Running the States

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  • 13/50: Arizona – Phoenix Pride Run Half Marathon

    13/50: Arizona – Phoenix Pride Run Half Marathon

    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!

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  • Completed Hatfield-McCoy! I can’t believe it’s June!

    Completed Hatfield-McCoy! I can’t believe it’s June!

    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!

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  • Hatfield-McCoy Double Half Marathon Training – Weeks 13 + 14 + 15 + 16: Got the 20-miler done, less than 2 weeks until Hatfield-McCoy

    Hatfield-McCoy Double Half Marathon Training – Weeks 13 + 14 + 15 + 16: Got the 20-miler done, less than 2 weeks until Hatfield-McCoy

    Run 20 miles?  Check.

    I finally got the long run in a few weeks ago at the C&O Canal towpath. Not going to lie… it was tough.  The first 14 miles went ok, but the last six miles were an absolute struggle.  Six miles had never been so painful or felt so long.

    But it got done.

    LESS THAN 2 WEEKS UNTIL HATFIELD-MCCOY!

    Am I ready?

    Ehhh… not totally.

    But it’s all good.  Come race day, I think I’ll be fine and ready to go. Hopefully.

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

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

    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!
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  • Hatfield-McCoy Double Half Marathon Training – Weeks 6 + 7 + 8 + 9: Working the core, Phoenix Pride Run, Catch-up with DC Happy Feet

    Hatfield-McCoy Double Half Marathon Training – Weeks 6 + 7 + 8 + 9: Working the core, Phoenix Pride Run, Catch-up with DC Happy Feet

    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).

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  • Hatfield-McCoy Double Half Marathon Training – Weeks 4 + 5: Rock ‘n’ Roll DC with dad and sister

    Hatfield-McCoy Double Half Marathon Training – Weeks 4 + 5: Rock ‘n’ Roll DC with dad and sister

    Highlight of the week: crossing the Rock ‘n’ Roll DC 5k finish line with my dad and sister.

    It was my dad’s first race, and it was just so awesome doing it with him and crossing the finish line together. He’s not a hard-core runner, but does workout regularly, so I was pretty confident he would be fine for a 5k — and he was. I asked if he wanted to do another race with me — maybe a 10k next time. He laughed and said that was a little too much, but he’d think about it.

    I think he’ll do it. 🙂

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  • Hatfield-McCoy Double Half Marathon Training – Weeks 2 + 3: ups and downs

    Hatfield-McCoy Double Half Marathon Training – Weeks 2 + 3: ups and downs

    Some days, your training just rocks — you’re hitting your mileage goals, your nutrition is on point, you even get in a little cross-training. 🙂  You feel great!

    And then some days, you just suck.

    Week 2 of training was the former.  Week 3 of training was the latter.

    Oh well.  What can you do…

    You win some, you lose some.

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  • Hatfield-McCoy Double Half Marathon Training – Week 1: And so it begins… again

    Hatfield-McCoy Double Half Marathon Training – Week 1: And so it begins… again

    I’m heading for the hills of Kentucky and West Virginia this June for the Hatfield-McCoy Double Half Marathon. The races take runners through the historic sites following the Hatfield-McCoy feud in Goody, Kentucky and Matewan, West Virginia.

    Because the halves are back-to-back, I’ve decided to do a full marathon training program. It’s an 18-week program, which means week 1 started last week. It totally snuck up on me. Wintry weather here in the DC area + car issues made it difficult to get most of my runs in this week.

    So yeah. Basically, I am off to a great start so far…

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

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

    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).

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  • Run the Year 2016 and hip hop dance classes

    Run the Year 2016 and hip hop dance classes

    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!

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