My "3 R's" and a "W"

You know what always bugged me? Being the grammar nut I am, the "3 R's" drive me nuts. Two of the three words don't even start with R, and the one of them doesn't even really have the R sound...you have to butcher it into some weird slangy version of itself to make it work!

But of course, when something sticks, it sticks. Here are my "3 R's" lately.

Reading:
I've gotten through quite a few books so far this school year...I'm well on my way to my 30-book goal. The next on my list is Hollow City, which is Ransom Riggs's followup to Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, which I adored.

I'm pretty annoyed with American Psycho. As much as I enjoyed it as social commentary, I'm baffled by its purposeful ambiguity. I get it, we don't really know if Bateman is a serial killer or not. But I just wish there were some more solid clues to go by!

After picking-up-and-putting-down The Book Thief a few times, I finally finished it over winter break and truly enjoyed it. Death's perspective and way with words was immensely distracting at first, which is why I abandoned the book a few times, but eventually the florid language settled down and I was able to get into the story.

Writing:
Most bloggers are writers; that's why we're drawn to blogging. I'm sad to admit I haven't finished an actual manuscript in years (I've spent the last two editing the last one I finished), but I'm finally taking some steps to find an agent and maybe get published. Sometimes we need to face our fears and put our guts on display.

It's time to buckle down, put first things first, and get back into writing more consistently.

Running:
I hit a milestone this week! It's the first time I've ever had a bruised toenail! I'm so proud!

Can you tell?! (It's the little purple dot on my second toe!)

If I'm being honest, I must admit all my runs have been tough lately. My pace has slowed down significantly. When I was doing the summer run streak, I took 40-60 seconds off my pace; now I'm back up almost 90 seconds, despite doing speed-work and cross-training! I know adding distance and running on fatigued legs is probably the cause, but I'm pretty discouraged at how slow (for me) I feel lately.

MLK run...6.5 miles of lead-legs.

All I can do is keep chugging away. I know the tides will turn again.

Weekend:
We spent the long weekend enjoying the weather. Matt had a SUP race and three of our friends also paddled! Sean came to paddle straight from the half marathon some of my Ragnar teammates ran!

Super happy for them!

I was impressed. Everyone placed, which was awesome, and Matt came in first overall!

Tell me about your "3 R's"!
Did you have a long weekend in honor of MLK?

ABK