I Run These Towns

In the nearly five years(!) since I've been writing this blog, I've found it fun to reflect on the passing year before setting goals (i.e. making non-resolutions ) for the upcoming year. I set a lot of goals at the end of last year, and this has been a pretty epic running year for me. It has also been the most challenging year of my life (in both good and bad ways). On January 1, 2015 I had a two-week old baby. My eyes felt like they were filled with sand. Sleep deprivation is legit. I gained a new appreciation for all the parents I knew who appeared to be functioning like normal humans. I learned that new parents are, in fact, wizards. I discovered an all-consuming love that I'd never known. My son is a joy every single day. It's the hardest and most rewarding job I've ever done, and I love every second of it.   With my little dude when he was about four months old. This love is the best. I returned to work the first week in February to a new job. I am wit...

I don't relax easily. It's always a challenge for me to let go. After two of the busiest weeks in recent memory I was looking forward to getting out of town and leaving the busy behind. That meant one final day of driving to Ann Arbor for my work Christmas lunch, my son's daycare party in the late afternoon and then finally hitting the road around my son's bedtime. After weeks of unseasonably warm temperatures on the day we were to leave we had the first bout of winter weather in a while. A weird lake effect system made roads icy and nearly impassable. We left around 8 pm and still had slick roads through most of Michigan. Thankfully weather in Ohio and Pennsylvania were better. As we got into West Virginia near my mom's the weather was a little dicey, but we were almost there and not really worried. My mom's neighborhood requires driving up a steep hill to get into it, and we discovered quickly that said hill was covered in ice. We discovered this as our car...

For most of us the holidays are the busiest time of year. Our holidays are generally b-a-n-a-n-a-s, and I love every single minute of it. I hate it when I hear people complain about how busy the holidays are. This is the most wonderful time of the year! There are songs about it! This is the time of year to think of others, donate to charities, attend festive gatherings, wear cocktail dresses because it's Wednesday and soak in every minute of the sesason. I recently saw someone on Facebook complaining about how they stopped sending Christmas cards because 1) they were too busy and 2) because social media fills that need. Let me just stop them right there. If you don't want to send Christmas cards then don't. But don't make excuses. The holiday season is only as busy as you allow it to get. If you want to eliminate certain traditions do it, but don't pretend you don't have time or that Facebook meets that need. It's just not the same thing. You can insert...

Before you ask let me say that yes, this is the second blog this year with a title from "Seasons of Love". I love RENT and that song...so humor me.  Last weekend we celebrated December 13, my favorite day. On that date seven years ago I married my husband in the best party we've ever thrown. On that date one year ago our precious son was born. It is a day filled with so much love that my heart can barely handle it.  Everyone thinks their wedding day is perfect, but mine really was. It was cold with snow on the ground, but it wasn't actually snowing that day. We had the most incredible day, and I worked hard to take in every moment. I look back at those photos and am still in love with that day. It was exactly the day that we wanted, and it officially started this adventure.    We buy Christmas decorations when we travel, and I love decorating our tree and recalling the amazing trips we've taken in seven years: Sweden, Maine, Boston, New York, the Outer B...

Today would've been my dad's 67th birthday. My heart hurts. My chest literally hurts like someone has punched me. I'm distracted. I'm so, so sad. What did I do last year for my dad's birthday? I don't remember, and that makes me sad. A card? Some gift that my mom suggested because Dad was impossible to buy for? A quick phone conversation because my dad hated talking on the phone even more than I did? It should've been more, right? If I had known that was his last birthday I would've done more. But how can you ever know that? My dad turned 60 two days before my wedding. His birthday was overshadowed by my big day, but my dad never wanted anything to be about him. His focus in life was his wife and his children. He was happy to let his birthday go by without celebration. We surprised him at our reception with a cake for his birthday. I love the look on his face as he was surrounded by his family. He was looking at my mom in surprise as if to say, "D...

I lived in Texas for a few years in my early 20's. I mostly remember finishing my third year of law school at Baylor and partying with my friends. We were young, had money for the first time, and the drinks flowed. It was fantastic. I've got some of the absolute best drinking stories from my time in Texas (including being kicked out of a martini bar in San Antonio...I'll tell you about it in person if you want to hear it). Those years were really fun. The last time I was in Texas it was in 2004 when my sister and I packed up my apartment, and I officially moved to Virginia. It was a sad time with a lot of change. I mostly associate Texas with my first time really being a grown up, and I also associate it with the demise of my first real adult relationship. It's a weird connection. Last year my best friend moved to Austin, a city where she and I have spent many nights imbibing in cocktails, dancing and singing along with the musicians in the many bars on 6th Street. I...

It's December, and the holiday season is officially upon us. I love Christmas, and I've decided this year I'll really focus on being present in the season and being grateful. By "focus on being present " I also mean travel to Austin, Texas and the Outer Banks, throw three relatively large holiday gatherings at my house (including my son's first birthday party) and live the rest of my life in a somewhat normal fashion. This has been a hard year. While I may not be slowing down by my (or any) standards, I am attempting to be present during one of my favorite times of year and be kind to my body. Being kind to my body includes a sm all break from running. Last week I ran my final race of the year, the Lansing Turkeyman Trot, on Thanksgiving morning. It was relatively warm, but it was raining off and on. That always makes dressing appropriately a challenge, and I failed miserably (I was way too warm). I sidled up to the start with several thousand other runner...

There are a lot of reasons I love running without headphones, but one of my favorites is it allows me time to think. It allows me time to prioritize my to do list, write blogs in my head, and practice a presentation that's coming up the next week. This past weekend as I was running the Silver Bells in the City 5k it mostly gave my body time to scream at me. I ended up running a res pectable 25:08, but it didn't feel good. As I was running (not even close to a PR pace) I was imagining what my body would say if I could write me a letter : Dear Samantha: It's not me; it's you. This year I've given you my absolute best. You've had your fastest ever running year. You've run significant PRs at every distance. You have been injury free for the first time in the decade that you've been running. I've given you the energy to keep up with an exuberant baby. I've given you the focus to start a new job. How have your chosen to repay me? You've chose...

November is National Adoption Month. A decade ago I never imagined I'd be an adoptive mom. I don't know that it's something that naturally occurs to a lot of people. You get married, you get pregnant, you have a baby. That's how life works except when it doesn't. These days more and more of my friends have fertility issues, and now that I've adopted the world's most incredible baby* I find myself thinking, "Why are you bothering with all that drama? Adoption is the way to go."  I get it - it's really hard to process not biologically having a baby. It's difficult to wrap one's mind around the adoption process and how complicated it really is. Now that we've adopted our son I cannot imagine having done it any differently. It is not possible for me to love him more. Our first family photo when he was only minutes old. I've never given birth to a child, so I can't compare experiences. But if I had gotten pregnant right a...

It's been nearly six weeks since my dad passed away, and life, as she is wont to do, continues to fly by at a rapid pace. It's been the most surreal experience of my life, but except for the rare indulgence in self pity I have mostly been okay. At least I think I have mostly been okay. It feels weird and almost a betrayal to my dad to say that. I'm not okay in the sense that everything is fine, but I'm okay because there's no other viable alternative. If I let myself have an extended stay in that sad place (instead of the occasional visit), nothing good will come of it. Of all people my dad wouldn't want me to dwell in sadness. He'd say, "Sissy don't you worry about me. You have Will to worry about. You're the sick one!" And then he'd take a drink of a beer and go back to watching football because we'd already talked about him too much.  I feel extraordinary sadness every day, but I also feel so much joy. I have been reminded of w...

You can't have a race without the runners, but as a runner I know that you really can't appreciate a good race unless it has good spectators. I wrote a blog after the Marine Corps Marathon two years ago with pointers for spectators, and they still hold true. New York had incredible spectators. There were people everywhere, and generally they were loud and engaged. But just like there are those runners who try to ruin it for everybody, there are those spectators.  Here are some general rules of thumb: 1. Do not cross the street when runners are barreling down on you. I get it - races are long, and streets need to be crossed. Wait until there is a lull in runners and make your move. But move fast and get out of the way. I had a woman run right in front of me in New York. I had to pull back to keep from tripping over her. I was furious. I yelled, "Really? I'm in the middle of something here!" You're there to support runners. Don't make them dodge you....

On Sunday I ran my 20th half marathon. That means I have run 262 miles during half marathon races. That doesn't include other races and training runs, but I've had some incredible experiences during those miles . I've dis covered cities I loved like Kno xville , Tennessee. I became a Run ner of Stee l in Pittsburgh. I earned a Tiffany necklace as a medal in San Francisco . I ran 13.1 miles when the temperature was two degree s . Ten years ago when I started running I didn't know where this journey would take me. Hundreds of miles later I have accomplished more than I ever thought possible. I've realized my body and my mind are always stronger than I think they are. Running has been my savior more times than I imagined it would. When everything else in life seems chaotic , my running shoes are alwa ys dependable.  I n my first year of running I ran three half marathons. After that I took a break and didn't run another long race for three years. I'm not...

I loved running the New York City Marathon , so I don't want the blog that follows to take away from that in any way. However when you're running with 50,000 people for nearly 5 hours, you notice a lot of things. For instance you notice that some people are total inconsiderate jerks. I will say it's a small percentage of people, but the bad behavior stands out.  Let me start by saying this: unless you are an elite runner or are capable of placing in a marathon, your race is not more precious than anyone else's. Whether your final time is 4 hours or 5, everyone has worked hard. That extra 10 minutes you get by being rude to someone really doesn't matter. Everyone out there is doing their best. When you act like a jerk you don't accomplish anything. Don't be that guy or girl.  Here are some ways to not be an a-hole while running a race: Do not push someone at a water station. Again, unless you're an elite runner many runners walk through water stati...