I Run These Towns

As much as I love running, for me it's critical to know when to force myself to get up and go for a run and when to rearrange the schedule to allow for some down time. This summer has been a little difficult for me with my hip issues (I'm still in PT) and the humidity . I've taken more down time than I have the last few years, and I have to keep reminding myself that it's okay. Other than the LL Bean 10k I ran nearly a month ago, I haven't run more than four miles at a time since the Dexter-Ann Arbor Half Marathon the first of June. I've been babying my hip injuries hoping they'll heal and also in hopes that my physical therapist won't kill me for pushing it too hard while I'm injured. It's been odd to have all of these weekends without a long run. I've even rearranged my schedule several times to take a few weekends off entirely. It's weird, but I've discovered it's important. This past weekend I intended to do a long run ...

I LOVE the Olympics. I am particularly partial to track and field (shocking) and women's gymnastics, but I love watching all of the sports. When I first moved to Michigan my (now) husband and I bonded over the Olympics. Of course they were the winter Olympics which I think is just a good fix to get you through to the real Olympics, the summer ones. But any way you slice it, I love the Olympics. I think there is also a direct correlation between place and the Olympic host cities. Look at some of the cities who have hosted the (summer) Olympics in the last few decades: Beijing, Athens, Sydney, Atlanta, Barcelona, Seoul, Los Angeles.  These are all cosmopolitan, thriving places.  And this year the Olympics are in London, one of the best cities in the world. In 2008 Fast Company magazine named its global city of the year. About this city it said : " It's shockingly expensive. The roads are jammed with traffic. The subway system's hopeless, and the buses no better...

On Saturday I ran my 4th race in the Playmakers Race Series - the Race for Ele's Place in Okemos, Michigan. Okemos is a Lansing suburb about 15 minutes east of Lansing. The race is hailed as a local favorite, so I was excited to run it. Ele's Place is an organization offering support for grieving children. It's a great community benefit assisting children who have lost a loved one. That's been one of the best things about the Playmakers Race Series - getting to do races that benefit such wonderful causes. While the cause was wonderful, I found the race to be not so great. Let me start by telling you a little about Okemos - "Okemos" itself doesn't exist. The postal address is Okemos, but the actual locality is Meridian Township. Meridian Township is a pretty typical, mid-20th century suburb marked by quiet subdivisions and big box stores. One of the best assets of Meridian Township, however, is its recreational trails. When my husband and I first sta...

I complain a lot about Michigan's weather. I love hot weather, and it doesn't often get what I consider hot enough here. This summer has been a fabulous exception, and it's been extremely warm. We've had several 100+ degree days, and it feels like I think summer is supposed to. I love it. The only time I don't love it is when I'm running. It made me realize one of the reasons Michigan has such a great running culture - it's generally fantastic running weather year round. The last month or so my runs have been extremely sluggish. I enjoy the heat and humidity when I'm not running, but during my runs I feel like I'm running in quicksand. Other than the 10k I did a few weeks ago, I feel like I haven't had a good run in a few months. I'm learning to deal with the heat though, hydrating a lot, and just running as many miles (or as few) as I want to. This morning I ran three miles in humidity so thick it felt like I was running in a wet blanket. ...

I grew up in the town of Hundred (yes like the number), West Virginia. It's in the middle of nowhere, and it's population was a booming 299 people according to the 2010 Census . Despite being from a small town, I've always been a city girl at heart. Seeing Washington, D.C. for the first time in 1995 just sealed the deal - I was leaving Hundred as soon as I could. The August following high school graduation I headed to Morgantown, WV to attend West Virginia University and never really looked back. I had two younger brothers still at home, and I'd go back regularly to visit my family.  But as soon as I landed in Morgantown it felt more like home. I liked riding the PRT (personal rapid transit - we have a monorail) downtown to my classes, to have lunch and go out with my friends. It felt the way I thought life was supposed to feel. Bigger.  In 2006, ten years after I graduated from high school, my parents moved to Morgantown. In the six years since I've been to H...

I realize I do a lot of raving about how wonderful running is, but there is a down side - the injury. I don't know a lot of runners who have never been injured, and the more common thing is the runners who have recurring injuries. If you're a runner and you have never been injured, I tip my hat to you. Unfortunately I am not one of those people. When I started running in 2006, I'd never run more than two miles at a time. I was a sprinter in high school, and I decided it would be brilliant to go from not running for years to training for a marathon. I'm a genius. Four months into marathon training, in an otherwise uneventful eight mile run, I felt it - the knee twinge. I took a few days off, tried to run again, and ouch. I went to see a sports medicine doctor (who is amazing), and he said it was IT band. What the heck is your IT band, you may ask? Good question because I didn't know then either. Now we are old friends. Basically it's the tendon that runs from...

My husband and I just got back from an amazing vacation in Maine that I cannot say enough good things about. We relaxed, ate amazing seafood, and got in some great sightseeing. We took our pups along, and they loved being on vacation. To top it all off I got to run a bucket list race, the LL Bean 10k , with Joan Benoit Samuelson . Okay, not with her considering that she was 20 minutes ahead of me, but we did run the same race. Awesome. Murphy loves vacation To break up the 17 hour drive, we stopped overnight in Albany, New York.  We are working on seeing all of the U.S. capitol buildings, so a stop in Albany (which was right on the way) killed two birds with one stone. Albany is about what you'd expect - a seemingly sleepy town, a bit run down, and dominated by state government. What surprised me about Albany was the cultural diversity. There were tons of shops and restaurants catering to all different cultures. The main street displayed flags from all over the world. Despi...