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 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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Adebe Bikila International Peace Day Marathon
It’s been a glorious summer of riding bikes, but in the interest of change and a chance to exercise everyday pedestrianism, I lined up with a few hundred others to participate in the Adebe Bikila International Peace Day Marathon. With cycling as our overriding summer focus, the time on two feet has been limited, but… 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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Freedom’s Run Marathon: Do It Yourself Duathlon
An annual tradition continued this year, as I completed my fourth consecutive “Ride to Harpers Ferry from D.C. on Friday, Run Freedom’s Run Marathon on Saturday, and Ride Home from Harpers Ferry on Sunday” do-it-yourself duathlon. If you look at the low running miles in the bank this year, I did not deserve this run,… 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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Mind Over Matter: the Des Moines Marathon
I spent the latter half of my 20’s living and working in Des Moines, Iowa. These were years of mixed experiences. I secured gainful employment, began living on my own, and gradually grasped the expectations of post-college life and a professional work environment. This was also a time of testing boundaries, and learning through some… 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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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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A Non-Runner Runs the D.C. Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon
Even though it’s been over two decades since I left high school, I still struggle to escape defining my athletic self in terms of physical education (P.E.) classes and (gasp!) high school sports. That definition repeatedly reminds me that I have no right to consider myself an athlete in any sport. I was never picked dead last… 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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12 Months By the Potomac River
Ever since I moved near the D.C. waterfront, the Potomac River has silently shaped my movement. I sidle along it to leave the city and head into Maryland. I must cross it by way of one of two or three bridges to reach Virginia. Continue reading
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A Marathon DNF: the Mustard’s Off the Hot Dog
After wrapping up the Marine Corps Marathon, I was riding a big post-marathon endorphin high. I’d run three marathons in six weeks, and my body had held up remarkably well. I felt a little tired, but had no notable lingering aches or pains. Continue reading
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Freedom’s Run Marathon and C&O Bike Overnight
“It’s a privilege to run in the places you’ll be today,” Race Director Mark Cucuzzella said as we lined up at the Freedom’s Run Marathon start, the morning sun popping out over the tree-covered hills behind us. Continue reading
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D.C. Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon: A Soggy Sign of Spring
Whenever the transition from winter to spring begins to occur, I greet it with incredulity. But how? Less than two weeks ago, the city was coated in snow. Ten days ago, I made a snowman during a snow day run. A UPI photographer even caught me in the act. 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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Combating Cynicism Through Active Commutes
Today I was reading David Foster Wallace’s commencement speech “This is Water.” In it, he addresses the theme of selfishness, as well as the tedious aspects of adult life and how we all construct and view our life experiences. Our challenge, he says, is to step outside ourselves, take an active role in interpreting our surroundings, and… 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
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Marine Corps Marathon: Celebrating Runners for 26.2 Miles
For 26.2 miles this past Sunday, I was a spec in a mammoth event, one of more than 27,000 people who swarmed the Washington, D.C. area for the opportunity to be part of an annual two-footed tour of the city—the Marine Corps Marathon. For 26.2 miles, people’s cheers and encouragement seeped into my heart, propelling me… Continue reading
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Functional Fitness, Everyday Joy
Today I ran into work, my eyes soaking in the fall colors as I breathed the aroma of wet ground from yesterday’s rain and the dying leaves on the pavement. Despite overcast skies, the 60-degree temperatures and quiet air made for delicious running conditions. I recalled my life in the city last year at this time, when the federal government… Continue reading
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Run Commute Days
With the 2014 brevets completed, I turned to running. Continue reading
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Flow Like Water
The fleeting pink and white blossoms cover the city. Sun shines and spring breezes blow. Families and field trips congregate on our sidewalks. And hey, how about those tour buses! Yes, it’s cherry blossompalooza in Washington, D.C. In previous years I dreaded this scenario. But thanks to my regular midday runs that have exposed me to this… Continue reading
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Delayed Post-Marathon Satisfaction
During and even after running the D.C. Rock ‘n Roll Marathon on Saturday, I felt pretty glum. Frustrated that I had not run faster despite not setting a time goal. Mad at myself for lingering in a low point for five miles during the event. Disappointment despite finishing without injury. Continue reading
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D.C. Rock ‘n Roll Marathon: Run Hard, Brunch Harder*
I generally arrive at the starting line of the D.C. Rock ‘n Roll Marathon with wavering confidence. I love the course, which creatively sews together a scenic 26.2-mile tour through all four quadrants of the city, but spring marathons are generally a challenge for me. Continue reading
Chasing MailBoxes 