I Run These Towns

There are some days where I can't believe I get to do something I love so much, and I've had a few weeks of falling in love every day. Last week at the City Manager's conference at Boyne Mountain I got to hang out with people I love, present to a large group for the first time in my new job and watch placemaking in action at a great event on Boyne City's waterfront. I had great meetings in Traverse City with potential partners/funders on ways we can work together.  This week I got to focus on my own town as we sought to convert Capitol Avenue in Downtown Lansing (#ConvertCapAve). Back in February we had a design firm review Capitol Avenue, and it needs a lot of help. It's a main artery through downtown with no retail or life (it's mainly office space). We decided to inject some life into it by turning two blocks of parking spaces into "parklets" (inspired by the park(ing) day movement). We reserved parking spaces and closed one lane of traffic in th...

Here's a poorly kept secret: I don't want to run another marathon. Maybe never, but definitely not now. I'm only running it because it's likely my last shot at running one of the world's greatest races. I have been searching for motivation that is evasive. I haven't run more than nine miles at a time in the last month. It's pretty much the least productive marathon training schedule ever. I am in such a rut, and it's been really challenging to get out of it. As I'm rushing through life trying desperately to be the best version of myself on every front I realize the constant hurry is ensuring I am not the best version of myself right now. My friends who have children tell me that it takes a while to adjust, and after seven months I'm still not sure I totally have. I feel unfocused in a lot of ways. Work is hectic (by my own doing), but there are days where I feel like the task list is insurmountable.  My running lacks motivation, I barely have t...

George Bernard Shaw once said, "The secret to success is to offend the greatest number of people." If that's the measure I'm fabulously successful.  I don't get offended easily. As a matter of fact I can't think of the last time I was really and truly offended. People disagree. People have different interests, different viewpoints. If I was offended every time someone vociferously disagreed with me I would be offended a lot...but people can have their opinions and express them emphatically.  Disagree with me. I dig it. Social media is a funny thing. As a loudly opinionated person it gives me the opportunity to express my opinions for all the world to read. I'm continually amazed at how people get offended and take my viewpoint personally. Here is the thing about my opinions: they do not have any bearing on how I feel about people who disagree with them. Here's an example: I was once visiting Michigan (before I lived here), and we were out at a bar. A...

A few years ago I wrote a blog about the Michigan phenomena of going " up north ". Northern Michigan is beautiful, and people drive hours sometimes every weekend to enjoy it in the summer. I think it's lovely, but it's hard for me to imagine spending hours in the car just to go up north. I appreciate the hypocrisy of my saying this given that I have WVU season football tickets and go to Morgantown regularly all year. That's my biggest issue - if I'm going to drive 3-4 hours, I'm going south to see my family or somewhere different. I don't want to always go to the same place. I need a change of scenery despite northern Michigan's charming ambiance. In the past many of my northern Michigan trips have been fraught with weather problems. I've been there in the summer when it's been rainy and in the 50s...actually that's generally been my northern Michigan weather experience. I've had a couple of decent weather trips but nothing that h...

One year ago today I went to the hospital for a (relatively) routine outpatient surgery. It was a Wednesday, and I fully anticipated being back to work by Monday. I was so sure I'd be back that I even had speaking engagements set up for early the following week. It was not supposed to be a big deal... until it was .  Last summer I was in the best shape of my adult life. I completed my first triathlon. I felt strong, I felt healthy, and all I needed was to fix a pesky little painful abdominal mass and I'd be back at full speed. Life had other plans and a bowel obstruction, second abdominal surgery and blood clot later I could barely walk out of the hospital on my own. It derailed my plans to run the New York Marathon last year, and it took me months to get back to feeling like myself. I was not as happy about the blood clot as I looked. When I was staring down the barrel of my second surgery last summer I felt frustrated, but I knew I'd bounce back quickly. The first...

I love Tennessee. If I were planning to move outside of Michigan, Tennessee would be at the top of my list. It has great cities, mountains, and SEC football. Check, check and check. Heading to Tennessee seemed an obvious choice when trying to find a place where my parents (in WV) and sister and family (in VA) could meet us for a vacation.  I went to Nashville for the first time in 2010 to present at a conference. My love for Tennessee had me worried that I'd visit Nashville and be hooked. On my first visit I wasn't able to get a good feel for the city, and I wasn't extremely impressed. On this trip we stayed outside of town near Gallatin (northeast of Nashville).  We rented a house on the Cumberland River, a serene spot just outside of town. Enjoying a rainy morning on the porch The week was filled with relaxing, trips into Nashville, southern food and a few hard, hilly runs. On our first morning I went for a quick run near our rental house. It was SO hilly. I love...