What a way to run a marathon! Visit Napa valley for 3 days and then run a full marathon!!! Not exactly the making for a personal best, but definitely the making for a personal favorite vacation. Running, wine, perfect weather, and the perfect person to spend it with. We spent our days wine tasting at gorgeous wineries picking up over 10 bottles along the way, getting tours and enjoying cheeses (well, Dustin did), and deli food. We had a driver on one day and had some great tips from a guy named Local Wally. Our favorites were Miner Family, Cakebread, Hafagen and Black Stallion.
We then headed to Santa Rosa where we anticipated a decent (sub 4) marathon time. Dustin and I always run fulls together and started off strong but were disappointed by the terrain. Around mile 4 the road shifted to an asphalt trail that was sloped for about 6 miles. One leg had to run at a tilt while the other was on higher ground. It was an out and back type of course so that type of terrain made up for about 12 miles of course and killed our knees and hips. Around mile 22, we both were hurting pretty bad. We lessened our pace significantly and even had to walk a bit. Never before have I walked in a race so I was disappointed about that but we decided as a team to be happy about the race because we physically were spent. We finished together and did 4:13:33, my 5th marathon and second to worst time. It was so awesome that Aunt Jen and baby Dallas drove from San Jose to see us finish! How cool was that!?!? Dallas was all about the finisher celebration and then I go to eat lunch with them! That evening Callie and David met us from outside Sacramento for an early dinner, too! It was so wonderful to see all these friendly faces out in Cali! So even though the race wasn't the best, it's all about the experience, right?
