At the end of Decemeber, Jen’s pal, Emily, sent us an email asking if we wanted to participate in “Run the Year 2016,” where you run 2,016 miles in the year. Sounded like a cool concept, and great motivation to get out for a run when you’re not training for a race.
But then I was thinking… 2,016 miles? That’s a lot. That means I would have to average almost 40 miles a week. For the entire year.
Um. No thanks.
I was a little confused though. Emily wanted to know if we wanted to be a team of three, and therefore we’d complete the 2,016 miles together (i.e., our combined mileage would be 2,016).
Ah, that sounds much more manageable! I’m in!
Although the three of us are doing it together (we’re Team DC Happy Feet!), I’ve noticed on social media that many people are taking on the challenge solo. Pretty awesome.
The way it works is basically after each run, you record your miles in the mileage tracker on the Run the Year 2016 website. It’s based on a honor system. A cool thing about the tracker is that in addition to seeing you team’s current total, you can also see your current individual total. It’s nice to see how many miles I’ve done for the week, month, etc. So far, I’ve been good about logging my miles in the tracker. Hopefully I can keep it up for the entire year…
Have you heard of Run the Year? Do you have a mileage goal for the year?
Another way I’ve been staying active: hip hop dance classes! For reals. I signed up for the classes last month (it was a 4-week session). Friends and family found it funny. I’m not sure why. Maybe just the thought of me doing the Whip/Nae Nae is amusing… (learned it last Sunday!).
The classes are at a dance studio in Friendship Heights called District Groove. The teacher, Amina, is awesome. She’s super friendly and patient, and breaks down the steps so they’re easier to get. I’m thinking of signing up for the next level, which is a mix of hip hop, Bollywood and Latin dancing. I’ll have to see if I can fit it into my training schedule.
I’ve decided to do a full marathon training program for the Hatfield-McCoy double half marathon, because while they’re two separately-timed races, I’m still essentially running 26.2 miles since the races are back-to-back. Stayed tuned for details on training.
Running the States 
Fun – can’t wait to hear about hip hop classes and hear about training. I kind of picked my wish list for each state (will it happen, I dont know). Will email you soon. Your friend Kevin’s list was helpful.
I’ve really enjoyed the classes! But def harder than I thought they would be. Haha. Loved your list! Hopefully we can run a few of those races together! 🙂