Five Things That Kept Me Moving This Week

From Superman to the Salton Sea—plus, get the official Footnotes cap.

Jan 27, 2025

Hey there, Pedestrians.

Welcome back to Footnotes. I’m deep in a few long-form pieces while juggling the day job, but in the meantime, here are five things that caught my attention this week—plus, the best tweets of the week.

And before we dive in, I’m excited to share something special: an official Footnotes cap made in collaboration with FRACTEL. It’s designed to capture the spirit of this newsletter—thoughtful, a little quirky, and built for wherever your feet take you.

Lightweight, breathable, and svelte enough to tuck under a helmet or stuff in a pack.

This M-Series hat has become my favorite style over the last few years. I’ve worn them for thousands of miles of effort, from short intense races on the track to day-long outings on the trails. They’re easy to care for—I just toss it in the wash, hang it to dry, and it’s ready for the next ramble.

Only 35 are in stock ... because the best gear should feel special. If you’d like one, you can grab it here.

Five Things I Loved

1. Running with the Buffaloes Turns 25

The indie book chronicling the 1998 season of the University of Colorado men’s cross country team was published 25 years ago. Chris Lear, a former collegiate runner himself, embedded with the program to follow star runner Adam Goucher’s attempt to win an NCAA title in his final collegiate season. Lear covered workouts and races day-by-day like a journal, charting the highs and lows (which are very low) of the season.

I’ve read the book a few times, but tore through it again last week. Standing out is the no-nonsense, business-like, rabidly secular philosophy of head coach Mark Wetmore. His “we do our talking with our legs” ethos feels even sharper today when endless discourse and social media chatter drown out the simplicity of effort.

I’d like to write an entire post on the book and its meaning a quarter-century after publication, especially in the wake of Wetmore’s sacking last year from CU. Until then, if you’re interested in a compelling non-fiction sports story for a bit of midwinter motivation, check out Running with the Buffaloes.

2. Superman trailer

I’m a sucker for Superman. I had a Superman-themed birthday party when I was little because the idea of a superhero dressed like a 1930s weightlifter who flies around saving people sounded grand. And then I was probably psychically scarred in 1993, during peak childhood impressionability, when DC Comics decided to kill off the Man of Steel in the “Death of Superman” story.

Superman #75 Dan Jurgens 30th Anniversary Doomsday Death Of (11/08/2022) Dc — For a generation of ‘90s kids, this panel hit like *La Pietà*.

Now he’s returning again to big screen, this time with James Gunn at the helm. It’s a rousing trailer, similar in feel to the Grant Morrison comics of the 2000s which returned to the bright colors and earnestness of Superman’s mid-century aesthetic.

I didn’t mind the darker tone of the DC movies under Christopher Nolan and Zak Snyder, but we’ve maxed out grimoire and grit. It’s time for hope.

3. A Plan to Save the Salton Sea (Asterisk)

I’ve written before about the slow-motion disaster that is the Salton Sea—a shrinking, brackish lake in Southern California that’s turning into a toxic dust bowl. The problem has been covered by media as diverse as the New York Times and 99% Invisible.

Casey Handmer offers a bold, solar-powered solution—one that might not just save the lake, but also fuel an unexpected economic boost across the border. In this piece, republished last year in Asterisk, he notes the dramatic drop in solar-energy costs means it’s viable to power a desalination plant to provide enough fresh water through reverse osmosis to restore the Salton Sea. Moreover, it could invigorate the agricultural industry on both sides of the Mexican border with the resulting brine serving as a source for rare metals. Read more

4. Group Fitness Classes Are the Best Way to Make Friends (Atlantic)

Making friends as an adult is tough, but

Mikala Jamison

explores group fitness as a fix. From spin classes to club runs, group workouts connect people through routine and shared struggle. Movement-based gatherings not only build camaraderie, they ease into post-exercise small talk.

”Proximity, ritual, and accumulation all require a certain amount of time … But you’re already making time for exercise class, and it provides those conditions; benefiting from them mostly requires acknowledging that you’ve already set yourself up for friendship.”

I’ve always found that conversation comes easier after shared effort, side-by-side before face-to-face. Jamison explains why by tapping into the psychological science of friendship: we’re wired to bond through physical activity. Read more

5. “Why You Should Read Children’s Books Even Though You Are Old and Wise” by Katherine Rundell

I’ll continue my streak of acclaim for Katherine Rundell’s work by sharing how much I loved her essay about the power of children’s stories. It’s topical as reading to my 20-month-old daughter has pulled me back into the world of children’s stories. Rundell captures this with electric zing, dismissing the snobs and haters of children’s lit:

”So defy those who would tell you to be serious, to calculate the profit of your imagination; those who would limit joy in the name of propriety. Cut shame off at the knees. Ignore those who would call it mindless escapism: it’s not escapism: it is findism.”

Read a review in The Guardian