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Paradise Lost

October 30, 2017 (Night)

Exercise Type: Run

Comments:
This title isn't some sort of deep metaphor for my steadily declining mile time or missing the Purple Valley or no longer being a full-time coach... I was actually listening to John Milton's 17th century epic "Paradise Lost" on Audible during my run. Finishing it actually. I've been listening to it for several weeks on and off along with a couple other books and podcasts, but pushed through a solid third of it on last night's 2 1/2 hour run and tonight got to the end just as I was finishing my post-run core. It's very poetic and I like the clever use of language and getting glimpses into what an educated English author knew of science and geography and world history 400 years ago. But in the end, being beaten over the head with such blatant sexism again and again made me kinda want to puke and I was glad to be done with it (it doesn't help that most of the last several chapters are a retelling of the rest of Hebrew Bible from an anachronistically Christian perspective). But hey, it got me through a lovely run along the banks of Boston Harbor after dark. I paused at the base of the Bunker Hill Monument, after which the Washington Monument is modeled (or vice versa? Any of you trivia experts know which?) which was beautifully illuminated against the Boston skyline. Ended up running a good deal more than I meant to, but was feeling good the whole time. Just hope I don't have to pay for it tomorrow.

On a separate note, just because you can eat an entire Papa John's extra large pizza after an 18-mile long run doesn't mean you should. I wasn't hungry today until, I dunno, nighttime?