This past Sunday dawned clear and sunny in the Sonoma Valley, not a good sign. The alarm went off at 5:45am, and we rolled out of bed into our running clothes, heading out the door around 6am and walking the half mile to the place where the buses waited to take us to the starting line of the Carneros Wine Country Half, Napa-Sonoma race. We met up with our friends Mary & Gerry on the way, and arrived at the start with about 20 minutes to spare. The usual potty lines formed but we wisely used the restrooms in the Domaine Carneros. The really smart folks didn’t run at all – they stayed at the Domaine Carneros for a patio breakfast and watched the runners go by! The port-a-potty lines got so bad before the start that people (men and women) started bailing and going in the vineyards. Chuck and I assumed our positions back in the pack, but Mary & Gerry, who are much faster than us, moved towards the front. Their friend Janet was with them, and she was predicting a slow race for herself – around 7-8 minutes a mile pace. Just shut the hell up now, Janet!
Chuck and I had a good race, doing steady 11-minute miles for the full 13.1, finishing in about 2:25. Mary won second in her age group which also won her national ranking (by only six seconds, as she was quick to point out – whatever Mary. It was about 90 degrees when we finished, so I think we get extra credit for running in serious heat. The best news for me was that I didn’t fall down once in the race, for which my knees (now sporting minimal scabs from two weeks ago) were very thankful indeed.
After the race we went back to our hotel, soaked in the hot tub for a bit, showered, then headed back to the race finish for some post-race free wine tasting which we needed like a hole in the head after Friday’s orgy of tasting. After lunch we headed off to our favorite winery for our favorite wine (really, as I write this I realize we are starting to sound like real lushes. let me just say right here that we are not, and we only do this very occasionally, or when Chuck’s sister visits), then headed back to Sonoma for a last dinner.
We drove home Monday, and got back in time to pick up our little baby MacBook Pro. We’ve named him Mack the Knife, as he is handsome yet slightly dangerous (particularly if you hold him on your lap without something under him as he gets quite warm!).