Well, my friends, a lot has changed since my last Daily Chase. The world has been flipped upside down in a lot of ways, and making sense of it all over the past week and a half has been a challenge. I was, perhaps, naively confident that despite the fact that he shall not be named had made it this far in the race, there was no chance that the American people would elect him to the highest office in the land. After all, he had proven on countless occasions how woefully unprepared and unqualified for the position he was, and his racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, and ableism-laced comments continued to seep from the blowhole he calls a mouth. Yet, millions upon millions of people were ready and able to overlook all of these shortcomings. Any single one of them should have been enough to tank his campaign, but they weren’t. He continued to survive comments everyone were sure would lead to scandal because for so many in this country, hate and bigotry just aren’t deal-breakers when electing a world leader. We are now 10 days into a new era and already beginning to see the makings of a train wreck of monumental proportions, and I’m still in shock. The fallout and legitimate fear on the part of many, has meant I’ve been working some long hours and having some difficult conversations. I’ve had some time to run and try to ignore the anxiety, but not nearly enough time to run the 100’s of miles that I need right now. Running away, of course, isn’t the answer, but I would happily keep running toward something better. My social justice efforts are now more important than ever, and I’ll continue to fight the hatred and bigotry, and educate others as best I can. Along the way, I’ll keep running, and probably engage you in a more meaningful conversation if I come across you out on the trails or pass you on the road!
The flowing Brandywine offered a welcome sanctuary this past weekend.
Chasing42 Log: 20161109-20161117
Run: The streak is still alive, and I squeezed in some great weekend trail miles, but the weekday runs have not been nearly as long or as hard as I would have liked these past two weeks. I’ve worked some late nights, which has meant short runs, and the fact that it’s dark now by the time I leave work hasn’t helped. However, I’ll be running the Philadelphia Marathon this weekend with several friends, and I’m looking forward to the positive energy and great memories!
Thought: How. Did. We. Get. Here. Intellectually, I can look at history and mostly understand. Emotionally and spiritually, I’m at a loss.
