Sunday, January 28, 2018

Absentee blogger

Gosh, I’ve really been away from the blog for some time. It is the end of January 2018, and I haven’t even posted my last November race yet! Life has been busy, but really that’s no excuse. I should’ve made time to write about running. 

As I write, I’m on a flight to Charlotte, NC and ultimately to Jackson, MS for the Mississippi Blues Half Marathon this weekend. I’m pretty excited for this run, as it has been on my “to do” list since the start of my 50x50. When I read about the Blues race, way back when, I knew it was one I wanted to do for sure. The race celebrates the tradition of Mississippi Blues music with a portion of the funding going back to that community. Very cool indeed. From what I understand, there is Blues music along the route and various events after the race that are music related. Regrettably, I’m flying home right after the race, so I won’t be able to attend any concerts, but I hope to at least soak up whatever Blues I can while I’m there. Plus, they always have really cool guitar shaped medals, so there's that, too.

Since I haven’t posted in such a long time, I should backtrack a little. Before I publish this post, I will undoubtedly post my final write up from the Halfsy in Lincoln, NE. You can read that one just prior to this post if you want. Since that race, I’ve just been doing my regular mileage, surviving the holiday season the best I could. When it was all said and done, 2017 ended up really well. I surpassed my 100 miles a month goal, which was so fantastic, considering I missed it a bit the last couple of years due to being sick around the holidays. My total mileage for 2018 was 1348.03 mi.

I also managed to map out the beginning of 2018 race-wise. Mississippi in January, Georgia in March and Indiana in June. Only two more for the second half of 2018, most likely being Minnesota and either New Orleans, California or Tennessee. The end is coming quickly. Only 13 to go as I sit here typing today, and at the end of 2018 it will be only 8 states to go.

Another really cool thing that happened just after the holidays was that I heard from Jacquelene, who was my seat mate flying home from my Nebraska race. She sent me a lovely New Years email saying that she and her niece were planning on heading to Hawaii for my 50th race and for a nice vacation, of course. What an amazing bit of news to hear! Here is a virtual stranger, who became a friend over the course of a flight, who now plans on helping me celebrate my final state race. I’m overjoyed at this news, and I can’t wait to see her again! She’s from Australia, so this is a huge commitment on her part. Thank you, Jacqueline! I can’t wait to see you in Maui in 2021!

What a wonderful journey this 50x50 has been. So many of the interesting people I’ve met are in my head and in my heart. I can’t wait to see what the next 13 states have to offer. Who will I meet? What sights will I see? What will the races be like? Only time will tell, of course, but I can’t wait to find out!

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