I think some people might get more out of the mental health story in this video than others, but everybody can enjoy the editing, cinematography, light, and colors of Helena Bourdillon’s freediving—and the line about pleasure vs. joy. (video)
I think you could definitely argue with the wording of this headline, “Hitting a baseball is the hardest skill to pull off in sports,” as there are many things that are as hard or harder, depending on the situation. But when I go to a minor league baseball game where I live, and the pitchers are throwing 90-mile-per-hour fastballs, I don’t even want to stand in the batter’s box, let alone try to hit the ball. From the article: “And even though a hitter has that 150 milliseconds to decide whether to swing, the ball is only in the hitting zone for less than 10 milliseconds, according to David Kagan, a physics professor at California State University, Chico, and the self-proclaimed ‘Einstein of the National Pastime.’”
Alpine Running Guides (who will also be guiding my Freeflow Institute trail running + writing workshop this September) has spots available on its six-day Winter Running Retreat in Tucson the first week of January 2024. If you are thinking about planning things for Future You, who might like some sunshine and dry trails in the dead of winter, maybe these phrases sound good: a) eating healthy chef-prepared meals, b) staying in a quiet mansion near the base of Mt. Lemmon, c) casual running on technical Sonoran Desert trails, d) not being at work for a week. Also, 2022 Western States 100 champion Adam Peterman will be joining for some of the runs. Prices go up on July 31.
I have a copy of Ross Gay’s The Book of Delights on my desk, just in case I need some inspiration to get started writing, or some inspiration to just be grateful for things. It occurs to me now that he is currently my answer to that question people sometimes ask: “If you could have dinner with one person, living or dead, who would it be?” Since that seems like a pretty unlikely thing, I searched the Apple Podcasts app for his name last week, and found he’d been on We Can Do Hard Things quite recently. I am happy to report that he sounds just as wonderful in conversation as I imagined he would be, from reading his writing. I don’t know if I’m in a space where I really needed what he was saying or what, but just the first five minutes of this interview made me feel lighter somehow.
You know, I am a fan of Taco John’s, but I kind of thought this whole battle went on for way too long. But then, reading this article about the battle for “Taco Tuesday” made me realize that if it hadn’t gone on that long, the story wouldn’t be nearly as fun/funny. Like if they had just given up 10 years ago, LeBron James would have never created an online petition, and all this other stuff. Still, I’m glad it’s over.
OK, I have only eaten at one of the Chicago restaurants on this list (Kasama), and I have not seen Season 2 of The Bear yet (long story, don’t judge me) but damn I love it when people create things like this: The Definitive Guide to Restaurants Featured in ‘The Bear’
I was pretty late to discovering Tommy Rivs—I don’t think I had any idea who he was until he had been diagnosed with lung cancer in 2020. But I became a fan, and every time his name pops up in a bit of media, I think there’s a good chance there will be something memorable in it. This video, “Why Do You Run?” showed up on Threads this week via the writer and runner Peter Bromka, and in Mario Fraioli’s The Morning Shakeout newsletter, and I don’t want to spoil it, but I think one of the best lines is in the first 60 seconds.
And FINALLY: PRACTICE MAXIMUM ENTHUSIASM RUNNING HATS!
These hats do not physically exist yet. They are available for pre-order for $34.99 from right now until 11:59 p.m. July 30th, which means:
- When you order a hat, it will be created by the folks at rnnr
- It will be shipped to you the second week of October
- These hats are otherwise unavailable—we are not making a batch of 500 hats and hoping we can sell them. We are making a batch of 67 (or however many pre-orders we get between now and 11:59 p.m. on July 30th), and sending those 67 (or however many) hats to the people who ordered them.
- One size fits most (adjustable from 56 cm up/22 inches)
- They’re only in the color pictured
- You do not have to run to wear one (but you can run in them)
- Click here (or on any of the hat images) for all the info: https://store.dftba.com/products/practice-maximum-enthusiasm-x-rnnr-running-hat
