24 Days Until the Mammoth Half Marathon

I couldn't be more excited for a race than I am for the upcoming Mammoth Half Marathon. I may even be more excited for this half than I was for my first full marathon..

Mammoth has always been my favorite place. It's where we vacationed when I was a child and the tradition of going there almost yearly has continued into adulthood. We always go during the summer so we can hike, fish, take pictures and really enjoy the outdoors. 

This year we will be horse back riding, fishing, picture taking and doing a lot of running. It is going to be amazing.

This race will also be the second half of The Challenge, a two race challenge including Mammoth and the San Diego Half Marathon we completed in March. It also brings a close to the first half of my racing goal for this year, which has me started thinking about my running goals for next year..

It may have been suggested to me to not set such high expectations/goals for myself. Instead of doing a 30 day challenge I should cut it in half, the goal being to not put as much pressure on myself or to be as disappointed if I don't complete the goal.

That same night I told Patrick that I wanted to complete 100 half marathons in my running lifetime. He asked me one question- how many have you done so far? 14. He made one suggestion- cut your goal in half.

So I did and decided that I would like to complete a total of 50 half and full marathons in my running lifetime. This only includes organized races that I receive a medal for, it will not include the "dopey challenge" or the 26 Angel Run. I don't know why I decided to exclude these, but I did, so there's that.. 

I have started thinking about my goals for next year, but more importantly I've started thinking about which races I would like to participate in. There are a lot of good ones to do and a lot of new ones I would like to try. I can't afford or commit to a certain number, but I can dream of new and repeat races (like the San Diego Safari Park and the LA Marathon to name a couple). 

I'm so glad that I follow the Mammoth Half Marathon on facebook so that I could enjoy the following pictures. They were too pretty to not share and give an idea as to why I am so excited to be running in this race in June: 

I cannot wait to take my own pictures on the course! Rachel and I have already talked about it and due to the elevation we plan on taking this course very slow. Well, the elevation and the fact that I'm probably going to be stopping so that I can take a million and a half pictures along the way..