Yesterday I ran my second-ever half marathon and performed better than I could have ever imagined: 1:50:48 was the official time, which is 4 minutes faster than the race I ran 6 weeks ago. I'm pretty tired today, no surprise, and my legs are a little sore. But I am so amazed and proud of myself — and as I am still learning to run and learning to race, I feel like I can probably push myself to go farther, faster still, which is quite exciting.

In the lead-up for the big day, I ate a lot of amazing sandwiches: the OG pastrami at Delirami, which was certainly the best pastrami sandwich I've had outside a NYC deli (and perhaps the best potato chips I've ever eaten), and the Sichuan hot chicken from OK's Deli. (I also had a bite of Kin's egg salad, which he said was the best egg salad he'd ever eaten and I'd agree — just incredible). After the race yesterday, we ate dim sum at Ming's Tasty — so good.

There are other things to report that I can't yet report — changes afoot etc etc etc. I'm trying not to be too anxious about it all, particular with a very shitty weekend up ahead. I mean, Kin and I are heading to Clearlake, which will be great. But Saturday is the three-year anniversary of Isaiah's death; and Sunday is Mother's Day. (Stellar timing, kiddo. Stellar fucking timing.) Taper week — that is, the lead-up to a big race when one dials back one's activity level — is challenging because sitting still means sitting with one's thoughts; post-race recovery is hard for the same reason. If I can just focus on how much my quads hurt, perhaps I can forget about how broken my heart is.