Running along the coastal trail in the Cinque Terre region of Italy.

A year ago, I wrote about running through my hometown on my 40th birthday. Now, having recently celebrated my 41st birthday by running, hiking and eating my way through a 40K in the mountains of Tuscany, I’m reflecting on how running affected our round-the-world travel and how travel influenced my running.

So much changed in one year: We left our home, Morgan left his job and our family experienced an entirely different lifestyle as we traveled the globe. Our trip is drawing to an end, with just a few weeks until we’re back in California. There are so many things about this past year I will miss, but running in far-flung destinations is near the top of the list (behind family togetherness and a simpler, less scheduled lifestyle). Week after week, in whatever place we found ourselves, running was a friend and travel guide, providing familiarity and pointing me in new places to explore. (more…)

On Thanksgiving morning, as I prepared to race the 3-mile Piedmont Turkey Trot through our community’s hilly neighborhood streets, I asked myself, “Why do I put myself through this?” I have a love-hate feeling toward the 5K, tipping toward the negative now that I’ve become more of a long-distance trail runner. But what I dread about it — the intensity, the self-imposed pressure to meet my goal, the fact that seconds matter, the feeling that I’m going to be sick and my legs will collapse — is also what compels me to do it. In addition to the physical challenge, I bring to this little hometown race more mental baggage than any other running event. It’s for that reason as well that I race it: to work through those issues rather than be weighed down. (more…)