4 Reasons You Should Reward Yourself With a Destination Race

Unless you live in a warm, tropical climate, you've probably grown tired of winter. Although our winter this year hasn't been bad, the gray and browns are wearing on my senses. I continue to run outside, knowing that spring will come and I'll be rewarded with that pop of color that comes with the change of seasons.

I'm not a patient person and so I like to do some traveling in the spring. I like to tie in a race with my trips if I can. It's fun to run in a new place! I look at it as my reward for training through the toughest time of year to run.

When I post pictures of my winter runs, I try really hard to make them look appealing. In reality, it's not very pretty where I live and run. Most of the time when I'm running, I'm lost in my head. But sometimes when the run is tough, I look around and think--ugh! Why do I live here? Besides the gray, cold weather, my neighborhood is like an island surrounded by 4 heavily traveled roads. The trash along these roads is epic. While I spend a lot of time running along these roads, I rarely take pictures there unless I find something really interesting. I much prefer to focus on what beauty I can find along the way!

Obviously, the best reason to run a destination race is the chance to run in a beautiful place! It's also a good excuse for a vacation. When I ran Big Sur, my husband and I made a "not a second honeymoon"--his words, not mine-- out of it and traveled to Yosemite and San Francisco.

Still one of my favorite pictures from this trip. And yes, that is the actual race route behind me.

Destination races can be a fun way to meet other runners you've connected with through social media. I don't think I've been to a far away race without meeting up with at least one runner I've gotten to know through my blog.

The #holottafun girls from our Panama City Beach Half Marathon Weekend this past December

Training in an ugly place takes on a new meaning when you're preparing for a destination race. The race is the reward for putting in the time on the road. Even if the race doesn't go well, hey, you still got to run somewhere beautiful!

Or you can reward yourself with a stylish ride to and from the race!
This was at the Florida Beach Halfathon in 2014.
Not a great race for me but I'd do it again.

Your family might want to come with you. My family has long since tired of my races. But I bet if I ran in Hawaii or somewhere equally as beautiful, they'd want to come with!

What destination races have you run? Do you have any must run races on your list?

I'm linking this post with Marcia, Erika, and Patti for Tuesdays on the Run; Debbie, Susie, Lora, and Rachel for Coaches' Corner, and Annemarie, Nicole, Michelle, and Jen for Wild Workout Wednesday. Good Luck everyone!

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