I Run These Towns

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...

Brace yourself. If you don't want read me gushing about my wonderful time running the New York City Marathon , my fantastic culinary/cocktail pillage of the city and my incredible spectating crew, just stop reading. This weekend was infallibly awesome. I've been stressed about running New York. I did not train properly. My longest training run was 15 miles. I promised myself I'd just relish the city and enjoy a child-free weekend with my husband and two of our closest friends. I had high expectations for a fun weekend, and this weekend vastly exceeded those expectations. The hubs and I arrived mid-day on Thursday. Simply seeing the city from the plane is enough to get my heart racing. We checked into our hotel in Midtown (a great location on East 51st Street) and headed out to find food. We stumbled into The Smith around the corner from our hotel. The weather was beautiful, and we were able to sit near the open doors to people watch. I devoured a pot of mussels and fri...