It’s beginning to feel like all we do is run. We’re either doing it for work-related reasons, or we’re running actual races somewhere. Last weekend it was for the Santa Barbara Wine Country Half, this weekend it was Chuck’s annual El Prieto Handicap. Every year he reverses the direction, so this was an uphill year. 36 folks showed up. It’s a tough 4.25 mile course with about two miles of single track trail. Phew! I probably would have had a better run had I not 1) run three miles at a fast clip the afternoon before and 2) had two glasses of wine with dinner the night before. My legs felt like rubber on the first steep hill, and it took me what felt like forever to warm up. Mia ran the trail with me, and would occasionally go ahead, then pause and look back at me as if to say, “Hurry it up, lard ass!” Once we finished the race part, a bunch of us went back down the trail, so it was a nine mile day for me. Everyone finished, and there was only one bloody elbow and knee. The breakfast after was as always delicious (we were all hungry and thirsty, so cardboard would have looked good to us, but it really was yummy). Bob Mendoza won the race, after an apparent six month campaign to bamboozle Chuck into thinking he needed a really good handicap as he was sooo old and sooo slow. Chuck will not be so kind to him next year.

Later in the day, a bunch of folks came over to enjoy a BBQ, and see the pics we took of the race (on our big screen TV via Apple TV, yee-haw!). A fun time was had by all, with an especially good time being had by the four or five dogs who accompanied their owners. There were two puppies, who particularly enjoyed the event, and played with each other non-stop for the entire evening. Our dog Mia was so exhausted by the end of the evening she could barely drag herself up to bed.

Photos of the day are here.