only memories remain.” ~Anonymous There are no shortage of discouragements in the world. You don’t need to look for them—they’ll find you. If you’re looking for an excuse not to run, not to help, not to donate, not to get out of bed in the morning, you can always find one of those.…
Read more

The Kandahar Marathon: Week Seven

“Abigail Williams, sir… without a word nor warnin she falls to the floor… stuck two inches in the flesh of her belly, he draw a needle out…. ‘Tis hard proof! I find here a poppet Goody Proctor keeps… And in the belley of the poppet a needle’s stuck.” ~Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Act II I…
Read more

The Kandahar Marathon: Week Six

“As a breed, runners are a pretty gutsy bunch. We constantly push ourselves to discover limitations, then push past them. We want to know how fast we can go, how much pain we can endure, and how far our bodies can carry us before collapsing in exhaustion.” ~Bart Yasso, My Life on the Run It…
Read more

The Kandahar Marathon: Week Five

Week Five “The reason we race isn’t so much to beat each other…but to be with each other.” ~Chris McDougall, Born to Run I slept badly again—apparently its my new Sunday night tradition. This time, however, it was fueled not by the adrenaline of an unlikely Kansas City win but instead by the anguish of…
Read more

The Kandahar Marathon: Week Four

Week Four “Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion.” ~Rumi I slept terribly Sunday night. The Chiefs, a team I’ve supported since Joe Montana was unceremoniously dealt them by the 49ers, had won what I will say without any hint of hyperbole was the best football game I’ve ever seen. I…
Read more

The Kandahar Marathon: Week Three

Week Three “One of the great tragedies of life is that men seldom bridge the gulf between practice and profession, between doing and saying. A persistent schizophrenia leaves so many of us tragically divided against ourselves. On the one hand, we proudly profess certain sublime and noble principles, but on the other hand, we sadly…
Read more

Pin It on Pinterest