There are a lot of things that can be hard about living in the DMV (aka D.C. and its close Maryland and Virginia suburbs): the insane traffic. The insane cost of real estate (see the many million-dollar teardowns). The insane egos one naturally runs into in a city with this much politics.
But there is also so much to love, which is why this place has had my heart and been my home most of my adult life: FREE MUSEUMS! Pretty radical amounds of green space for a big city. The ability to hear a dozen or more languages at the playground since we are in one of the most linguistically diverse regions. And, some of the most bike/walk/run friendly spaces, with our ample trail network meaning we regularly pop up on top cities for runners.
And it's those great trails that have can help me with one of my best running motivation tips: the mini-milestone.
You know that feeling you get when you cross a finish line? That gorgeous natural high of I did it? We all love those, and it's often why runners will surprise themselves with a fast finish on race day: you've got that celebratory line looming.
But what about that average February Tuesday? When it's been gray all week? And your threenager woke you up to ask for "one more Cocomelon" at 4 a.m.? And your weatherman promised a warm up but you're greeted by wind instead?
Yeah. Then it is a bit harder to pull yourself up off the couch.
Enter the mini-milestone: last week, I posted about setting up smaller goals while half marathon training, like running for a charity 5K my awesome friend Prof. I set up, or running the Cherry Blossom 10-miler.
And those are cool smaller finish lines to cross. But I am talking even more everyday, I'm-not-really-feeling-this-but-I-know-I'll-be-happier-when-done finish lines.
The cold, gray February Tuesday sort of finish line.
For me, that's where the DMV trail awesomeness kicks in: I go to a place where I can LITERALLY cross a line -- a state one, in this case: from Virginia into D.C., which can be as short as a 2 miles and change, depending on which particular streets I take.
LOOK AT ME, CROSSING STATE LINES, Tiny Overlord and all!
I mean, it's impossible not to feel just a little bit badass unicorn when you're pushing 40 pounds of kid plus 38 pounds of jogging stroller and you're like "Oh hey, don't mind me, I ran to another state!"
Now, granted -- this state lines thing is a very DMV-specific way of making a mini milestone (though, if you live here, I TOTALLY reccommend it. Custis Trail, C&O trail, Capital Crescent Trail and so many more can let you do this). But I am sure, wherever you run, there are some fun finish lines to cross.
Why go as a big as state? I love when I'm traveling and I can take a run where I cross the signs marking new neighborhoods or towns -- it gives you that same "oh many I literally ran out of there" groovy feel as a state line. It can be as simple as what I do when running loops at my parental homestead: make the finish line a road sign one day, then push to the next one the day after.
