I decided to make the Water to Wine Half my first one for a few reasons.
1) Scenery/Weather. Come on, if Im going to be running for over two hours, I want to be looking at something pretty! And believe me this one did not disappoint. The wineries were perfect, flowers blooming and birds were singing. I could not have picked a better weekend considering Sacramento was topped out at over 100 degree that day.
2) Downhill. The entire race was (more or less) downhill the entire time. I think this was more of a mental thing for me, I kept telling myself not to be nervous cause its downhill the entire time. And to tell you the truth the small uphill portions were a welcome sight for the knees.
3) Wine, duh! Alderbrook did an amazing job putting everything together. I knew I wasnt going to place but some of the top finishers got a bottle of wine. Me, Ill settle for the awesome wine glass and finisher medal (which doubles as a cork)!
The lowdown:
The race which was on a Sunday...side note: I loath races on Sunday- I would rather have a race on Saturday and spend all day Sunday recovering, but of course there goes your weekend. The weekend started on Saturday for us when we drove to Santa Rosa and stayed at the all so glorious Vagabond Inn. Of course it took me forever to pack, I was definitely was pulling a girl moment and tried so many different outfits before I decided on my Athleta....side note about Athleta, they are probably the most comfortable and cutest clothes for runners. I am forever in love with them, I also have a few Tri outfits from them too. Anyway, I decided on my Athleta purple tank, and pink running socks. Hello bright colors!
We checked in and both looked at eachother when the person behind us (clearly racing as well) was in short shorts and a fanny pack- not just any fanny pack, an 80s style runners fanny pack. We both did shifty eyes at eachother...kind of like "look at this fool!" Karmas a bitch though (more on fanny pack guy later)....
The next morning we woke up early and put on the Olympics. Of course, what was on? The Marathon. What gets me juiced for a race? Watching emaciated Kenyans run the marathon faster then my half! Ugh. So we hop in the car and click, click click, the car wont turn over. We both at the same time look up to the dome light (I wont name any names- ::cough:: Jeremy ::cough::) which someone left on from the night before. And of course Jeremy doesnt carry cables, to make matters worse its 5am and no one is up. EXCEPT fanny pack guy! I get his attention and pull the blonde in distress look, and we jump the car. INSERT FOOT IN MOUTH! I feel a little bad for making fun of his fanny pack now.
I ended up checking in early and stretching while everyone else arrived. It was one mass start which in hind sight sucked balls.
My very first half and it was starting finally! The count down begun and I was starting to feel super nervous....like run to the porta potty with nervous poops nervous. I turned on my iPod (yeah, Im too cheap to buy an iPhone) and the first song that started was the Verve, Bittersweet Symphony...it seemed fitting. I almost started to cry it was just the perfect moment. Disclaimer: Im not really a fan of The Verve!
I was convinced that I was going to finish in about 2:30, but forgot to take into the fact that the first twoish miles consisted of dodging everyone and their mom. We started to space out around the 5k mark, and I quickly was drawn to the scenery to pass the time. I found my stride and started to zone out. I hit the first Aid station and was looking forward to getting some water and some Gu's. Ahhh no more Gu's!! Since Im not a fast runner, I was towards the middle/back of the pack, and by the time I got there they were all gone. Let me preface this by saying the volunteers are awesome, but they really need to hand out the Gu's to everyone, cause Im pretty sure the people ahead of me were hoarding!
Before I knew it, I was at mile 6, 7, 8, 9 and the race was starting to wind up. I made one goal for myself this whole time. I just didnt want to walk. I knew I wasnt going to be anything near the top, but I just didnt want to stop. However, it did get a little depressing when the same people kept running ahead of me a couple 100 yards to just have me catch up to them when they started walking again. We did this game of cat and mouse the entire race! I wanted to walk so many times.
At mile 12, I started to put the burners on. I dont know how fast I ran that last mile, but my god I just wanted to finish! I passed everyone within sight. Actually I just wanted to finish before the mom in the tutu. I rounded the corner and saw my paparazzi, i.e. Jeremy and was ecstatic. I pushed towards the finish line and crossed in 2:40.
Overall, I am glad I did this one as my first half. I feel like I can tweak a few things for the next one, and improve my time for sure! The expo at the end looked amazing and free wine tasting, count me in. Unfortunately we couldnt stay because of a family get together in Walnut Creek. I will be signing up for the one next year! Oh and fanny pack guy finished 3rd overall, I think it was fanny pack.
1) Scenery/Weather. Come on, if Im going to be running for over two hours, I want to be looking at something pretty! And believe me this one did not disappoint. The wineries were perfect, flowers blooming and birds were singing. I could not have picked a better weekend considering Sacramento was topped out at over 100 degree that day.2) Downhill. The entire race was (more or less) downhill the entire time. I think this was more of a mental thing for me, I kept telling myself not to be nervous cause its downhill the entire time. And to tell you the truth the small uphill portions were a welcome sight for the knees.
The lowdown:
The race which was on a Sunday...side note: I loath races on Sunday- I would rather have a race on Saturday and spend all day Sunday recovering, but of course there goes your weekend. The weekend started on Saturday for us when we drove to Santa Rosa and stayed at the all so glorious Vagabond Inn. Of course it took me forever to pack, I was definitely was pulling a girl moment and tried so many different outfits before I decided on my Athleta....side note about Athleta, they are probably the most comfortable and cutest clothes for runners. I am forever in love with them, I also have a few Tri outfits from them too. Anyway, I decided on my Athleta purple tank, and pink running socks. Hello bright colors!
We checked in and both looked at eachother when the person behind us (clearly racing as well) was in short shorts and a fanny pack- not just any fanny pack, an 80s style runners fanny pack. We both did shifty eyes at eachother...kind of like "look at this fool!" Karmas a bitch though (more on fanny pack guy later)....
I ended up checking in early and stretching while everyone else arrived. It was one mass start which in hind sight sucked balls.
My very first half and it was starting finally! The count down begun and I was starting to feel super nervous....like run to the porta potty with nervous poops nervous. I turned on my iPod (yeah, Im too cheap to buy an iPhone) and the first song that started was the Verve, Bittersweet Symphony...it seemed fitting. I almost started to cry it was just the perfect moment. Disclaimer: Im not really a fan of The Verve!
At mile 12, I started to put the burners on. I dont know how fast I ran that last mile, but my god I just wanted to finish! I passed everyone within sight. Actually I just wanted to finish before the mom in the tutu. I rounded the corner and saw my paparazzi, i.e. Jeremy and was ecstatic. I pushed towards the finish line and crossed in 2:40.
Overall, I am glad I did this one as my first half. I feel like I can tweak a few things for the next one, and improve my time for sure! The expo at the end looked amazing and free wine tasting, count me in. Unfortunately we couldnt stay because of a family get together in Walnut Creek. I will be signing up for the one next year! Oh and fanny pack guy finished 3rd overall, I think it was fanny pack.
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