I Run These Towns

Sometimes in life something that inspires you in a way that you can't describe. The inspiration grabs your heart and takes hold allowing you to believe you can do anything.  That's how I felt when I first learned about Alex's Lemonade Stand and its founder, the inspirational Alexandra Scott. It was Abraham Lincoln who said, "It's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years."  Alex Scott was only eight years old when she died in 2004. I did not know her, and yet she's touched my life and so many others in a way she probably never could have imagined. When I heard about Alex's Lemonade Stand I wanted to be part of it. I wanted to contribute to this incredible charity that was helping children and families deal with the horror of childhood cancer.  The mission of this organization touched my heart.  Did I really want to run another marathon? Honestly I did not. But I wanted to be part of Team Lemon, and this past weekend I ra...

I was 25 years old when I moved from Texas to Norfolk, Virginia. I had recently graduated from law school, and I was restless. I didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I had no idea how I'd pay back my student loans. I essentially went to Norfolk to visit my sister, who had been living there for a few years, and I stayed. I fell into my first real job working for the mayor. It was there that I really learned about placemaking and the vision it takes to create and maintain a vibrant community. Norfolk was where I figured out who I wanted to be and what I wanted to do, and visiting there feels like home. I'm not sure if it's the salty air from the bay or me tapping into my inner 25-year-old, but when I'm there, I can breathe. Last weekend I visited Norfolk for my nephew's first birthday party. It had been almost a year since my last visit, and I still believe how quickly this year has flown.  I arrived late on Thursday, and first order of business ...

Last weekend during mass our deacon gave a homily discussing the need to have an "attitude of gratitude". The gist was that we are always looking for the next exciting thing instead of appreciating and enjoying the blessings we have in our own lives. I have to admit that lately I have not had an attitude of gratitude. I've had an attitude, but it's been surly and impatient.  I realize that it's happening, but I've been powerless to stop it. Instead of being grateful for the many things I have in my life, I've been restless and testy. I've been ignoring the grace that already exists in my own life and have been looking for something more. I don't know what that something is, but I've been going out of my way to find it. We've been waiting for 19 months in our adoption process. I'm restless and frustrated and just wanting to DO something. I know there's nothing we can do but continue to wait, and the wait feels interminable. Overa...

I am an incredibly social person.  Our dance card is almost always full, and it's not unusual for us when trying to make dinner plans or something to look a month or further into the future to find a free weekend. I love being busy, and I love spending time with our family and friends. I have a hard time saying "no" to anything that sounds fun.  Despite my social nature I also crave alone time, and that's why running is the perfect fit for me. When you're as busy as I am sometimes it takes a lot to really disconnect from the natural distractions and interruptions of life - from work, from household chores, from the drama that life can naturally contain.  I love to read, but when I'm really busy I find that I can't disconnect from the thoughts racing through my head to appreciate a good book. Running is the best way (really the ONLY way) for me to deal with life's distractions. I'm not necessarily escaping them, but it helps me process them and ...

Vision. We all know those people who have it - who can assess a situation, figure out how to make it better, and work hard to achieve those results. Vision can exist in a number of situations, and in my life I see it as part of my job working with communities and as a runner where I am constantly challenging myself and adjusting my vision of what I expect to achieve. One of the best parts of my job is being consistently surrounded by people who have vision.  Our community leaders have to make the best of every situation. They fight through significant revenue reductions, change in local leadership, local politics. And through those challenges so many communities find a way to not only persevere but to be creative in creating places where their residents want to live, work and play. Places they can be proud of. Last week I visited one of our member communities, the City of Auburn Hills, for a ribbon cutting of a new project in their downtown. Auburn Hills is located north of Detro...

Last weekend while at my parents' I read a story in Reader's Digest about the fight between big food and organic.  Organic food is all anyone is talking about. The subtitle of the piece is "Have the elite hijacked healthy eating?" It's a legit question. I've been working with a nutritionist for several months, and it has been hit and miss in terms of how I think her recommendations work. One thing she has said repeatedly is to only buy organic everything. I've done it, and the only place I've really noticed a difference is with meat. I've noticed a HUGE difference in how organic and free range meat tastes. I get it. We buy mostly organic veggies too, but at some point the gluten free, dairy free, all organic diet she wants me on not only doesn't work with our lifestyle, but it sucks. I talked it over with my GI doctor who thinks gluten free and dairy free are certainly unnecessary for me. So I'm back again to my own trial and error and f...

When an athlete wins some major event, they're fond of saying, "I'm going to Disneyland." Disneyland is supposed to be, after all, the happiest place on Earth. For me any place with thousands of children, Florida heat and lines for hours sounds like torture, but to each his own.  When I think about my happiest place on Earth, it's unusual, but it's obviously Mountaineer Field at my alma mater West Virginia University. Me + Mountaineer Field = Happiness I think many people who grow up in West Virginia are Mountaineer fans, and I can remember expressly when it happened for me - while watching WVU play Notre Dame in the National Championship when I was nine years old.  It's certainly easy to start loving a team when they're playing for the game's top prize, but it's certainly not easy being a Mountaineer fan. When I was applying for colleges I really wanted to be a Mountaineer. I turned down a full scholarship to a smaller, nearby state sc...