Airplane Friends and Rural Running

Hi guys!

I had a total "I love the running community" moment yesterday. I mentioned running during Sourabh and my customary post-boarding pre-takeoff "love you, have a safe flight" call (let's be honest, it's one of those "worst case scenario let's make sure we talked" kind of things... at least for me, because I'm morbid and weird). One of my seatmates asked me if I was a runner and it turned out that he'd run multiple ultra marathons in his home country of South Africa!

We had a nice chat, I lent him my issue of Runner's World, and we both gave tips on running on our respective home turf. (Me: anything along the water or with mountain views. Him: the Comrades Marathon). It's so wonderful how you can meet someone from the opposite side of the planet and instantly have a conversation based on this shared interest that crosses all boundaries.

Speaking of flying...

So, this isn't NYC. I'm back in my home state of Washington, staying with my parents for eight days as I study for the bar exam hardcore. It's definitely crunch time!

I plan on taking full advantage of the cooler weather. I'm running a 5K this weekend and doing my long run this morning, so that I'll be semi-fresh for Saturday's race (can you ever be truly fresh during marathon training?). I'm running 9 of them with my dad! It should be fun :)

I'm also going to be studying outdoors with mountain views for the next week. I know, it's a tough life. I will be sharing lots of pictures so that you can truly understand the depth of my mountain obsession.

My view on my 4 mile run this evening. 

By the way, you know you're in a rural area when you hear gun shots on your run and don't freak out. It's so weird, but I don't associate gunshots with crime since I grew up in an area with a lot of hunters and recreational shooters. When I hear a shot, I just figure someone's shooting cans in their backyard.

Another funny feature of rural running is that the roads don't have sidewalks and about a foot of shoulder, so I run on the white lines. I'm extra careful, stopping and getting out of the way if a car doesn't move, but almost every single car on my run moved over and gave me a ton of space. Of course, I smiled and waved -- it's the country way! -- and typically received a smile and wave in return.

Anyway, I'm so excited to get to run here for a few days! I never ran growing up -- seriously, I could barely huff and puff through a mile -- so every time I've been home in the past two years since I started running, I've gotten the chance to explore my hometown and its surrounding area in a totally new way. It's pretty cool!


Blogiversary Giveaway Winner

Thank you to everyone who entered my Blogiversary Giveaway!! Congratulations to the winner:

You get a free class at Uplift Studios and a free Sparkly Soul headband! Please email me at jensbestlife (at) gmail (dot) com and I'll get you all set up!!


Do you run when you visit your family? Is it better or worse running than where you live? What's the coolest marathon you've heard of?