NAPA - Check!

First 'A' race of the year.....done!

We went up Saturday and met up with the other local runners and their support staff (hubbies), had a small snack at the hotel (we NEED the extra calories!) and headed for a great italian dinner of carbo-loading-mania! Probably against all protocol (but, geez, we were in NAPA!) we shared a bottle of wine. The strange part of that sentence would be that 5 of us shared that bottle... and that we only shared ONE! The sacrifices runners must make before a race. sigh.

Back to the hotel for dessert - did I mention that we NEED the extra calories?!?

Spent the rest of the evening checking out our goodie bags, and our snazzy new run bags, and stressing about what to wear and what to pack and where to pack it. Questioning the decision to do this at all..... Okay, I did all that. Jeff watched TV. He gets the 'relax' part of this much better than I do!

5:15 AM in the lobby to meet the bus. IT'S STILL DARK! and rainy...and cold....and windy. We cut holes in our big trash bags, and make a run for the bus. Jeff and the harem, that is. The support hubbies are still asleep! We take the bus to Calistoga. Gotta say, heard many runners on that bus questioning the 45 minute drive.....how could we possibly be running back this far? Aren't we there, yet? The windshield wipers were flying, water was spraying up from the puddles on the road, wind was streaming in the window vents. hmmmm. Is there a bus marathon?

Off the bus, on with the hefty bags. We look like a moving mass of recyclables!! Drop off our run bags, hit the porta-potties, and we're off! The sky is lighter, but the rain is heavier. My garmin isn't working, drat. In the mass start, I lose the other girls....and Jeff's up in the front of the pack - as expected!

People were so friendly - everybody was chatting and comparing notes as we ran, and I met a lot of neat runners! At mile 5 I stopped to get my garmin satelites aligned, and I was finally running with a pace in mind and on my wrist! I knew at that point I was close to holding a 9 minute mile pace, and that was better than I had hoped for. I'm starting to think that I can do this! 21 more miles.....

Mile 12, I stop to swap out my food bottles and visit the porta-potty (yuk!) and was informed by the medic that I was swaying. I responded, in a very mature fashion, that I 'was not!' He amended it to 'listing a bit' and I explained, very politely I thought, that what he was observing is my running style. He let me go, and I vowed not to stop near a medic again! Listing. Hmph.

Mile 13.1 - I'm at 1:57!! I might be able to do this!!

Mile 16 - what the h#$% was I thinking? No human being could do this. And this isn't the downhill course that I was promised! Who can I blame - now?!?

Mile 18 - Okay, maybe I can finish this.....but these are still UPhills!

Mile 22 - cowbells, drums, pots/pans, lots of clapping, horns, umbrellas everywhere - cheerleaders galore! I'm feeling like a RUNNER!

Mile 25 - I can do this!! However, message to the guy who was yelling that it was all in my head now.....this was mental....my body's part was done: My feet, ankles, knees, hams, quads & hips disagree. They were still very much in play!!

It was hard....certainly painful, and there were times I felt the piano on my back (thanks, Patti!). But it was also lots of fun. I really enjoyed passing people (lots!!) and being passed spurred me on. The wet weather kept me cool, but made my feet miserable, and I think I'm going to lose toenails. Oh, well.

Big bummer......wore the jacket for the whole race, and never got to show off my new pink running top. All that indecision for nothing. dang.

Bottom line, I crossed the finish line at 3:59:45 - under four hours, and I am now a BOSTON QUALIFIER! Should I choose to buy the plane ticket, I can race in Boston in 2010. Probably not, but I can if I want to....and that's a thrill!

The funniest part is that I wasn't even up for wine tasting on the way home....made one token stop, at a winery where parking was close to the tasting room (we weren't walking ANYWHERE!) tasted a few good wines, and went home. Very much a first for us, and a loss for the Napa economy. The Nollette Stimulus package didn't come through!

I'm sitting here now trying to figure out how to minimize trips anywhere today, because thos front stteps of mine are killer. Up, not so bad. Down, well, that would be comical if it was somebody ELSE doing it!! I need one of those handicapped chairrail lifts......Mother's Day!!

I'm also wondering how long I get to take off from training......how long can I milk this?!? At least a few days, I would think. I'm participating in a bike clinic next weekend, hope I can walk!!

I think it's time for a nap.......

....and Mom, this one's yours. Love you!