Hi all,

This Napa Marathon and weekend recap is brought to you by our very own Vera who graciously provided details on the weekend. A couple of notes:

1. Jacob ran his fastest marathon at 4:21 and I believe Art may have PR’d at 4:23 as well. Considering the rain and all, that is pretty cool.

2. Maha also provided some feedback on the race as she had a pretty good race and was able to finish strong despite the weather. The 800’s seemed to really help her stay focused towards the end of the marathon.

Here is Vera’s recap of the weekend.

Well, the Napa Valley Marathon is behind us.
Jacob and I drove to Sunnyvale on Friday to visit with Jacob’s sister. We
took our time driving, stopped at various places like  Harris ranch for a
coffee break, went to Gilroy to smell the garlic and shop at the outlet.
On Saturday, we drove for about 11/2 hours to the beautiful Napa valley.
We went straight to the expo.  The merchandise were overpriced , so we did
not buy anything. We picked up our bibs and disposal chips and were
given one duffel bag and one backpack as a souvenir.  That day we had a
great lunch and dinner , Napa style minus the wine which was a torture for
me.
We took the shuttle on Sunday to Calistoga  @ 5:15am.  It was a cool rainy
morning.  We arrived around 6 and waited in the bus for about an hour .  We
also hooked up with Maha, Rosie and Art.  Everyone was quite at the start
line, waiting impatiently for the Marathon to start..  We did not even
noticed when the race started!
Jacob an Art took off right away.  They started together and finished
within couple minutes of each other.
Us ladies started together, but by mile 3 , I sped and left Rosie and Maha
behind.
I was surprised at myself for doing this race and finishing it.  I did not
train properly this year.I spent almost one year nursing me knee.  I had no
pain the whole way.. So, I think that I am back in business.  Only time and
patience healed my injury.
The marathon route was extremely scenic.  We ran from Calistoga to Napa
along the beautiful Silverado trail where many famous wineries like
Rutherford are located.  It was a rolling course, we started at an elevation
of 365 and ended at 94.  It was raining, non stop, the whole time.  We had
water/ gatorade and bathrooms every 2 miles. After mile 17, we had also
bananas  and oranges .  All together the marathon  support was great.
At the finish line, there was hot soup  and food for the finishers. There
was also massage service  and hot showers  for the runners, but I did not
take advantage of these services because I could not wait to go tho the
hotel and get rid of my wet soaking clothes.
I checked on the Internet our finishing times, only the clock time results
are posted:
Jacob 4:26
Art     4:28
Vera   5:46
Rosie 6:02
Maha 6:02
I don’t know why the chip times are not posted.  We also lost few minutes
because we did nor realize when the race started!
Jacob and I went to a nice Italian/French restaurant that evening and
celebrated with a great Pinot Noir.
We drove back to La yesterday in the rain storm.
Despite the rainy weather, I recommend this race. Go and enjoy it, don’t
worry about race time  and make a vacation out of it.
That’s all, hope to see you soon
Vera

Yup, you read that right, Laurie’s 48 hour race. Our own Laurie Woodrow ran a 48 hour race for new years. While we were drinking and acting like fools wearing lampshades and such Laurie was running. Sheeesh!

Here are some pictures that Deb took during the race as part of Laurie’s terrific crew. Also you can read about the race from from Laurie’s own race report. So here it is:

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly:  Laurie’s Report from Across The Years 48
hour race

48 hours is a long time to be circling a 500 meter track.

Every lap looks
just like the lap  before, so no need for lengthy descriptions of the scenic and
varied  course.   It is still kind of a blur to me, but  here are some of the
highlights…
The Good:
This was an incredibly well-organized race.  Great staff, volunteers, aid
station,  heated tent, friendly runners.

I  met some terrific people out there who were a constant inspiration.
Could there be a more amazing crew?

I think not.  Deb and Dave aka Mom and
Dad (yes, I  have begun the adoption process) were there every step of the way.
Encouraging me, walking with me, making  sure I took my meds, ate, drank,
and used the port-o-potty.  Deb documented the entire event in  photos, and
didn’t post too many embarrassing shots (ok, did everyone really  need to see the
one with the Gas-X?)

Shanda, who picked me up from the airport, provided
tremendous moral  support, and even went shoe shopping for me during the race when
my feet swelled  way beyond the size of all the shoes I had with me. (Gotta
love those  EEE width shoes).  Estelle, who drove out from  L.A. after work,
provided much  needed distraction and entertainment on the course when I started
to get  fatigued.  She was a real life saver  after the race, getting me to a
doctor and then helping me for the next several  days when my feet were
bandaged and I couldn’t get around on my own. (more about  that later).
The Mailbox.  The  race has this great system on their website where people
can send messages to  the runners.  I can’t tell you how I looked forward to
finding new messages  in my mailbox.  It really kept me going.
Despite having a difficult race, and spending a good  amount of time in the
medical tent,

I met my goal of doing 100 miles.  There were times where I
didn’t think I  would make it, but I got to a point where I had to adjust my goal
of going the  entire 48 hours, and focus on getting to 100.  Anything beyond
that would be a  bonus.
Despite the problems with my feet, I was great from the ankles up.  Given my
recent calf injury, I was  incredibly grateful to get through the race without
any issues in the back,  joints, muscles, tendons, etc.
The Bad:
Sometimes you have a good day, and sometimes you  don’t.  From the start, I
wasn’t  feeling terrific.  Still, with a  race of this length, there’s lots of
time for things to turn around, so I kept  slogging along.  One of my
problems  was with fatigue.  Ideally I would  have done a lot of back to back long
runs in training, but since I was  recovering from a calf injury I only got to
do 2 long runs (a marathon and a 20  miler) in the months leading up to the
race.  Because of this, I had to switch from  run/walk to all walking much
earlier than I anticipated.
Early on, I was having issues with blistering.

I kept going to the medical
tent, and  the guys would drain my blisters and re-tape my feet.  Every time I
went back, my feet were  more and more swollen.  At one  point, they cut out
the toe box of my shoes to make more room.

That worked for a while, but
eventually  I outgrew those shoes.  So Shanda  went out and got me the Monster shoes
(I think they were a men’s size 8), and I  managed to get them on my feet.
Not  an ideal situation, but good enough to get me shuffling around the track
again.
I managed to get to 100 miles shortly before midnight on New Year’s Eve.

After a brief celebration with fireworks  and sparkling cider,

I decided that I would not be able to continue on the track  for the last 9 hours of the race.
Feeling somewhat defeated, I went back to the hotel and slept.  In the
morning, we returned to the track  for the end of the race, and I was motivated to
eke out one more mile…even ran  the last few laps.

We stayed on for the awards ceremony and I received my 100 mile belt  buckle.

Does this mean I’m going to  have to start wearing a belt?
The Ugly
My feet.  The blistering was  bad.  The night after the race, my  feet were
swelling even further, and there was a throbbing that seemed beyond  what was
normal.

Estelle and I were  staying on another three nights in  Arizona, and
she found a  podiatrist who was able to see me right away.  It turns out my
feet had become infected  from the open blisters, and my baby toe had been bound
so tightly with tape that  the circulation was being cut off.  A blister had
formed beneath the toenail, so the doctor had to remove the  toenail to ease
the pressure.  Not  Fun.  I’m on antibiotics, and my  feet are wrapped in layers
of gauze, but the doc says as I should grow a new  nail in about a year, and
soon as I can fit my foot into a running shoe I can  hit the road again.  Surf
City, here I come!
Laurie

Well there you have it. Thanks so much to Deb for sharing her photos. Nice documentation! And thanks to Laurie for sharing her race with all of us. You inspire us all to push ourselves and enjoy our lives to the fullest.

Last Sunday saw 15 of us Twentysixers in Sacramento to enjoy the marathon. What a perfect day! Nice and cold. The course way a gentle rolling tour from Folsom dam to our state’s capitol.

We all met at the crack of dawn to catch the bus to the start line

A little crowded at the beginning but it thinned out pretty quick

There was plenty of crowd support and the race was very organized. A great race to PR or qualify for Boston.

Everyone who started the race finished and was able to enjoy the traditional post race feeding frenzy.

Several people ran their best races ever, Laura, Laurie, Phyllis, Catherine and Art all set personal records. We also had two first timers, Bonnie and Tony (although Tony did run an ultra before he attempted the marathon) Both finished in fine style and learned quite a bit from the race.

We all had a great time in Sacramento and even had energy after the race for a walking tour of Old Town Sacramento complete with tom foolery.

The annual camp Pendleton mud run was on Sunday and 5 of the Twentysixers took on this fun but difficult challenge. As if the race isn’t hard enough what with the total soaking by the fire trucks, 2 miles uphill,

running through sand, a 100 foot climb up a muddy hill with Marines hosing you off with a fire hose while you slip and slide your way to the top, mud pits with a 5 foot wall to get over while in the mud,

fording your way across a lake,

tunnels to crawl through and finally a 30 foot crawl on your stomach through the last mud pit, we did it as a team in combat boots and utility pants!

I know it sounds like a nightmare but it is actually really fun. The Marines are cheering you along the entire course and everyone is laughing and jumping around in the mud pits like kids.

And the best thing of all our team, which was called “2sexy4soap”, took 1^st place in our division! Ya know how many teams are better than ours, the first place team? That’s right none. HA!

We all felt ranging from terrific to pretty kind of ok during the race. After the race it sure felt great to get those muddy clothes off and hit the showers, which is quite a scene in itself. We hung around to pick up our medals and hit the road for home to relax and bask in our glory.

Seven of the Twentysixers ran the Long beach Marathon on Sunday.

We had trouble finding Art before the start but somehow he found us around mile one and Olga was trying to qualify for Boston so we didn’t see her, she must have been up near the front jockeying for position. It was a swell day for nice long training run where you get a medal at the end; the six of us were using the race as a long slow training run for another race. It was a bright and sunny morning and the sunshine lasted all day long but thankfully it never got too hot due to a nice cool breeze. The support for the race was quite good although the sign we saw at mile 5 was kind of demoralizing.

It was one of those sign that tells you how fast you’re driving and it said: 06 miles per hour. Not a bad 10 minute pace but when you are used to seeing them say 40 miles per hour you feel kinda slow! Anyhow it was a little crowded here and there until we reached the turn off  where the full marathoners separate from the half marathoners which is where the men are separated from the boys.

Art and I picked up the pace a bit at this point. Art felt great the entire race and I hit a rough spot around the 18 mile mark but then felt fine again around mile 22 or so. It’s interesting how you can feel lousy for a while and then feel good again during a race. All four girls running with us, Laura, Laurie, Kerry and Phyllis had near perfect splits for the whole race and finished feelin’ great.

All in all a great run for us all.

Hold on to your seats kids. This weekend we have some folks doin’ the very difficult Mt Disappointment 50K (that’s 31 miles for the metric challenged) up at Mt Wilson this weekend. So be sure to send all kinds of good vibes to Laurie Woodrow, Catherine Dudman and her husband Tony. They will all brave the heat and hills of this great race. Myself, my girlfriend Laura, Jennifer and Bill will all be out there on Saturday crewing and cheering them on. Stay turned for the race report early next week.