I Run These Towns

The Bayshore Half Marathon in Traverse City, Michigan was my second half in May of 2007. It was so different than my first (the Nike Women's Half in San Francisco). There were way fewer people, and it was quiet and scenic. It was totally different. It was then that I realized three things: 1) all races are different and have their own charm; 2) Traverse City is a really great town and 3) Michael Moore is a jerk. I've reviewed Bayshore in the past, so I won't get into the details (cliff notes version: I mostly enjoyed it but wished it ran downtown). I've also raved about what makes Traverse City a fantastic community. Michael Moore, who founded the Traverse City Film Festival and favors slovenly clothing and baseball caps, also spends a lot of time in TC. I ran into him after the Bayshore Half, and said (in surprise), "Oh, hi!" He looked at me with disdain and said, "Don't" and walked away. I was never a Michael Moore fan, but that solidified ...

This weekend I ran my 19th half marathon. I thought I'd only run 17, but I looked back at my running spreadsheet (because I'm that kind of nerd), and it turns out it was number 19. Now I feel like I should run number 20 this year just to start 2016 on an even number...but I'm already digressing quite early in the blog. I've run the Capital City River Run 5 times - the half 4 times and the 5k once. It's one of my favorite races which must be obvious because I don't often run races more than once. I love that it starts in downtown Lansing and runs the Lansing River Trail, a course with which I am so familiar because it's the site of all my long training runs. It's always impeccably organized and most importantly has great shirts and medals. I loved waking up and walking to the race start. I met my friend at our office before the race where we stretched and chatted before walking to the start. On Saturday, the day before the race, my Crohns decided to ...

This is my fourth time training for a marathon, and three out of the four have been during the fall. Marathon training is challenging in and of itself, but with my insistence that it doesn't rule my life, it creates an added level of busy/pressure. When I was running my first marathon, training took over our life. We went to bed early on Fridays so I could do a long run Saturday. I needed a nap on Saturday after said long run. While my husband didn't sign up for a marathon, it ended up affecting our entire life. I remember falling asleep (I mean really asleep) during a Michigan State/Notre Dame night football game. Running you're pretty amazing, but messing with college football is where I draw the line. Now my training challenge is fitting in college football (with two sets of season tickets in East Lansing and Morgantown, WV) and marathon training. It's a fun way to make marathon training harder! (Is that sarcasm translating?) Two weekends ago we went to Morgantown...

When you're dealing with life's challenges, sometimes it's hard to feel grateful. It can be difficult to appreciate that what you're going through isn't the worst thing anyone is going through. I have work regularly to put my challenges in perspective. In the last week I've had two IV infusions: an iron infusion and my regular biologic therapy infusion for Crohn's. The iron infusion didn't go as planned. Instead of a 30 minute infusion the doctor changed the medication at the last minute.  I was there for four hours and had to cancel my afternoon meetings. I was pre-medicated with Benedryl that knocked me out for two hours. The WiFi wasn't working properly in the doctor's office, and the giant list of work projects I needed to get through would have to wait until I got home. I was frustrated that I was stuck there most of the day.  I forced myself to take a step back and think about it. The work was still there when I got home, and thanks to ...

I thought my life would slow down once I had a child. Other parents may scoff at that, but I really did. In some ways it has (we're home way more in the evenings and on weekends), but we're still on the go a lot. Little William is a consummate traveler at nine months old. We've taken him everywhere - dinner, road trips, tailgating - since he got home from the hospital. He's comfortable with it. So while we've slowed down slightly really our life is now basically being as busy before and throwing a small human into the mix. It's exciting/fun/exhausting all at the same time. When it came time to renew our West Virginia season football tickets, it was a no brainer. Of course we would. Four weekends in a three month span with a 14 hour round trip drive with a baby? Let's do this sh*t.  Last weekend was our first trip, and it was slightly easier because it was Labor Day. It gave us an extra few days to hang out and enjoy being in Morgantown. We left just bef...

For a lot of years I've been told that I look strong, and I used to bristle at being described that way. I thought strong meant I looked like a bodybuilder or a professional wrestler. Women in those sports are generally extremely muscular. It's not a bad look, but it's not the look I'm going for. I'm pretty skinny, but I have curves. I am really muscular. The women on TV I looked up to while growing up in in the 90s (I'm looking at you Jennie Garth and Heather Locklear) weren't exactly bringing bootie back. Now with the rise of cross fit women are praising looking strong like never before. "Strong is the new skinny" is the fitness phrase of 2015. I've heard women complaining that we've just replaced being "skinny" with being "strong" as the new ideal. As a result this still alienates women who aren't the "strong" ideal. I get it ladies, but when you've got a really strong body, celebrate that sh*t...