2013.1

Last Sunday I ran the Livestrong Austin Half Marathon and if you follow me on any social media site, then you know I PR'ed, smashing the crap out of my previous half time by 12 minutes and 21 seconds. That's a huge jump especially considering I set my last PR in January at the 3M race. Yay for that!

Before I left for the expo to pick up my race bib I was thinking about how I ran a half in January and I was now running one in February and hey, what a fun way to kick off the year. Then I saw the race shirt and I had an idea.



2013 would be the year of the half marathon! 2013.1! I would run a half every month this year! I didn't give myself time to think about how many miles I would be running this year just in races (157.2) or how much travel would be involved in this plan, I hit the ground running (see what I did there?) and started researching races. I asked my friends if they knew of any half marathons near them so I could start plotting various months and the responses flooded in. Grand Rapids! Kiawah! New York! Chicago! Baton Rouge! So many options. Then I started to look up race registration fees and airfare and realized if I didn't want to go broke I needed a better plan. That's when I remembered that Rock 'N' Roll races offer a Tour Pass.

The Rock 'N' Roll races weren't my first choice but I couldn't beat $399 for as many races as I could fit into my calendar so here we are. I've never run one of their races and it feels like I'm taking a big chance, but I'm sure it'll be fine. Here's what my year looks like so far:

• January 13th 3M Half Austin, TX
• February 17th Livestrong Half Austin, TX
• March 23rd Zooma Half Bastrop, TX
• April 14th More Magazine/Fitness Magazine NYRR Half NYC
• May 19th Rock 'N' Roll Portland, OR
• June 22nd Rock 'N' Roll Seattle, WA
• July 21st Rock 'N' Roll Chicago, IL
• August 4th Rock 'N' Roll Pittsburgh, PA
• September 15th Rock 'N' Roll Philadelphia, PA
• October 6th, Rock 'N' Roll San Jose, CA 
• November 17th, Rock 'N' Roll San Antonio, TX

December hasn't been decided yet. A lot of races haven't opened registration this early and Rock 'N' Roll doesn't seem to have anything that month. I've been presented with plenty of options, so once I'm registered for something I'll let you know where I'm headed. 

I'm super excited about this project and assuming I finish all of those Rock 'N' Roll races, I'll be presented a special finisher medal. I'll also get an additional medal for completing the Pacific Peaks portion of the year.

I'm also really looking forward to seeing friends all over the country and getting one night of sleep each month where I won't have to get up at 6am with the kids. 

Am I coming to your part of the country? Do you have a spare bed you wouldn't mind letting me sleep in? Would you like to come out and see me along a race course? Want to get a pre-race drink with me? I'm game, let's do it!