Penny Thoughtful: All Things Books and Running
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Ottawa Marathon Week 2 – Still in Limbo
Not much has changed since I started training last week. Although, the marathon organizers did send out an email to reassure us that they plan to keep us informed as they monitor the situation. They also sent a separate email to international participants, of which I am one. This one also said much the same…
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The Problems with Comparisons
Since COVID-19 became the topic on social media, people have thrown around comparisons to all sorts of situations, most of those comparisons, invalid. As an avid user of comparative historiography, its misuse pains me. Comparisons when used well shine a light on aspects of history that people neglected to pay attention to. When used incorrectly,…
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Change of Plans
Like millions of people the world over, this has happened in my life in a myriad of ways, most trivially here on the blog. Instead of continuing my travelogues series, of which I had just one day left of the Grand European adventure, I will suspend that for now. I still intend to write a…
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Ottawa Marathon Training Week 1 – Starting in Uncertainty
I have taken a break from writing weekly recaps for quite some time, prior to starting this iteration of my blog. I think I had reached a stale point where the writing no longer challenged me and I fell into a running rut. As I start my second marathon training cycle this year, I want…
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COVID-19 – Change, Uncertainty, and Dealing with the Extremes
For several weeks, most of second quarter, I started my social studies classes by showing CNN 10, a ten minute current events news show packaged in a format geared for middle and high school students. Just before we stopped watching, the coronavirus, now official named COVID-19, had just started to creep onto the world’s radar.…
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Travelogues – Grand European Adventure Day 21 – Córdoba at Last
Years ago I fell in love with Córdoba Cathedral. My 9th grade world history book had a small picture of the cathedral by the section discussing the Moorish influence on the Iberian peninsula and the Reconquista. I cannot explain why this picture imprinted on my heart and others did not. I can see pictures of…
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Atlanta Marathon 2020 – Race Recap
Race #182Marathon #122020 Race #22020 Marathon #1Georgia Marathon #2State #7 (repeat state)Atlanta Marathon #1 What an amazing weekend! I will save the travelogue recap of Saturday with the race expo and the Olympic Marathon Trials for several weeks from now when I finish the travelogues from this summer. (The photos do not go in order…
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Travelogues – Grand European Adventure Day 20 – Saints, Walls, & Aqueducts
As someone who loves Spain as much as I say that I do, I know remarkably little of its history apart from the major events. Thus, the primary factor I considered when selecting trous was possible historic connections available as day trips from Madrid. Thus, I chose the Avila and Segovia tour for less than…
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The Plan for Atlanta
In five days I will run my 12th marathon and Mom will run her 3rd. Not only will I run by 12th marathon but I will break my nearly two year drought of marathon running.
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Travelogues – Grand European Adventure Day 19 – Toledo Treasure
I chose the day trip to Toledo primarily because I wanted to use madrid as a home base and this tour, amongst only a handful of others, departed from there. Serendipity ended up giving me my second favorite guided tour (a near tie with the World War I battlefields tour) and took me to my…
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