Choosing states to run in?

A while back Steve Q. asked a question concerning which states were harder to find marathons in. It's an interesting question as he did identify one of them in Delaware, although there are 3 marathons listed for Delaware from MarathonGuide.com

April 25, 2009 - Triple Crown Trail Marathon - Newark
May 17, 2009 - Delaware Marathon - Wilmington
September 6, 2009 - Trail Dawgs Stumpy's Marathon - Newark

Another problematic state appears to be - Rhode Island with 2 marathons

May 3, 2009 - Cox Sports Cox Sports Providence Marathon - Providence
October 18, 2009 - Amica Insurance Breakers Marathon - Newport

And another is Alabama with 3 marathons but the good news is that I like to run trail marathons and/or 50k's more than road marathons and many states have these as well which adds a few more possibilities. That said, I think that my real problem isn't figuring out which marathon to run but simply resolving the dates as you coordinate around work, life and the event itself and then you have the financial side of it which has to be worked into the formula.

Long term I am not sure how I will get through all of the states but I am pretty sure to make it achievable I will need to run one on Saturday and then another on Sunday. So as I look outward, I will be looking for that combo in adjacent states. Now this does come with a minor issue, and that is can I ran marathons on back to back days? I think I can, especially if one of the two is off road. When I did the marathons last summer on opposite weekends, I came through mostly ok on the physical side and I think it had a lot to do with the fact that one was on fireroads and single track and the other gravel and asphalt plus I didn't push myself too hard so I think with a little common sense it will be ok. Right now I don't see doing that in 09 as I have other priorities but I think if I can do the planning this year for future back to backs, then maybe I will do my first set in 2010. I think what I will start doing is posting the potential events for areas of the country that I have been looking at as it's kind of an interesting process to try and pick off 3 or 4 states in a couple of weekends.

So my focus for 2009 will continue to be on 3 things:

1. Weight
2. 4 more states
3. A 50 mile event

The weight hopefully will start resolving itself as I continue to get into a consistent habit of 4 to 5 days of running a week which is helped by daylight and sunshine. All things get easier for me as spring begins and the snow melts.

As to 4 states for the year, 1 is done, 1 is in the queue which leaves 2 more. Not sure if the timing and finances will align as the 50 may need to trump the extra states so my current plan is to wait and see how things work out and if I have to chose between the 50 and 2 states, I will make the decision when I need to.

Speaking of that, the last thing, is the 50, it will probably be either Superior and/or Surf the Murph with a slight chance of Glacial. I am still not 100% committed to doing my first 50 but I am about 95% of the way there, you see, I have doubts whether I can do it, mostly because of cutoffs and a bit because of fear, you know, the fact that it's just 19 more miles beyond a 50k.

So as I move towards Chippewa, I am pretty much going to just wait and see how things come together and then I will go from there.