Affirmations

I’m not going to lie: the past five months have been tough. I haven’t been depressed, exactly, and I’ve had many moments of joy – or just normalcy, which is almost as good. But those feelings are always – always – in a fight with the anxiety, sadness, rage and impotence that have taken up residence in my body and mind.

Impotence, especially: the feeling that whatever I do, it’s not enough.

I have no idea what motivated some unknown person to paint affirming statements on walls up and down Brooklyn’s Third and Fourth Avenues (it was probably not the carnage and desperation in Gaza), but seeing them always gives me a small boost.

If you need a boost, too, take a look:

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The Gaza 5K returns – a race report

I began this blog a little less than ten years ago as a Brooklyn-focused running blog, or perhaps a running-focused Brooklyn blog. Running endures as a regular part of my life, but it’s less of a passion these days, more something I do because, well, it’s something I do. It’s been a long time – almost five years, is that possible? – since I’ve posted a race report.

So if this one should stray from the conventions of the genre, it’s partly because my writing, like my running, has suffered from neglect . . . but also because the Gaza 5K is not exactly a conventional race.

Especially not in these times.

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