I Run These Towns

When I lived in the Ghent neighborhood in Norfolk, Virginia, I could walk anywhere. There were restaurants, shops, galleries - everything within a block of my apartment. I LOVED living in Ghent. It's one of the most disappointing things about moving to Michigan that I'm not really able to live somewhere where I can just walk downtown must less to a downtown OR a vibrant neighborhood.  Last fall I ranted about placemaking during all of the election hype happening nationwide and here in Michigan. In the introduction to the book The Economics of Place: The Value of Building Communities Around People , my boss Dan Gilmartin goes into what is attracting people. He concludes, "It's the place, stupid." (He also has an Economics of Place blog . It's pretty cool - you should check it out.) As my husband and I continually debate moving somewhere in mid-Michigan with vibrant neighborhoods, I flash back to the awesomeness that is Ghent and feel frustrated. Michigan i...

Memorial Day marks the unofficial beginning of summer, and I always find myself anticipating the arrival of sunshine and warm weather. Here in the Great Lakes State it also means heading somewhere to the water. It's a very Michigan thing for families to have cottages to visit. Some people drive for hours every weekend to their lakeside paradise. Fortunately my husband's family has a place about 50 minutes from here, so it makes it an easy day trip. The weather this spring has been completely schizophrenic. The upside is that we've had gorgeous running weather. My husband and I ran this weekend, and I wore pants and a long-sleeved shirt. Not your typical late May weather.  We originally had planned to be in Chicago for the Soldier Field 10-miler, but our plans changed. That meant heading to the lake for sunshine and family time. It was a chilly day - high 60s - but the sun was brilliant. Despite the cool weather there were lots of people out on the lake tubing, boating a...

When I started running in April of 2006, it was a very rainy spring. I remember those early days of struggling through one- and two-mile runs in torrential downpours. I'd come home and dry out my shoes only to get them soaking wet again the next day. At first I dreaded those runs in the rain. Being a beginner runner is hard enough without having to dodge puddles. I gradually began to love running in the rain. A lot of runners will take those days off, so I feel like I have the world to myself. I love the sound of rain and my feet hitting the pavement, and the quiet of a rainy spring morning. And the smell - that's the best. It's all of those great spring smells of lilacs and trees and freshly cut grass mixed with the rain.  As life gets crazy (as it so often does), I find myself looking forward to rainy days. Obviously there's nothing like a warm sunny day to lift the spirit, but when I wake up to clouds and gray skies - those are the days when I'm most excited ...

May 19-25 is National Dog Bite Prevention Week . (I know...that's actually a thing.) I'm pretty sure there's a week to commemorate everything, but that's a topic for another blog. I was bitten by a dog when I was 8. I was playing with my uncle's German Shepherd mix and things went poorly. I don't remember it extremely well, but I do remember trying to get a frisbee from the dog when she bit me. I remember the blood pouring from my face and an ambulance ride (which in other circumstances could have been exciting). I remember having to eat only liquids with a straw because of all the stitches in my lip. So I get it - I'm familiar with dog bites. I spent several years quite afraid of dogs, and then I dated a guy in high school who had a black Lab. I learned to get over my dog fear, and now I don't even remember it. I love dogs. I have two - they are our babies, and they are giant love bugs. Every now and then once of them will do what dogs do and get terr...

A few weeks ago I posted about my work with a nutritionist, and after a few weeks of making some small changes I'm starting to notice a difference. We hit up Trader Joe's last weekend to stock up on all these weird things I never thought I'd eat - sprouted grain bread, organic peanut butter, almond butter, and of course a case of Two Buck Chuck Cabernet (okay that's NOT on the nutritionist's list, but it's on mine).  The first few days of the diet I actually felt worse. I was not tolerating some of the changes (I blame the bread), but it is slowly becoming easier. I've also given up diet soda (again), and she recommended I give up coffee. I'm not a huge coffee drinker (I drink Earl Gray tea most mornings), but I am giving myself leeway to have a cup of two on the weekends. This goes in line with my trying not to be an annoying food zealot.  What I love about my nutritionist is that she wants to slowly implement changes and not just throw me into th...

Last year over Mother's Day weekend we set up our nursery. It was early - only two months into the adoption process - but I'm anal and wanted to have it set up. It's a beautiful room that we've continued to fill with little touches to make it perfect. The only thing missing is a baby. I remember thinking over that weekend in 2012 that this would likely be the last Mother's Day in which I didn't have a child, and my heart was filled with hope. Yeah - our nursery IS this cute. A year later over this Mother's Day weekend that room remains empty. And it's harder than it was last year even though statistically we HAVE to be getting closer to getting our baby. I've heard all of the words of what are meant to be supportive: "It's God's plan", "There's a baby out there for you", "It'll happen when it's supposed to happen." And all of those people are right and well meaning, but it doesn't make i...

As much as I loved last weekend's Pittsburgh Half Marathon , there is one thing that continues to irk me about crowded races - the inconsiderate people with headphones. I know this post is going to ruffle some feathers, but in large, really crowded races I think headphones should not just be discouraged but banned. Other than on the treadmill I've never been a fan of running with music, but I get why people want to. I'm not opposed to training with music or even using iPods or phones during a small race. But in the last month I've done two very crowded races, the Cherry Blossom 10-miler in DC and the Pittsburgh Half Marathon. The Cherry Blossom race prohibited headphones even though I did see some people with them. Fortunately there were way fewer people with headphones at that race. First off a runner should never EVER be talking on their phone during the race. It's bad enough that I have to listen to your private conversation while I'm waiting in line at ...

This past weekend we headed to one of my favorite cities, Pittsburgh, so I could run the Pittsburgh Half Marathon. This race marked my 12th half, and it was, unequivocally, my favorite race I've ever done. I had some challenges along the way, but there is nothing I would change about the race. We arrived in Pittsburgh around mid-day on Saturday. Our hotel, the Pittsburgh Marriott City Center, was nearly a mile from the expo. We headed downtown from our hotel as soon as we arrived. I had a stellar cheering section - my husband and my parents. As we neared the expo we realized just how huge this race was going to be. There were so many people, and the expo was packed. That being said it was the best expo I've ever seen. There were so many vendors, and despite the crowds everything was extremely well organized. I left with both my purse and race bag full of goodies and new race ideas to try. I also snagged a "Boston Strong" headband I decided to wear during the race th...

When you start running it takes a long time to feel like a "real" runner. It's hard at first, and every day feels like a struggle. The little secret though is that sometimes even after you've been running for a while you think you may not be a "real" runner. I read Runner's World every month, and the people featured are often people accomplishing major feats in running. Where is the feature of the person starting out who is 40 pounds overweight, and every day it sucks? Or the person who consistently runs a 10-minute mile and is thrilled with it? (That person is me on a lot of days). Last year Runner's World did feature some regular (i.e. not professional) runners on its cover, but even the "regular" people were faster and more motivated than the average bear. After more than seven years of running and countless races, I know I'm a real runner. But what does "real" mean for each person? I'm never going to qualify for Bo...