Meagan Nedlo's Long-Overdue Blog Post, Meta Edition

Meagan Nedlo’s Long-Overdue Blog Post, Meta Edition

Interviewed by Jon Gugala

Meagan Nedlo: Hello?

Jon Gugala: What’s up?

MN: What’s up.

JG: Hey, so why haven’t you updated your blog?

MN: Wait, are we doing this right now? I haven’t updated because I’m lazy, I think. Also, busy. But primarily lazy.

JG: Do you not have anything to say?

MN: Do I not have anything to say? I have lots to say. Actually—

JG: Why haven’t you said them then?

MN: Well, there’s really not much to say, running-wise. I mean, if people want to hear what I got for Christmas . . .

JG: What’s going on with running?

MN: Oh, well, I just got back into running this week a little bit more consistently. Actually, I’ve been tracking my mileage, so I hit 75 this past week, and I’m looking at a schedule for the spring.

JG: And you think no one wants to hear about that?

MN: Well, other than that, I’ve really just been doing enough hot yoga to stave off obesity long enough to get through the holidays, and I don’t know how much there is to write about that.

JG: OK, but there’s also another accomplishment: You fit into your dress for your friend’s wedding.

MN: It was a Christmas miracle, yes.

JG: Christmas miracle, black dress.

MN: Yeah, there was a clasp at the top that was a little touch-and-go throughout the night, but the zipper did stay zipped, and that’s really all that matters.

Confirmation of the successful zipping. Oh yeah, and Caitlin looks decent too.

Further proof: from the front.

JG: Yes. So it’s a new year. What’s on your race calendar?

MN: The first race I’m going to do is the Mercedes Half Marathon in February in Alabama. Two years ago I ran that marathon and qualified for the Trials, and then last year I ran the half and won it. So it’s obviously a special event to me, and so I’m going to go back.

Actually, last year, when I won the half, it was so cold—the coldest race I’ve ever run—that they interviewed me right after the finish, and my mouth was frozen to the point where I couldn’t talk. And it was quite embarrassing. And when the interview was over, I was relieved that hopefully it wouldn’t be shown in the news, or at least that none of my family would see it. And then the newswoman told me that it was live.

Are my arms up? I wouldn't know. I can't feel them.

JG: Well, at least you had good Craft-brand baselayer, right, since you work for Craft?

MN: I did have the Craft baselayer—not that I could have enunciated that if she had asked me. But hopefully they could just see it on my shirt.

JG: So was your Craft baselayer not working then?

MN: Well, I didn’t say that my core was cold. I didn’t have the baselayer in my mouth, so . . .

JG: OK, fair enough. So, that’s your first race back. What else is there?

MN: See, I told you it’s not that exciting.

JG: Let’s go back to why you haven’t updated your blog.

MN: Because I was with my parents for Christmas, and they just recently upgraded from dial-up internet, so it’s not necessarily the most reliable. I still don’t think they have Wi-Fi.

JG: So that’s what you’re going to blame it on.

MN: And then the power went out on Christmas, because we got snow in Texas. That’s reason number two.

JG: How’s your workout mule, a.k.a. boyfriend, Jordan Kinley?

MN: Healthy, so that also is a Christmas miracle. I’m actually going to work out tomorrow [Wednesday, January 9] with my friend Emily, who lives in Boston, runs for the B.A.A., and Jordan might drag us through as Queen-maker, as he is accustomed to doing. Maybe I’ll write an update about that.

JG: What’s the workout?

MN: I don’t know yet. There’s some people working out at Harvard on the indoor track, but that’s an injury waiting to happen for me. So I’ll just run outside where it’s slippery and snowy. Pick your battles, I guess.

JG: Yeah. What else is there? There was something else.

MN: Are you typing this right now?

JG: No. I’m recording it, though.

MN: It sounds like you’re a court reporter in the background.

JG: Yeah, you didn’t . . . What was I . . . [Bad word]. I had another question . . . [Very bad word]. Nope, it’s gone.

MN: Was it about my workout?

JG: No.

MN: Harvard?

JG: Oh, yeah, you didn’t talk about running with Abbey D'Agostino [a junior at Dartmouth, and fifth at the 2012 Olympic Team Trials 5,000-meters] in your blog, have you?

MN: Oh, yeah. No, because I haven’t blogged since then, really.

JG: So you’re working out with Abbey D'Agostino.

MN: Yes. So by proxy, I should probably be at 15:30 shape right now [for 5,000m].

I met her at this cross country race the day after Thanksgiving, and it turns out she’s from a town right next to where I live, and she was home for six weeks for the break, which sounds like a long time, but I guess these Ivy League schools are a little lax with their time off.

She was home and we got to run together a lot during the week. I’m only 10 years older than her; I think she only called me “Ma’am” once or twice.

JG: That’s good.

MN: We’re totally, like, peers.

JG: So you can credit your 2013 campaign to Abbey D'Agostino.

MN: Yes, exactly.

JG: Are you guys Facebook friends?

MN: We are.

JG: How long have you been Facebook friends?

MN: With Abbey D'Agostino? [JG: Notice how you can never just call her by her first or last name, but always together.]

JG: Yes.

MN: Well, if we met the day after Thanksgiving, probably since the day after the day after Thanksgiving. I’m not, like, a creepy stalker.

JG: Do you follow her on Twitter?

MN: No, is she on Twitter?

JG: I don’t know.

MN: I just recently learned how to tweet, so following people in itself is still something that I’m getting caught up on. I think I have 100 people that I follow. How many people do you follow? Like, 1000?

JG: I try to keep the follower/follow ratio lopsided, so I like to go five or six to one. So I think I follow 150 people maybe. You always want more people following you than you want to follow, because that way you feel better about yourself.

MN: Yeah, I’ll have to look into that.

JG: So what would you want to say, how do you want to close to all your blog followers?

MN: So, to my dad? Well, I would like to say that I’m healthy [and] I’m apparently not too fat, since I was able to fit into the dress. Although I haven’t had much excitement to report in the last month, I think that 2013 is going to be a good year. And a skinny year, more importantly.

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Jon Gugala is a freelance writer based in Santa Cruz, California. His writing has appeared in Runner’s World, IAAF.org, and elsewhere. He’s on Twitter (https://twitter.com/JonGugala), as is Meagan Nedlo (https://twitter.com/KarhuKinLo). Unfortunately, Abbey D'Agostino is not.