On being a running librarian

I've worked in libraries far longer than I've been running.  And while I read voraciously when I was young, over the years I started reading less and less.  Of course, it is a complete misconception that librarians just sit around and read all day, but many of us ARE readers and our love of books is one thing that may have drawn us to the profession.

Oddly enough, I don't think that's what brought me to it.  I remember getting my first work-study job in the library my first year of college and thinking "I could definitely work in this environment."  At that age, I didn't believe I'd be a good fit for the business or corporate world and I really didn't know WHAT I was going to do with my life (realizing being a rock star was out of the picture!)  So, when I felt pretty comfortable in the library, in an educational environment, I figured, hey maybe this is what I'll be when I grow up!

I transferred to a different school and the first thing I did was go find a job in the library - I worked there throughout my college years and it was the greatest thing ever! 

But, this is not a history of my library career...however, I wanted to point out that I am a librarian and have been working in libraries for MANY years...and up until last fall, hadn't READ A BOOK IN YEARS!

Yep, my reading definitely fell off, probably around the time I transitioned from being a children's/young adult librarian and started working again in an academic library.  I also found other hobbies - like knitting and spinning - that took up time.  With the explosion of the internet, I would say I still read, but most of it was online reading of articles, blog posts, etc.  

Despite that shift, I'm still a librarian, and still a reader...and know that when I find something new I want to do, or learn about, the first place I go is ....NOT the internet!  Okay, maybe, sortof, but mostly, I look for information on the topic to READ.

At first when I started running, I sought out things about nutrition.  Good smoothie recipes, things like that.

Then, especially once in Nebraska, and once I was picking up my running again, I started seeing more links on Facebook to articles in Runner's World, TrailRunner Magazine, etc., and eventually - late last year or maybe early this year, I think - I started subscribing IN PRINT to Runner's World.  I wanted to be able to read something NOT on the screen!  

Around that same time, I heard about a book called What I talk about when I talk about running by Haruki Murakami and checked it out from the library where I work.  I really enjoyed it!  I thought, wow, I actually READ AN ENTIRE BOOK!  How awesome!  It got me thinking more deeply about running and I started looking for other books to read.

On the sidebar of this blog is the list of books I've read since then!  That's probably been over less than a year!?  It's been A LONG TIME since I've read that much.  All of those books are ones I first got through Interlibrary Loan - an awesome library service if you're not familiar with it where they will get the book from another library if your library doesn't have it.  A few of them I liked so much, I bought copies of, and a few, I bought without reading them first.  (I'll be adding those to the list soon.)

It's been an adventure reading all of these!  I think the one that has had the greatest impact on my running has been Footnotes: How Running Makes Us Human by Vybarr Cregan-Reid.  This is the book that got me to stop listening to music on my outdoor runs (still need it on the treadmill, though!), and also gave me the courage to run outside when I was at a conference in Orlando.  It's not a "quick" or "easy" read which is why I still haven't finished it (bought my own copy after requesting it via ILL twice) but it definitely made an impact on me.

I've also learned that I like the ones by more "regular" people than the super-amazing Olympic athletes, probably because those are less relatable to my back-of-the-pack speed.  It's always interesting to read why people started running, how it's impacted their life, how they connect to it.  The progression of reading also led me to more on ultra-running, and those are now many of my favorite stories.  I subscribed to Ultrarunning Magazine and Trail Runner this summer and definitely like them now more than Runner's World.

Of course, I'm pretty sure all this reading and investigation is what's leading me to make rash decisions, like signing up for the 50k Mashup Series, but, hey, what the hell!

Anyways, I think the point to this post is to point out that not only has running reinvigorated me physically, getting me out and into nature, the world, but it has also helped me get back to a long-time love for reading!

I also have to point out that there is even a Librarians Who Run Facebook Group!  I was so excited when I discovered this a couple years ago at a conference.  One of the vendors had organized a Fun Run 5k (complete with medals and t-shirts!) and some of the runners were talking about this group.  I'm not that active on it right now, but I love knowing there is a group and a whole bunch of us out there!

The shirt we got for the ER&L 2017 5k, sponsored by SpringerNature!

Me with my medal after doing the 5k through the streets of Austin at ER&L 2017!