Everyday Running
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Recognition Through Motion: Leaving Federal Service
Readers, I didn’t have it on my 2025 bingo card, but recently I spent my last day in the office as a federal employee. It was an unexpected transition that came about in an unexpected way after more than two decades of civil service. Two decades! When I first started out as a fed, my… Continue reading
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All Head No Body
I’ve been walking around as a head without a body for quite a while now. I wish someone would have said something to me because surely it was noticeable. “Hey! You forgot to put a body with that head of yours!” Are people in this town really too shy to bring such things to a… Continue reading
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Cures for Listless Days
Sometimes when I think about how I’ve lived for the last nine months, it reminds me of summer vacations growing up in my little Midwest town. My family seldom traveled, and with basically just a library, a gas station, and a café, it was not exactly a cultural or commercial hub. We had no cable,… Continue reading
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January in the District
I moved to the D.C. in the spring of 2001, and watched the Pentagon burn a few months later. I thought those would be the worst days I would see in the city, but last week jolted me with how wrong I was. I’ve lived in the city – actual, inside the District line, D.C.… Continue reading
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2020 on Two Feet
Running is what I do when I want to sift thoughts through my head. A run helps me believe that life is manageable. I ran steadily in 2020 and ended up with 1,280 miles. I walked, too – 614 miles – because walking is a good tool for not only doing errands around town, but also… Continue reading
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Letter from Washington, D.C.
Hello, everyone. In mid-March, the mayor directed D.C. residents to stay at home and since then it’s been strikingly quiet. People venture outside like they’re taking their vitamins, no one casually strolls. Most keep to themselves. Pedestrians crab about runners, the occasional cyclist rides around instructing others to wear masks, and more runners take to… Continue reading
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Dandelions and Big Hair Blossom Days
Back in the days when a house with a yard was part of my life, my dad – who prided himself on a dandelion-free lawn – would enlist my sisters and I to run around and remove all the bright yellow intruders. We would yank the dandelions out by their stems and collect them in… Continue reading
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Personal Sphere of Freedom: The Six-Foot Social Contract
Mayor Bowser called me today (yes, on my phone!) to advise that D.C. is under a stay-at-home order and to limit outings to essential trips. After talking with her – alright, it was really a recorded message sent to all District residents – I read it. The order includes language stating that one of its… Continue reading
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Valentine to the Active Transportation Seekers
I see you run commuting, riding to the grocery store, and walking to places unknown purely under your own power. I observe your subtle acts of social change as I move through the city, and this year you inspired me to write you a valentine. Active transportation seekers, you are changing the landscape and I… Continue reading
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All My Yesterdays
My yesterdays are all stacked up in piles. I have the yesterdays of high school, where I dreamed of moving away to the city. There are yesterdays of college and post-college where I worked nonstop to pay off debt and start a career. Then yesterdays of my 30s, which are interspersed with strange hiccups that… Continue reading
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Abebe Bikila Half-Marathon: PBP After-Effects and Sub-Two
With my legs and head two weeks away from our great Paris-Brest-Paris (PBP) ride, I lined up for the Abebe Bikila Half-Marathon, an out-and-back course along the C&O Canal. I had been running some before we left and definitely ridden a lot of cycling miles in our lead-up to the big dance in France. I… Continue reading
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Try Harder, Calm Down: Final Thoughts on 2017
At the beginning of each year, I like to set an intention to carry me with me over the next 12 months. These are usually developed as a way to address some aspect of life I’m wrestling with. For 2017 my intention was “Try harder, calm down.” Stuffed with anxiety about 2017, I resolved to somehow… Continue reading
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Errundonnee: Running with Purpose
When A View from the Crosswalk completed the very first Errandonnee on two feet – which he called an Errundonnee – I added transportation running as an option for the Errandonnee. Since then, I have challenged myself to complete both an Errandonnee by bike and one on foot. This is the summary of my two-footed transportation running over… Continue reading
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Life is Uncertain, Eat Dessert First
It’s a new year, time to stop eating all the holiday M&Ms and candy canes I bought for 80 percent off at CVS. Ready to start 2017, I tell myself. Just two weeks ago I set aside time to consider my goals for the year, but did so in front of the computer interspersed with way too… Continue reading
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Running Down the Hits: 12 Months on 2 Feet
The year winds down, and the lull in normal activity opens up time for reflection. The last 12 months have signified intense growth for me, but not in the areas that I write about here. I tried some new things I wanted to do, and learned a lot about the importance of incremental progress and a good sense… Continue reading
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The Running Drug
The trees outside my window waved vigorously, their movement dissuading me from any outdoor time. I checked the weekend temperature, and 30s looked back at me. But with my cycling partner Felkerino under the weather this weekend, I was left with a window of time to do as I pleased. While the lure of the… Continue reading
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Harvest in Iowa
It’s been years since I was in Iowa during the fall, but in an effort to avoid the harsher months of Midwest weather, I scheduled an October return to my home state. I arrived during the sweet spot of harvest, when farmers work all hours to remove the crops that have been growing all summer and just… Continue reading
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Acclimation Frustration in DC: Passing Out
“Ma’am, are you okay?” I realize a teenage boy is talking to me. “Yes, yes, I think so,” I answer, confused how the three boys came to be standing in front of me. Last I looked, they were several feet further down the path. I’m standing too, but a quick body check reveals that I… Continue reading
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Phoenix Coffeeneuring on Two Feet: Part 2
As mentioned in Part 1 of Phoenix Coffeeneuring on Two Pheet (ha ha!), after a week of daily coffee runs, I filled my Saturday morning with a six espresso, one iced matcha coffeeneuring/run Phoenix tour. This is the most coffee I believe I’ve had in one go since I was in undergrad. I headed out early… Continue reading
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Phoenix Coffeeneuring on Two Feet: Part 1
A recent bout of work travel took me to Phoenix, Arizona, a place where the sun shines and the dry heat is still hot. Glorious conditions for someone who has spent the days in dreary Washington, D.C. Most of the trip was work, but I carved out morning runs – including a Saturday coffeeneuring crawl/run… Continue reading
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My Errundonnee: Exploring Running as Transportation
After I rekindled my interest in running marathons, I began to seek out ways to incorporate additional mileage on my two feet. Since Felkerino and I spend much of our weekend time together on the bike, the long weekend run typical for many marathon runners was not a method that worked for me. In 2013,… Continue reading
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Hopefully Small
Around this time last year, my father – an avid runner and former marathoner – unexpectedly fell seriously ill. While he is better now, and my family and I are grateful for that, it stunned me when it was occurring. Our bodies have unexplainable ways of remembering events. That visceral recall prompted many hours spent in my head… Continue reading
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Forward: Run Goals Unlocked
Normally around this time of year, I find myself in a state of contemplation, reflecting on the year behind me. I thought I’d post a summary or two about 2015 running and cycling, but when I sat down to write, it didn’t work. This year I devoted a lot of time to “big thoughts,” sad thoughts, fears. I reflected on how I can… Continue reading
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Running In a Dress: Nuu-Muu Review
Over the last year, one piece of workout gear has firmly inserted itself into my closet– the Nuu-Muu exercise dress. I use them for commuting, running, and even ran a marathon in one earlier this spring. Continue reading
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St. Patrick’s Day 5K Run Report
The last time I ran a 5K race was in 1991. As a long-distance touring cyclist and occasional marathon runner, I don’t participate in many short-distance running events. I have many excuses for this: the price per mile is high compared to a marathon or a brevet; I’m not fast; and mostly, I prefer endurance stuff. However, this… Continue reading
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Blink and You’ll Miss It: Rediscovering Home
An unexpected trip to Iowa gave me renewed practice with the geographic vagueries I use when describing my childhood home. North-central Iowa. Sixty miles from Des Moines. Seven miles off the interstate. Blink and you’ll miss it. I spent years resenting my no stoplights, “never heard of it” hometown. I yearned for the urban life– shopping… Continue reading
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Run Cocoon
During a week of intense uncertainty and worry, the running routine has become an effort to keep emotions in check and preserve some aspect of normal. Continue reading
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Whatevering Runner
After a few hours spent contemplating Facebook and the gray of the day, I convince myself that I am letting something good slip away by not going outside for a few running miles. I shelled out all that money on winter gear, why not give it a chance to shine. A clumsy sort-out of layers and I’m… Continue reading
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Like Father, Like Daughter: Passing On The Running Routine
My dad ran every day when I was growing up. Weekdays, weekends, even when he wasn’t feeling so hot. Every day I saw my father configure his days around work, family, and his daily run. Subconsciously, I memorized his running routine. Continue reading
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RunDC: 12 Months of Running in Washington, D.C.
I am on my way to Kindergarten. My mom has packed my lunch for me. I stuff it in my backpack, shrug on my coat, and point my two little feet toward school. It’s three blocks away– three country blocks and I have five-year-old legs, but still… it’s three blocks. And I have 30 minutes… Continue reading
Chasing MailBoxes 