Hello, friends. Happy New Year!
And happy first full week after the holidays!
What a year 2018 was. Apologies for being MIA the second half of it. It’s been a little crazy around here, but in a good way.
There was a lot of travel in 2018 — for races, for weddings, for family visits, and for just fun.
2017
In terms of quantity, it wasn’t my best year — I completed 3 half marathons out of the 6-8 I had planned at the beginning of the year.
But if we’re talking quality, I would consider this my best year yet. I had two PRs, both of which came at a complete surprise, and my average running pace increased by about a minute.
I work with an organization called Girls on the Run.
Their goal is to inspire girls to be happy, healthy and confident by using a fun, engaging curriculum that integrates running. The program teaches girls life skills that focuses on understanding ourselves, valuing relationships and teamwork, and understanding how we connect with and shape the world at large. The lessons aim to empower girls to be strong, compassionate and fearless in pursuing their dreams. Each season culminates in an exciting 5k race.
Today was race day for the girls!
Happy Memorial Day, friends!
I just returned from Boston last night after participating in Boston’s Run to Remember — a half marathon that honors the city’s first responders killed in the line of duty. It was a beautiful race that started in the Seaport District and went through historic downtown Boston. I finished with another PR!
I’ll have a full write-up of the race and my trip up soon.
I hope you all are enjoying the long weekend.
Have you ever been so miserable during a race that you wanted to stop and just quit right there?
There were two occasions where I was miserable, but not quite close to quitting or wanting to quit: The Hottest Half in Dallas, Texas in August 2014 and the Savin Rock Half Marathon in West Haven, Connecticut in March 2015. The former was just as advertised — it was hot as hell during that race, but at least the course was super flat and the heat was dry. I pushed through and thankfully, survived without any injuries, albeit some minor sunburn. The latter was the complete opposite of the former — it was freezing — in fact, it was snowing. Big fluffy flakes fell steadily from the sky throughout the entire race. And the snow was falling on top of existing snow that had accumulated from the previous day. At one point, I was even running along side a snow plow. Fortunately, the course was flat for this race as well, and I managed to make it to the finish line. (I remained cold for a good hour after that race though.)
I didn’t think it could get any more challenging than those two races…
But then, I did the Hatfield-McCoy Double Half Marathon last June.
I experienced a whole new level of challenge with that race. It was hot. It was humid. It was hilly. And it was high elevation.
I honestly didn’t think I was going to make it. At every single water stop during the second half, I debated whether or not to quit and catch a ride back into town.
But surprisingly, I did make it — six (!!!) hours after the start time, I completed a half marathon in the hills of West Virginia and another half marathon in the hills of Kentucky, crossing states numbers 14 and 15 off the list.
If you’re attempting to run in all 50 U.S. states and one of your old high school friends invites you to her wedding in Arizona, then naturally you look to see if there are any races taking place the weekend of her wedding.
Because why not kill two birds with one stone, right?
And because the prices of plane tickets these days are not cheap.
So I did a quick search on one of my favorite race websites, Running in the USA, and lucky me — I found a race taking place the day of her wedding — the Phoenix Pride Run Half Marathon! Some friends thought I was crazy for running the day of the wedding, but hey, it’s better than running the day after the wedding!
Wow, and just like that we’re more than halfway through June! The last few weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind — went to Mexico, celebrated my birthday, went to Kentucky/West Virginia for the Hatfield-McCoy race, and in between all of that, there have been many dinners, after-work events, social gatherings with family and friends, and the birth of my cousin’s new baby! I finally have some downtime this weekend and hope to catch up on my race updates and clean up this website a bit.
First, I have to say: The Hatfield-McCoy double half marathon has definitely been the most challenging race I’ve done yet. The heat and elevation kicked my butt (hard) in both states, and there was a point during the second half where I seriously didn’t think I was going to make it. But I did — and thankfully, without any major sickness or injuries. So states numbers 14 (Kentucky) and 15 (West Virginia) are done! Yay!
I spent part of this week recovering and catching up after a long weekend in Phoenix last week. Last Saturday, I ran the Pride Run (half marathon) and crossed state number 13 off my list (Wooo Arizona! — Hope to have a race recap up shortly.). And then afterward, I attended an old high school friend’s wedding (I love celebrating love). It was a good day — it was a good several days, actually. The weather in Phoenix was gorgeous, the race went well, the wedding was perfect, and I gained 5 pounds (i.e., I ate too much, drank too much, and was way merry).
I’m back home now — back to focusing on training for the Hatfield-McCoy Double Half Marathon (and trying to lose those 5 lbs. I gained).
Here it is. My 2016 race schedule. Well, tentative race schedule.
I think if you’re trying to run in all 50 states, or is someone that just enjoys participating in races, you’re constantly thinking about which race/where to go/what to run next. I’ve been thinking about my 2016 race schedule since January 2015 (and I already have 2017 and 2018 in the works). I’m a planner. I also love to travel, and in order to make that work with my limited vacation time, I have to plan in advance.
My parents are going to Cambodia in November, and I’m hoping to join them for a week. Afterward, I’ll probably split and head solo to Thailand for a bit. This trip will eat up at least a couple of weeks, and so I won’t have as much free time for domestic travel this year, which means I won’t be able to cross off as many states as I did in 2015. No worries though, I’ll just make it up in 2017. 😉
Happy New Year, guys! I just got back from my first run of the year — a short 3-miler on the treadmill.
Today’s run was the first in a while. I spent most of December giving my knees a rest (trying to heal the right knee). I think the break worked (along with a lot of foam rolling) — the knee isn’t as sore anymore. Hopefully it stays that way. The injury made me reflect on what I did wrong and things I’ve learned over the year.
I put in a lot of mileage in 2015 — I started keeping track, but got lazy around October and stopped. So I don’t know exactly how many miles I ran. What I do know: I ran eight half marathons and one full marathon, plus four months of marathon training with 30-40 weekly-mile averages. There are things I definitely could have done better to make the races go smoother and to avoid the minor injuries I experienced. So, following are some lessons learned from the year.
Running the States 