I read dozens of articles online every week, both for work and for pleasure. In this regular column, I share the article I’ve enjoyed most during the past seven days and a few words on why.

Three words stand out to me from the headline of Nicholas Thompson’s essay “To Run My Best Marathon at Age 44, I Had to Outrun My Past.”

Marathon. 44. And past.

At 42, I am working toward running my first marathon in 12 years. Even as COVID-19 cancels the summer and fall events I’d been training toward, I’ve been running faster than ever.

On a deeper level, the quiet, solitude, and simplicity of two months of sheltering in place have helped me meet myself again after a decade of turbulence (are the 30s this difficult for everyone?) I wouldn’t say I’m outrunning my past, the way Thompson is in his essay, but I’m definitely giving my younger self a run for her money. I’m running, I’m writing, and I’m at peace for the first time in years.

Thompson is one of my favorite magazine writers: He’s editor in chief of my beloved Wired, and he’s a serious distance runner. He talks about how serious in this essay on family, discipline, balance, and getting faster as he gets older. It’s sports writing at its best.