I started because at 24 years old, I had to quit smoking, it had been 10 years. I knew quitting would not stick unless I had a deterrent, and getting in shape was the choice. I started running in my Doraville, Georgia neighborhood, about a half mile to start. As per usual, I made it my mission to never learn anything about running correctly. I made it up to 10 miles one time, a few years later. It was stop and start in Atlanta, with long breaks, to focus on smoking, drinking, and whatever else. At that point, my max distance was 3-4 miles per run.

After I finished logging my self-destruction time, many years later, I started running again and it became something else to me. I had to grow up and face my problems. I had daily stresses, anger, self-pity, resentment, selfishness, and fear as always, but I could not use alcohol to deal with it anymore. It stopped working, and I needed an outlet. I still do. My solution encompasses running and much more, but as a human with emotions, working it out through sweat and muscles is vital. I need it. I probably need it right this second.

Now I am trying to be a better runner. I run half marathons, track my time, ask questions, take direction. I still can not say I love running like others do, but I depend on it and I am grateful for the health to do it.

I can no longer running away, now I run through.

Closes all the tickets, for the first time ever.

I miss the feeling of having given everything up there. Is that again attainable? Is that gone? How can I feel that?

I am running with a group now, which is a new experience. For years, I have made running a solitary task, so it is a pleasant adjustment, despite being a bit awkward for me. I am also making an effort to forgo the headphones, both to socialize and to bring meditation back into the mix.

The first long run (7 miles) on Saturday went pretty quickly, and it made me realize how my impatience contributes to my general dislike of running, and resulting need for distraction. I had a few good five to ten minute intervals where I focused on my breath, relaxed my shoulders and kept my field of vision on the horizon. I am not sure if I can make it through the entire race without music, but it wouldn't be a bad thing if I did.

It would also be a good thing to embrace running, rather than treat it as a necessary evil.

Guys like Sting have made a career out of hiring great jazz musicians, then making them play simple 2 & 4 beats. Watching these goofy white guys I grew up idolizing, with these voices from heaven standing behind them, blows me away. From Tina Turner and Ray Charles to Lynyrd Skynyrd, the singers approached their role with such humility and grace.

Was about songs that make us cry, and it was a good one. I didn't cry over any of them, but Song of the Siren, A House is Not a Home, Moon River, are all great picks. I would add Sia's "Breathe Me." Catherine Wheel: Goodbye.

They also made mention of LCD Soundsystem's perfect depiction of the feeling of time flying by in "All My Friends." As one who is prone to nostalgia and existential dread, such lyrics make me get lost in memories of crazy times, in faraway lands, with long-lost guys and girls:

Though when we're running out of the drugs
And the conversation's winding away
I wouldn't trade one stupid decision
For another five years of lies

You drop the first ten years just as fast as you can
And the next ten people who are trying to be polite
When you're blowing eighty-five days in the middle of France
Yeah, I know it gets tired only where are your friends tonight?

I hope I never get so content dwelling in the past that I stop trying to learn, grow, face my fears, turn off the TV, open my mouth, and take that first step.

when they look at the work you did as "an MVP" and can barely contain their amusement.

Digging the new Afghan Whigs. I was indifferent in the 90's, but his voice has really grown on me.

I would listen to all my music and make a list of the most powerful notes, phrases, choruses. I would be sure to include the fretless bass, the synth, and the vocals found in "Mother Stands for Comfort." It sounds like a song that might have had a rhythm track--a guitar or piano, but someone muted it in the studio, and realized that just to let the other disparate parts play alone, would keep the song just barely together.

They are everywhere. That one corner of an intersection where no store succeeds, while the other three corners thrive. In Chicago, I think of that haunted house at Halsted & Belmont. It was a clothing store, a hair salon, thrift store. No one could make anything stick. There are similar places I see here. A print shop closed and an upscale men's clothing boutique opened up, but doesn't seem to be faring too well. Retail is tough.

The places that buck the trend fall into a few categories: wildly popular brands (Starbucks), high margin variety (budget mobile phone sellers), and shops that go to great lengths to erase the smell of failure from the minds of local consumers. Major exterior renovations, extra press, events, and promotions, hitting the pavement to generate word of mouth. More than anything, pedestrians need to see signs of life. Going from a copy/printer shop which had zero foot traffic to an understated clothing store (with men's clothes, no less) does not bode well.