I've been thinking about what I should write about this week. I thought about elaborating on the adventure we had getting to the Ashland Track Club's practice this Sunday (during the wind storm), but that would be pretty short. By the way, congrats to the ladies training for the Frederick Marathon Relay, who ran 5+ miles in the 40 mph wind gust, trees snapping around them, fires breaking out, power lines down, nothing stopped these women! I also thought about promoting www.steverunner.com, who does great podcasts & organizes the "Worldwide 1/2 Marathon & Kick the Couch 5K", but I thought I'd wait until the event got a little closer. Then I thought of an old saying, "If you want to be successful and happy, you have to love what you do". I'm not sure who said it, & I'm sure I butchered the exact words, but it got me thinking, "What do I love about running?" That led me to think about other things that I love (wife & kids, Ashland, COFFEE!). As I begin to think about it more, I realized that a few of my favorite things all had some common characteristics. So here ya go, common traits of Ashland, Starbucks, & Running.

No Waiting:

I hate to wait (not sure there's anybody who loves to wait). Living here in Ashland, we rarely have to wait more than 5 minutes for anything. Even El Azteca on a Friday night isn't that bad. Try going for a quick bite to eat in Short Pump on a Friday evening. In Ashland, we can invite the whole town to a street party & not have to worry about traffic or standing in line for beer too long.

Starbucks has their system down, if you are in front of me, ordering one of those fancy drinks with a multitude of ingredients, your order is taken, but then you are quickly moved to the side so that the attendant can get me my Grande Coffee in a Venti cup. Then I can add a ton of half & half so that it's not too hot to drink right away,

For group runs, we have a 5 minute rule. If you are not there 5 minutes after the official starting time, you are left behind. No guilt, everyone knows the rule. Unlike other sports, there is no waiting to get in the game or waiting to use the field or court, the road is always open & you are always in the “game”.

It's Simple:

Living in Ashland is simple. Need groceries, there's Ukrops & Food Lion (for some, Wal Mart, but I'd rather take a beatin'). Hardware, there's Ace. Need to know something about something, you probably know someone or know someone who knows someone. Wanna know how to get somewhere, there's only one way to get there in Ashland.

Starbucks, ... coffee. Of course, they have other things, but that's for people who like to wait.

I love the simplicity of running. Shoes are about the only complicated thing that you need. No special skills are required. Oh, you'll probably see me write about interval training, tempo work, the importantance of core training, but when it comes down to it, to run better, you just have to run more (to a point).

It's Quiet:

Except for the passing trains, Ashland is a quiet town (especially where I live just outside the town limits). Of course, if you live near New Street, it hasn't been very quiet lately, but this too shall pass. Ashland provides just enough excitement to still be a quiet little town without being boring. I remember a friend of mine was visiting from the big city (Richmond). We had gone to pool, visited the library, and went for ice cream with our kids. He kept looking at his watch, and finally said “even time moves slower here in Ashland.”

I often think of taking my laptop down to Starbucks and working from there. They usually have great music playing but not too loud (I'm sure they have done a study on the type & volume of music to play to make their customers feel comfortable). You know when you go to some places & there's so much confusion and noise, that you can't wait to get outta there. I never get that feeling at Starbucks.

Even if you run with a group, there are great moments of silence (of course I've never run with that group of ladies training for the Frederick Relay, I have a feeling there's not much silence in that group). I remember running laps on a cinder track in high school, where the only thing I could hear was my own breathing & the soft crunch of my feet hitting the track. I think I could sleep to that.

No Crowds:

We may think we have crowds in Ashland, but nothing like Short Pump Town Center at Christmas. Our crowds are 20 people & we most likely know 75% of our fellow “crowdees”, so it turns into a social event.

Our Ashland Starbucks is never very crowded. I can't attest for other locations, but it seems they have the system down to move people in & out quickly. So if there is a crowd, it'll be gone soon.

A big crowd for a training run is 6 people. Of course, you could decide to run a big race like Monument Ave (gotten too crowded for me) or the Chicago Marathon, but for the most part even races are only crowded at the start. After the first mile or so, you're back down to 5 or 6 people within spitting distance.

As I thought of my similarities, I did think of one contrast. I like my coffee hot, I like Ashland when the temperature is medium, & I like to run when it's cold.

Next week? Who knows, maybe how running can bring about world peace ;>)

See ya on the streets (or Starbucks),
Tom