All posts filed under: traveling

18/50: Ohio — Flying Pig (Half) Marathon

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Guys! I’m back from Iceland and Ohio! Both trips were amazing (each in their own way, of course). Will write more about Iceland in another post. For now, I’m going to tell you all about Ohio. Personally, I think it’s an underrated state. We had a great time there. We visited Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, and Sandusky — all in three days. Pretty crazy. I’m still amazed we were able to pull it off. There were many highlights of the trip, but the most noteworthy for this blog is… setting a new PR in the Flying Pig (half) and finishing strong! It was completely unexpected. Unexpected for a couple of reasons: (1) the course is described as hilly and challenging (and it was!), and (2) I got only three hours of sleep the night before! But somehow, things seemed to have worked out in my favor that day. No complaints here! It was a great race — definitely in my top 10 favorites!

17/50: New York – Half Full Rome

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How is nearing the end of December already?! (AND ONLY 2 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS??!) The year has gone by so fast! But let’s rewind back to October for a minute – my big month of travel. 🙂 I spent a couple of fantastic weeks in Southeast Asia (Cambodia and Thailand), and a day after returning (arrived home on a Thursday), I decided to drive to New York to run a half marathon and cross #17 off my list. I figured, why not? I didn’t have any plans that weekend. I found a small race in a place called Rome, New York, about 30 miles north of Syracuse. There are plenty of races in New York City throughout the year, and I believe a couple were taking place that weekend, but it was too late to register online for them. And plus, I had never been to any part of New York outside of NYC, and wanted to experience a different part of the state anyway. So, Rome.

Hatfield-McCoy Double Half Marathon Training – Weeks 10 + 11 + 12: Updates on life and upcoming races, monks and bodybuilding

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I can’t believe it’s MAY already.   This year is flying by so fast. The Hatfield-McCoy Double Half Marathon is less than 50 days away (!!) (Check out the awesome-looking medals above!), and I honestly don’t feel as prepared as I should (but then again, when have I ever really felt prepared to run 26 miles?). I’m slacking on my runs — the weekday runs and weekend long runs are not long enough.  And I haven’t done the super long run yet – the dreaded 20-miler.  I’m hoping to squeeze that in this weekend or next.  Mentally, I am all over the place, and just not as focused on this training as I should be. I still have another month to pull myself together though.  Let’s see if I can do it. Upside: I managed to score running buddies for both the Hatfield-McCoy and the San Francisco (Half) Marathon in July.  Yay for running/travel buddies!

Going to Phoenix! Congrats to the marathon qualifiers! Woooo USA!

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An old high school friend called me the other day to invite me to her wedding. The festivities will be in Phoenix, where she and her fiancé live. I’m excited! It’s been years since we’ve seen each other, and I’m looking forward to catching up with her and a few other old high school friends that don’t live in the DC area anymore. It’ll also be my first time in Phoenix! And since I haven’t done a race in Arizona yet, I figured maybe I’ll run if there are any races taking place in the area that weekend. Well, turns out there is one — the Phoenix Pride Run Half Marathon. It’s at 6:30 a.m. on the day of the wedding (April 2).

Upcoming Races: Strip at Night, Rehoboth Beach Half Marathon

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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).

Nashville, TN

9/50 – Tennessee: Country Music Half Marathon

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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!

Nice shout-out to Love Run participants!

8/50 – Pennsylvania: Philadelphia Love Run

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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!

Coworker’s 50 states

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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.