Thursday, November 13, 2014

8 Places I Want To Run...and Why (aka the 10 "Day" YOU Challenge - "day" 8)


I skipped last week's 10 "Day" YOU Challenge with all the excitement and preparation for the half so I decided to do that post today. I already did my 10 favorites and my 9 secrets. So today is all about my 8 places. I wanted to talk about the top 8 places that I want to run...and why.

So my 8 places are not necessarily marathon specific. They are just places that I want to run because of either the scenery or the significance.

1. Santorini, Greece
I fell in love with Santorini, Greece when I watched the "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" movie (I read the book before I saw the movie but you can't describe the beauty of this city in words). I want to visit (and run in) Santorini when I travel to Greece to do the Athens Marathon (which will hopefully be in 2016). I just might have to visit Santorini first, because heaven only knows how my body is going to feel after running 26.2 miles...

2. Washington, D.C. (in the Spring when all the Cherry Blossoms are in full bloom)
I have ALWAYS wanted to see the cherry blossoms in D.C. It's so beautiful in pictures and in the movies I can only imagine that it is equally (or more) beautiful in real life. My only concern with running along a path canopied by cherry blossoms is that there might be bugs (has anyone ever had issues with bugs running along a cherry blossom path?)

3. Big Sur, California (for the Big Sur International Marathon)
The Big Sur marathon is on my Bucket List and it is one of the "must do" marathons in the US (I've heard it's considered to be one of the top 10 US marathons to run). The course is beautiful with a run along the west coast and views of the Pacific. There are some hills so I will definitely need to train for that. Not sure when I'm going to be able to check it off my list, but I definitely want to run Big Sur one day.

4. Loudoun County, Virginia (for the Virginia Wine Country 1/2)

Ok...there's wine involved....do I really need to say anything more?? I've never been to a vineyard or a winery before and I've always wanted to do that. I figure I can easily combine my love for both running and wine (which I don't get to enjoy enough of while training) in a fabulous vacation weekend. The half marathon in Virginia takes place at the end of May (which also makes it a perfect birthday trip).

5. Dubai
Dubai is one of those "once-in-a-lifetime" destinations for me. There happens to be a marathon there in January, but I don't necessarily need to travel to Dubai for that. I pretty much want to do the whole tourist thing and explore all the great architecture and do a bunch of site seeing etc. and fit in running in/around the many scenic areas.

6. Sydney, Australia
Australia is such an intriguing place and I would love to go there. It would be great to run on the Sydney Habour Bridge one day. I would love to do the typical touristy stuff in Australia as well.... visit the Opera House and the Royal Botanic Gardens etc.

7. Rio de Janerio, Brazil
I want to go to Rio to go to the Christ the Redeemer statue. That's the primary reason for wanting to go. I'm sure there are other great things to do and places to go (I haven't really looked into them though). I probably won't run up the path (since it's usually crowded and looks pretty steep). However, I would like to run along the coast, with the Christ the Redeemer statue watching over me.

8. Cairo, Egypt
Confession: I've been to Egypt before. It's because I've been why I want to go back. Cairo was beautiful when I went (prior to recent turmoil obviously), and I was able to crawl into one of the smaller Pyramids! As souvenirs from my trip I have sand from the Sahara desert and my birth calendar on papyrus. If I get the chance to go back I think running along the Nile River would be fantastic!

There you have it! My 8 places :)

Have you been to (run in) any of my top 8 places? How was your trip?

What are your top 8 places to visit?

2 comments:

  1. Greece and DC are at the top of my to-run list too. How amazing would it be to run in Greece :)

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    1. I can't wait to run there! I've been saving up for the Athens marathon and the Greece trip since I started running last year. I want to make sure I can cover all the "must-do" and "must-see" things. Santorini is at the top of that list :)

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