Of Mice and Men; 8 rules; & race report inspiration
Diet book report: Of Mice and Men
I was pumped to read Murder on the Orient Express but it was checked out of both the Pleasanton and Livermore libraries which officially marks the first bad thing about libraries.
They may not have the book you want in stock and on-demand. Very un-2018.
I browsed the classics and still balked at 1984.
I ended up checking out Of Mice and Men to continue my series of books I was assigned in high school but never quite got around to. Plus, it would be a quick read while I waited for Murder on the Orient Express.
Weighing in at only 103 pages, I was confident it wouldn’t take long.
[Note: Stacy ended up buying Murder on the Orient Express at Target. We’re both knee deep in the mystery. We didn’t have to delay gratification too long, after-all. Full report forthcoming].
A quick Of Mice and Men refresher from Wikipedia.
Of Mice and Men is a novella written by author John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, it tells the story of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers, who move from place to place in California in search of new job opportunities during the Great Depression in the United States.
The story was equally gripping and cringe inducing. As it unfolded, you knew what was coming. Partially from my fuzzy memory but mostly because it couldn’t end any other way. [Spoiler alert for an 80 year old book]: It ends with death. Lots of death.
Working as a ranch hand during the Great Depression was a difficult, lonely existence. Men would pick up work for a month or two, blow their money, and move on. That cycle continued endlessly. That is what made George and Lennie traveling as a pair so unique.
The value and novelty of their partnership was highlighted throughout the book in how they cared for and looked after each other. While George navigated keeping them alive and somewhat out of trouble, Lennie offered George friendship and a purpose greater than himself.
In the initial interview at the ranch, the owner tells George, “Well, I never seen one guy take so much trouble for another guy.” After he repeatedly answered all questions directed at Lennie for fear of jeopardizing their much-needed gig.
Their relationship’s value was further magnified by the loneliness of literally everyone else they came into contact with throughout the story.
I wouldn’t describe it as light reading but a compelling story, for sure.
‘X rules to improve your life’ posts on medium.
I’m definitely susceptible to motivational posts and their relentless confirmation bias. This one was by Brad Stulberg, whose Peak Performance book is currently on hold for me at the Pleasanton library.
While these personal growth-type posts seem to be wildly popular [with me], the post that probably needs to be written is ‘how to take a medium post and apply it to your life consistently without giving up after a few days and moving on to a new post’
Shit is hard.
I liked all of the 8 rules but this was my favorite:
5. Take Small, Consistent Steps to Achieve Big Gains
Habits build upon themselves. If you want to make any kind of significant change, you’d be wise to do so gradually and over time. In Stanford researcher BJ Fogg’s behavior model, whether someone takes action depends on both their motivation and their ability to complete a given task. If you regularly overshoot on the ability side of the equation, you’re liable to become discouraged and quickly flame out. But if you incrementally increase the challenge, what was hard last week will seem easier today. Put differently: Small and consistent victories compound over time, leading to massive gains.
This is of particular interest to me as I continue to attempt to turn my hobbies into habits this year.
Hiker/ultra-runner, Andrew Skurka, ran sub-2:30 at the Houston Marathon.
As if I needed additional motivation, my commitment to another marathon is now solidified. Always inspiring to see someone else crush a goal race.
Skurka was coming off UTMB, a 100 mile mountain race in the alps in September and came back a few months later to slice a massive chunk off his marathon personal best.
To be fair, he was wearing the Nike Zoom Vapor Fly 4%, so he kind of cheated.
If those shoes ever get back in stock I am going to have a really difficult time resisting to flush $250 on them for Santa Rosa Marathon.
In reference to being well below his goal pace just after the half-way mark, Skurka released some sage wisdom about not getting greedy and how fickle the marathon can be.
The effort felt sustainable, but barely so; a negative split seemed unlikely at this rate. Plus, I was on track to break my goal time by two minutes, and I saw little sense in pushing now at the risk of losing everything later.
Pigs get fat, but hogs get slaughtered.
Speaking of which, I’m back running after 66 days.
It has been one week, three runs and six miles back to running and so far, so good [knock on wood].
My comeback plan is conservative. I remind myself daily that the first eight weeks are not about recovering lost fitness. Their only objective is to strengthen my foot and prepare it for future training.
The challenge is to remain patient regardless of how good I feel.
As a smart fella said earlier in this post, “Take small, consistent steps to make big gains.”
Although I prefer Andrew Skurka’s philosophy:
Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered.
Let’s get fat, people.
