March
5, 2017
4:12:55 589/1267 overall 6/19 in 65-69
Originally, Jodi was going to run Napa and shoot
for a BQ time, but when we realized that a nagging injury wouldn’t allow her to
train hard enough, we were able to transfer her entry to me. I figured I could
run Napa for fun and as a training run for Boston in April and Fargo, ND in
May. We found a cute place to stay on Airbnb which was much cheaper than the
high Napa weekend hotel rates.
For a couple of weeks we had watched the weather predictions going from
warm and sunny to cold and rainy. Saturday was cold and rainy and windy. We got
into Napa mid-afternoon and went to the expo and talked to Michael and Rita
Baumann. As usual Michael was on the panel describing the course. This was his
21st Napa and my 15th, but my first since 2012. We had
our pre-race meals with Estella (and Ben) Salcido, Charlene Graham, Lindsey
Sorondo and Cheryl Aleman. Great to have another group of TNT alumni running
Napa!
Saturday
night I could hear the rain falling, and we could feel and see it on the drive
to Calistoga. Jodi noted that there was even snow on Mt. St. Helena and on the “High
Rocks”. We parked in our usual spot and jogged to the starting area where we
got to see Charlene, Cheryl, and Lindsey. Jodi ran out past the start and got
to see Michael Baumann in the front part of the start. The rain stopped as race started.
However it was still chilly so I was glad to have my arm-warmers, gloves, and
cap with earflaps. But, the sun came out so when Jodi met me at mile 7.5, I
gave her my gloves and arm-warmers.
I started out the first two miles
just under 10 minute pace and then settled into a pace that stayed in the 9:30 area
for most of the race. I was pleasantly pleased that the pace seemed quite
comfortable, and since it was a “training” run, I tried to stay steady and
remember to enjoy the green hills and vineyards. I was 2:05:49 at the half so
got very close to even splits for the two halves. After seeing me at mile 11,
Jodi drove to the finish and then ran out to meet me. However, about 2 1/2 hours into the marathon we got hit with rain
and hail for about 20 minutes and I thought to myself, “Is Jodi going to keep
coming or head back?” But there she was at about mile 21.5! We had a lot of fun
running together and I appreciated her pulling me along. After the race, we got
cleaned up and then got burgers at Gott’s in Napa. There is one in St. Helena
that we’ve gone to for years so it was fun to go to the one in Napa this year.
This was Marathon #153; 22 states
on 2d go round; All 10 Canadian provinces. Next up: Boston Marathon on 4/17/17
