10 Year and Still Running!

I guess I should write once every two years or so?

Betty made me promise that I would update the blog - only because we (the running heffers) celebrated an anniversary this past weekend - 10 years of running the "End of Summer" run from La Jolla to PB.

I'm not going to recap the last 10 years of running this event because it appears that I did that two years ago in my last post, and anyone who is TRULY interested can absolutely go back and reread that epic post (not really epic).

The main reason to write this today is mostly to post some photos (even though most of them are already on Facebook - we could write tomes about how FB has destroyed blogging).

Same crew - Betty, Elsie, Mik and Walter before race...some things don't change

Another post-race breakfast at The High Dive

Another stack of breakfast beer glasses (no mimosas this time) 

Some things never change... We even went out on a Sunday night (much easier now that Turbo is about off to college in about 2 weeks, and DramaGirl is already going into her junior year at Boston University!)

A night out with the girls!

and Walter at The Casbah (no there's a place we hadn't been to in ... a long time!)

OK... maybe some things change. My hair is a little whiter, and I'm a little slower (my goal was just to finish the race in less than 40 minutes, which I did, but far off my 4 mile PR!), but the herd is still running and having fun!

Oh yeah...I forgot to post a race report

Saturday was the SuperRun 10K - The fifth anniversary of the running-heffer crew (Betty, Elsie, Mik, me). Five years ago, we ran together for the first time (well...not together exactly), and we haven't stopped since.

You just never now what a morning run will lead to...

One thing that five years of running led to on Saturday morning? A sub-hour 10K

Let me repeat that for myself - A SUB-EFFING-HOUR 10K.

Let's be honest here...it's really not something that I ever thought I would do

Does this look like someone who would run a sub-1-hour 10K? Yeah...I don't think so either.

Amazingly...opix still has photos on it's website from 2008! Oh, If only there were photos from 2007. On the other hand, maybe I don't wanna know...

Jump forward to Saturday 2012... It was just one of those days when everything worked.

• We got to the race early enough to get good parking on the riverbed, but not so early that we had to wait in the cold for too long.
• The race started at South Shores Park, where there are actual, real, flushing, toilets, and the line for the real-actual toilets was not ridiculously longer than the porta-potty line, so I got to use an ACTUAL, REAL, FLUSHING, GD, TOILET!
• We all were healthy - meaning no injuries for the herd.
• I got to make jokes with Irene's hubby about whether or not my underwear matched my shirt, iPod shuffle and iPhone case (all are lime green).... I'll let you guess about the rest....

The sun was out, but it was a little chilly, so we huddled before the race

With Irene and Laura, waiting for the start.

Before the race, Betty asked me what time I was shooting for. I shrugged... coming in under an hour in a 10K would be tough for me. It would mean running consecutive sub-10 minute miles for more than 6 miles, which isn't something I'd done before. We agreed that if I came in at 1:01, it'd be a pretty good race. I'd set my previous 10K PR last year (in 2011) at 1:01:55, so I figured knocking about a minute off of that would be pretty good. Turns out, I'd knock of almost two minutes.

Miles 1-3 - What was I THINKING?
I thought I'd start off taking it easy and work for negative splits...we'll THAT didn't happen. We took off, and there was a fair amount of weaving in and out, trying to get around slower people. For the most part, in this race, it's not too much of a problem since about 3/4 of the field are SDTC members, but I still weaved a bit (which is why my Garmin says I ran 6.31 miles and not 6.2). Also, I was running behind Walter and his friend Bob, trying to keep pace with them. Garmin buzzed at Mile 1, and I was pretty surprised to see 9:15 (I never notice seconds...).

"Uh, yeah," I thought to myself, "I won't be running negative splits I guess. Just better try to keep somewhere near this pace"

One of the best things about the SuperRun is that it is, if nothing else, scenic. Running around the bay, over a few overpasses which offers some really nice vistas of Mission Bay and Crown Point. The sun was out, but it wasn't hot. Beautiful.

The worst part of the run is through the Seaworld parking lot. I mean, let's face it. It's a parking lot. But in the beginning of the race (miles 1 and 2) it doesn't matter so much because you're running easy and entertained by my music, and the crowds, and the 2nd mile just flys by.

So, how was I doing on the way out?

Mile 1 - 9:15:87
Mile 2 - 9:15:28
Mile 3 - 9:01:57

Uh, yeah...I'm surprised too! Especially about that third mile where we run over a couple of overpasses - they're not big hills, I suspect I made up some time on the downhill side, as well as a pretty sweet downhill stretch into the Crown Point parking lot where we turned around and headed back.

Around the 2nd mile, I'd caught up with Walter (Bob had run on without him), and we ran a few feet away from each other for most of the rest of the race.

Mile 2 ish...I am nowhere near interested in smiling at the camera guy - I had a overpass to get over 

At the turnaround, I high-fived and smiled when I saw Irene and her hubs Michael (who yelled out "GO HEFFERS!" which he always does, and every, single, time. It makes me smile when I wonder what people think of that, especially when I fist-pump and cheer back "GO MICHAEL!!!!"

Miles 4-6 - GAH - The Seaworld Parking Lot
After the turnaround, I decided that it was way too warm to be wearing the long sleeve neon-lime-green shirt, so I took it off and tied it around my waist.

Much better.

Of course, after Mile 3, I also started to feel the effects of running about as fast as I could for three miles. Also, remember that hill I just ran down? Time to go back up it. All of those things added up to some heavy feeling legs and, of course, that desire to just walk a bit. But I was determined, so I powered up the hill and tried my best to either stay ahead of Walter or just behind him (yes, I am THAT competitive that I'll use my husband that way. He knows).

The good news was that after the 4th mile, the overpasses were behind me.

The bad news was that the last two miles were back through the Seaworld parking lot and up Seaworld Drive. Being no longer fresh and energetic and distracted by people and my music, the mile through the parking lot is just boring, and painful, and since I run with only one earbud in (so that I can hear the world around me), full of complaining people.

But things still worked!

• A track club runner runner told me I was looking good (thank you!), which gave me that extra boost!
• I could see Mik in the distance ahead of me. So that you know, at five miles I NEVER have Mik in my sights - although this is also a double edged sword because I find myself thinking, "oh, I wish I were up there with Mik because I WOULD BE THAT MUCH CLOSER TO BE DONE!"

So of course, these were my slowest miles, but still...I managed to keep it under 10 minutes.

I'm still not quite sure how I did this.

Mile 4 - 9:35:47
Mile 5 - 9:39:37
Mile 6 - 9:34:33
Mile (in this case) 6:31 - 2:44 (8:54 pace....thank you very much)

In other words, the exact opposite of negative splits. I'm beginning to think that negative splits are highly over-rated.

What I do know is that when I came around the last corner and could finally see the clock time, it was just turning from 58 minutes to 59. I knew I was about 30 seconds behind the clock time, and I was determined to not see it get to 1:00:xx before I crossed the finish, so I sprinted.

Final - 59:00 - 9:20 pace (official)

((YES))

I have to say; there have been several races in the past couple of years where I've set PRs, but still haven't been satisfied, thinking that I could have/should have run a smarter race, a better race, a different race.

Not this time. I am completely happy with how I ran the whole race.

Don't I look happy? I stole this from the SDTC FB site (thanks Doreen!), and Yes, that's Walter in the background...glowing in the green.

Time to celebrate! So off to The High Dive we went!

LOL...all of us trying to take photos of the bevvies 

More photos by Irene 

Sadness that there was no more coffee

Happy campers (this was right after I yelled at Walter to drink some juice or something because as we were driving to The High Dive, his calf muscle cramped up. He's not a big believer in a recovery beverage ((rolls eyes)). 

Michael wanted to make sure he knew his pace

Yep. Completely Satisfied (thanks Elsie for sending me this) 

Happy Anniversary to my Herd. Thanks for making the last five years so much fun. Here's to many, many, many more. I love you all!

Where R U? - Elsie's BDay Post

Yes...it could be a really bad pun related to my lack of blogging recently...

But really, it's what happens when 14 women go to San Francisco together...you spend a significant amount of time texting "Where R U?"

• Where R U now?
• Where will you be?
• Where have you been?
• Where are you going?

And variations on THAT theme.

So...I've been a bad blogger recently, but really, part of the reason for my non-bloggyness (other than being crazy busy with teaching and my other various projects) is because last weekend's Nike Womens Marathon weekend was about MORE than running a half-marathon.

It was Elsie's surprise birthday weekend in honor of her XX birthday (she'd KILL me if I told which one, so I won't...let's just say it was a "special" birthday...one that deserved some serious recognition!) Of course, she KNEW she was going to SF to run a half. She KNEW that Betty, Mik, Alberta and I were joining her. What she didn't know is that Momma, Wilma, Daisy, Clarence, Madge, Work friends (Cindy, Joan, & Sandy) were joining us.

Let me tell you...keeping THAT secret was no small feat...it was something that we started planning shortly after we "won"and got into the Nike Women's Lottery back in April.

So...my EPIC blog post about Elsie's BDay/Half-Marathon Weekend in the City, could also be titled...Herding heffers; Herding catsl It's really about the same thing...

By the way...this is going to be a long one (really? a long blog post from Alice? What a surprise!)

At Elsie's on our way to the Airport...as far as we know, she has NO IDEA what we have planned

Of course I was lucky enough to be selected for the optional morning feel up.  Woo Hoo! 

So...other than the morning pat-down, feel up, the rest of the flight was relatively uneventful. We even were on the same flight as Irene and her sister Donna and some other SDTC peeps. Once we landed in San Francisco, we hopped on the BART to get to our hotel...which was just two blocks away from the start of the race. We stayed at a place called Hotel Palomar. I highly recommend it.

As I was standing on the BART, I thought for sure Elsie could see that I was texting Cindy (who had flown up with her crew the night before), letting her know how far away we were, how long it would be until we got off the BART, but Elsie remained oblivious to it all.

I really thought we'd blown it for sure as we got off the BART and walked toward our hotel. As we rounded the corner, Mik and I could see Cindy and her crew walking toward us. Suddenly Mik looked at me and physically turned Elsie around.

• Mik: Alice...I need to go (quickly scanning the street, she spots the Virgin Records store sign and points) there.
• Alice: Really? Why?
• Mik: (looking at me for more help than THAT offerred) because...uh...because...Alex (her son) needs some, some
• Alice: Music stuff?
• Mik: Yeah...that's it...music stuff

I mean...seriously...how LAME is that. MUSIC STUFF? ((shakes head)). Betty should have been with us. She is a MUCH better liar off the top of her head. Mik and I really suck at it. No matter. I guess it worked because even though Elsie was looking at us like we were a little loopy, she didn't say anything and by the time we turned around, Cindy and crew had ducked back into the hotel lobby. When we walked in, I could see Cindy hiding behind a luggage cart. Surprise #1 was up.

• Cindy, Sandy & Joan: SURPRISE!!!!
• Elsie: OMG...What are YOU doing here?

Apparently they'd been lying to her for weeks about sick aunts, vacations to the desert, and doctor's appointments...LOL.

Of course, we went to the room for Mimosas! I mean it was almost 11am at that point. Then Mik, Betty, Elsie and I headed off to the Nike Women's Marathon Expo

Outside the expo on Union Square...can we talk about the weather in SF that day...85 degrees...it was gorgeous!

One word about the Nike Expo...and the whole Nike Women's Marathon experience...this is really an event that is organized around women (and...no offense dudes) organized by women. Everything is so darn organized (well...except the bag check...but more about that later), it's downright awewome. We walked in, picked up our bibs (timers were on the back of the bib...no extra shoe tag), and were out in several minutes.

Unlike other expos, there are only a handful of vendors...none of whom would be Nike business competitors, so unless you like Nike products, it's not the expo for you.

After that, we walked across the street to the Nike store.

The sign above NikeTown in Union Square...Team in Training is a MAJOR sponsor/partner.

Elsie's name on the wall

Betty pointing at her name

Mik's name was near the ground

And yours truly

By the way...it was REALLY WARM in San Francisco...so Elsie decided she needed some flipflops. Luckily the Nike Store had some...that were really squishy. 

Yes...we are 12. The sticker on all the shoes read "Squeeze Me" and because we are such good friends, we let Elsie walk around Union Square with one on her back.

Lunch at the top of the Hyatt...Donna, Irene, Me, Betty, Joan, Cindy, Sandy, Mik and Elsie

Outside the Hyatt was what I'd call a paparazzi wall...so we posed (Charlie's Angel style for Betty)

I don't even know what's going on here...

But wait...there were more surprises coming. One of the reason the Hotel Palomar was such an excellent hotel was the hosted wine-bar happy hour. Our next stop. 

It was really dark in the wine bar, so my pix stink...but they did give us our first opportunity to sing Happy Birthday to Elsie

Finally...we went back to our rooms to get ready for dinner...Elsie's birthday dinner. I was still expecting about 10 more people to show up...6 more heffers and a couple of Elsie's brothers who live in the bay area. As we were getting ready, the herd started texting Betty and I funny one-liners from THEIR flights up to San Francisco...and while were were trying really hard to NOT laugh at texts and NOT comment on them in front of Elsie, we would occassionally slip up and...

Betty modeling the bed blanket as a reasonable shawl 

STILL SHE DID NOT NOTICE (although, at this point, I think she must know SOMETHING IS BEING PLANNING)

Finally... Momma, Daisy, and Wilma were in the hotel and I couldn't take the texting and fibbing any longer. 

SURPRISE!!!! Daisy, Momma, and Wilma... just randomly geting off an elevator in the Hotel Palomar

SIGH! We had a few more surprises coming...but by then, I think she knew what was going on...the Herd had arrived in SF to celebrate.

We walked over to John's Grill (a landmark...) for dinner where we were joined by Clarence and Madge and Alberta (who ended up driving to LA and flew out of there). (WHEW). We had a lovely table on the second floor.

Meanwhile, I'd been trying to get in touch with Elsie's brothers, who I'd emailed earlier in the week, but all I had was a work number for one of them.  We waited awhile, had some cocktails and wine before dinner, and I was getting worried that they weren't showing up when suddenly the waiter started pouring champagne.

• Me: Who ordered the champagne? (I figured it was Elsie's work friends)
• Waiter: Someone downstairs

So Elsie, Betty and I walked downstairs to find out who had sent up enough champagne for 14 women.

Elsie with brothers Adam, Bill and nephew Nick...everyone now ...AWWWWW! 

Yeah...I started tearing up too.

Finally...at about 9:00, we ordered dinner. Thank GAWD the race wasn't the next day and we had a whole day to recover...sorta...

OK...I thought I'd get the whole weekend down in one post...but that really seems like a good place to end this one, doesn't it.

Don't worry. There was a half-marry. We all ran it. It's a good story too. I'll get to it eventually, but until then. 

Happy Birthday Elsie...to one of my greatest inspirations! And the smartest dumb blond I know. I love ya girl!

Ch Ch Ch Ch Changes...

School started this week for me (hence I was "off the grid" for the past few days). The first week of "back to work" for teachers includes LOTS of meetings (one of which I completely forgot to go to...sigh), sending emails, getting syllabi and copies ready for the first week. The actual TEACHING of classes doesn't start until Monday.

One of the things I noticed this week as I was talking to my colleagues is that, for the most part, we fell into two camps...those who felt that "they weren't ready" for school to start. Most of those people taught summer school, so they hadn't had much of a break. The rest were rested, and eager, and mostly said that they were ready to go back to teaching.

I certainly fell into the latter camp. For the first time, maybe ever, I felt like I had enough vacation. I'm rested and am ready to get back at it. It was a great summer. I got to run two half-marathons, I got to travel with friends and family. I certainly had a fair amount of "down time" and way more than enough wine!

It's kinda a nice feeling.

Going back to school is one way that I know that the summer is (or is almost) over. Another signal that my summer is coming to a close is my mid-August birthday, which I quietly celebrated about a week ago.

When I was younger, I made a pretty big deal out of Birthday Week. Heck for a while in my 20's, I considered the whole month of August my "Birthday Month!" (As in, "Hey bartender...It's BIRTHDAY MONTH...shouldn't this round of drinks be "on the house?" You might be surprised at how well this worked!)

Now that I'm (ahem) older, I am decidedly more low key about my birthday. Until this year, I kept my birthday private on Facebook. This year, I made it non-private because some people, when they learned it was my birthday a week after the fact, chastised me for keeping it private.

I'll be honest...the birthday wishes from FB were really nice.

So was my birthday (not a week...but a couple of days of celebrating). On Wednesday, I met up with Mik, Elsie, and Betty at Mik's house. It was the first time we'd been together since the Napa to Sonoma half. We got to hear about Elsie's adventures in Guatemala. (Her dad is a doctor and she participates in an annual trek to South America where her father and other surgeons provide health care services to the people there. She is a translator and always comes back with good stories...and this year, a good luck doll...for the dolls!)

Cute! No? Thanks Elsie!

Mik served the birthday cookies on her family birthday plate...how cool is THAT?

On my actual birthday (Friday). I went for a run at Lake BP. For the past year or so, the road around the lake had been closed about 2 miles in for repair. It's now open all the way, so I got a 5.5 mile run in.

Locals will recognize the target at Lake BP...the lap doesn't count unless you tag the sign!!!

That night Walter and I took our kids to the track so that they could learn the important life skill of betting on ponies.

I bet on the 8 horse in the 6th race in honor of Mona. Damn mule came in last...

Actually, I've had really good luck betting horses this season, but only in the first two races I see. The first time I went to the track, in the first two races, I correctly picked a quinella (where you bet on two horses that you think will come in first and second, but in no particular order). 

I had my friends thinking I was a betting goddess, but then I didn't bet on another winner for the rest of the day.

Then on my birthday, I correctly picked another quinella in the third race, which was the second race I saw...and then not another winner, or even close, for the rest of the day.

So, in the future, I think I will not bet on any races past the 3rd.

Turbo likes betting longshots thinking that if one of 'em hits, he'll win loads of money. Sadly, one of his first memories of being at the track is choosing on a 50:1 longshot to win, so he thinks that this is a common occurrence now.

DramaGirl made this gorgeous thing! Consumed at home later that evening (and for the next couple of days) It was a lime-berry pie that was super rich and yummy!

So...this year, I turned 49. Wow. One year away from 50. I'm in my 50th year of life.

I'm not sure what 50 is supposed to feel like. I've read that 50 is the new 40, whatever that means. I'll also be honest that the prospect of turning 50 has me a bit wigged out. I know that some will say that "age doesn't matter. It's how you feel that counts" and while a huge amount of that adage is certainly true, age does matter in how you feel.

Doesn't matter how you slice it. 50 sorta sounds...well you know...old.

40 has been a great decade so far. I earned a doctorate. I started running and have had some absolutely wonderful adventures with some great women as a result of "being a runner." I've raised two great kids out of toddler-hood and into teenage-hood. I continue to be happily married to a great man. I have nothing but good to say about my 40s.

But there's a nagging voice in the back of my head that wonders how long can this continue? Certainly, life is going to change. It always does. It, of course, already has. If someone had told me when I was 39 that I would earn a degree, change jobs, start running, change jobs AGAIN, run a marathon, many halves, and even do a few long bike rides, I'd have probably been a bit incredulous.

That really wasn't me then. It is me now. I've changed.

So while I shouldn't be wigged out about change, I am. The changes that I went through in my 40s were very positive, yes, but I know that it won't always be so. I know that my body will, eventually, not allow me to run any longer (I may be 90 when this happens, but it will happen). Even now some of "the herd" complain, suggest that not ALL of our adventures need to culminate in a 13.1 mile run. Maybe we could look for some 10Ks instead? Maybe we could go somewhere and not run at all? Maybe we could ride Segways (that was for Mik who is morally opposed to such things).

I know my body is changing, some of it for the good (I may be in the best shape of my life...definitely the best shape of my adult life...and by adult life, I mean the part of my life that started in my 30s. I dont' really consider my 20s adulthood...it was more an extended adolescence.)

But some other aspects of a changing/aging body?  Not. So. Good. This became clear to me when I went to the gym last night. I didn't actually go the gym to workout. I had signed Turbo up for a gym membership so that he could go there after school with a couple of his friends. It is definitely the least expensive after school program I've ever paid for. Anyway, as the membership director walked us around the gym and was (of course) trying to get me to purchase some personal training sessions (I also belong to the same gym, so personal training isn't an entirely outlandish idea), he also asked me what my training goals were. Whenever I'm asked this question, I always mention running and how any strength training that I do is generally focused on increasing endurance in long runs and/or riding.

He took one look at me and talked to me about improving my posture because "as we grow older, our shoulders tend to start hunching over..."

HUH? Grow older? Hunching over? WTF????

But I can look at myself in the mirror and I see the hunch. I see the difference between a young person's posture and mine.

GAH! GROWING OLD SUCKS!!!!...I'm just saying...and there. I've said it.

Sigh...

So, I will fight these NOT. SO. FRIGGIN' POSTIVE changes as best I can, but getting older really pisses me off.

The Quest Continues - Two Days in Sonoma (sorta a race report)

When we last left our heroines, they were enjoying the fruits of Napa Valley. On the third day of their journey, they would investigate the harvest from the valley of Sonoma...

But before THAT quest could begin, the girls had to visit the Napa to Sonoma race expo, after all, they were in town for the race.

It was one of the first times we'd parked in an open field...smack dab in the middle of some vineyards this was going to be unlike any other race

OK... I'll stop with the third person heroic journey language...it's tiresome, but I say Harry Potter this week, forgive me...

In any event, on the third day, we went to the Race Expo. A word about the expo...it was small, but it's also the only expo I've ever been to where there was a wine tasting!

There was also a big blue chair

The only other obstacle we encountered was locating Betty's bib... Betty purchased a bib from another runner and did an official race transfer. As a homage to her previous attempt to purchase a 3rd party bib, she registered for this race using the pseudonym "tiger." She had forgotten about it. Thus, it took us awhile to figure out why she wasn't listed as "registered." and none of us thought to look for her under "Tiger

Forget you ever saw her real name...

After the expo, we wandered over to Sonoma and browsed the downtown square where the race would end. We decided to buy some sandwiches and find a place to picnic.

DramaGirl found her perfect shop.

They have EVERYTHING here....just everything...

I'd been reading on my iPad (BTW...an absolute MUST when traveling in unfamiliar territory... The GPS maps and The Google kept us from getting lost on multiple occasions and decreased the number of U-Turns by about 80%...really! I did the calculations!)... looking for a place to have a picnic, so when Betty started reading road signs out loud (which she tends to do) and noted the historical marker for Buena Vista Winery, I shouted "Turn THERE!" and we did. We had no idea that we we to come upon the best winery we would visit.

The herd, with our driver and chief photographer

It's an official historical place, but we are all teachers, so we like that kind of stuff...wonder if I can write this trip off on my taxes as an "education work-related expense.... Hmmmmm

At Buena Vista, we met Millie...and immediately we all hit it off, so we decided to name Betty's D2 after her.

Meet the Millies!!!!

I could do a whole blog about Millie. let's just say that she was fabulous, was an excellent wine educator, and we bought a load of wine from her. If you are ever in Sonoma, visit the winery and ask for Millie. Tell her you know the heffers from San Diego and that you want to taste Pinot "the right way." I suspect she will remember us.

Three Pinots, three vintages, side by side...Aka "The Right Way" to taste. I likes the one on the left.

Oh yeah...and we had a picnic too.

So...two days, five winery tasting rooms...our haul?

About four cases...good thing Betty is driving back to SoCal

Later that day, after the effects of "The tasting, we decided to leave a car in Sonoma for after the race the next morning...quite cranky, probably one of the best ideas we had the whole time!

Where we left the car.

The next morning, we got up for the race (oh yeah...that's why we were there) It started at Carneros Winery. Millie and DramaGirl dropped us off at the start...

Walking up to the start...a little cool...overcast...in other words, perfect running weather.

So...who thinks that two days of wine tasting befo a half marathon is a good idea?

I was standing in the Porta Potty line when I took this photo

Mandatory pre-race photo

And we were off. The first half mile had one relatively serious hill, but it was mercifully short, and then the rest of the route was all, gentle, rolling hills. I got separated pretty early from Elsie and Betty, who were walk/running, and speedy Mik. I was so distracted by the scenery that the first five or six miles just rolled right on by, and I was surprised every time I would pass a mile marker...something that NEVER happens to me during a race, or ever for that matter.

Elsie and Betty at Mile 6

I mean, can you blame me for being distracted?

I felt like my pace was pretty even for the first seven miles or so.
Mile 1 - 11:11
Mile 2 - 10:32
Mile 3 - 10:51
Mile 4 - 10:57
Mile 5 - 11:06
Mile 6 - 11:25
Mile 7 - 10:20


Around Mile 8 we crossed the highway (the main road that connects Napa and Sonoma Valleys. We had been warned in the race material that we might have to stop along the way to let traffic cross). I could see a gap in the runners and figured that I might get stopped if I didn't speed up, so I did, but then something weird happened, and my right contact lens fogged up...so I stopped for a minute at the Mile 8 water station and tried to rinse it out with some water...it worked a little bit.

The last five miles were, again, through some more vineyards and a residential area as we headed into Sonoma.

At the Mile 10 water station, there was, of course, wine.

It was white. Yes I had some with a water chaser. Awesome!

I felt very good for the last two miles, and for me, that was the goal. I wanted to finish strong. No walking in the last three miles. I even had some kick at the end.

Mile 8 - 11:47
Mile 9 - 11:06
Mile 10 - 10:14
Mile 11 - 11:34
Mile 12 - 10:20
Mile 13 - 10:17
Finish - 9:25

Unofficial "Garmin" time was 2:22:40 Official time was 2:25:52 which is respectable, but I'm not quite sure where I lost three minutes.

Post race...a medal and something I can use!

Mik with her new wine stopper

Usually after a race, we hightail it out of the crowd, usually to get some food, but this post-race expo included...you guessed it, wine tasting! So we hung out for awhile to get some good use out of our race swag.

Elsie and Betty, enjoying more wine

Mik was bummed because she finished at 9:15 and they didn't start the tasting until 9:30...she did make up for lost time by getting a taste and then immediately standing in line for the next...

After tasting for a little while, we decided that some food would be a good thing, so we walked about two blocks to the car, and drove back over the hill to Napa, where we found a little diner...

Elsie's diner attire

Our race morning concluded with watching the Women's soccer team lose to Japan. Betty should have left the room more often because every time she did, Team USA scored.

Apparently our cheering squad was not enough

I gotta send out props to the race organizer, Destination Races...this was a great event, and I'm not just saying so because of the wine. It was really well organized, better than many of the large races I've done over the years. All of the people involved were helpful and genuinely seemed to want everyone to have a good time. There were plenty of aid stations, mostly water, bit one had Hammer Gels (which I'd never tried before, and which I liked). I will definitely do one of their events again.

Next time: Betty, Alice, Millie, and DramaGirl go to Momma's cabin at Lake Tahoe (in other words...it ain't over yet).

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad