We all have our own reasons we run.   For some it’s to get in shape or lose some of those excess pounds.  For others it’s to relieve stress or serves as our therapy.  While others, it’s purely the competition.  For me it has been a combination of all of those things.  Lately though, because of some nagging injuries, I’ve found myself thinking about this topic a bit more.  And then I came across a story of a friend that really put everything back into perspective for me.

Laurie just…

Hooray! I am now home for the summer – finals are done, the Pikes Peak Sports website has replaced a Free Radical Chlorination bookmark on my computer, and I’m halfway done with undergrad! And what better way to kick off the summer than a run to Barr Camp?

It was the first time for me to run with my family’s new running partner, Jeff Watson, an orthopedic hand surgeon new to the area. (Welcome to the great running community that is Colorado Springs, Jeff!) I had heard about his sub-3…

     I joined a swim team in third grade, the Schofield Barracks Sharks, while my dad was stationed in Hawaii. I most often swam freestyle quite successfully at all my swim meets, with the exception that I refused to dive off the platform. I would either jump or belly flop into the pool, regain my form and then swim to victory, despite my rather peculiar and ineffective start. My non-existent diving skill was certainly not due to lack of effort on my coach's part as he would even keep me…

In the immortal words of Kevin McAllister, “this is it, don’t get scared now.”  This past week, as I wrapped up work on a tough and busy semester, I found myself curiously focused, not on the 62-page behemoth capstone project for student teaching, not on finishing the research article I’m hoping to submit for publication, not on the myriad of other projects that I was tackling, but on the fact that I needed to hit the pavement.  That there are only 3 weeks left until my…