Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Next race?

For the first time in about a year, I have NO next race lined up.  It's a weird feeling.

However, I am strongly considering the Chesebro Half Marathon on March 24, 2012.  It's part of the Great Race of Agoura Hills.  The Chesebro half is 5 miles on roads, and 8 miles on trails.

If it rains a lot which can make for unsafe trail conditions on a mountain, you get moved to the other half marathon taking place that same day, all on roads- the Pacific Half Marathon (this apparently happened last year).



It would not exactly be an ideal course for a PR:

 But I think the scenery would be nice:



You may be thinking to yourself, "A trail race in the mountains?  There are no such mountains in New Jersey."  

And you would be correct.

Dan has accepted a job offer near Los Angeles.  After he defends his thesis, we will be moving to California in early February!  In the mean time, I am trying not to freak out too much about our upcoming move and I am distracting myself from the nitty gritty details by looking into west coast races.

Some other trail races that caught my eye include...

The XTERRA Malibu 6k or 22k on April 29th.  I kind of wish there was an in-between option.  The XTERRA Malibu Creek Challenge promises some of the best views in Malibu.


22k recaps with pictures here and here and here.




My husband also found for me the Leona Valley Trail half marathon (not until September 29, 2012).  There's a nice blog recap with lots of pretty pictures here.  


But this one is another leg killer:


Clearly there will be lots of trails nearby with some serious elevation change.  No more complaining about the 90 feet of elevation change over a third of a mile that exists immediately behind my apartment.

While I am looking forward to some really scenic trail running, I also hope to break a 2-hour half marathon in 2012 so I am in search of a flatter road race where that might be possible.  

1. Anyone have any race recommendations for the LA area?

2. What is your next race?

3. Also, I am currently accepting successful long-distance or cross-country moving stories.
I have only lived in Western NY and now NJ...our move to CA will be quite an adventure!

9 comments:

  1. Wow! Those trail runs look incredible, especially the XTERRA Malibu one!

    Good luck with the move and transition. NJ to CA is a long way!!

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  2. So jealous of your move! my fiance and I both lived in LA separately before moving to NYC, and we are dying to move back! You will love it!

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  3. oh my!!!! wow - huge cross country move! at least you get all new running routes :)

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  4. I've heard great things about the XTERRA race series!

    What a big move, congrats again to your husband on getting the new gig!

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  5. I read "Learning Patience," http://thehinzadventures.blogspot.com/ she just moved from the states to Trinidad!

    Jealous that you won't be running in snow anymore! I might have to stop reading your blog if it's all about the great weather and wonderful ocean views you have.

    Also, check out the Big Sur marathon (maybe half?) AMAZING scenery!

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  6. chesebro is a fun race, tough course at times but great post-race party and lots of free stuff!

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  7. That's awesome! What is he getting his PHD in? Oh I and I moved from FL to Boston. From Boston to FL and from FL to PA... I've done it several different ways. When I was going to buy furniture there, I sent everything by USPS in boxes and flew. I did that twice. Moving to and from Boston/FL. When I did have furniture, I sold everything in Craigslist and then sent what I wanted by mail and flew. With furniture, we hired movers and drove.

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  8. These all look like beautiful races!! I am think about doing the LA marathon...and possibly the rock n roll half. Carlsbad, Santa Barbara, and Big Sur are all beautiful but not necessarily PR courses! i hope you've been having a great week!

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