In  June of 2012 I ran my first half marathon, the Zooma Annapolis. Spring 2013 I ran two half marathons, Rock ‘n Roll DC and Nike Women DC, followed by the Woodrow Wilson half that fall. Spring 2014 I again doubled up with Rock ‘n Roll DC and Nike Women DC. Then I was burnt out for awhile and didn’t race again till I tried the Marathon distance Rock ‘n Roll DC in the Spring of 2015. The marathon wasn’t the best experience of my life. Rainy, cold, and 26 miles, woof.

After 4 years of Spring long races I start to get the itch to start training around Christmastime, but after three years of Rock ‘n Roll DC and lots of running the same routes around DC I was looking to expand my racing experience back outside of the city.

I asked one of my coworkers who lives outside of DC and has done more of the regional races what his favorite spring half marathon was. His first suggestion was the Historic Half in Fredericksburg, VA, but it is in the middle of May and I was looking for an earlier race. His second recommendation was the Charlottesville Half Marathon. The April 2nd date not only is in the right time frame, but is also the weekend after my birthday, which makes it a perfect day.

Neither Brian nor I have been to Charlottesville before so exploring a new area for the race and for the weekend is also a big plus. I’ve been told the area is beautiful and hilly. While running hills is not my favorite, they do give me something to focus on while running.

I started my training this week. Other than a lunch time run I cut short on Tuesday due to the 20 degree wind chill I had a solid first week. 12 miles total, an hour of yoga, and a cross training/weights workout. I ran some hills on my four mile “long” run and I’ll definitely need to do that every week to be ready on race day.