Monday, May 12, 2008

The Kill of the Hill



The Santa Barbara Wine Country Half Marathon was awesome! I realized that I love smaller races, especially when the scenery is incredible. This race has it all, including moo'ing cows, rolling hills, lavender fields, more hills and even more hills.

I got to my grandparents house Thursday and we had some wine, relaxed and caught up. Friday we went to the expo. I forgot my running hat so my granny goose bought me a new one. She's so nice. Grandpa Snook thought I should just wear one of the old trucker hats in his garage. Why buy a new hat when he has several perfectly fine hats already?

Granny wanted to "drive" the course so I would know what I was getting myself into. We drove the first half. I was freaked. The entire first half was uphill with rolling hills scattered throughout. Seriously. She said the 2nd half was worse. I decided NOT to see the second half, as I already had little doubting debbies in my head. Speaking of doubting debbies, my mom suggested that I just run the first half and stop. (My grandparents house is at the half-way point).

Snook was very concerned about all the "traffic" that this 2000 person race would cause. So after much deliberation, he selected a route to the drop off point. This was a 3 minute drive from their house. Considering that he doesn't drive over 15 miles per hour, it was amazing that I managed to arrive at the race 45 minutes before it started. That was way too early. I was ready to go. The race actually started a little late because the porta-potty lines were long. Uhm. Ok, whatever.

Once we were off, it was awesome. It was so quiet outside that the melodic sound of sneakers against pavement was all you could hear. I decided to keep my iPod off. I definitely felt I was struggling in the first half. It seemed as if I was getting passed up by everyone - short, tall, fat, thin, old, young. Looking back, this was just in my head. My first half time was only 54:53.

After passing my grandparents house and getting a big energy boost from TEAM POM (pictured above), I started to get into my grove. There was a nice lady running beside me who said, "I think we're done with the hills." I said, "I hate to tell you this, but the biggest hill is right in front of us." As we turned the corner, you see it: Corkscrew Hill. I looked at my new friend (forgot her name) and said "We can do this. It will be fun." It was hard. Really hard. But I was right, it was fun for sure.

Shortly after, I heard someone say "Mile 11." I looked at my watch (didn't bring Big G) and it said 1:50. I was like, "holy crap, I might have a chance of matching my time from my last half." This is exactly what happened at my last half too. So I booked it. BUT... another hill right at the end. I was not expecting to be under 2:10 for this race.

I reached the finish line and got stuck in this hellacious line for water/fruit/crappy food (cookies, etc). I totally forgot to stop my watch. Who does this? So lame. I wasn't sure what my time was. I had to get online today to find out.

AND...

IT WAS...

2:04:28

YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. My legs were jello right after. I felt a little sick to my stomach, so I actually didn't drink any wine. (Until the evening, of course). My quads and calves are still killing me, but a good pain, not a bad one.

Favorite MOM-ISM of the weekend: Men - stop reading here.
Me: I started my period.
Mom: It's probably from all that running.
Me: Yeah, it probably is.

40 comments:

Laura said...

Great job with the race!! That's amazing. But you didn't answer one big question: did you get free wine after? Now THAT would be a reason for me to come suffer through all those hills!

HC said...

Congratulations! That race sounds awesome -- you inspire me to maybe, just maybe, give this crazy running things try.

P.O.M. said...

We did get to attend a free wine tasting. But it was 9:30 in the morning and the hills left me feeling too nausious to drink. We did get a free wine glass with our finisher's medal!

Amy - the gazelle said...

yay for you! that's awesome. I'm hoping to be closer to your time in my next half. 'Cause there will definitely be another for me.

Congratulations on your kick-ass time, even will all those damn hills.

Viv said...

That is awesome Jessica!! I loved the momism and you friend, I forgot her name. LMAO!!
It looks like you had a fnatab weekend with a kick ass 1/2 right in the middle of it!!

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
marie said...

Atta girl!

Awesome time for a hilly run!

J~Mom said...

HAHAHAHAHHA that momism just cracks me up!! So much a mom thing to say! CONGRATS ON YOUR RACE!!!!!!!

Unknown said...

Holy moly!!! You sure kick butt! That's freaking awesome. Did they have wine station along the course instead of water station? In Paris, France, they drink champagne before the start of marathon. (I deleted the previous comment because of the typos error.)

Crissy Rae said...

Sounds like you had a great race, even with those pesky hills. Congrats on doing a great job and so nice to see team POM out there being supportive.

I bet you enjoyed that evening wine!

E said...

Congrats! Love the mom-ism!

teacherwoman said...

Wahoo! You totally rocked that hill-acious race! NICE and speedy too!

Love the convo with Mom ... hehehe.

Kevin said...

Now that you're done, you better get to filling that cool wine glass up. Great time!

Anonymous said...

Well done!!!! You did great and way to battle the hills. That is so sweet that your granny wanted to "drive" the course.

The Laminator said...

Awesome job, POM! I am thinking of doing the Napa Valley Marathon sometime in the short future, so I thought of that while reading your race report. Good job tackling those hills. I think I would've called it quits after the driving preview!

ShirleyPerly said...

Great time on a tough course!!

Very cool that your grandparents got to be your support crew too. I'm sure they'll be bragging about you for a long time.

Anonymous said...

WAhooooooooooooooooooo!!!!

Congrats Miss POM!!

Your story made me SLIGHTLY less nervous about the hilly marathon I'm running in October. But only slightly. We'll have to discuss what you did to prepare (besides run hills and eat cheese).

Marcy said...

AWESOME JOB CHICA!! WHOOT!!

Ahhh gotta love Moms. At least she didn't say "It's because of all that sex" That is TOTALLY something my Mom would say. Oy.

Sarah said...

I just laughed so hard at the comment from your mother! I had that same conversation this weekend, but with my non-running friend. She thinks that running makes all "bad" things happen to me! Hilarious.

AddictedToEndorphins said...

That's amazing!!
Sounds like a great race!
Good for you!:) Congrats

Judi said...

Your Mom's comment, lol.

Hey GOOD JOB! What a good time! You kicked it girlie. You look so cute too, running makes us glow, I swear. Keep it up. Next up, a full one right? :)

Stuart said...

Nice job, glad you stuck with it, it's not an easy race!

Meg said...

Congratulations! The race looks like a beautiful course!

katieo said...

Love it!! Great job!

It's probably from all that running.
LOL!

Nisa said...

Wow, Congratulations! Keep the inspiring stories coming! =)

TonyP said...

Awesome job on the race !! Unfortunately, I did not heed your advice and continued reading past your "Men - stop reading here." line - YUK !!

MissAllycat said...

NICE RACE!! Great time! You rock!

Lucas said...

Congrats on your accomplishment and your time. That is awesome!

Jess said...

Whooo hoo way to rock that race hills and all!!! You go girl!

And LOL about your momism....too funny!

Leenie said...

Great job! From the few photos, it looks beautiful, and congrats on getting a great time!

Runner Leana said...

Congrats on a great race!

eurydice said...

awesome - sounds amazing - and your grandparents are so cute. haha old people...

jen said...

Congratulations!! Well done on a super tough course. It sounds so pretty though- I'd love to do that race someday.

I've done a wine country race up here in Napa and I also wasn't really feeling the wine right after finishing. I made up for it later though. :)

Midwest said...

Sweet trisko time, POM! Good for you.

renae said...

Congratulations!!!! What an awesome time you got!
It sounds beautiful.

Unknown said...

Congratulations!!! That's so exciting.

Nancy said...

NIIIICCE!!! I would love to run that fast. YOU ROCKED. Love the pics.

Unknown said...

Way to go! I see a sub 2-hour half in your very near future!

The 311 Boys Mom said...

great race report. I love reading you today......you're crackin me up! lol

I love the Grampa hat story (I can hear that happening in my life) & the mom-ism........

lmao

I love it

Megan Hall said...

Congrats!

And your mom cracks me up.