50 Half Marathons, 50 States, 11 Lessons Learned
Bill Clinton’s bedroom, the best biscuits, and other observations from the road
From a tuxedo-clad guy playing a grand piano amid a Montana pasture to couples getting married at the Mile Four marker, I’ve seen, and learned, a lot after half marathons in all 50 of the United States. After all of those races in all of those places, here is some of what I learned along the way:
1. If you race frequently, each event becomes your long training run for the next race.
Once I committed to pursuing the 50-state goal, I decided to increase the frequency of my races. There were many reasons behind my choice to reduce the amount of travel: I hate to fly, it’s expensive, and I wanted to reduce my carbon footprint. That meant back-to-back races — a Saturday in one state, Sunday in another. (The Running in the USA website made the planning much easier.) As time went on, thanks to the Mainly Marathons race series, I even managed three states in three days (twice!) and on one trip powered by ibuprofen and insanity, four in a row. I never went more than two months without a half marathon. It wasn’t necessary or even desirable to continue doing long runs during training; my longest training distance was six miles on…
