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    • Gatsby3 years ago

      Impactful piece. I learned to run with my Dad too.

      The only running goal I currently have is to break his time in a race we both used to run together (thankfully not a marathon). I’ll turn to this essay for inspiration.

    • Plum3 years ago

      Running! I like to lope around slowly and meditatively for an hour or two. No clock for me!

      • bill
        Top reader of all time
        3 years ago

        Same here!! I’ve been thinking a lot about this in the past few days. I enjoyed hearing the other (tech- and time-obsessed) perspective. And I think I get it. It obviously works for Nick. But, for me, I unlocked something as a runner when I completely stopped thinking about performance and started thinking about the experience. I never wear a watch or time myself. I love being unplugged. I like trying to plug-in to my body and mind in an analog way. It has made all of the difference.

    • Alexa3 years ago

      This was great. Definitely made me want to go for a run and made me nostalgic for my father. What a lovely AOTD

    • bill
      Top reader of all time
      3 years ago

      Speechless. This hit me right where it counts. It’s an absolute tear-jerker. Beyond 10. Read this.

      • casst0wn3 years ago

        Completely agreed

        • bill
          Top reader of all time
          3 years ago

          Question: Was he being too hard on his dad?

          This peeved me: "His reading of the poem was a bit off"

          And this: "With each new financial calamity, he would decamp to ever-poorer regions so that he could still live as he had in his former life."

          It sounds like the old man was reading and writing into old age. And (unlike his son) had given up on the conventional success narrative. So many times I wanted to be like, "Nick! There's another way to tell this story!" Regardless, it's brilliant.

    • Jim3 years ago

      Fathers and sons, and sons and fathers.......good stuff.