This was my 30th half marathon and I have to say, I would've been HOOKED from day one if it had been my first! The weather was not great, misty and rainy the whole day causing lots of slippery zones and mud in the parks. But that didn't stop the volunteers from being super encouraging and happy in their ponchos.

The course had some very scenic stretches. We started out along the water with a gorgeous sunrise and ran along the boardwalk. There were a lot of cute parks we got to run through as well! I am used to a lot of hills on my runs, so the flat course was much appreciated. Despite the dreary weather, I managed to PR! While I didn't run directly with the pacers, one ran beside me for a little and got me out of my head so I could push forward on my goal.

The after party is INCREDIBLE! I'm used to a few snacks at the end of the race, but there was a whole buffet of breakfast and lunch food (bacon, sausage, eggs, biscuits, waffles, hot dogs, veggie burgers, mac and cheese, and more!) plus a good selection of beer from Dogfish Head Brewing which is right across the street from the after party. The DJ was so much fun and we found ourselves staying for hours after we finished our races.

This was my first time in Rehoboth Beach and it is SO CUTE. I will definitely come back to explore some more, and would love to do the race again.

We also got free race photos and I shockingly had a good finish line photo! That never happens to me. Thank you for capturing my pure joy.

This was my first 15k race and I loved it! I sometimes hit a mental wall around mile 9 during a half so this eliminated that stressor. There were some fantastic and challenging hills throughout so this was definitely a good endurance challenge! I think a water stop was skipped as we didn’t get any until mile 4, but all the volunteers at aid stations were happy and friendly, plus they had some fun sweet treats if you felt so inclined. I loved getting a chocolate treat stash after the race (highly recommend dipping your banana in the fondue)!

This race had fantastic course support from volunteers! Although it's mostly an out and back, it's always good to have lots of signage coupled with a live person to tell you when you need to turn. The start and finish line location at Jarvis Creek Park was absolutely beautiful! The lake even has alligators, so if you're lucky you might get to see one (I was not lucky, but my friend was)! The after party was a blast with lots of pizza and cold beers. This was a fantastic excuse to visit Hilton Head, and I highly recommend it! I live in a hilly area, so it was great running a relatively flat half for a change (there is a bridge with some decent incline, but I promise the bay views are worth it).

Before March, it was easy to be active just on a normal work day. I’d drive to work, park in a deck, and then walk to the office. My coworkers and I would often walk to lunch, or walk just to enjoy a beautiful day. Now that I am a remote employee indefinitely, I have to sneak activity into my daily life that used to just be standard. If I don’t, I’m lucky to hit 1000 steps for the day!

I have gotten comfortable with the WFH life now. I either run or do a Peloton ride before work and then sneak in the other activity in between meetings. The last week I worked in an office, I started a run streak. I’m now 267 days into it. I told myself I’d stop when we got back to the office thinking it would be 90 days or so. Now I have NO idea when I’ll stop streaking, but I have a reason to get some fresh air daily and I’m feeling stronger than ever.

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What I’ve struggled with is getting motivation to do speed work or train for races. I’ve been running mostly alone or with my husband for 267 days, so it’s hard to remember what it was like running alongside 40k other crazy runners!

Every few weeks, I get to run with my friend Erica. We love to challenge each other by setting a certain stretch pace, or pushing the distance. The second time I met this wonderful woman, she just dove right into a crazy workout I had just to spend time with me. I’ve loved her ever since and am so grateful for her presence and friendship. I was honored when she agreed to run this 10k with me.

We chose one of our favorite hilliest routes, the NC Art Museum! Erica is also a hip hop dance instructor and yogi so she is always encouraging her friends to work that booty. Over the course of the 10k, we had over 430 feet of elevation gain. Honestly, not as hilly as many of our runs together, but not flat enough for true race simulation.

When we started, the sun was just rising and it was absolutely gorgeous. I forgot to take a picture because we were so busy admiring the sunrise. Sunrise and sunset are my favorite parts of the day hands down. There’s something so soothing to me about them.

I chose this race in part because my family is full of super hero fans. My husband has tons of Batman gear and often nerds out with our brother-in-law John over DC versus Marvel. The goodie bag was SO good and I knew I’d have to share some of it with my 2 year old niece. We got a nice quarter zip pullover, a hat, a medal, and a bib! They also through in a Gu waffle which makes for a nice pre-run snack.

But whenever I choose a race to run, I always seek out how they give back. DC Batman partnered with St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. If you’re not familiar, check them out!

J&A really knows how to throw a party after you run a race! I've done the "Shell Yeah" Challenge twice and am already looking for people to run it with me again this year. The crowd support is so much fun (there was even a petting zoo during the 5k)! This year, we got to hang out with Bart Yasso with our friend Flat Art who wasn't able to join us for the race. Bart loved Flat Art and even added his picture to FB. The after party is chock full of great VA Craft Beer and She Crab soup!