The Napa To Sonoma Half Marathon Race Report!

Hi everyone! It just took me 45 minutes to upload all of my pictures into this post! I will try to keep this short and sweet:) Do you believe me? Sunday morning I got up at 3:45 and got ready for my Napa to Sonoma half. Mr. Julie drove me to the Sonoma high school where the bus would drive me to the Cuvaision Carneros Estate start in Napa. Mr. Julie pulled into the parking lot and we were the first car....shocker, I know! I noticed that there were several people walking on the streets, making their way to the line of buses. I ended up taking a seat on the first bus and after sitting there for 5 minutes it took off with all ten of us:) It was still dark outside at 5:15 AM but I could still see the light layer of fog dancing over rows and rows of grape vines. It was so pretty to look at. The bus ride to the start was so much faster than the drive to the start of Grandma's half marathon in Duluth. The bus driver let us out and we walked up the very long driveway. It was so calm and peaceful. I started to take a few pictures but my camera was having issues with not having enough light.

You can see more people making their way up the long driveway.

These first pictures were taken early in the morning. If you look real close you can see blogger Tim in the right hand side of this picture. I was busy snapping pictures and when I turned around he said, "Hi, are you Julie?" I said, "Yes, I am Julie." I was so excited to see my blogger friend Tim who lives in the bay area of California!

I told him that I wanted a picture of us. I looked around and spotted a woman who looked like she was just standing around. I asked her if she wouldn't mind taking a picture of us. She was not happy and I knew that I made a mistake by picking her. She told me that she was busy waiting for someone and that she didn't want to walk around to take a picture. I told her that she could just take it right here. I gave her my camera and started to explain how to take the picture. She snapped at me saying, "I know how to work a camera....I don't need instructions!" I said, "Alrighty then...just take the picture." I looked at Tim giving him the I can't believe she just got snippy with me look! He smiled and said nothing:) She took the picture and I said thank you. Actually, if you look at my face in this picture you can tell that I am annoyed as hell:)

Tim was kind enough to take this one of me:)

Tim and I had at least 30 minutes to chat and just take in the breathtaking views! It was about 55 degrees early on but I would say it got up to 60 degrees by the start.

This was taken about 20 minutes before the start.

Tim and I decided to walk down to where the start line was. We were both curious if there were pace time markers so we would have an idea where to start. Tim knew that he was going to try to do about a 1:50 half and I was thinking of running a 2:10 finish.

This is about 15 minutes before the start. The area that is shown in this picture filled in later and we were packed in pretty tight.

This is a picture of all of the people in back of us. There was supposed to be 3,000 runners...there were actually 2,634 finishers. Tim and I started off together slowly making our way to the start line. The first portion of the run was a steep down hill followed by a sharp left hand turn and a daddy of a hill. Since there were no pace markers there were several different running abilities scattered all over. The hill was a little tough as I am not great at the people zig zagging and passing. Tim was an expert at this and I saw him making his way up the hill so much faster than me. After Tim made it up the hill that was the last time that I saw him until the finish. Once I was up the hill things got a little better and the runners started to thin out.

I have to tell you all that the feeling that I had when running this race was calm and safe. I was in awe of the beauty around me and just tried to soak it all in. It was very quiet running those first few miles and I was in heaven!

I was running not really caring about my pace. I felt fine and I ran smart by listening to my body. I did look down at my garmin several times within the first three miles. Most of the time my garmin read 7:40 to 8:30. I thought to myself, you better watch it...you are going to crash and not have the energy to finish strong.

Looking out ahead of me there was a sea of runners making their way down and up the road. This course was full of rollers but they were totally doable to me. Maple Grove is full of hills so they didn't bother me.

I think this was about somewhere between mile two and three. I love this picture....I stopped , turned around and took this amazing view of the runners behind me. If you enlarge this picture you can see that this road winds and turns. Look at all of the runners so far back down this windy road. It made me feel pretty good to know that even if I wasn't a front runner, I still considered myself to be somewhere in the front of the pack:)

I stopped and walked through every water station. I took my fuel gel at mile four and mile nine. I never felt like I was pushing myself, I just ran steady and easy. I was a little worried because my miles have been cut back so much. I felt fantastic when I was running and I was happy!

Shortly after hitting water stop number five, we were all at a stand still. We had to wait for traffic to move across the highway. I really don't know how long we were standing there. I was just taking it all in. People were chatting with the police officers and watching the cars drive by. A woman behind me was getting a little restless and said we have been waiting here for almost a minute. I really didn't care:) Finally we were off running again.

The temperature was perfect for running. Living in Minnesota I am so used to the heat and humidity. Yuck! Running in wine country was a dream compared to what I normally have to put up with! I was in heaven:)

It was mile ten where I saw my hubby taking my picture and cheering for me:) He asked me if I felt okay and I nodded. He then said, "Don't you think you are going a little fast?" I said, "No way, I am feeling great!" I had a huge smile on my face and Mr. Julie just shook his head:)

I ran the last three miles with this woman from Canada. We chatted and the time just flew by:)

When there was about a mile left I looked at my garmin and knew that I was going to come in under the two hour mark! I was elated:) I took that last right hand turn and headed down the final stretch. I passed my new friend from Canada and continued on steady and strong. When I saw the clock I threw up my arms in joy and smiled like a fool! I was happy! I heard the announcer say, " Here is runner Julie from Maple Grove, Minnesota!" People were cheering and I got the biggest running high of my life! This was even better then when I got my half marathon PR! I ran a half marathon a few minutes shy of my PR and I felt flipping fantastic every step of the way! I didn't feel like getting sick, I never had to use the Biffy and my feet didn't hurt! I was fine.....I was better than fine:) I am pretty sure that a tear drop fell down my cheek and that has never happened during a finish....ever!

Okay, my booty looks like Jay Lo's! Look what running does...I got my track ghetto booty back:) I am wearing my new Asics running singlet and skirt. I took a chance and wore it for the first time during this race. It was so comfy and I was flipping lucky! I broke a very important runner's law by wearing something brand new to a race:)

Tim was able to see me finish and was surprised...he was expecting to see me in about twelve minutes:) I introduced him to my hubby and had him take a post race picture of us:) We all chatted for a few minutes. I have been so blessed to meet so many of my blogger friends at races:) Tim, it was great to meet you...who knows...maybe I will see you next year!

Here I am with my wine glass! Did I drink any wine you may ask? Hell yes!

Here I am sporting the race t-shirt:)

Okay, so here are my official stats....

Final time...1:58:45 with an average pace of 9:00.

I placed 615 out of 2634 overall! Yes, this means that over 2,000 people finished after me:)

I placed 296 out of 1,863 women:)

I placed 53 out of 311 for my age group!

I absolutely loved this race! If there is anyone who is maybe thinking about doing it but not sure....I say flipping sign up! You will not be sorry! This race took place in one of the most beautiful places in California! This race is not crazy big so it is enjoyable! There is just something about it....something almost spiritual:) It is hard to explain but I can tell you that I am already bugging my hubby about next year! If I run this again next year I am going out with Anne Marie after the race...so that I can drink:) Anne Marie just did the Vineman Tri...you should check out her blog and read her race report! She did awesome:)

After the race we went back to the hotel to get cleaned up. We then went vineyard hopping and had a blast:) I love California and can really see myself living in wine country someday!

Happy running, biking, swimming and lifting! Cheers to you all!

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