I love Napa...

Napa….Lisa and I had a GREAT time! OMG – I drank more wine in 4 days than I probably have all year. It was so much fun. The group we were with was small – maybe 20 people! This included peeps who brought guests. I was VERY lucky! Lisa did not know anyone outside the wine people that were setting it up with their company. Everyone else that was not a guest of someone was in the same position as Lisa in that this was an incentive trip. Funny though – there were TWO people from her company but they worked out of Austin, TX. She’d never met them before.

Anyway, we got in on Thursday morning (9/25) , got our rental car, and went straight to a sparking house (Domaine Carnaros) for a glass of champagne, two actually.

Then we had an appointment for a tasting and tour at Nickel & Nickel. Very cool place; good wine.

Then a bite to eat followed by another tour and small tasting at Dominus. I did not like their wine but their building was very cool. We met a friend of Lisa’s for dinner that night at an Italian place. More wine. Friday morning we had breakfast then a spa treatment (courtesy of the sponsoring winery!). Then we had two more appointments Lisa had set up: first at Darioush (amazing winery – the building was spectacular (palatial-like) and the wine pretty darned good, too); no tour here. Then we inhaled lunch and went to the second tasting and mini-tour at Joseph Phelps. More good wine AND an amazing set up. That night we had a short happy hour with the group (first meeting with them) then we were bussed off to dinner at a winery (Franciscan) where we were greeted with glasses of wine. Franciscan has their own chef and staff. Very cool. The dinner was ‘murder mystery’ style and they had hired actors to put on a show while we were at dinner. The menu was hilarious – it incorporated the murder mystery theme and we ate ‘mystery meat' and later had to 'ID the cheese’. So funny. More good wine. Plus they sent us off with a plastic cup of wine if we wanted. I was ‘wined out’ by then though. Oh, the winemaker (a woman!) from Franciscan/Mount Veeder had dinner with us. I got a very good wine education. Saturday morning started with a bus trip up to Mount Veeder Vineyard – Mount Veeder Winery was the host of the whole weekend. Once up to the vineyard we hiked up through the vineyard to a picnic table area with a beautiful view.

There we were given, guess what? More wine. After lunch we hiked back down and headed out. Lisa and I had driven the car because we needed to make stops at two more winerys – Opus One so she could get Steve his favorite wine and back to Nickel & Nickel because she’d decided she wanted some of their wine. Then back to the hotel where we sat by the pool while we waited for Lisa’s turn to go up in the helicopter for a tour of the Mount Veeder Vineyard and surrounding area. I went for a run. It was HOT out! Then we met back at the hotel and went back to the pool where we had mimosas with the champagne we had purchased at Domaine Carnaros on Thursday. Then it was time to get ready for dinner. Another quick happy hour then on to the bus for a ride to a house owned by one of the Mount Veeder related companies where the chef and staff from the night before took care of us. We were greeted with wine and served another amazing meal and…more wine. They had a 10 year vertical of one particular cabernet. It was SO cool. I did not get through all 10 years but did manage to try 6 of them. LOL Sunday (9/28) we were up early to get ready to head out. Our flight left at about 10AM. I was home by 7PM that night. Whew! What a whirlwind. I felt SO spoiled. It was just amazing!! I got a very good wine education – between Lisa and the other people we met; just fascinating actually. I brought home almost a case of wine. That will last for a few…months!?!?

RR: Women's Half Marathon Trail Run

Well, I almost forgot to report on this from Saturday, September 13th. Well, I finished! It was a hot and humid day out, unfortunately, but I thought the trail was in pretty good shape considering we'd had hurricane rain come through here the weekend before. The park with a lake (Lake Accotink, Springfield, Virginia) I sometimes run at had been really flooded in places! There is a damn in one section and it had flooded.

This is what the damn normally looks like:

This is what it looked like during the 'flood':

Look how little of the damn you can see!

I copied these pictures from a local newspaper - the links to the articles should be on the pictures for reference and your reading pleasure. That water looks CRAZY high!

Anyway, back to the race report at hand... So I got to the race venue (Fountainhead Park) about an hour before race time, which was good because I ended up with decent parking. I went through packet pick up then hit the restrooms. They gave a nice wicking T-shirt at packet pickup. After I just hung out while more people started showing up and got ready to race. I chatted with a few folks, then I met up briefly with a friend who had told me about the race. I did not see her till the second half of the course when she passed me at a water stop. I caught her a bit later and hung out for a few before I moved ahead. This event had the most casual start I've ever seen. It was small - limited to 240 participants/women. I think they just yelled ready, set, go and we were off. However, not until we had been serenaded by the men of the Virginia Happy Trails Running Club - they sang "Happy Trails to You." It was GREAT! This is one tough half marathon course! I've run parts of it before, but not the entire course. The hills go up so steeply at times I walked them and of course the downhills are tough going, in my opinion. There were lots of rocks and roots to dodge as well. I did not fall but I did trip a few times. The trail was marked with yellow strips of plastic hanging down to let you know you were on the right track. Then there were double yellow strips on the left or right deisgnating a turn. Areas to keep out of were marked with red. It was GREAT. At times I felt like I was all alone, but I know others were out there. I did not get to see any fun wild life, which was too bad. I would have liked to see a chipmunk or two. They are so cute! The aid stations were well stocked with the exception of the last one. By the time I got there they were just about out of stuff. I think the heat had some bearing on this. So, I did pretty well, all in all, for the most part. I took it easy and tried to only walk on the hardest uphills at first. I walked some of the easier ones as the day wore on. My hamstrings got a bit tight in the last few miles, but I managed OK. And I was able to finish strong! It was a really fun race, despite the heat and hills. :-) I would definitely do this event again if it fits in my schedule.

Next stop - the Army 10 Miler. This is after my upcoming awesome trip to Napa Valley, courtesy of my good friend. I will have to write a report on THAT when I return. I do plan to run at least once while I am out there. It would be a waste not to run in a new location.

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Other:

My older son's high school Varsity football team won their game 27-0 on Saturday afternoon. He did not get to play, but that was OK with him. He was totally psyched they won because this team beat them last year. Now the team is 2-2. The two teams they lost to are not in their district, either, so their district stats are 1-0, which is nice.

My younger son ran his second cross country meet of the season AND he got to run with the Varsity B group and he came in first of his teammates in that group plus was faster than two boys in the Varsity A group. I was thrilled for him. This is his first season of cross country as a sophomore. He played foortball last year. He also broke 20 minutes in a 5K on a tough course at 19:56. He has been improving steadily. Way to go!

Beach fun...

So, this summer we went to the beach (the Outer Banks, Duck, NC) for what was now the fifth time! We started going with friends back in 2004. They invited us back then, and amazingly enough, we have not worn out our welcome. They keep inviting us back! It has been AWESOME!! We always stay in the same house that is almost right on the beach. Anyway, my friend's husband is THE KING of sand castle building. His specialty is a Sphynx and every year has made one (or two) - and it always gets bottle cap eyes; usually Corona Extra.

This year I had just done my entry for IM USA for 2009 and decided to make an M-dot sculpture - and here it is! Now that I look at it I see a couple things I would do differently next time. Oh well, it was fun. I guess the stairs going up to the top represent the journey along the way. I'm not sure. I think it was really just decoration.

The next day we decided to build the Olympic venue from Beijing. We made the birds nest, the swimming cube, and one big sculpture that had the Olympic rings on it and another that had USA on it. We got a lot of looks. It was great! I think we have pictures of it somewhere ... I have to find them.

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Tomorrow is the women's trail run half! Yay!!

Patriot's weekend...

Well, after all of my stressing out, the Half tri event for Saturday was actually cancelled and I guess that worked out OK. I even get a 50% credit towards next year's entry fee if I so choose to particpate. I might just do that! Depends on how I feel after IM USA...and in addition to my Half being cancelled, my son's Saturday morning cross country meet was cancelled. (Damn Hanna) After most of the rain had left the area on Saturday my son and I headed down to Williamsburg to get ready for Sunday. Part way down it was nice to be driving into blue sky after all the rain/clouds/gray sky we had had all day.

Anyway, the Sunday events, the Sprint and the Oly, went off - but not without a hitch. First the start times were pushed back an hour so the event staff had more time to clear the course. Second, they dropped the swim portion. I was pondering how the races would start with all these bikes at once, but it turns out they added an extra run at the beginning. 1.2 miles for the Sprint, 1.8 for the Oly. My son the runner, doing his first Sprint, was actually fine with that! Anyway, all things considered he did ok - he was 3rd in his age group! (Of course, this was out of three...) :-) He did just fine with the two runs - his bike skills need a little work. He said he took it pretty easy - one of his legs was starting to hurt. I think the seat still needs to be higher - I will work on that before his next race, which appears will be Sunday, October 12 down in Richmond. I am going to register him tonight. This will be a 400M LC pool swim, a 20K bike, and a 5K run. I think with a little bit more time on the bike he will do fine. If he does any races next year though he will need a bigger bike! Anyway, for being 3rd in his age group he received a wine glass! Funny, he doesn't DRINK wine...and as his parent I got a bottle of wine from the Williamsburg Winery. There were other Team Z peeps that placed as well in the Sprint and the Oly. It was a beautiful day!

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OK, so now I have my half marathon trail run this Saturday. I'm actually getting excited about it. I know two other ladies doing the event as well. After that it will be time to tackle the Army 10 Miler again - I hope to do a bit better than last year... Then I guess it will truly be time to start building my running base and getting ready for/doing IM training. I am really excited!!

No go...

OK, now it turns out my son WILL be racing on Saturday morning in his first high school cross country meet. (Weather permitting, of course...schools will make decision today on tomorrow's meet.) What with the weather situation and my son's change in schedule, I've decided to NOT participate in the Patriot's half. Not only that - he has a team dinner tonight, after that there is a Varsity football game that my other son will be dressed out for, and there is a team/parent dinner on Saturday. I've already figured that the money I'll save on the hotel cancels out the race fee. So while I feel kind of bad, I think it is the right decision for me. The RD is supposed to make the announcement by Noon what the status of the race is - whether it is a go, or modified, or perhaps cancelled. My son's race for Sunday looks to be OK though, so we plan to go down tomorrow night and I will be a cheerleader for him and other Z peeps on Sunday. It will be fun and relaxing, I think.

Now for the GREAT news! My name is FINALLY back on the participants on the IM USA site! I am so relieved! I was really worried. I mean, I'm sure it would all be OK in the long run, but I feel tremendously better actually seeing my name on the list. *whew*

I guess now I will just focus on the women's trail half marathon for next Saturday, then the Army 10 Miler...then my crazy marathon weekend in January. After that it is all about the IM. Though in getting ready for the Goofy Challenge I will in fact be building for the IM. I looked at last year's Team Z training schedules for the winter marathon preparation and modified the dates to get an entire training schedule for me that began this past Monday (9/1) and will take me through race day(s). Of course it had me racing the Half this Saturday...but I'll get over it.

Side note: There is a Sprint tri on October 12 in Richmond that involves a indoor pool (50M) swim. My son is interested in this race! I will have to get a time on him for the 400, but it is looking good - race is only 40% full.

Hurricane...Hanna?

Well, I now have confirmation on this weekends events and the fact that my son does NOT have to attend the cross country meet on Saturday. This is good as it means we can drive together to Williamsburg and I will not have to make the extra trip back and forth. All for the sake of racing though! It would have been worth it! :-) Now on to the weather...

In my last post I was looking ahead at what the weather may have in store this weekend. Could be perfect, could be hot, could be rainy. So, with Hurricane Hannah heading towards the east coast 'they' are currently predicting rain - 70% chance on Saturday - high 82; 15% chance on Sunday - high 91. I guess since this is my son's first tri (on Sunday) I'm glad he is having the lesser chance of rain. I would trade anything for him to have 'perfect' race weather. Oh well... I raced in rain at the Lake Anna Sprint, I guess I can do it again. LOL Of course this time it will be for a LOT longer. But really, what do I really have to complain about when all the Z peeps (IM racers and spectators alike) endured HOURS UPON HOURS of rain at Lake Placid in July?

Anyway, just three days till race day for me; four days for my son. I don't even know if it is wetsuit legal. Right now I can barely fit into my wetsuit, but I will bring it, just in case. My son could even wear it on Sunday if he wanted. We shall see!!!! I will definitely be bringing my camera though so I can document his first official triathlon!

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Oh yeah, and I finally got to go and redo my entry for Ironman USA, but my name STILL is not on the list! I am going to have to bug the nice lady at NA Sports again, I think. *fingers crossed*