I Run These Towns

I don't remember ever not being super Type A. When I was a little kid I used to get bored when I was visiting someone and would actually clean their house (as either most offensive or best visitor ever). I like things to be neat and tidy and efficient. Life, however, doesn't really care about those things. As a matter of fact it likes to scoff at you for thinking you're ever really in control. Intellectually I know this, but it doesn't make me less of a control freak. Two things in my life - Crohn's and the adoption process - have been the ultimate tests of my ability to be in control.  I remember telling my surgeon a month before I was starting law school that emergency surgery was not an option, and we would talk about doing it during Christmas break. Life laughed hard, I had an emergency colectomy, but I still started law school three weeks later. Take that life, I thought at the time. Unpredictability has made this Type A person a fighter. I had three surger...

Remember that guy (or girl) you dated in your mid-20s? The one who had a lot going for him, but somehow you couldn't quite make it work? That's how I feel when I go to Chicago. I think this time it will be different. I won't get there and spend the whole time wondering why I don't live there. Then I arrive (via train which is sexy in and of itself), and the city sucks me in with its public art, walkable streets, vibrant downtown, parks and transit.  I know I can't make it work. We have jobs and friends and family and a life here in Michigan. Yet maybe somehow we could try. Chicago would be worth it, right?  Maybe it would be a commitment worth making. I'm not sure when this happened - when I started thinking of cities I adore in terms of a love affair. Chicago and I have been in an on again/off again thing for years . I feel like the city gets me. It just feels right. Of all the cities I've visited in the last decade, Chicago is one that keeps pulling me b...

It's no secret that I find healthy eating annoying. I understand the importance of fueling your body particularly when you're as active as I am. But I do find the preachy extremes irritating. I don't care what anybody else eats, but the judgey "if you eat this stuff you're a terrible human" attitude makes me seriously want to pick up a Quarter Pounder on the way home. Having Crohn's has always made nutrition challenging for me, and even after working with a nutritionist last year I still feel like I haven't quite gotten the hang of it. I know how to keep my Crohn's under control, but fueling for intense races continues to be a challenge. This year my body decided to throw me a huge loop. I have been lightheaded and dizzy for a few weeks, and I went to my family doctor to figure out the deal. I found out last week that I am severely anemic. I've been anemic before, but the last time my levels were this low I required blood transfusions (than...

Last weekend I kicked off the 2014 race season with the Chocolatier's 5k in Lansing's Old Town. I decided this would be a great idea after my first stint in the pool for triathlon training. I've had better ideas. This year, with every race and every workout, I'll be pushing toward my 4th (and I swear final) marathon - the New York City Marathon in November.  I started last Saturday in the pool at the YMCA with my super patient girlfriend (who is an awesome swimmer). After just a few lengths of the pool I was winded. I felt like I had been sprinting a mile. My heart was pounding, and it was hard. I don't like to do things I'm not good at, and it definitely felt like this was something I wasn't going to be good at. It was a short workout - maybe 30 minutes or so - but it got me in the pool. Now the goal is to do at least two days a week until I start triathlon training intensely in April.  One big negative was hitting my toe on the side of the pool (I am t...

This is it - the year I do my first triathlon. I've considered it for years, but this is the year I'm pulling the trigger. June 22 is D-Day, and I'll be rocking the Tri Goddess Tri sprint triathlon. It may be four months away, but that doesn't make me less terrified. Biking and running are no problem; it's that bloody swim that has me nervous. All of the pieces are falling into place. I have a sassy new pink and black swimsuit. I have goggles. I have a membership to the YMCA of Lansing. One of my besties is a triathlon veteran, and she's helping me out. Now is the hard part - actually making myself do it. I'm excited to have some more focused cross training, but the idea of swimming in the dead of this brutally cold winter is challenging. It's no secret that I like a good challenge. While competing in a triathlon seems scary now, it's the exact type of challenge I need to keep me motivated and focused. Plus I like the idea of having really sexy...

If you asked those closest to me how they would describe me I can imagine the answers you'd get. I'd like to think they would say I'm wildly candid, witty, inappropriate, loyal, loud, brash and funny.  I'm quite sure the word "patient" wouldn't be brought up by anyone. Ever.  Perhaps that is why the universe has presented me this challenge of waiting to have a child. What's the best way to teach an extremely impatient person to be patient? Make them wait for something over which they have no control. I wouldn't say I'm the world's most patient person yet, but it has certainly pushed me out of my patience comfort zone. We live in a world of instant gratification. It's amazing that we want it all, and we expect it to just be there at our fingertips. I'm as guilty as anyone else. I find myself checking Facebook on my phone while waiting in line at Target. What happened to just waiting ? When did I become that person who has to consta...

Journalist Mignon McLaughlin said, "We all become great explorers during our first few days in a new city, or a new love affair."  I fall in love often, and I fall in love hard (with cities, that is). Cities have become one of my life's greatest love affairs. The beauty is that they're all so unique, and there are so many places to explore. Even if I find a city I'm not that into, there are plenty more to fill the void.  My passion for communities has gone from just liking cities to really falling madly in love with so many different places. I visit new cities and can't wait to check out physical design and walkable downtowns, green space, public art, and transit. These assets are part of what make great places, but there are also those indefinable characteristics that make you fall in love. Some cities have a heart and a soul that just reach out to you and keep you coming back. They've got that indescribable spirit that makes places great. In our busy...

I actually really love running in the winter. There's something about the absolute calm of the season. I love running in the dark, seeing puffs of my breath and appreciating the silence, because I can't even hear my own footsteps as they're muffled by the snow.  This winter, however, has stolen the calm winter running moments from me. This winter has been brutal. Lansing, Michigan averages 51.1 inches of snow per year. In the month of January alone we accumulated 40 inches of snow, about ten inches more than normal.  Even for a die hard runner like me it's hard to get out there when sidewalks and roads have not been cleared. On the rare occasion I have been able to get outside, I dutifully note the houses in my neighborhood who haven't cleared their sidewalks for a few days so I can report them to the city. Yes, I'm that neighbor. And for the record if you can afford a tennis court in your ample front yard, you can afford to have someone clear your snow. Run...