Category Archives: travel

How Do You Handle a Crisis?

Last Thursday, I was on a cross-country flight from EWR-SFO. Less than a third of the way into the flight, somewhere over Indiana, the unthinkable happened: my sweet, charming boy had become the vomiting preschooler. In an instant, we went from being the subject of smiles and waves to being that nightmare in-flight story. By…

Training and the Traveling Single Mom

Traveling with a 3-year-old son creates unique complications. I had tons of downtime in the hotel at afternoon naptime and after he was in bed at 8:00 p.m., but I was confined to the hotel room because there’s nobody else to watch him. Add to this the fact that Philadelphia rolled out the red carpet with…

Still Training

As I look at the date of my last training post — May 8! — I wonder how 10 days have passed so quickly. I have been training plenty, although not in the last two days while I’ve been traveling solo with the boy. Some highlights from the past week: Three kickboxing classes, including the…

The 3rd 40: Day 34

When you start with a 6:30 run and end it with an 11:30 phone call home, it makes for a very long day. Some highlights from Sunday: After Google Maps listed only Starbucks locations that were behind locked doors in office buildings, I assumed that I would have to order room service to get a…

The 3rd 40: Day 33

A couple of weeks ago, I had a fairly successful (read: balanced) trip to Chicago. I ran every morning and stopped at Starbucks for oatmeal, a much healthier start to the day than a giant pastry from the continental breakfast. Because of the success of that plan, I decided to scope out the nearest Starbucks…

The 3rd 40: Days 29-32

It has been an unusual week. I don’t know when the professional karma pendulum swung my way, but I received more requests for proposals in the past week than I did in the six months prior. And these aren’t just returning clients; a full two-thirds of them are new clients referred by existing clients. I’m…

The 3rd 40: Day 27

It was a 100% work-free day (with the exception of the time I spent jotting down ideas into an email on my iPhone at the A’s game… yes, I have problems). Every Sunday I wake up with the intention of going to kickboxing at 9:00. The problem with that plan is that it interferes with…

The 3rd 40: Days 15-19

It’s not easy to take care of yourself on a business trip, and this one was no exception. But the weather in Chicago was gorgeous — 80 degrees! In April! — which made sunrise runs seem a little more reasonable. I woke at 6:00 AM both days and found myself sharing Lakefront Trail with hundreds…

A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to Chicago

Coming to the PRSA Health Academy conference in Chicago was a mostly last-minute decision, but I decided that as long as I could get a cheap flight (thank you, Southwest) and a decent price on my hotel room, it would be worth it. The conference is being hosted at the Hilton Suites near the Magnificent…

The 3rd 40: Days 11-14

There should be more weekends, or maybe just longer ones. There’s nothing quite like a weekend — even one that involves work — to reset your perspective on things. I’ve been juggling furniture all weekend long. My son’s new “big boy” bedroom furniture arrived on Friday, requiring a complete clear-out of his old furniture (given…