Long Distance Reading Club: Once a Runner and Daring Greatly

Photo from Oiselle but I have one of the bookmarks!

Back in September, Oiselle created the Long Distance Reading Club, the Oiselle book club. I love reading, so naturally, I joined in on the fun! Plus, it was easy: read the book and join a couple of Twitter chats to discuss it.

The first book was John L Parker Jr's Once a Runner. I didn't want to buy it but I found it at the Chicago Public Library. So, I finally got my library card and checked out my first book in years! It took me a long time to get into the book. Thanks to the first Twitter chat, I found out I wasn't the only one having this problem and that it got better as it went on. And, it did.

The story itself was pretty decent. It follows a few characters through their collegiate running days. I really enjoyed the book in the final few chapters but I struggled through at least the first half. I finally figured out why I was struggling. First, the author jumped between characters' points of view without making clear who's point of view it was. This drove me crazy! Second, there were a lot of scenes that had no impact on the main story and didn't need to be included. (I'm looking at you, athletic department hot tub scene.)

All in all, I'm glad I read the book. It gave me an inside look into the collegiate runner's life, albeit in the 1970s. There are now two additional books, a sequel and a prequel, which I may read someday...

For another review, check out my Oiselle teammate Leila's post.

Title: Once a Runner
Author: John L Parker, Jr
Genre: Sports fiction
Pages: 304 pages (according to Amazon)
Stars (Out of 5): **

The second book was Brené Brown's Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead. The Chicago Public Library had lots of copies of this book but they all had really long waits. So, I bought this one for my Nook. It was the first time I've read a book like this and I really enjoyed it.

I highlighted a lot which I've never done on my Nook before. Here are a few of the passages I highlighted:

• Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. (page 38)
• When we were children, we used to think that when we were grown up we would no longer be vulnerable. But to grow up is to accept vulnerability. To be alive is to be vulnerable. - Madeleine L'Engle (page 42)
• Guilt = I did something bad. Shame = I am bad. (page 61)
• www.self-compassion.org (page 103) - I just did the Self-Compassion Test and did pretty well. I got an overall score of a 4.39 (on a scale of 1 to 5).
• In fact, more people die from prescription drug overdoses than from heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine drug use combined. (page 107)
• "Daisy is a good girl who made a bad choice! We love her! We just don't love her choices!" (page 168)
• Wholehearted Parenting Manifesto (page 182)

This book was a really easy read. I loved the examples provided for each topic. This made it really hit home while I was reading it. The second-to-last bullet point above is when it really hit me. (This was the author's son after the author scolded Daisy, their dog.)

The first Oiselle Twitter chat was really interesting. The second one was supposed to be the Tuesday before Thanksgiving but it seemed to be forgotten. I'm hoping we'll still discuss the rest of the book...and then start another book!

Title: Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead
Author: Brené Brown
Genre: Self-help, relationships
Pages: 230 pages (according to my Nook version)
Stars (Out of 5): *****

Oiselle Volée

Sometime in late 2013 or early 2014, I heard about a women's running clothes brand called Oiselle. I can't even remember exactly how I heard about it but I think it was through the #RunChat community. In any case, when they introduced the Oiselle Flock in July 2014, I wanted in! I didn't get in the first group but I did get in the second time around, officially joining The Flock in September 2014. To join The Flock, I paid $100 for free shipping on all online orders, an awesome team singlet, $20 off a pair of running bottoms, $25 towards Oiselle's Emerging Athlete Fund, and other offers throughout the year. More than worth it!

In order to facilitate communication with each other, Oiselle created Facebook groups by region. Now, I know a whole bunch of women throughout the Midwest (and around the country) who run. I have a group of experts to ask questions from "What are the best running shorts?" to "What training plan works best for you?" There's a place to share awesome and not-so-awesome races with people who get you...instead of clogging up the News Feeds of your non-running friends...ha!

The first activity I participated in was last December's Secret Santa. It was fun to be paired with another Flock member from a different part of the country. And it was awesome to receive a sweet surprise gift!

I randomly met a Flock member in real life at the Maggie Daley Run the Ribbon Mile Race in June. We knew each other's faces from Facebook but it was cool to meet in person. We even ran in the same heat.

Ali and I are on the far left

In July, Oiselle decided to merge The Flock with the existing Haute Volée (elite team) under the united team name Volée. As part of this change, existing Flock members were able to renew their membership for free for the next year.

Then, in September, I was finally able to participate in a real meet-up in conjunction with the Magnificent Mile Women's Half Marathon & 5K. A handful of us met up by Buckingham Fountain after the race and then proceeded to Starbucks, where Lauren Fleshman, Collier Lawrence, and Sarah OUaL (not her real last name) joined us. It. Was. Awesome. I cannot tell you how down-to-earth and fun they all are. I was seriously beaming the whole rest of the day! Thanks, Oiselle!

With Lauren Fleshman at the finish line! Photo cred: @runrunmary

(I don't remember who this photo came from...sorry!)

At the bean! Photo cred: @SarahOUaL

Just this past weekend, I met even more birds. As part of the Chicago Marathon weekend, our Illinois group leaders organized a dinner on Friday night, a cheering station at Mile 17, and a post-race happy hour. The Friday night dinner was great. It was so fun to put real-life faces to Facebook profiles and Twitter handles. And, Oiselle sent along bags of free clothes to be handed out! I got an awesome new pair of arm warmers!

Friday night dinner at Spacca Napoli Pizzeria

Cheering at Mile 17 today! Photo cred: @mellebeth

Cheering for the marathon today was great...though it really made me want to run another one. (Come on, fertility treatments, work already!)

Thanks for an awesome weekend, birds! I'm so thankful to be a part of such an awesome women's running community.

*FYI: Birds is another term for Oiselle team members...or anyone who wears Oiselle...I'm not really sure! :)