After the Indianapolis race, I took some time off. Ok, a LOT of time off. I fell into my winter doldrums from November 2009 - half of February 2010 (as a result, I grew the gnarliest beard for this race. I'm quite fond of this race photo!) It was a beautiful furlough from running though not so great for my mental health. On a whim, we decided to get out of the cold and make a trip back to Napa, CA. I had surprised my wife with a 30th birthday trip here seven months prior and I knew some California sun would do us good… alright, coincidentally, their marathon happened to be March 7th. Why not run it?!
We arrived at the Harvest Inn in St. Helena, CA three days before the race. I could write an entire blog on the amazing food and wine the area has to offer, but I’ll keep it brief. We revisited out favorite organic winery/sustainable farming property, Frog’s Leap (http://www.frogsleap.com/) and discovered a couple of incredible restaurants for the omnivore and vegetarian/vegan, Bottega (www.botteganapavalley.com) and Ubuntu (http://www.ubuntunapa.com/), respectively. With all this food and wine, it was easy to forget that I had an ill-prepared-for marathon to run in a few days!
I had signed up for the race with three weeks to train for it. I had gone from running zero miles per week to 40 miles per week for those three weeks. My plan was to just enjoy the beauty of that run that meandered through the Napa Valley, starting at the north end in Calistoga and winding its way south through 26.2 miles of vineyards, farm houses and tranquil beauty along the Silverado Trail, ending in downtown Napa.
My friends thought I was nuts - runner and non-runner friends alike. I had a runner friend claim she would shave her head if I did the race in under three hours like I thought I probably could. The race started as the sun rose over the hills, burning off the morning fog that lay in the valley. It couldn’t get more beautiful than this! I started out with a group of a dozen or so runners keeping pace at about 7 minute miles. After two miles, I picked up the pace and met a runner, Ed, at mile seven. Ed made for great conversation as we ran through the idyllic landscape, past the occasional vigneron offering samples of his wine to the runners.
It became pretty clear to me around mile 23 that I was having a pretty good race for having done the CliffsNotes version of marathon training. I parted ways with Ed at mile 24 and ran in to finish in 2:56, 28th place overall. That familiar feeling of pride I had when I finished the Boston Marathon filled my senses once again. I never anticipated that I could run a PR in the shape I was in but I always enjoy a challenge. My wife had her own accomplishments to celebrate, as she had run a 5k during my marathon which resulted in her own PR. We were both feeling amazingly great when I crossed the finish line with her there, as always, to scream me through the last few steps.
We were flying home later that evening but not before a celebratory coffee and pastry at the fabulous Bouchon Bakery (http://www.bouchonbakery.com/) and a picnic lunch in a deserted vineyard behind our inn in the warm California sun. It was there we decided that our dream would be to get married in a small ceremony somewhere in the Napa Valley. Maybe it was still the high from the runs that brought that idea to our minds, but in any event, that's exactly what we did, just seven months later, at the Churchill Manor Bed & Breakfast (http://www.churchillmanor.com/), in a beautifully simple ceremony surrounded by our immediate families. Needless to say, for a number of reasons Napa will always be special to us.
I must mention, however, that I’m still waiting for my friend to pay up and shave her head for me!
We arrived at the Harvest Inn in St. Helena, CA three days before the race. I could write an entire blog on the amazing food and wine the area has to offer, but I’ll keep it brief. We revisited out favorite organic winery/sustainable farming property, Frog’s Leap (http://www.frogsleap.com/) and discovered a couple of incredible restaurants for the omnivore and vegetarian/vegan, Bottega (www.botteganapavalley.com) and Ubuntu (http://www.ubuntunapa.com/), respectively. With all this food and wine, it was easy to forget that I had an ill-prepared-for marathon to run in a few days!
I had signed up for the race with three weeks to train for it. I had gone from running zero miles per week to 40 miles per week for those three weeks. My plan was to just enjoy the beauty of that run that meandered through the Napa Valley, starting at the north end in Calistoga and winding its way south through 26.2 miles of vineyards, farm houses and tranquil beauty along the Silverado Trail, ending in downtown Napa.
My friends thought I was nuts - runner and non-runner friends alike. I had a runner friend claim she would shave her head if I did the race in under three hours like I thought I probably could. The race started as the sun rose over the hills, burning off the morning fog that lay in the valley. It couldn’t get more beautiful than this! I started out with a group of a dozen or so runners keeping pace at about 7 minute miles. After two miles, I picked up the pace and met a runner, Ed, at mile seven. Ed made for great conversation as we ran through the idyllic landscape, past the occasional vigneron offering samples of his wine to the runners.
It became pretty clear to me around mile 23 that I was having a pretty good race for having done the CliffsNotes version of marathon training. I parted ways with Ed at mile 24 and ran in to finish in 2:56, 28th place overall. That familiar feeling of pride I had when I finished the Boston Marathon filled my senses once again. I never anticipated that I could run a PR in the shape I was in but I always enjoy a challenge. My wife had her own accomplishments to celebrate, as she had run a 5k during my marathon which resulted in her own PR. We were both feeling amazingly great when I crossed the finish line with her there, as always, to scream me through the last few steps.
We were flying home later that evening but not before a celebratory coffee and pastry at the fabulous Bouchon Bakery (http://www.bouchonbakery.com/) and a picnic lunch in a deserted vineyard behind our inn in the warm California sun. It was there we decided that our dream would be to get married in a small ceremony somewhere in the Napa Valley. Maybe it was still the high from the runs that brought that idea to our minds, but in any event, that's exactly what we did, just seven months later, at the Churchill Manor Bed & Breakfast (http://www.churchillmanor.com/), in a beautifully simple ceremony surrounded by our immediate families. Needless to say, for a number of reasons Napa will always be special to us.
I must mention, however, that I’m still waiting for my friend to pay up and shave her head for me!
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