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PHEW! What a week... things are finally calming down and beginning to return to normal. The week before the Napa Valley Marathon, my husband and I moved out of our tiny, cavelike (moldy) apartment and into a real house! So exciting, but a lot of work right before we left for Napa. And now that we're back, the real work will begin putting it all together. But on to the fun stuff...

Napa was fantastic! (I want to apologize ahead of time for the excessive use of exclamation marks in this post!)
It is hands down the best race I've ever been a part of. It was organized, it wasn't too big and it was gorgeous!
Well...the motel we stayed at left something to be desired (we took to calling it the Bates' Motel!), but we weren't in Napa to sit in a motel all day... during our awake hours we did stuff.

Like... we went to the Marathon Expo where I nearly fell over with shock at the quality schwag we received! All participants were handed a super nice, spacious and durable duffel bag with the Napa Valley Marathon logo embroidered on it. Also, a better-looking-than-usual long sleeve technical T. The "goody bag" wasn't so bad either-- usually they're full of annoying flyers. These had mostly food samples and even a handy velcro arm-pouch for gu or keys or a cell phone. And then there was the free wine!... uh huh.


After that, on Saturday, we took a tour of the Castello di Amorosa winery (aka: The Castle).
It was beautiful. The wine was good, but the tour guide was full of you-know-what. In spite of that guy, it was the perfect way to spend a partly-cloudy day: four stories beneath an enormous castle, made with 1,000 year old bricks from Italy, sipping wine. Yes, I drank some wine before the race. Not much. Maybe the equivalent of a glass. Did no harm (that I'm aware of).

Race day was perfect. The morning was pretty darn cold. I didn't start taking off the layers until about mile 4. I had friends and family cheering for me every hour of the journey. This race, more than any other race I've ever run, showed me how much a strong mind can affect performance. Knowing that about every 6 miles a group of people who love and support me were waiting to cheer for a few seconds as I jogged by gave me something to look forward to and run toward. Of course I was always running toward the finish line, but thinking about the race in hourly cheer increments was so much easier than thinking about mile after mile of solitude.

I also have to say that the mantra "I feel good, I am strong" helped get me out of some nauseous moments and miles when I felt like my right foot was going to explode or break in half (...especially here at mile 25). After repeating it a few dozen times, I started to believe it and then feel it. The human psyche is pretty damn amazing. Oh! And the nagging hip left me alone! (It's sort of back this week...but the marathon was hip-pain free.)

Tomorrow will be one week since the race. I'll be 29 years old. I had a bit of a freak out yesterday. I think some of it had to do with post-marathon depression (which I've learned is very real) and the other part is the realization that I'm an ADULT.
I am almost 30.
I have one more year in the 2's.

So I've been thinking... to fight the post-marathon depression, I need to set my sights on the next hurdle...and the La Jolla Half Marathon coming up at the end of April feels like child's play compared to running a full marathon. Therefore, in the final year of my twenties, I'd like to accomplish these things (in no particular order):

1. go to Europe and see a really real castle
2. Run a marathon in under 4 hours
3. Grow my hair out again
4. Get a paycheck for writing something
5. Take the GRE, apply for grad school


Keep on truckin' onward and upward.

I feel good. I am strong.
I feel good. I am strong.