Sunday Runday: Napa Women's Half Marathon

The first I heard about the Napa Women's Half Marathon was when they were advertising for a ridiculously cheap entry.  And I got really excited, because the Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon is one of my bucket list races.

And it wasn't until months after I signed up that I realized that this was not that race.

I'm not sure why I thought it was - I'm fairly certain it said "inaugural" all over the race advertisements and sign ups.  But here I was, all signed up for a race.

Luckily, I had a lot of friends who also signed up, and we decided to make a girls' weekend of it. 

We headed up on a Friday afternoon, and got in on Saturday morning - to be fair, it had JUST turned Saturday morning moments before, but still.

After we all got a little sleep, we headed for breakfast, and then to pick up our bibs.

And then, well, when in Napa...

There was a little wine tasting...

Not too much, because we all had a race to run the next day.

But we couldn't be in Napa and not take advantage of the wineries.

We called it an early night so we could get up the next morning.  And get up early we did.  Up, dressed, and ready to run, we headed out to the start line. 

The race had a lovely start as we ran across the bridge and through downtown Napa. 

Right after mile 1, my calf started acting up.  Which was unusual for me.  I've had plenty of other aches and pains, but never had calf issues before! 

The course was rolling hill after rolling hill - which is my second least favorite type of course (after straight uphill ;-)) but I decided to just take it easy on pace and enjoy the view.  With all the rains, the wineries and fields were just the most vibrant shade of green.

And there were plenty of cool things to stop and look at.

My biggest course complaint, however, were the lack of port-a-potties.  As one other runner said to me, "it's a race for women, most of whom have had kids, of course we need port-a-potties!"  For me, I don't usually have to use the bathroom during the race, but my bladder has never fully recovered from my second child, so if there's anything in there, it finds a way out.  I use the port-a-potties mostly to empty my bladder to prevent this.  So it's not a necessity, just a way to not embarrass myself.  The lines were so long though for the few port-a-potties, that it didn't pay to stop.  I finally did at mile 9, because there were only 3 people in line in front of me, and it still added an additional 17 minutes to my time.  (The difference between my app, which pauses when I stop, and my official race time).

I will say, those last 4 miles were definitely comfortable at least!

My friend, MV passed me while I was waiting for the port-a-potty, figuring I would catch up to her when I finished.  I didn't, but that meant she was there to capture my finish!

And pick up our finisher wine glasses!

MV and I sat and watched the band while we drank our first glass of wine, then went to watch all of our friends finish.

And once all our friends finished, we sat and drank more wine with them!

The race finished right beside Oxbow Public Market, so we all headed over there to grab lunch before heading back to the room to shower and rest up a bit.  The original plan was to fit in a few wine tastings, but we were all pretty exhausted, not to mention we didn't actually have reservations for any tastings.  So instead while we rested, I spent the time finding us a fantastic restaurant for dinner.

I cannot say enough nice things about The Charter Oak.  We were initially drawn in by the female chef, Katianna Hong.   Because if you're doing a girls' weekend, you might as well go all in on the "girls" part.  But then came the fact that the menu looked accommodating to some of our food restrictions in the group.  Once we arrived, we learned what "accommodating" really meant as the waitstaff and kitchen went out of their way to ensure that everyone's dietary needs were being met, even offering to create dishes if none struck our fancy on the menu.

But strike our fancy they did - from the very first brussels sprout laid on the table, all the way to the mochi cake at the end, the menu had more than enough choices.  And everything we chose was amazing.  We were giddy as each new dish arrived and left full and happy.  And all of us planning our return.

The next morning we made a quick stop for coffee and were on our way home.

We did make one little stop to pick up some presents for the kids at home...

Bouncin' Around: Aloo Chat

Mother's Day weekend was incredibly busy for us.  Thatboy and I joked there was no way we could possibly fit more in to May 7.  It started with a race for me, then a baseball game for Thatkid, and then we headed right over to the birthday party of one of his friends.

Thatkid doesn't meet the kindergarten cutoff for this fall, but most of his friends do, including the birthday boy.  It's going to be so strange for him next year when his friends all move on.

Luckily his bestie J3 is also a late fall baby, so at least they'll have each other.  Although I feel sorry for the rest of the kids at preschool when these two are the BMOC.

We left the party and came home with just enough time to jump in the shower before heading out to visit H, who was at Disneyland for the week.  It was good to see H and her family, we haven't seen them since before Thatbaby was born.  But we didn't get home till late, after leaving the house pretty early in the morning.

I have such a hard time with balance.  Ideally, my weekends would be full of nothing.  Maybe sleep.  Or even some light house work.  But I just can't say no, especially with kids.  Which means that even when we are home, there's very little sitting around.  So our weekends are busy, and there is very little catching up on much needed rest.  One of these days I'll learn my lesson.

Until then, you can be sure that we have just as many quickly thrown together meals on the weekend as we do during the week.  Although I try to spice up the menu a little on the weekend.  Bringing in some exotic flavors, like chile and coconut, this is a vegetarian dish that is cooked in a single pot, making clean up really easy.  It also comes together in about 20 minutes.  So quick, easy, and flavorful?  Appreciated on a nonstop, go go go weekend.

Aloo Chat

1/2 cup ghee

1 onion, finely chopped

10 fingerling potatoes, peeled and cut in half lengthwise

1 small red chile, pitted and thinly sliced

1 tsp ground tumeric

2 tsps ground coriander

1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted

2/3 cup 2water

coconut shavings

cilantro leaves

1. Heat the ghee in a skillet, add the onion, and cook 5 minutes, until transluscent.
2. Add the potatoes, chile, tumeric, coriandwre, cumin, and a little salt and fry for 10-15 minutes, until the potatoes are lgihtly browned.
3. Add the water nad rbing to a boil.  Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until all the liquid has been absorbed and the potatoes are tender.
4. Cool and scatter the coconut shavings and cilantro leaves on top before serving.

Splitting Up

Thatboy and I usually spend the weekend in one location, San Diego, Orange County, Rio de Janeiro....but last week we each had an important event, requiring us to divide and conquer.

First, we headed to Orange County for the Winter Craft Fair. Thatmom has been participating in this for years, and after Thatdad died she asked Thatboy if he would join her. The fair is held the first weekend in November, a weekend we usually spend with Thatboy's family to make up for not being there later in the month for Thanksgiving. But I've ducked out of that for a number of years, and last year Thatboy decided to skip it and help out Thatmom instead. And this year she convinced him to join her again.

Thatmom sells her knitwear while Thatboy showcases his photography. This year Thatmom's fingerless gloves were an undeniable hit- she had more buyers than inventory, and even got some special orders. Thatboy's new addition - notecards, were his top seller. Following the winter fair, we packed everything up and headed back home, because:

Sunday I had my first real "race" since the half. See, after the half I decided to get my leg/back/hip looked at. I had promised Dr. Boyfriend I'd have a physical therapist check me out after the half. And he understood, because, Dr. Boyfriend is a runner and has been postponing a knee surgery because of it. So once the half was under my belt, I found out that I was one messed up puppy. My sacrum was all torqued and rotated, my SI joints were uneven and misaligned, and the physical therapist was just sure that shooting pain down my leg was probably caused by a combination of the two bothering my sciatic nerve. She made me promise to take a break from running. And so I did. A 2 1/2 month break. And everytime I told my physical therapist about a "race" I was competing in, I had to assure her I'd be taking it easy. And since both the Disney 5k and the Zoo Walk were with Thatmom, I didn't really have to worry about injuring myself.

But at the end of October I couldn't take it anymore. And so (without telling my physical therapist) I started running again. And after a week, I let her in on my little secret. And she laughed when I told her that I was afraid to tell her, and didn't discourage me when I told her the runs were pain free. So the day after the Winter Fair I went racing.

I participate in the Elizabeth Komen Race for the Cure every year, and I didn't want to miss out this year! I really wasn't expecting much, since I hadn't run in a long while. There wasn't a mile marker for mile 1, but at mile 2 I glanced down to see that I was pretty much EXACTLY where I had left off in terms of time. And then we hit the freeway (one of the reasons I love this race). Once on the freeway it got REALLY hot. That black asphalt sure does reflect heat! And after mile 1 there was no water on the course, which is unusual. And then came the big hill. So I slowed down, because really, I was already doing better than I had expected. And my finish time? Definitely not a PR for me, but also pretty on par with what I used to run 5ks at before I got all speedy last year, which was a lot faster than I was expecting to run.

But after all that running around between counties and craft fairs and races and I was tired. And I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm not above cheater dinners when I'm tired. Cheater dinners where everything is made for me and I just have to combine them and put them in the oven. Like these sausage snack wraps by Pillsbury.

Because the recipe was on the package and when you're tired and hungry, sometimes it's nice to have someone else come up with dinner ideas. And goodness knows Thatboy isn't going to help out in that department.