I have wanted to start a blog for quite sometime now, but unlike the dozens of others that I read, my thoughts and ideas didn’t seem to have a focus. I kept asking myself, why would people want to come to my blog when nothing I’m sharing is insightful or helpful?
As I began to consider a framework for my blog, I thought about what I find most enjoyable about other people’s posts and realized I love reading about people’s travel experiences and also, somewhat randomly, running event reviews. Not only am I big runner, but I’m also a goal-setter and a planner. I always feel as if there’s something new to accomplish and as a result, I have set two major life goals that will form the backbone of my blog. By writing about these goals, I hope to nit only keep myself accountable to them, but to also share some insight along the way.
The first goal involves running a marathon or a half marathon in every U.S. state. After completing my first marathon in November 2014 – a feat I never thought possible and dreamed about for years – I was hooked. Attempting to run an event in every state not only feeds my love of running, but also my desire to travel. In my mind, there is no better way to experience a city and its energy than by running through its streets with thousands of spectators shouting from the sidelines. In this blog, I plan to review the marathons and half marathons I’ve participated in so readers, like you, can have a better understanding of the course, the event, the atmosphere, and hopefully have an easier time deciding which to participate in.
I, myself, relied on a number of blogs to help me decide which races to run and while sometimes choosing a race is easy – it’s in a location close to you or in a month you’re looking to run – occasionally it’s not that simple. I know I relied on people’s blogs to help me understand which events were most fitting for me, and I hope my event summaries fulfill that same goal for you, or at least provide some entertaining anecdotes.
In addition to race reviews, I may occasionally throw in reviews of products I’ve tried to help me reach this goal of running an event in every state. While training for my first marathon, I tried a number of new products, including a water belt and running skirt and some were more successful than others. While of course these reviews will only be my opinions, I hope sharing my personal experience gives you more insight into what may work for you.
The second major life goal that will shape the content of my blog is thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail, a 2,180-mile trail that runs 14 states from Georgia to Maine. Unlike my first goal, which can span over a few years, if not a decade, thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail (AT) requires about 4-6 months.
As I will detail in later posts, there are several ways to hike the AT, but for me, thru-hiking, in which the entire trail is completed in the span of less than a year, seems the most fitting for me. In the posts to follow, I’ll discuss my preparation and research, and once I’m on the trail, I hope to update my blog with my experiences and the people I meet along the way.
While my blog will most likely revolve around these two goals, I’m sure I’ll have miscellaneous posts in there as well. As someone who constantly feels the need to travel and try new things (and write about them!), I would imagine I’d post about my other trips as well and maybe even some creative projects I’m pursuing. Did I mention I’d like to see all the U.S. national parks?
From this first post, you’re probably thinking all I do is travel, but I promise I do have a full-time job and achieving these goals requires a lot of expert planning on my part. I have a strong desire to see as much as I can in the time that I have, and while I hope writing about my experiences further solidifies the memories of them, I hope my blog also provides some insight, and possibly some entertainment, for you as well.
Thanks for reading, and I look forward to passing as many mile markers as possible with you along the way.
Mile Markers 