Is that a for real thought?   After I ran my first half marathon in 2005 in West Virginia, I thought I would die and never do one again.  I mean, before I started training for that, I was a 2 mile runner.  I got to be close friends with a Physical Therapist I was working with at the time and she was this amazing Phillipino tri-athlete- all 4’11” of her!  She would push me and take me out on runs with her after work.  She gave me my first racing experiences.  5 mile trail run, 5k, 10k, then she says… hey lets run a half in 6 weeks!  OMG.  But I did it!

Then kids came.  I was in no rush to get back into running anyhow at that point…
Until I was a good 25lbs overweight for my 5’2″ frame and it had been 3-4 years and that baby weight was not coming off, which turned into a good enough reason for me to get back into it.  Once I did, the lbs shred off in 6 months time and within a few years, I was training again.

Since then, I started with 1 half a year, then 2 halfs in a year, then this year I ran 3 within 5 weeks!  Surprisingly, that was easier than spreading them out.  I didn’t have to do training runs in between- I was there.

Looking ahead, I have signed up for the Kiawah half in Charleston, SC this December, and will do the Asheville half again in March of 2017.

Destination running should be a fun idea, especially as the kids get older and we can safely leave them in a hotel room or at the finish line at 5am while we run and are back before they wake.  Or babysitters who want to travel with us…

I’m not completely sold, but definitely considering attempting this.  I mean, I’m 37… do I have enough energy to run that many more half marathons?  If I did 1 new state a year, I’ll be over 80 years old completing these!

Asheville Marathon posted a facebook post not too long ago indicating a  man had run over half of his destination races to fill his map after he was 70 years old!

If you do choose to make the Biltmore Estate one of your Destination Races, use my invite code in registration CRYSTAL2017AMAROCKS.

Give me your thoughts??