Sandy Runs

No, not THAT kind of streaking! I'm planning a streak of running every day. To keep the objective realistic and attainable, I'm picking a defined start date (Thanksgiving) and finish date (New Year's Day). The plan is to run at least one mile every day during the holiday season. I'll do my mile even on my training plan's rest days. ...and every day in between - I will run at least one mile! One Mile - This is a very realistic objective, one that I should be able to achieve even when I'm busy or not feeling up to par. I can even do my mile inside on a treadmill if I need to (though I prefer to run outside). On any given day, I may run more than the one mile minimum, but never less. Every Day - Because I need to develop a better habit of consistently running in between races, and my race schedule has eased up, so this is doable. During the Holidays - This is to keep me going when the days are shorter, the weather is colder (and sometimes downright un...

I get questions from coworkers, casual acquaintances and even strangers wondering how I run multiple marathons as frequently as I do. Other than sharing information with friends on Facebook, I tend to be fairly quiet about my accomplishments. Coworkers know about my marathoning and may ask me where I was over the weekend and if I ran a race, and I’ll answer honestly; but unless they ask follow-up questions, I don’t offer up my entire crazy race schedule. People in airports and airplanes may see my medal (which I sometimes wear as explanation for my slow, limping gait) and ask if I just ran a marathon. I’ll tell them yes, but won’t tell them I have another the following weekend unless I’m asked “when is your next one?” Basically, I never try to toot my own horn, and I also don't like tons of attention. Yes, it’s a special feat to run a marathon. Yes, it’s unusual to run more than one in close succession. But I am nowhere near a superstar. I know many runners who are faster, many who...

Actually, training already started, as I'm back from my 6 mile run. Yes, training! No more "just winging it" for me! I'm going to follow a modified Hal Higdon "Marathon 3" plan, which is for experienced marathoners who only want to run 3 days a week to prevent overuse and injury. It also includes cross-training and rest days. My target race is New Jersey Marathon on 4/26/15, which will be my 49th marathon state. Between now and then, I will only run the 2 marathons already on my calendar, plus 3 half marathons and a few shorter races (5K, 5M, 12K, 10M). In the past, I've followed Galloway plans or other plans designed by my training groups. This time I'm trying Hal Higdon in part because my friend Matt had success with a Higdon plan when he recently trained for his first marathon. Higdon also has several plans to choose from, and the "Marathon 3" plan seems right on target for me. The idea is to start out doing the lower mileage runs a...

I just completed marathons in my 47 th and 48 th states. It was another double marathon weekend, and my first “airplane double” meaning that I had to fly in between races. It may have seemed strange to pair Indianapolis with New Hampshire, but my other options were to travel an additional weekend this fall (and I wanted at least a couple weekends at home), or to wait until next fall (there aren’t really any marathons in New Hampshire in the spring). So, I did it. And I’ll be honest: while my non-running time was spent with friends, my running time was largely spent solo and was very miserable on both days due to the weather. My weekend medals and my updated states map; just need Oregon and New Jersey On Friday I flew direct from DC to Indianapolis and met up with Abbi, who had already picked up my race packet for Indianapolis Monumental Marathon . We checked into the Westin and realized we wouldn’t be able to make the 50 States Marathon Club reunion meeting. Or if we did, w...

I ran my last new marathon state of 2014: New Hampshire was #48. That leaves only 2 new states for next year. This is exciting stuff! When I ran my first marathon in 2005, I had no intention of running a second one, let alone running marathons in all 50 states. I didn’t even know that was a “thing”. For me, it was a one-time, “let’s see if I can do it” goal, but I started thinking about my second marathon not long after finishing the first. Yet my first two years of running saw me complete only 3 states (and one European country), and so a 50 states goal was still not on my radar. With my pace group during my first marathon, my first state: 2005 Mardi Gras Marathon in New Orleans It wasn’t until after my long break and starting up with marathons again in January 2012 that this even became a remote possibility. As I started to build my race schedule, I tried to find races in different states. Part of this was motivated by my desire to travel and see new places. I didn’t wa...