Okay, it's been awhile so figured time for an update.
Amazing but true: I've kept up the one-per-month pace in my quest to run a minimum of 10K in all 50 states.
Just yesterday (Thursday, June 16), it was Delaware. In May, it was Nevada. In April, Massachusetts. The last day of March found me in unseasonably mild rural Rhode Island, while February brought me to Central City, Nebraska, which I discovered is anything but central.
So I'm now up to a total of 24, and running out of close-by states, which means it'll be more challenging to keep the once-a-month pace going.
The only states I have within driving distance are Maine and, sort of, New Jersey.
The remainder will involve at least some kind of trip away from home base to accomplish. Some can be done in one day if I find a cheap air fare.
But right now, I don't have any firm plans until when I go out to California November. That's when I might try to get either Oregon or Washington. Or both. :)
A planned visit to Sioux City, Iowa next February will give me a chance to bag that state and maybe a couple of others in the upper Midwest: South Dakota and Minnesota.
Among states in the "day-trip" category are a stretch in the deep south: South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. With JetBlue and Southwest out of Boston, they're all doable.
Same thing with a few in the Midwest: Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
Well, if I can somehow keep up a pace of one state per month, that means I'll be finished by...July 2018!
That's not allowing for recovery from knee surgery I'm sure I'll need at some point.
And as for Delaware: Dover is hands-down the flattest place I've ever run in. For the entire route, the biggest gains (or losse) in altitude were when I hopped on and off a curb!
I'll give the place high marks for sidewalks, though. Of the entire 6.6-mile course, which included some stretches of road far out in the suburbs, only one short section was without some kind of pedestrian way.
Lots of bike paths as well. Wish my own area of Manchester, N.H. and its surrounding suburbs could enjoy amenities like this.
In other news:
• Summited Mount Moosilauke with a small party on Saturday, June 11. Didn't add to my total of 4,000-footers, which still stands at 31. Still, it was enough to get me back on the trail.
A busy calendar, alas, means there aren't too many opportunities in the near future to conquer any more of the 48 peaks on the list.
A new wrinkle is our youngest dog, Inca. She likes to get out and did well on Mount Moosilauke, save for not appreciating rain on the way down.
For her, Mount Moosilauke was #6, so it's time to get moving if she's going to have a chance to complete the whole roster.
Alas, our older dog, Zahnna, is now too infirm to haul herself up (and down) a White Mountain summit. As a 13-year-old German Shepherd, she now has trouble with household stairs, so her total of peaks will have to stand at 31—the same as me.
• Haven't yet run in any official road races this year. Again, mostly a function of time and organization. I have these fantasies of getting up early on the weekends and hauling myself out to New Hampshire communities I've yet to run in. Ha!
But will make it a priority to make some progress in this area. Same with longer bike rides.
