Napa to Sonoma Wine Country Half Marathon

Alright guys, I know that I've been really bad about posting lately, but the end of the summer/start of the school year has been extraordinarily busy, and, unfortunately, something had to fall by the wayside.  Now I know that I ran this race back in July, but hopefully you'll all agree with me that the post and pictures are better late than never.

Michael came with me to the Bay Area (another post on our fun times in San Francisco and Wine Country to come soon) and so he was able to drop me off at the start line and then head to the finish area to wait for me to come across the finish line.

One of the fun wine bottle inflatables at the start line of the Napa to Sonoma Wine Country Half Marathon, which started right next to the beautiful Domaine Carneros Winery.

All ready to start the race, complete with my "Will Run for Wine" headband that Tim and Leila got me last year.  I was really excited for this race...I wasn't running to hit a particular time, I was simply running to enjoy the beautiful scenery, and of course to get some great wine at the end.  The gun went off and away we went.

This is some of the gorgeous scenery we got to see along the course! (I think this is somewhere around mile 5)  I thought the barn nestled in the vineyards was just wonderful.  The course was definitely hilly, but not as bad as others I had run previously, so I was able to look around and really enjoy the view.

This was another fantastic shot (closer to mile 8 or 9 I think) with the cute little windmill in the background.  Just had to take a picture as I ran by.

This was at mile 11...not only did they have a water station, but they also had a wine station!  Now I know what some of you are thinking, "Oh my gosh, gross, how can she drink wine while she's running?!"  And I would come back with a fast and rapid, "How could I NOT drink wine while on a wine country run?!?!?!"  As I said before, I wasn't running this race for time, I was running it for the enjoyment of the experience, and I couldn't think of a better way to enjoy a run through the gorgeous Napa Valley wine country than by partaking in the extra special "wine stop" toward the end of the race!

Michael was able to get me crossing the finish line (that's me in the white shirt on the right hand side) and I finished in 2:05:35...not a PR, but that's not what I was going for.  And for not really caring about my time and simply running to enjoy the course, it wasn't a bad time at all in my opinion.

This is right after I crossed the finish line...sweaty and tired.  I promise, I was happier than I actually look.

I was able to look a little more happy the second time around.  Once Michael and I found each other after I had crossed the finish line, we grabbed our official tasting glasses that I got for running the race...

...and we proceeded to get our drink on!

And another one with Michael's camera for good measure.

There were at least 20 wineries from both Napa and Sonoma counties and they were all doling out as many wine tastings as you could take...and we took PLENTY!!!  Once I had a bit of wine in me, we found the finisher's photo background and I got a little creative/silly.

Oh, and did I mention that not only did I order an extra wine glass just to have, but I found one on a table that someone had abandoned, so it therefore became MY wineglass. :)

Heck yes I'm happy about all of my goodies!  And have I mentioned how cool the finisher's medal was?!?!?!  Not only was it a wine bottle stopper, but it had a corkscrew attachment...BEST.FINISHER'S.MEDAL.EVER!

Each runner got a pretty cool finisher's shirt as well...here's the front (the little text bubble is hard to read, but it says "Wine, you'll feel better")...

...and the back, which has the same logo as the finisher's medal...

And Michael even got me an extra shirt after the race to wear around wine tasting so that I didn't have to walk around in my sweaty running shirt, getting cold.  Isn't he sweet?!

We stayed around tasting for a while...okay, let's face it, we shut the place down!  By the time we left, many of the tasting stands had shut down because they ran out of wine (may or may not have had to do with me) and then went back to our hotel for a much needed nap/pass out session!  Such a fun race with an even more fun after party...I would totally recommend it to any runner looking for a fun race.  The course isn't that bad, hill-wise, and the wine at the end definitely makes any hills you encounter worth it!

Again, a secondary post about our San Fran escapades and our Wine Country excursions is soon to come, but for now, I'll leave you with this post.  Hope you enjoyed it.

Have you ever run a race where you got wine at the end?

New PR at the Seattle R'n'R!

In May, I competed in the Rock 'n' Roll Portland Half Marathon, and earned myself a sub-two hour PR (personal record) on a pretty hilly, pretty challenging course.  So imagine how thrilled I was to realized that I PR'ed yet again in the even more hilly, even more challenging course of the Rock 'n' Roll Seattle Half Marathon!

Since I had posed this way at the Portland race, it seemed only fitting that I repeat the pose for the Seattle race.  I figured it would give me good karma since I had PR'ed in the City of Roses and I was hoping to PR again in the Emerald City.  Before the race, I met up with a couple of my Fleet Feet running buddies, and when my friend Tracey and I realized we were in the same corral, we decided to start the race together.

Jarna, me and Tracey posing in front of the Space Needle before the start of the race.

I knew that Tracey was much faster than me, but I also knew that if I could keep her in my sights for the entire race, I'd be able to PR.  And that's exactly what I did.  I kept with Tracey, sometimes just barely having her in my sites ahead of me, sometimes getting a little bit past her, sometimes running right with her.  She was a great motivator.  And as we came to the last 0.2 of a mile, even though it was uphill, as I saw Tracey start to sprint to the finish, that gave me the push I needed to sprint to the finish and come in with a brand new PR of 1:58:45!

And not only did I earn the super cool finisher's medal...

...which I had inscribed with my name and time...

...I also earned the Pacific Peaks medal for completing both the Rock 'n' Roll Portland and Seattle Half Marathon races...

...which I was able to get inscribed with both my times!

At the end of the race, I got the added bonus of getting to see a few more Fleet Feet running buddies, Adrienne and Katie, and getting to celebrate with them, as well as Tracey.

Tracey, Adrienne, Katie, and I with our medals and smiles post race.

Besides the medals, I was able to add a few more pieces of race booty to my ever growing treasure chest, including the race shirt...

...front (above) and back (below)...

...a finisher's shirt to match the one from R'n'R Portland...

...front (above) and back (below)...

...and of course another commemorative race mug.

In addition, because I've completed two Rock 'n' Roll races in the same calendar year, I'll be getting this little beauty in the mail in a few weeks...

 Gotta love that racing swag!

Have you ever won multiple medals for a single race?

Running Buddies: Sister Edition

A couple weeks ago, I had another racing first...I got to run a half marathon with my younger sister, Nicole!

I was able to "convince" my sister that what she really wanted to do the 3rd weekend of June was run the See Jane Run Half Marathon in Boise.

So, as a celebration of the last week of the school year, I flew to Boise to run 13.1 miles with my sister and her friend, Kellie.  Of course, there was the added bonus of getting champagne and chocolate at the end of the race.  Seeing as how I wasn't getting into Boise until Friday evening, and the race was Saturday morning, my fabulous sister picked up my race packet for me, which consisted of an awesome reusable bag...

...our race numbers...

...and our finisher's shirt.

When we showed up the morning of the race, the one thing we all agreed upon was that it was kind of weird how few people were there.  I can personally say that I have never been to a race with so few people...but I will say it made running the race kind of nice, not having to worry about weaving around thousands of other runners.  Another nice thing about the race was that I got to relax and run a race without worrying about trying to PR...I was just there to have fun with my sister.  

And have fun we did!

This is us at mile 13...I had been trying out my "mentoring skills" on her, to which I was promptly told to shut up...

...and yet I was still in a pretty good mood when Micah (the brother-in-law) took our pics at the end...

...and got our intensity as we crossed the finish line!

Yay us...

 Finish line success!

Kellie crossed very soon after we did, and the three of us quickly took a finisher's photo together...

...and then got our drink on!

And of course, we had to take a picture with our wonderful mother. 

All in all, the race was a success.  Nicole ended up PRing, and we had a blast.  Plus, the finisher's medals...

...and champagne glasses (that were filled with chocolate truffles when they were given to us by the way)...

...were pretty cute as far as runner's swag goes.  And my mom even surprised us after the race by buying my sister and I matching jackets from the race (she is clearly the best mom ever)!

But the best part of all was getting to spend that quality time with someone I love, my sister, getting to do something I love to do, run!

Have you ever run a race with a relative?