Running the States

Category: half marathons

  • 12/50: Delaware – Rehoboth Beach Half Marathon

    12/50: Delaware – Rehoboth Beach Half Marathon

    Happy holidays, y’all!

    Wow, can you believe it’s the end of December? This year has flown by.

    I ran my last half of 2015 earlier this month — the Rehoboth Beach Seashore Half Marathon in Delaware.

    Despite the name, there were actually no seashore views during the run, which was a bummer because I’m a beach girl and was totally looking forward to a little ocean gazing.

    The weather was perfect though, and the course was pretty flat, so I can’t complain too much. Also, I ended up getting another PR — I beat my time in Vegas by one minute! Excited about that. But it came at the expense of my knee. Not so excited about that.

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  • 11/50: Nevada: Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon (Strip at Night)

    11/50: Nevada: Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon (Strip at Night)

    Six ladies in their 30s head to Vegas — two with young children at home, one pregnant, three running a half marathon, one running a 10k, and three on east coast time. AND they still managed to viva Las Vegas, baby! Well, sort of.

    The trip to Vegas with the girls a couple of weekends ago was a lot of fun. I packed a lot into our short time there, including two races — a 5k and a half marathon — and a Sin City activity that some of the girls would prefer stay in Vegas…

    What doesn’t stay in Vegas: I crossed state number 11 off my list and got a PR on my half marathon. Pretty excited about that!

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  • Upcoming Races: Strip at Night, Rehoboth Beach Half Marathon

    Upcoming Races: Strip at Night, Rehoboth Beach Half Marathon

    It’s been many many years since I’ve been to Las Vegas. The last time I was there, I was 25 — prime partying age. But unfortunately, I just could not hang. I was visiting a couple of friends. It was August — so hot. The desert heat and time difference made it difficult to keep up with my buddies. I even fell asleep in a strip club. Seriously. When I woke up, I was alone on the couch, while my friends were all taking shots at the bar.

    I’ll be heading back to Sin City this weekend. Maybe I’ll try to redeem myself while I’m there. But what I’m really hoping to do is PR at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon (aka Strip at Night).

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  • 10/50 – Illinois: Rock n Roll Chicago Half Marathon

    10/50 – Illinois: Rock n Roll Chicago Half Marathon

    I completed state number 10 of the 50 states challenge this past weekend (wooo double digits!). Thank you, Chicago, Illinois.

    What did I know about Chicago before I left? Truthfully, not too much. The last time I was in the Windy City was November 2007 to celebrate a friend’s birthday. It was a short weekend trip. I remember a lot of cocktails and snow on the ground. I don’t remember much else, probably due to said cocktails.

    I had heard great things about Chicago — one being how nice it is in the summer. Other than that, I was pretty clueless about the city. My colleague, Erin, lived in Chicago and absolutely loves it. After my second visit there, I can see why. It truly is a beautiful city with great architecture and a vibrant food scene. And summers there are indeed lovely.

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  • One Year Ago: Ran My First Half Marathon

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    A year ago this month, I ran my very first half marathon (Frederick Half) and kicked off Running the States — my challenge to run 13.1 miles in all 50 U.S. states.

    The idea for Running the States came about in December 2013, when I met my co-worker, Kevin, who had recently completed the challenge. In January 2014, I signed up for my first couple of races and started training.

    If we’re going by calendar year, which I still do most of the time, I completed four half marathons in 2014. But if we’re starting the count from when I ran my first half, then I’ve completed nine since last May.

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  • 9/50 – Tennessee: Country Music Half Marathon

    9/50 – Tennessee: Country Music Half Marathon

    A couple of weekends ago, I took a quick trip to Music City to run the Country Music Half Marathon (aka Rock n Roll Nashville). It was my first time down there, and I loved it — such a fun city.

    The forecast called for a rainy race day, and I heard from locals and other participants that the course was super hilly. But I was pleasantly surprised on both accounts — the rain held off and it actually turned out to be great running weather, and while the course was indeed hilly, most of the hills were manageable. It was fun time!

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  • 8/50 – Pennsylvania: Philadelphia Love Run

    8/50 – Pennsylvania: Philadelphia Love Run

    A week after my road trip to Connecticut to run the Savin Rock Half, I headed back up north for another race: The Philadelphia Love Run. Sorry, I’m a little late writing this post—the past couple of weeks have been craziness.

    The trip to Philadelphia was super short, but a fun one. My friend, Jen, did the race, too, along with her friends Emily and Rachel. (Read Jen’s race recap here.) Emily and I shared a hotel room together. Always great to have company on these race trips!

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  • 7/50 – Connecticut: Savin Rock Half Marathon

    7/50 – Connecticut: Savin Rock Half Marathon

    Last weekend, my cousin, Janine, and I took a road trip to West Haven, Conn.—a town within the city of New Haven County—to run the Savin Rock Half Marathon. The weather posed some challenges to the race, as well as to the drive up there, but despite that, we had a fun weekend. (more…)

  • Spring Races and First Running Injury

    My new spring running shoes. Aren't they cute?
    My new running shoes. Aren’t they cute?

    February has been a cold, cold month. (As I write this, more snow is falling from the sky.) March is around the corner though, which means warmer temps (hopefully) and the start of the spring racing season. I have a few exciting half marathons coming up — two that I’ve been looking forward to since last year, and one that I signed up on a whim earlier this month.

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  • Coworker’s 50 states

    Image: Colin Hayes, Guts without Glory
    Image: Colin Hayes, Guts without Glory

    When I first started this 50 states challenge, my coworker, Kevin, emailed me a list of the races he ran in each state (the ones he counted toward the challenge). It’s a fun list to read. His comments on the races and locations are great. I’ve been meaning to post it for a while, and just now getting around to it.

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