Welcome to the final edition of A Running Life for the year 2018. I started this blog in September to share stories from the trail, drop some halfhearted wisdom, and take time to truly reflect on this foolish obsession of mine. I've managed to string together a few hundred words every Thursday and some people …
Numbers.
Showing off my half-marathon number (and month-old tattoo) on Mackinac Island, October 2009. On Monday I ran my 2,500th mile of 2018. It was the first time crossing that elusive threshold in a calendar year — and there's still about two weeks left to tack on another hundred miles or so. A few years back, maybe 2011 or 2012, I challenged myself to join the (imaginary?) 2,000 …
Here Comes Santa Claus.
SHS Winter Run Club at the Paw Paw Santa Run, December 8th, 2018 Let's pretend it's a cold December morning in the heart of Southwest Michigan. You're driving down Red Arrow Highway as the sun slowly makes its way over the treetops. Maybe you're headed to work, maybe you're meeting a friend for coffee. Christmas …
Running Jams: The Hold Steady’s “Stay Positive”
"I was a skeptic at first, but these miracles work." Welcome to RUNNING JAMS, a new dimension of the blog where I will break down some of my favorite albums for running in particular and listening in general. In previous installments of the blog I mentioned how essential music and podcasts are to my daily …
Continue reading Running Jams: The Hold Steady’s “Stay Positive”
The Iceman Cometh.
"Some days are diamonds, some days are rocks." — Tom Petty This morning's run was a rock. I lumbered my way through the usual 3-mile loop with all the grace and dignity of a broken washing machine, shuffling from side to side to avoid patches of black ice while hacking up the lingering phlegm of a …
Thankful.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. It is currently Thanksgiving morning, 7:32 am. I'm sitting in our room at the Holiday Inn Express in Frankenmuth, Michigan, looking out the window at a gorgeous sunrise coming up over the Yankee Candle and Tervis Tumbler stores. I wasn't planning on writing anything today; but as I sit …
The Streak.
Young Kato after finishing the Kalamazoo Marathon in 2014, the first year of THE STREAK Today is day 1,780 of my running streak. I haven't missed a day since January 1, 2014 and am currently tied with 16 other lunatics for the 510th longest active running streak in the United States. (Apparently the first of …
How To Run.
Last week I wrote about the transition from fall running (marathon training, cross country season, sweat leafy goodness) to winter running (cold, snow, cold snow). Despite the descending temperatures and earlier sunsets, November is one of the best times of the year to start running — or, to resume running after months (or years...) of absenteeism. This …
Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes.
November is here. The leaves are coming down, the temperature continues its steady descent, and Halloween is a preposterous memory. Daylight Savings Time comes to an end this weekend; it's the good time change, as I annually remind my wife. We "fall back" and get that blessed extra hour of sleep. Election Day (which really ought to be …
Marathon Six.
The marathon run, and it's unique distance of 26.2 miles, is taken from the pages of Greek history. In 490 BC, a Greek solider named Phiddepiddes ran from Marathon to Athens, approximately 26 miles, to announce the defeat of the Persian army. Upon arriving in Athens, he had just enough time to shout "Niki!" (Victory!) …
A Running Life 