I Run These Towns

A friend posted this quote by Olympic champion Florence Griffith Joyner on Facebook this week: "When anyone tells me I can't do anything, I'm just not listening any more." This is is how I live my life. Please tell me I can't do something. That simply means I'll be motivated to do it.  I'm not a parent yet, but I really love the unsolicited advice I already get. My favorites include, "Wait until you have kids. You won't be able to travel like you do now." Or "Wait until you have kids. You'll hate your dogs." Or any variation of "Wait until you have kids. You'll stop doing (fill in the blank)." Here's the thing people - I have ZERO illusion that having kids will upend my life in a way that I cannot even possibly imagine right now. I'm not prepared for it, and I'm pretty sure nobody ever is. But if you think that these blanket statements won't motivate me to have the exact opposite reaction, you ...

I love the south. I am a sucker for a southern drawl, warmer weather and sweet iced tea. I am pretty sure I was a true southern belle in a former life, and I'm quite certain I could rock a hoop skirt in 2014. I'd take that bet.  So when I saw the ad for the Papa John's 10-miler , a race in the south (Louisville, Kentucky) that ended at the 50-yard-line of a college football stadium (Papa John's Stadium, home of the University of Louisville Cardinals), I was in. My girlfriend and I headed to Louisville (pronounced LOO-AH-VUL or you're clearly an outsider) on Friday morning. We eagerly drove towards nearly 70 degree temperatures. We made a fantastic pitstop in Anderson, Indiana (in the middle of nowhere) to eat a The Lemon Drop , an adorable burger place with 4.5 well deserved stars on Yelp. The place is frozen in time (including prices) and the food is delish.  We arrived at our hotel downtown and set out to explore. There's no other way to say it - downtown ...

Be kind to your body; it's the only one you'll ever have.This is the phrase that was repeating in my head during the third hacking coughing fit I had during my long run last weekend. It was a phrase I was choosing to ignore. I'm terrible at being kind to myself. It doesn't really mesh with the overriding need to achieve the many accomplishments that are out there. It I stop, I miss something. I have tried, in small ways, to be kind to myself. Baby steps. Let me illustrate with a story. I registered for the St. Patrick's Day 8k in Washington, DC a few weeks ago. Michigan has a veritable race drought in the winter, and I was itching for a solid race. I arrived in DC on Friday with a slight, relatively sudden cold.  I don't get colds very often, and I don't consider them much of a reason to slow down. Who has time for that? You ride it out, take some meds, drink lots of fluids, and colds go away.  On Saturday morning I went to Pacers Running Store in Loga...

I have really terrible hand/eye coordination, so I don't actually know how to juggle inanimate objects like balls or oranges. I am, however, an expert at juggling about 100 different tasks at any given time. My calendar looks like an intricate game of Tetris, and sometimes I have to force myself to not look ahead. The idea of getting everything accomplished can be overwhelming. Sure, I could say no to more things. Somehow, despite my best attempts to do so, I just keep saying yes. There's so much going on. I don't want to miss anything!  Work has been really busy the last few months, and I can't remember an evening at home without doing work. I've even been coming into the office regularly on the weekends just to have some quiet time to catch up. Then there's the social calendar. This is where I get into trouble. Let's take a look at the next few weeks, for example. On Friday I leave for DC. I'm spending two nights with my bestie, running an 8k on Su...

Even if you're a fan of winter (which we have established that generally I am not), this winter has been brutal. It's the first of March, and we're expecting more snow in the morning. We have several feet of snow piled up on either side of our driveway, and I'm over it. Really, really over it. Despite that I think I've overall been a good sport this winter. I went to Marquette in Michigan's frigid Upper Peninsula in January and fell in love despite the air being so cold it hurt to breathe. In the (hopefully) waning days of winter, I will aim to appreciate what's left. A few weeks ago I went to Frankenmuth, Michigan for work. Frankenmuth, known as Michigan's "Little Bavaria", has a German-themed charm that attracts visitors from across the country. While I don't necessarily love the overly touristy nature of the city, there was some winter charm that stuck out to me. There were huge snow and ice sculptures in the parks downtown that were...