Issue 43: Footnotes from a lifetime of running
One Hudson dad’s evolving relationship with sport and play
This week, we’re welcoming Columbia County dad (and Maddie’s ❤️) Kevin Meehan as our guest editor. We’ve had a front-row seat to Kevin’s experience opening his new running store in Hudson, and it’s been so much fun to see how he’s created a community that reflects what he loves about the sport. Thanks for joining us, Kevin!
“What are you training for?”
More often than not, this is the first question fellow runners will ask. It’s the “what do you do?” of running hobbyists.
Sure, the answer might explain the purpose and structure of your running practice. The asker might get some insight into your next race, your next distance, how serious you are, but the question can make newer runners think that you need to have an answer, especially one in the form of a marathon or road race.
I’m Kevin, I was once a runner, then a technologist, a husband, a father, and now I am all of those things and again a person who runs. The act of running has been a common thread throughout my life. It’s been an activity that gives my hands and feet something to do while my head works out the rest. It’s propped me up when everything else is overwhelming. But it’s never been the same practice for me that day as the day before, and it’s taken a long time for me to realize that. With two small kids, I have less time to get out and go for runs than ever before, which makes me appreciate the time I do get.
I was a very small kid in high school. The wrestling coach tried to recruit me as a freshman because I could compete unopposed in the 95-lb weight class. Instead, I found my way to track and field where I felt a more natural sense of belonging and community.
Like most teenage boys, I grew. I started as a 22-minute 5k runner and marveled that the more I trained, the more improvement I saw. That self-betterment was addictive. And as a high school boy, one-upping your peers was its own form of community building (that has since required some deep thought and deprogramming).
I ended up being an All-State runner in Virginia and was able to go on recruiting trips to colleges. I went to the University of Virginia ostensibly for an engineering degree, but mostly to run as part of the team.
And I did. I ran. I ran and ran and ran.
My race times weren’t improving, so I ran more.1
I got up to 90 miles of running across 10-11 runs per week. I was constantly tired. I couldn’t eat enough crappy dining hall food. I could keep up on runs day-in-and-day-out with guys who were racing much faster than me. I thought that meant I was underperforming in races - to some degree that was true, but if I had just run my own pace in practice, more things might have clicked into place.
My grades were slipping. Every once in a while, I’d have a workout that was faster than anything I’d ever run, just never a race. I was tired and done and I didn’t see any way through it. I quit the UVA team. I stopped racing, I stopped running entirely, and for a while I didn’t do anything. Then I tried anything else. I biked, I traveled, I finished my engineering degree and moved to California to work in tech. I still ran here and there, but it felt like a physical echo of a habit long gone. Even still, when I did go out for a run, it helped.
When Maddie and I moved to New York, I worked in technology for a professional baseball team, which took a lot of my time. I ended up working way more than I thought I would, and again, I fell out of a practice of movement. My kids didn’t see me active around the house and running outside; they saw me move from my computer at a standing desk to a dining room table and back.
Ready for a distraction from the world of baseball, I started a weekly run club out of Return Brewing in 2022.2 Our Wednesday group runs became my break from the frustration of an ultra-competitive work environment. I was meeting people in Hudson, sharing cool trails, collaborating with local businesses, and running the paces of the group without fixating on my “optimal approach”.
In truth, I still struggled with coming to the group workouts without judgment and comparison, but I got better about shelving those intrusive thoughts. As I try in my mindfulness practice, I recognized the thoughts, accepted them, and moved on.
What I enjoyed most about running in a group setting again was learning about my fellow runners and meeting them where they were. If they were new to town, we chatted about good lunch spots or workout classes. If they were training for their first half-marathon, I tried to match their goal pace and answer their questions about specifics of their training blocks.
My community helped me to realize that the purpose of running wasn’t to go faster. For me, the purpose was to feel good, to have fun, and to share that feeling with others. Others can always take you out of your own head.
Running fast can be fun. So can running slow. To quote David Graeber, what’s the point if we can’t have fun?
I’m incorporating this idea of playfulness into my running and parenting these days.
I still challenge myself to go fast sometimes. I still challenge myself to maintain a daily practice of getting out the door. Many days I “fail”. With where I am now, that is totally fine. There is no one keeping score.
It’s a lesson I have to remind myself of as a parent. I am here to give my kids a happy, healthy environment and give them outlets for those “big feelings” as they mount. It’s hard to know what skills will prepare them for the world that awaits them. They’ll probably have to adapt more than I did. I just hope they feel encouraged to try and fail at things as much as possible. I certainly don’t care one way or another if they decide to take up running.
All of the thoughts I’ve outlined here are what led to me opening a running store last month. It’s called Neighbor Running, and we’re at 209 Warren Street in Hudson. I get to hear about how my fellow runners came to the sport, their injuries, their joys. If you’d like a custom shoe fitting or gait analysis, we’re here for you. It’s not where I expected to find myself, but I’m happy and amused to be here now, decades after that first track and field season.
It can be really hard to tell the difference between what keeps us grounded and what keeps us stuck. To a friend on Strava, my current running practice might look very similar to what I did in my competitive collegiate days. The differences, as with many important life things, are noticeable within, though I suspect I have more pep in my step than my 20-year-old burnt-out self.
Now when a customer at the shop asks me, “What are you training for?” I know that the run I’m working toward is a slow jog that my kids are welcome to join when I’m 65. The pace isn’t important, nor will my kids’ company be required or expected, but I’ll be out there all the same.
Kevin Meehan is a Hudson dad who cares about building community through running. He recently opened Neighbor Running at 209 Warren Street in Hudson, NY, and he writes about his shop, shoes, and training plans in his irregularly scheduled newsletter.
One For Us
[Kevin] - In these wild times, if you are looking for some escapism and enjoy immersive fantasy novels and audiobooks, check out Worlds Beyond Number. It’s a free 50-episode podcast that uses Dungeons and Dragons dice rolls to add in randomness as a part of collaborative storytelling. The cast is stacked with improv comedians Brennan Lee Mulligan, Aabria Iyengar, Erika Ishii, and Lou Wilson with incredible sound design from Taylor Moore. It’s delightful.
[Ashley] - My very dear friend recently alerted me to Jessa Blades’s holistic facial residency August 22nd and 23rd at Gatherwild Ranch in Germantown. A combination of Ayurveda and facial reflexology, the treatment seeks to calm the nervous system while offering a customized blend of oils, masks and facial sprays. A chance to lie down, rest, and leave with glowing skin? Yes, please. (As we’re sending this email, there are still spots available, but if Jessa sells out, we also love seeing Laura at Melt in Chatham.)
[Genevieve] - I recently became the proud owner of a hand-carved blockprint by the iconic artist Blzeb0b, a welcome counter-balance to the still highly valued scribble art plastered to my fridge. The new member of my household is “Crush’d Ice,” one of only 25 made. For fall planning purposes, Blzeb0b will be at A Big Gay Market in Albany on October 19 and the PGNY Print Fair in Troy on October 25.
[Maddie] - So my new favorite genre is underground pregnancy zine. I started with Ann Friedman’s Women Texting and her imagining of Werner Herzog narrating early fatherhood and then continued with Molly Young’s Privacy in which she compares Week 31 of pregnancy to “piloting a rented U-Haul: my dimensions are bewildering, my perimeter awareness low, my capacity to strike foreign objects heightened.” I want more.
One For Them
[Kevin] - I’ll do my best not to make the same recommendations for young families as Maddie already has. With my kids, I constantly feel like an amateur magician, trying to draw them away from the dangerous things or whatever toy their sibling is playing with. I’ve found some success with taking deep interest in the things they enjoy and then starting to do it alone. Though it can feel insane, if I start reading a book or telling a story to an empty room, my kids will be interested (or confused) enough to stop what they are doing and join in.
[Ashley] - I finally found the opportunity to go to the Trevor-Lovejoy Zoo when meeting my friend from Putnam Valley “halfway”. We took our girls to see the animals in the sweetest, most bucolic setting a small zoo could hope for.3 After, we went to the killer playground at Tribute Gardens, ate dinner at the Millbrook Diner, and finished off the night at Zoe’s Ice Cream Barn. Millerton turned out to be the ideal spot for a day trip – consider this itinerary an addition to our list of wake window adventures.
[Genevieve] - If you’re a Mama Owl superfan like me, then you’ll want to order those painfully cute children’s clothes before 8:00am EDT on Friday, August 22 (tomorrow!). They’ve alerted customers that after that time, the price of all brands will go up by 12% due to US tariffs (specifically the ending of the de minimis exception). Bummer, but you still have time to stock up on your boiled wool before the US-only increase.
[Maddie] - My full-time nursing program starts this week, and I have very low expectations of what I’ll be able to cook in between commuting and studying. The prepared dishes from Hudson Meal Co have saved us before, and this semester, their miso salmon and Italian meatballs will save us again. The team at Hudson Meal Co was kind enough to share a coupon code with us - use SOFTSPOT for $50 off your first order (expires 9/30). They also deliver within 20 miles of Kinderhook, which covers much of Columbia County and parts of Greene County.
In the Neighborhood
We live in the Mid-Hudson Valley and we’re keeping tabs on these (mostly family-friendly) events near us. If there’s another event you’d like us to share, please send it our way!
Ongoing Events
Through September 27 - Kaatsbaan Annual Festival, Tivoli
Mondays - Wiggles and Words (for 0-6 months) at the Red Hook Library, Red Hook
Mondays - Songs & Stories at Ulster Public Library, Ulster
Mondays and Fridays - Tunes and Tales at the Red Hook Library, Red Hook
Tuesdays - Storytime with Robbie at Starr Library, Rhinebeck
Wednesdays - Runs with Return Run Club, Hudson
Wednesdays - Catskills Nature Explorers, Arkville
Wednesdays in September - Baby & Me and Toddler & Me Yoga, Chatham
Thursdays - Music & Movement Storytime at the Hudson Area Library, Hudson
Thursdays - Haema pop-up at Return Brewing, Hudson
Fridays - Preschool Story Time at Ulster Public Library, Ulster
Fridays through August 22 - Wethersfield Adventurers Club, Amenia
Saturdays - Hudson Farmers' Market, Hudson
Saturdays - Maverick Family Saturday concerts, Woodstock
Saturdays - Outdoor Yoga (with llamas) at Clover Brooke Farm, Hyde Park
Sundays - Rhinebeck Farmers’ Market, Rhinebeck
Sundays - Farm-to-Table Family Buffet at Random Harvest, Craryville
Sundays - Community Group Run at Neighbor Running, Hudson
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August and September Events
Through Sunday, August 24 - Dutchess County Fair, Rhinebeck
Thursday, August 21 - How to Run Your First Long Distance Race at The Spark of Hudson, Hudson
Thursday, August 21 - Sunday, August 24 - As You Like It at Churchtown Dairy, Hudson
Friday, August 22 - Twilight Limited on the Catskill Mountain Railroad, Kingston
Friday, August 22 - Movie Night (Clue) at Olana, Hudson
Friday, August 22 - Sunday, August 24 - Summer Hoot at Ashokan Center, Olivebridge
Saturday, August 23 - Vinyasa Yoga in the Orchard, Red Hook
Saturday, August 23 - Gallery Explorers family event at Olana, Hudson
Saturday, August 23 - Music in the Barn at Art Omi, Ghent
Saturday, August 23 - Yoga at Opus 40, Saugerties
Sunday, August 24 - Daytime Disco at Rose Hill Farm, Red Hook
Sunday, August 24 - Eco-Art Workshop for Kids at ArtPort, Kingston
Sunday, August 24 - A Night of Indigenous Storytelling at Chaseholm Farm, Pine Plains
Tuesday, August 26 - End of Summer Pool Party, Athens
Wednesday, August 27 to Monday, September 1 - Columbia County Fair, Chatham
Thursday, August 28 - Outstanding in the Field dinner with Clare de Boer, New Windsor ^*
Friday, August 29 to Sunday, August 31 - Hudson Valley Hot-Air Balloon Festival, Lagrangeville
Friday, August 29 to Sunday, August 31 - Spencertown Festival of Books, Spencertown
Friday, August 29 to Monday, September 1 - Gravel & Gold popup at Nikki Chasin, Hudson
Saturday, August 30 - Cookout with Doves Diner at The Spark of Hudson, Hudson
Monday, September 1 to Thursday, September 4 - Floatsam River Circus, Hudson/Saugerties/Kingston/Poughkeepsie
Thursday, September 4 to Sunday, September 7 - Oldtone Music Festival, Hillsdale
Saturday, September 6 - Natural Dye Workshop with Sun Drawn at Super Stories, Kinderhook
Starting Sunday, September 7 - Catskill Mountain Music Together classes, multiple locations*
Starting Friday, September 12 - Parent Child Garden classes with Somer Serpe, Ghent and Great Barrington*
Saturday, September 13 - Flower Magic Children’s Workshop at Sweet Flower Farm, Copake
Saturday, September 13 - Big A$$ Community Yard Sale at Center for Performing Arts, Rhinebeck
Starting September 15 - Parent Child Classes at Catskill Montessori School, Catskill
Starting September 16 - Tasty Tuesday Supper Club with Fancy Feast, Philmont*
Thursday, September 18 - Andes Manta Concert at Olana, Hudson
Friday, September 19 - Farewell to Summer Party to benefit Upper Hudson Planned Parenthood, Hudson ^*
Saturday, September 20 - Movement Day to benefit Greater Hudson Promise Neighborhood, Hudson
Sunday, September 21 - The Soft Spot x HV Adventure Club Group Hike, Palenville*
Starting September 21 - Kids & Kin Yoga with A Tree Told Me, Rhinebeck
^ = for adults
* = will likely sell out, so book soon
If you’re finding yourself in this spot, come stop by Neighbor and we can chat about how to avoid running burnout.
Return Run Club meets at 5:30 pm on Wednesdays for runs around Hudson, track workouts at Hudson High, trail runs at the Greenport Conservation Area, and more.
FYI - many Hudson Valley libraries offer free tickets to the Trevor-Lovejoy Zoo.
 | A guest post by
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Obviously I have to make my runner husband who is a new dad read this.
Great column, Kevin!