From Rachel Toor
This year has been, as they say, more of a marathon than a sprint. And those of us who actually have lots of ultra-long races under our belts know that a marathon is a twenty-mile warmup for a six (point two) mile race. Every happy mile is the same; each unhappy mile is unhappy in its own way.
They (so annoying, that "they") also say, when you're running a race, "listen to your body." Peeps, if I listened to my body, I would never run, never lift anything heavier than a two liter jug of diet A&W root beer, never raise my heartbeat except in bed.
If you've been looking forward to a summer of spending what little down time you have lying on the couch snarfing Ben & Jerry's and binge-re-watching all the seasons of Schitt's Creek, I'm right there with you.
The best books I've read during this more-serious-than-a-congressional-hearing year have stretched me beyond comfort. Jonathan Eig's Pulitzer Prize-winning biography of Dr. King shows us how hard things were for someone whose story we thought we knew. The mental health toll on leadership can't be underestimated.
And on that vexed topic, Jonathan Rosen's The Best Minds: A Story of Friendship, Madness, and the Tragedy of Good Intentions, is brilliantly crafted, beautifully written, warm, and often witty. If you've avoided it because you think it will be too sad, don't.
Most people old enough to have an Insider membership no doubt read Huck Finn before it was cancelled. A re-read can only enhance the many pleasures of Percival Everett's re-visioning, James.
This summer, I'm looking forward to lighter fare, shedding the two layers of down I'm still wearing, and starting to train again for long races in the craggy mountains of the West. I've needed a little push; hearing what someone else is doing if often nudge enough.
I reached out to presidents who I knew would provide some inspiration at the end of a time that has tested the strength and endurance of nearly everyone. I know presidents tend to be (fruitfully) competitive. I hope hearing about these extremely fit peers will provide some healthy motivation.