I Run These Towns

While it's always awesome to live downtown, spring is reminding me why it's really great. We walked to work this winter, but walking somewhere in the winter in Michigan is about survival. You put your head down and trudge into the wind just wanting it to be over. Now that the sun is shining, the days are longer and the trees are budding, it's a beautiful time to live downtown. This evening as I walked home from daycare with my son in the stroller I marveled at how incredible it feels to pick him up and just walk home. I don't have to get in the car and have a long drive. He's smiling and talking in the stroller, and we're both loving being outside in the fresh spring air. Spring also means race season. In this year, my self-proclaimed year to own the 5k, race season begins in earnest.  On Sunday I ran the Race for the Cure to benefit the Susan G. Komen Foundation for breast cancer research. It's one of mid-Michigan's largest 5ks, and it's always a...

You may not know this about me, but I tend to be a nostalgic person. This is the paradox that is Samantha: being a tough guy without feelings and at times being extremely nostalgic and sentimental. My eyes will fill with tears when I hear the first notes being played by the West Virginia marching band at a football game. My family lived in Madison, West Virginia for less than two years in 1986-87. When I hear any song from that time (my siblings and I call them "Madison songs"), I feel a tightness in my chest (especially if it's Broken Wings by Mr. Mister.) Now that I have a child I find myself being more nostalgic and weepier than ever. Putting his newborn clothes in the basement was heart wrenching. Every time he reaches a milestone I'm so thrilled he's on target and immediately sad that's he's growing up so fast. It's made me more reflective and appreciative of life in general. Last night I was walking home from a dinner just before 8 pm. It ra...

Last weekend my 4-month old son was baptized. Baptism is a spiritual rebirth for my son, but during a weekend of celebration and rebirth, my soul was the one that ended up being rejuvenated by time with my best friend and my family. Today my heart is full. I met my best friend in Texas in 2002, and we hit it off immediately. Fast forward thirteen years and we've been through a lot - marriages, children, a long distance friendship (she lived overseas for a good portion of that time). But every time we get together it's like no time has passed. She was one of my biggest cheerleaders during our struggle to have a family. She's been there to support me during my darkest times and kick me in the tail when I don't want to admit I'm wrong (which is never...obviously). Everyone should have a friend like her. I am the godmother to her oldest daughter. There was never a question she would be our first child's godmother as well. She hadn't been to Michigan since our ...

I am generally a very motivated person, and I love to write posts about pushing myself and making the most of life even with the challenges the universe throws your way. One of my favorite blogs I've ever written is that the hard is what makes it great . It's true. The hard is what makes it great, but sometimes the hard is just hard. Motivation is hard. Balance is hard. And sometimes great feels unattainable. The life/work/running/parent balance is brutal. I feel like I'm putting the bulk of my energy into being a good mom (which is of course most important) while focusing just enough energy on everything else to keep it going. Great is not in my vocabulary right now. I feel like I'm just keeping the balls in the air. I've got a couple of races on the schedule to keep me motivated. Thank goodness that I do, or I wouldn't be running at all. I ran last weekend on a gorgeous sunny morning, and most of it was a struggle. One of my favorite things about running ...

It's probably not a surprise that I'm all about that bass. I remember in high school one of my male friends telling me my butt was similar to Jennifer Lopez's. This was before J. Lo was cool. I think her credits included being a fly girl on In Living Color and Selena . I was pretty offended at the time because having a booty in the late 90s wasn't cool. In the years since it's become fashionable to have a curvy bum, and I've learned to embrace it. Today, while wearing a clingy dress that shows I've got curves in all the right places, I'm thankful to the booty pioneers like J. Lo and Beyoncé for making the rest of our curvy selves cool. I started thinking about this blog while wearing new running shorts that are huge in the waist but tight in the butt. It's a girl with a bubble butt's cross to bear. Everything is tight in the butt and loose in the waist. Why do you think I'm always wearing dresses? Pants and I are not often friends. It...

As a new mom I hear a lot about the "mommy wars" where everyone is judging everyone else for the choices they make or don't make. Before you think, "I'm not judging anyone", just stop it. We all are, and we all know it. The mommy wars, however, have led me to start thinking about all of the wars in life. In particular in my life there are the running and city wars. The struggle is real. I'm a pretty lazy runner. I run the absolute bare minimum that I can to still meet my goals. When I'm training for a marathon I run 3-4 miles two days a week and a long run on the weekends. That's it. No 90 mile weeks for this girl. If I run too many miles my IT band can't cut it. Plus - let's face it - I want to have a life outside of running. I remember training for my first marathon ( Detroit) during football season. I ran 16 miles on a Saturday morning, sat in a chair listlessly drinking Gatorade during a tailgate in East Lansing and fell asleep in ...

Recently I came across a Runner's World article from 1995 that I'd saved in my senior memory book. The article talked about how people think runners are crazy, and the author was embracing the crazy. This piece inspired the copy I wrote for the track page in my senior year book (I was copy editor for my high school yearbook...I'm sure this is shocking news if you didn't know). On Sunday morning as I was driving to Ann Arbor to run the Ann Arbor Half Marathon I was thinking for the first time in a while that being a runner makes one a little bit insane. It's a strange dichotomy because running makes me insane but is also my sanity. How does that work? Just for fun I thought I'd give you a glimpse into my crazy mind for a few hours last Sunday morning. I hope you're ready for this. 4:22 a.m. Wake up with a start realizing the baby has slept all night. Lie awake thinking about random things...things that come together to become a whole thing and keep you aw...