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Salazar Coaches Two Athletes to Medals in London: UPDATED

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I thought about making my “First, What Are You Reading?” post this month about the Olympics, since we, like most families, are watching the Olympics pretty frequently this.  But we aren’t really reading any books about the Olympics.

I’m grateful that now I do have a a connection and a reason to write about the Olympics (I thought about labeling this post “my 3 degrees of separation from the Olympics”).  No, it’s not because Michael Phelps looks uncannily like my oldest nephew (though he does, really!).  It’s because Alberto Salazar, author of the June book I reviewed for The Catholic Post, can now call himself the coach of two Olympic medal-winners, Mo Farah and Galen Rupp, who took the gold and silver medals, respectively, in yesterday 10,000 meter race.

Here’s my review of Salazar’s open memoir, 14 Minutes: A Running Legend’s Life and Death and Life.  I asked Salazar about the Olympics in our Q&A (you can read the whole thing here), and here’s what he said:

We are lucky to have some of the finest distance runners in the world as members of the Nike Oregon Project. They include Mo Farah, a citizen of Great Britain, who joined our team two years ago, and Galen Rupp, a native of Portland, Oregon, who I have been coaching for more than a decade. Besides being ideal training partners, they are also great friends. Mo and Galen will both be running the 10,000 meters at the London Olympics, where they will be competitors rather than teammates. It will be very interesting to see how that plays out. 

Well, we can all see how that played out, the joy both teammates had for each other as they placed first and second.  In particular,  I noticed that USA Today has a great article about Galen Rupp’s silver medal and Salazar’s long-term coaching strategy.  ESPN also reports about how Farah and Rupp worked with each other to help keep Farah (and Rupp, it turns out) paced well through the 10,000 meter race.  Here’s a great photo from ESPN from just after the race:

Congratulations to Farah, Rupp and Salazar!  I’ll be watching the 5,000 meter race later this week, and hope for more medals from the athletes of The Nike Oregon Project.

Update, Wednesday, August 8: Rupp and Farah both easily won places in the finals of the 5,000.  That race will be Saturday.

I also discovered today Malcolm Gladwell’s fascinating (as usual) profile Alberto Salazar, “Alberto Salazar and the Art of Exhaustion,” in The New Yorker.  He calls Salazar’s memoir “absorbing.”

De Gustibus, or Fiction for All Kinds of Tastes

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Here is my August column that appears in this weekend’s The Catholic Post. I invite your feedback.


Some years back, I wrote an opinion piece for The Catholic Post about the then red-hot Twilight books, comparing them to junk food; not going to kill you, but not the bedrock of a healthy imagination. I even offered some fun and soul-nourishing alternatives.

“You are what you read” still is my main media consumption rule, for individuals and especially for families.

But to extend the food analogy, I’m not a paleo/vegan/low-carb/raw foods/gluten-free /this-month’s-hot-diet-fad absolutist. You won’t hear me advocating for the non-existent Jane Austen “immersion diets” or St. Francis de Sales “detoxes.”. Book-wise, I’m a flexitarian.

Let me explain by way of a great Latin expression, “de gustibus non disputandum est,” translating roughly as “there’s no arguing personal taste.”

Your favorite ice cream is strawberry, and mine is mint chocolate chip?

De gustibus.

You’re a Bronte fan and I’m really, really not? De gustibus.

When it comes to books or food, there’s a lot of variety, and one person’s favorite might be another’s strong aversion.

I don’t mean that anything goes—some books (and movies, etc.) really are poison, and need to be avoided by everyone. And some people have particular sensitivities to books (like some do with certain foods) that might be especially harmful or helpful.

Being mindful of what keeps you healthy, media-wise, is a great idea at any age.

That still leaves tons of great reading of all kinds for enjoyment and edification. Consider fiction to be in the “nourishing treats” category—more chocolate than broccoli (not that there’s anything wrong with broccoli). Here’s hoping some of these excellent recent releases will agree with your “gustibus.”

For adults and young adults:

Catholic Philosopher Chick Makes Her Debut by Rebecca Bratten Weiss and Regina Doman is a smart new read. It would be best for college-age and young adults, but this middle-aged mom thoroughly enjoyed racing through this fun, fashion-y, and yes, philosophical novel.

The characters in Catholic Philosopher Chick are lovably annoying and well-drawn. The healthy but “real” friendships between the young women feel especially true, and the plot moves along quickly. My only dislike of this book is that a few characters smoke (occasionally). For someone who hates smoking as I do, it seems unnecessary.

Shadows and Images: A Novel by Meriol Trevor is available in a handsome new edition by Ignatius Press. Trevor was a prolific British author of novels for adults and children. She’s also known for her careful biography of Blessed John Cardinal Newman, and this novel covers Newman’s time and new Catholics during that era.

I’m the kind of person who learns more about history through stories, so historical fiction is a favorite for me. This novel brings Newman, the Catholic Church, and the Britain of that time, alive through the story of a young couple.

Before Shadows and Images, I knew Trevor mostly as a Newman biographer and as a children’s book author, as youth publisher Bethlehem books has re-published a few of her excellent children’s novels. Now I want to discover more of her grown-up fiction.

For the younger crowd:

*The Tripods Attack! by John McNichol, is first in the Young Chesterton Chronicles series. This novel imagines G.K. Chesterton as a down-on-his-luck teenager, with friends fending off a Martian attack in a science fiction/Edwardian England.

That description might sound pretty wild to those not familiar with steampunk, the fiction sub-genre that mashes Jules Verne-style fashion and “technology” with fantasy and science fiction, but it’s truly a refreshing summer read. I know some Chesteron purists would scoff, but if GK himself wrote his The Man Who Was Thursday as a steampunk novel for teenagers, The Tripods Attack! just might be the result.

*The Kindgom of Patria series by Daniel McInerny (available only as e-books, from the usual outlets like Amazon and the excellent “Kingdom of Patria” website). You’ll notice that I didn’t use the word “quirky” in reviewing The Tripods Attack! That’s because I was waiting to use this adjective more perfectly to describe McInerny’s, yes, “quirky” and loveable Patria kingdom, and the children and stories that inhabit it.

I asked my 11-year-old daughter to pre-read first in the series for me. She loved it, so I asked her to give me a mini-review. She wrote: “Stout Hearts and Whizzing Biscuits is a fantastical tale about a small kingdom named Patria in the middle of the USA. Warning: If you do not like absolute silliness and utter fun, this book is not for you!”

It’s obvious that she does enjoy “utter fun” in a book, and if you have a middle-grade child who likes it as well, The Kingdom of Patria would be a great choice.

"A Realistic Voice for NFP": Q&A With Katie of "NFP and Me"

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This month on Reading Catholic, I am determined to share some of the great recent resources on human sexuality out there.  This will include blogs, podcasts, and other resources I’ve encountered as I reviewed this month’s column, Adam & Eve After the Pill:  Paradoxes of the Sexual Revolution by Mary Eberstadt and My Peace I Give You: Healing Sexual Wounds with the Help of the Saints by Dawn Eden.   (In case you missed it, I featured a  Q&A with Mandi of Catholic Newlywed about her “Broken” series last week.)

Today, I’m delighted to get a chance to introduce readers of The Catholic Post to Katie , a medical student who writes a smart, terrific blog called, “NFP & Me.” 

I first discovered Katie on Twitter  (where Katie is @NFPandMe I am @ReadingCatholic), when she began posting links to wonderful buttons about “I Use NFP” (and inviting people to share them on Twitter with the hashtag #iuseNFP).  But she’s been blogging and spreading the great word about NFP for some time.   Just this month, Katie also had several articles in the latest issue of Our Sunday Visitor Newsweekly on NFP (coinciding with NFP Awareness Week).

Katie graciously agreed to do a Q&A for the Reading Catholic blog this month, even though she is in her surgery rotation in medical school.  If you’re not familiar with Katie, please take a moment to go over to her blog and visit.  Thanks, Katie!

Q.  Tell Reading Catholic readers a little bit about yourself, your family, and how you began blogging.

Well my name is Katie, I’m 24 years old, married, and a dog mom to Jack.  I’m currently in my third year of medical school. I’m Italian, but not like Snooki. I’m a crazy dog lady and so is my husband (only not a lady). Seriously, you may see us on animal hoarders someday.  ☺


I started blogging by the grace of God. I have a friend who is a fantastic writer, really superb, and I would call him with my ideas of things he should write about. God love him, but he’s not the most reliable. He would never write about my fantastic ideas. He unfortunately quit blogging so I decided that I should give it a try. God had really put it on my heart for a few months and I decided to just go for it. 

Q.  This is kind of a goofy question, but why did you name your blog NFP and Me?  Could you tell us what you hope to accomplish with your blog?

I have no idea where the name came from. I knew I wanted to blog about NFP but I hadn’t thought of actually giving it a name. In fact I didn’t even read blogs at the time so I didn’t exactly have examples. I do remember thinking “Well this rhymes.” and decided to run with it.  


Mostly my goal for my blog is to be a realistic voice for NFP. When I started using it I was so scared of it. I thought it didn’t work, I thought it was only for crazy people.  I was the ultimate skeptic and I know there are countless women out there who were just like me. I just want to be a voice of reassurance, someone who isn’t the holiest snootiest women on earth sharing her fears. There’s an invaluable resource in camaraderie and commiserating.  I’ve built more genuine friendships out of my blog than I could have ever hoped for.  I guess that’s a roundabout way of saying I didn’t even have hopes for it because I didn’t think anyone would read it. In fact I’m still surprised anyone reads it, I think Google Analytics may be lying to me. ☺

Q.  My number one favorite recent post from your blog is “Tell Me Why,” contrasting a popular song lyrics (liberation) with quotes from John Paul II (oppression?) : .  Love!  Do you have a favorite post, or two or three that would really give Reading Catholic readers a feel for your blog? 

I have to admit, I’m a big fan of Tell Me Why too. If there’s minimal writing on my part, I’m for it.  I think my favorite post is We Were Wrong (note from Nancy: love this one, too! well worth a read) . It’s about the discourse between the pro-life stance and the way pro-lifers act. A woman read it who is post abortive and responded how much it meant to her to not be met with judgment, but love. I couldn’t ask for more out of a post.

Q.   Your website IuseNFP.com is newly launched, with a lot of great graphics and content.  What do you hope to do with the website over time?

Oh, what don’t we hope to do with it? Ha! Ultimately we hope our site is a safe place where women can find comprehensive information about their natural family planning options. We want to be a place for every woman, no matter her religion, to feel comfortable asking questions and seeking information. 

Q.   Could you explain about the IuseNFP buttons, and how people can use them on their sites and to share?

We want the buttons to be a simple fun way for people to share that they use NFP. My experience with evangelizing NFP has always been a struggle. Most women don’t use it and there’s always that question mark on young couples in Mass who don’t have kids (couples like my husband and me). The buttons are easy little things that people can share on Facebook, pin to Pinterest, or put on their blog to let people know “Hey, people actually use NFP.” We want the buttons to be fun and modern. We can’t keep throwing babies, however cute they may be, at women. We’re competing with people like Planned Parenthood and we have an obligation to advertise just as, if not more, effectively than they do. 

Q.  You’re a busy medical student.  Why spend time blogging at all? about NFP?

Because I’m called to it. I’m not a gifted writer, I don’t have the most fabulous ideas, I’m not freaking Marc Barnes but God put this on my heart for a reason. When I started this I thought it was there because I had a lot to say but in the year I’ve been blogging I realized it’s because I have a lot to learn. If I can document my learning process in a way that’s relatable to people that can maybe help just one person then I have an obligation to do it. 


We have too many bloggers telling people what to believe and how to act but we don’t have a lot showing how they believe or how they came to believe and doing it with humility. Fortunately for me, being in medical school keeps me pretty humble, let’s just hope I figure out the showing aspect pretty soon. 😉  

Q&A on the "Broken" Series by Mandi of Catholic Newlywed

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This month on Reading Catholic, I am determined to share some of the great recent resoures on human sexuality out there.  This will include blogs, podcasts, and other resources I’ve encountered as I reviewed for this month’s column on two great new books, Adam & Eve After the Pill:  Paradoxes of the Sexual Revolution by Mary Eberstadt and My Peace I Give You: Healing Sexual Wounds with the Help of the Saints by Dawn Eden.

Today, I’m honored to get a chance to introduce readers of Reading Catholic and The Catholic Post to Mandi, who writes a charming blog called, “Catholic Newlywed.”  Mandi began a series on her blog this year called “Broken,” that I want to share with The Catholic Post readers.  Mandi, thanks for your willingness to share, and for your great series that I hope even more people will discover.  Here’s Mandi, her husband and daughter:

Q.  Tell Reading Catholic readers a little bit about yourself, your family, and how you began blogging.

I started my blog in late 2010, shortly after marrying my husband.  We had a long distance relationship, so when we married, I moved far away from my family and friends and was craving friendship with like-minded Catholic women.  Since then, we welcomed our first child, Lucia, last December and my blog is now a combination of faith, family life, keeping house, and the everyday musings of a Catholic wife and mother.

Q.  How did you get the idea for the “Broken” series?

I was in a “broken” relationship myself several years ago and continue to feel the scars it has left behind.  During the two and a half years that it lasted, I felt very alone and ashamed, without anyone to confide in.  In the time since then, I have realized that my experiences were not nearly as rare as I thought they were.  Slowly, I came to learn that many of the women I had daily contact with had been in similar damaging relationships, but we all felt isolated and alone.  “Broken” is an attempt to provide a channel for speaking out about these relationships.

Q.   What do you hope that women will take away from the “Broken” series?  

I started “Broken” in hopes that it would be a resource for women to gain knowledge, advice, and strength from others who have been in similar damaging relationships.  I believe that had I had more access to “real life” stories from other women, I would have been able to identify my relationship as abusive before it had gone too far and hopefully would have had the strength to get out early.  Discussing and reading about others’ experiences have also helped me to view mine more critically and finally heal some of those wounds.  I thought that if this has helped me, perhaps it will help other women.  My ultimate goal is that perhaps just one young woman will read these stories and be able to completely avoid damaging relationships because of them.

Q.   The series is primarily about women’s experiences.  Have you had any feedback from men, and what do you hope men reading the series will “get” from it?

This is a great question! I originally started this series for women and still tend to think of it as geared toward them; however, women are not the only victims of damaging relationships.  I recently received an email from a woman who shared that her son is in an abusive relationship.  I would love the opportunity to share stories of broken relationships from the male perspective, although I think that men are still a little more reticent about discussing those experiences (but all the more reason they need to be shared).  If there are any men that would like to write a piece, please don’t hesitate to contact me – your voice is important and I do publish pieces anonymously upon request!  


This series can benefit all men in that it gives them a window into the lives of women who have endured damaging relationships.  Since so many women will be in an abusive relationship of some kind in their lifetime, there is a high probability that a man will marry a woman who retains the scars of a past abusive relationship.  It’s important that they are able to understand and identify the scars that their loved ones carry.  Fathers also need to be aware of the kind of relationships that they need to prepare their daughters for and warn them against.  

Q.  Do you have a “favorite” or most-important to read in the series?  I read through each of the selections, and all were so important, well-written and handle tough topics sensitively.   In particular, the post titled, “He didn’t really love me and want to protect me. He wanted to control me” was especially well-done.  Do you have one you consider a must-read?

I think they all discuss different important aspects of damaging relationships.  Each woman’s experience is different, so I think it is important to get as many stories as possible out there.  I’m hesitant to say that one is better than the other because each person will be affected by each one differently.  The ones that have been most healing for me based on my past experiences may not have the same meaning for someone else.  I think all the women who have shared have been extremely courageous in telling their story.

Q.  Do you see this as an ongoing series, or do you plan to wrap it up at some time in the future?

As long as there are people willing to share, I will be open to continuing the series.  I think there are many aspects that still need to be addressed.  Particularly, I would be interested in pieces from friends and family of those in damaging relationships.  I would also like pieces that are more advice-based in nature, for example, “how to identify warning signs of a damaging relationship,” or “what to do if someone you know was in an abusive relationship.”  

Q.   Is there anything else you would like to add, or wish I would have asked?

Many of the pieces that have been written so far have dealt with physical or sexual abuse; however, I envisioned the series to include all relationships that are “damaging”.  Many women (and men) have been in relationships  that have left them feeling broken even though their relationships may not meet the definition of abusive.  Relationships in which one person is constantly belittled, in which infidelity is a factor, or which left one (or both) members scarred is a broken relationship.  These stories have a place in the series as well. 


Although I have already addressed this in several questions above, I would like to add that I am always taking new pieces.  If someone reading this feel like he/she has something to contribute, even if it isn’t on a topic I’ve specific addressed interest in, please contact me at catholicnewlywed@gmail.com.

Sharing Resources–Men and Sexual Abuse

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As often happens when you are focused on something, you see it everywhere.  And this was definitely the case with sexuality and a healthy, integrated life, after I reviewed for this month’s column two important books: Adam & Eve After the Pill:  Paradoxes of the Sexual Revolution by Mary Eberstadt and  My Peace I Give You: Healing Sexual Wounds with the Help of the Saints by Dawn Eden.  I’ve encountered many resources and sources of information over the past month that I plan to share with readers here.  I also hope to have a number of guest posts.

One of the podcasts I subscribe to is Focus on the Family’s daily broadcast.   While I don’t love every single podcast, I do find it more often than not an interesting listen.  The resource from Focus on the Family that I use most often, though, is its media review site, Plugged In Online (though strangely, I don’t listen to the Plugged In podcast very often).

At the end of last month, I listened to a tremendous two-part series from Focus on the Family, “Men and Sexual Abuse: Hope for Wounded Hearts,” a long interview with Dr. Dan Allendar about the long-term effects of sexual abuse on men.  It covers a lot of the same themes that Dawn Eden does in her book, My Peace I Give You.  Well worth a listen.

You can listen to the first part of the interview here.

After the Revolution, Rotten Fruit, Discouragement–And Hope

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During my college years in the 1980s, I was a (nominal) cradle Catholic, and fairly immersed in the college culture of the time.  I was especially drawn to various trendy, or what we called back in the day “politically correct,” ideas and philosophies.

Exhibit A: I thought Gloria Steinem, who spoke at our campus, was glamorous and made terrific sense.
All joking about Gloria Steinem aside, by far the most memorable speaker was a beautiful young woman, a former porn film worker, who gave a speech  (from a feminist perspective) on the evils of pornography.
It gave me–to this day–an implacable hatred of porn as something bad for women and corrosive to society.
I’m incredibly grateful for that speaker, who opened my eyes at such an early age of the high cost of “anything goes.”  But it was awful to sit through and to hear.

Mary Eberstadt’s Adam and Eve After the Pill: Paradoxes of the Sexual Revolution reminds me of hearing that speech.  This book is not enjoyable –in fact, reading it can be downright discouraging.  But it is a must-read in understanding, “the moral core of the sexual revolution (is) the abundant evidence that its fruits have been rottenest for women and children.”

Every single essay-chapter is important and stands alone.  It’s hard to pick out a best chapter, but “The Will to Disbelieve” is crucial in setting up the notion that society at large is largely ignoring the clear results of the sexual revolution, much the same way the “the moral facts about the Cord War remained disputed at the highest intellectual levels, especially on American campuses, until about two seconds before the Berlin Wall came down.”
Perhaps the only hopeful chapter of Adam and Eve After the Pill is “‘Pedophia Chic’ Then and Now” which outlines how just a few short decades ago, pedophilia was more in vogue and even defended in the public square such as mainstream magazine articles.  Ebertstadt writes that it is “a small case of small but real moral progress that bodes a little better for the youngest and most innocent among us, even as it confirms that the sexual revolution has made the world a more dangerous place for them.”
Hope may be hard to come by when reading Adam and Eve After the Pill, but hope and peace suffuse My Peace I Give You: Healing Sexual Wounds with the Help of the Saints by Catholic convert Dawn Eden.

In many ways, My Peace I Give You is a personal testimonial to the rotten fruits documented in Adam and Eve After the Pill.  As a child of divorce, Eden experienced sexual abuse in various settings, then as a young adult lived promiscuously to “take control” of her sexuality.  But wholeness and true happiness remained elusive.

In Eden’s 2006 international bestseller, The Thrill of the Chaste, Eden wrote about discovering the appeal that modesty and sexual restraint offer, but had not yet come to terms with the legacy of abuse in her life.
During and after her conversion to Catholicism, Eden sees that healing from those sexual wounds is ongoing and a work of the Holy Spirit, through specific saints who provide solace on the journey.
As she writes to the many who are childhood sexual abuse victim, “I want you to know you are not alone, you are not forgotten, and you have more friends in heaven than you realize.”
My Peace I Give Youis part memoir and part meditations on what the saints can teach us about wholeness of body, mind and spirit, even in the face of searing memories and experiences.
Some of the saints in My Peace I Give You are victims of sexual abuse; some are not; but in Eden’s heartfelt and careful reflection, all have something to offer those who have undergone abuse, or those whose hearts breaks for them.
This column appears on the book page of the print Catholic Post this weekend.  It’s an interesting, I would venture to say providential, “coincidence,” that this review appears here on the feast day of St. Maria Goretti.  Eden in particular has an insightful chapter in her book My Peace I Give You on this much-known but little-understood saint.