The whirlwind spring comes to an end...

This edition written from a hotel bed in Traverse City, MI.

May 26, 2023

Someday, whether she’s into running or not, I hope Annie looks back on all these photos and memories hanging out with Emma Bates, Des Linden, Shalane Flanagan, and thinks, “Whoa, that was cool!” More likely, she’ll think, “I got to watch so much Paw Patrol that day!” But as long as the memories are happy ones, I’ll take ‘em!

It has been a spring! And while there has been so much good, and I’ve had a ton of fun, and it’s all been great for my career, after five work trips in a month and a half, I am so ready to just be home for a while.

Like many newsletters before this one, I’m writing — yet again — from somewhere other than Hopkinton, NH.

This one comes to you from Traverse City, MI, where Brian, Annie, and I are spending Memorial Day Weekend. I’m here hosting a live show with Emma Bates (which will be out on the Ali on the Run Show next week, and it was so fun — biggest thanks to the 170+ people who spent a Thursday afternoon with us!), and then I’ll be the start and finish line announcer at the Bayshore Marathon, Half Marathon, and 10K on Saturday.

We had a blast here last year, and are very happy to be back. (Annie, as you may have heard at the end of this week’s Ask Ali episode, is a big fan of Michigan. Huge.)

So between mid-April and now, it’s been busy. Good busy! Excitingly busy! (Any OGs remember how Brian used to make me say “excitingly busy” instead of what I really wanted to say, which was “unbelievably stressed?”)

Boston Marathon (two live shows, world feed broadcast, finish line announcing) + Eugene Marathon (live show for work, marathon for “play”) + L.A. (in-stadium emcee at On Track Fest, on my birthday!) + New York City (I hosted this fun video for New York Road Runners, and then fun-ran the Brooklyn Half Marathon) + now, Michigan.

It’s time to be still for a bit.

And maybe start to process it all.

Whether or not you noticed a Friday morning absence in your inbox, I took the past two weeks off from writing.

Truthfully, I wrote a draft of this newsletter two weeks ago, and I knew I needed to sleep on it before sending — which I never did.

For as many ways as this spring has been wonderful on the work front, it’s been admittedly bleak in so many other ways. And that’s hard to ignore.

I was driving through our town one morning, and noticed that the flag next to the year-round Christmas tree was at half-mast.

And I didn’t immediately know why.

Isn’t that terrible?

I’ve heard it said that the United States is the only country in the world where we don’t even need a full flagpole.

I assumed it was at half-mast because of the recent mass shooting at an outlet mall.

Or was it for the girl who was shot by her neighbor while playing hide-and-seek?

But did she die? Or did she “just” get shot?

Or maybe the flag was lowered for the family that was shot after asking a neighbor to stop shooting rounds from an AR-15 into the air.

Do we go to half-mast if people are “just” shot? Or do we only lower the flags when people die? And how many people, if they aren’t historical or political figures, have to die for the flags to commemorate them? Is there a number?

They say not to get numb to this, and I don’t want to get numb, but I so badly want to look away. Because living like this is terrifying. Worrying about my daughter’s safety every single day at preschool drop-off isn’t how we should be living.

Beyond that, it just felt like a tough couple of weeks.

And yes, most of it is on the internet. My real-life interactions are perfectly pleasant. But the internet, and the humans on it, have felt particularly on edge, particularly angry, particularly combative.

For the first time since I joined the platform more than a decade ago, I’ve largely stopped using Twitter. (Though thank you to the person who seems to be following me and tuning into the podcast just looking for things to get angry about, and wanting to “call me out” accordingly, or the internet community where, I was told, people were actively rooting against me in Eugene, hoping I would DNF or predicting I would “blow up.” What a strange, sad way to live.)

So, for a while, the negativity felt overwhelming. Suffocating, even.

And it’s one thing to turn off Twitter.

It’s another to turn away from reality.

And it’s scary, and I’ve really felt it lately.

All is not unwell, and in true Ali form, most days I can turn to the positive and that’s enough.

So I guess my plea this week is to do something kind. Pay it forward. Do the nice thing. Make a positive difference, however big or small. (And if you’re in a place to make a financial contribution somewhere, Moms Demand Action is a great choice.)

Whew. This was heavier than I wanted it to be!

Maybe leave something good in the comments? I know this was a bit rantier than my usual. But don’t go numb to it all, right?

I love you.

And so…

Take good care of yourselves. Take good care of each other. Tell someone you love them today. Thank you so much for being here. And whatever you’re going through, keep going.

Love,

Ali

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