Greece

So I worked a lot over the past few months or so to catch up and make a bunch of extra money. It made me feel better to fill my tank up again with funds. During this time, Clint and I had talked about going on vacation and settled for a mini four day trip to San Diego at the end of this month, but that really wasn’t enough for me. Clint hasn’t spent enough time abroad so I really want him to see more (he missed out on Germany and Japan). There’s so much out there in the world! I was also waiting on him to figure out his vacation hours and what he had available. It’s been tricky because he had been transitioning to a new position over the past few months and he wasn’t sure. I kept hounding him asking about it almost daily. I’m sure he was annoyed.

Turkey

Well, finally, things all fell into place and we booked our trip to Greece and Turkey a few days ago! I’m so excited for this adventure. Not only are we going on this great trip together but I will be running the Athens and Istanbul Marathons, 7 days apart. I know, I said back in April that I would probably not do back to back marathons again after doing the Boston to Big Sur Challenge…I guess I lied! I realized I couldn’t go all the way to Turkey and NOT do this great marathon that crosses two continents during the race.

Now, I just keep up the training. I’ll be running these for fun and not for time. I just can’t wait to see the birthplace of the marathon and the stadium in Athens (see the course map below). There’s so much history in Athens and in all of Greece. And to cross this bridge during the Istanbul Marathon will be so cool (see below). This is the picture that I saw on Instagram months and months ago that inspired this race to be on my “list”. You cross from Asia to Europe on the Bosphorus Bridge.

Map of the Athens Marathon course

So, now we wait a few months and get ready for this great adventure. Glad I got my passport renewed!

I feel really grateful for many things in my life. I am grateful for my boyfriend and his cancer journey coming to a positive end being cancer free. I also feel very lucky that I get to do a lot of things I love, like running and traveling.

And I realized I did a lot of traveling this year. I went to Los Angeles a few times to hang out with friends and also run a race, and I went to Boston, San Francisco, Germany, and Arizona. I ran in all these great places! I was inspired by so many things to run races in these amazing cities, states and countries. While thinking about all my journeys this year, I decided to count miles. Not just the miles I ran, but miles I traveled to races and back, and miles I raced. I came up with a LOT of miles! The ratios are ridiculous…

Check this out -

I traveled a total of about 19,000 miles.

I trained about 1,450-1,500 miles.

And that was to race ONLY 131 miles.

So, maybe I’m a little crazy. Or a LOT crazy! I was even called a “maniac” by a coach/friend of mine.

While we are on the subject of my craziness and traveling, I finally registered for a race in 2014 and it’s a surprise for now. I’ll keep you posted very soon as to my whereabouts and my next adventure!

I am excited about 2014. Clint has finally realized the importance of traveling and is ready for it. He missed out on a lot of adventures I have been on without him. He always had a reason he couldn’t go with me -  mostly money or work related. But after going through a life threatening disease, he is now ready to not worry so much about those things (“life is too short”) and not miss out on great adventures. This is really exciting to me! Oh, the places we’ll go!

Happy New Year to you all! May 2014 bring lots of fun, laughter, good health, and plenty of running!

“You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.”
― Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You’ll Go!

This trip and run wasn’t on my agenda for the year. I already had set plans for my next half marathon and marathons the rest of 2013. It is a whirlwind of a trip, but my heart led me to this. However, it does come at a great time early on in my training for Berlin, so I have time to recover.

I think the fact that I am flying by myself, having to make my way to Hopkinton by myself, and even staying overnight by myself (in a hostel, no less) after what I think will be a great celebration when the relay is over, is hard for me. It’s not that I am afraid to be alone or anything, it’s just I am used to having friends or my boyfriend there for support along the way. Having someone familiar greet you and celebrate with you after completing a race or run is always a great feeling. So this will be very different for me.

I won’t know anyone there, so I hope to meet some incredible people who are there for the same reasons I am. We all have a reason and a story as to why we chose to do this.

I think I will learn a lot from this experience. I will learn about myself and my capabilities. I will learn about solidarity. I will learn about inspiration, dedication, selflessness, bonding, and much more. I do know I am going into the unknown though. This might be up there with the AIDS Ride I did twice in ’97 and ’99…500+ miles from SF to LA on my bike. You learn a lot when going on a journey as an individual AND when on a journey with like-minded individuals. But, I am up for the challenge and adventure. I will have a story to tell. I am sure of that.

It will be a great story.

You can donate toward my trip by going to this link: http://www.gofundme.com/39c3cg

www.onerunforboston.org