Friday
Kelli and I left together from Southern California at the same time my younger daughter, Megan, left from the Monterey peninsula. The plan was to arrive at the same time at our motel, the oh-so-average Days Inn in Buellton (my fault . . . the original plan was to RV at Flying Flags RV Park, a lovely place in Buellton, for a modest fee, my treat. After our new trailer arrived I decided it was not feasible to try and handle the RV by myself all weekend, and so I scurried to find an affordable, available room at the last minute, hence our ending up at the Days Inn.).
As Kelli and I were enroute, we got a chagrined call from Megan explaining that she had decided to take scenic Highway 1 down from Monterey, not realizing how much slower it was to travel than the 101, a major artery running north and south through California. As a result, though she was thoroughly enjoying the world famous coastal views, she was running about 45 minutes later than expected.
Megan's "oops" allowed Kelli and I time to pull off the highway for lunch in Santa Barbara. A quick search on Kelli's Smartphone yielded a little gem of a place called Adama Vegan Comfort Cuisine. And what a find it was! We shared a lovely Gardin "chicken" ranch sandwich on the freshest bread I've enjoyed in a long while, accompanied by a side of fragrant curried onion rings. I highly recommend this place if you are ever passing through - it's just a few blocks off of Highway 101 at State Street.
Tummies now full, we drove the remaining 45 miles into Buellton, and arrived at the Days Inn within minutes of Megan. What a joy to be all together in the same place! After hugs all around, we checked in to our room, freshened up and then headed off to pick up our racing packets at the Corque Hotel in Solvang. Inside of our packets, should you never have had occasion to enter a running/walking event, were our race bibs and our timing chips, which go onto your shirt and running shoes respectively, marking you as an "official" race entrant. On the way out of the hotel we couldn't resist posing for a mother-daughter photo in front of some beautiful spring flowers.
 |
| From left to right: Megan, 26, me, Kelli, 29 |
Sun shining, we headed back to the hotel to laze by the pool a bit before the girls headed out pickup a veggie pizza to enjoy in our room so we could get to bed early . . . our race day wake up call was set for 4:30 AM.
Saturday
Race Day! I woke up early at 3:30 AM, very normal for me on any race day, and did a mental walk through of everything I needed to make sure I wore or took with me, including remembering to pin on my bib, lace my racing chip through my right shoe, fill up my water bottles, pack my room key, cell phone, a banana and some energy supplements, and figure out where to park to catch the bus to the start line of the race. Race day mornings are stressful, there's just no way around it!
By 5:15 AM we were all awake, dressed, coffee-ed up and ready to go. We left the room and headed out into the brrrr, cold and mist. This is always the point in any race when I wonder why on earth I ever thought this was a good idea!
We found a parking spot near the Solvang Park finish line, which was good - it meant we wouldn't have far to walk to get back to our car after the race. This is one of the advantages of a smaller race, by the way (this race capped out at 3,000 participants). At larger races, which can have upward of 30,000 or more participants, getting back to your car after a race can be a lengthy exercise, sometimes even requiring public transportation. Anyhow, back to our race - we located the buses taking runners to the start line in Santa Ynez, boarded, and enjoyed the warm four mile drive before arriving and having to get off and go back out into the - take two - brrrr, cold and mist. We immediately headed for the port-a-potties where we took turns in line, and then huddled together trying to stay warm. We eventually started looking around for someplace, anyplace that might be warm. We noticed a few runners huddled near the back of a portable generator, enjoying the warm air being blown out the back end, but we decided it was a little too toxic(!) and kept walking. Success! An enterprising coffee shop owner had decided to open up early to service some of the 3,000 runners wandering around waiting for the 7:00 AM race start. We found a warm corner to stand in, and hung out there along with a few other dozen runners, until 6:50 AM, when we headed outside to get into the start line chutes and await the 7:00 AM gun start.
Not-so-promptly at 7:05 AM, (trust me, every late minute matters when you're shivering from both the cold and the adrenaline anticipation!) the starting guns went off, and the girls and I cheered and started running. As we crossed the official start line, I teared up at the realization that I was actually going to share this challenging 13.1 mile event with my two daughters. What an amazing gift they had given me!
Megan and I were hoping to run together, clear that since we hadn't included speed work in our training, we weren't going to set any personal records (also known as PR's), but Kelli, my older daughter, had been doing some extra training and was therefore planning to run separately in the hope of setting a new PR. She stayed with us for the first mile in order to warm up (yes, Megan and I were both at bit chagrined at discovering that our top racing speed was her slow start speed), after which she, literally, took off. Megan and I yelled "Good luck" as she went, and then we settled into our 10:30 per mile rhythm, agreeing that in spite of our earlier attempts to stay warm, the weather couldn't have been better for a race - cool, misty and overcast. We talked a little, listened to other racers chatting, and pointed out the interesting sights we passed to each other along the beautiful, winding route - wildflowers, windmills, farms, buffalo, long horn steer, alpaca, donkeys, horses, rabbits, squirrels and a couple of, eek!, dead snakes. But mostly, really, we ran in silence. 13.1 miles is a long way to run, and it does take getting into your head a bit to get through it.
The early miles went really well and I was enjoying myself tremendously. When we got to Mile 11, I still felt good and strong, but the top of my right foot was beginning to burn. With only 2.1 miles left to go, I was not about to give it any attention, other than to hope it didn't get a whole lot worse. As we neared the 12 mile mark, Megan had pulled just a little ahead of me, and I was working hard to catch up with her so we could finish together. My right foot was now burning so badly I was having a difficult time maintaining a sprint, so it took me almost to the 13 mile marker to catch her. I finally did though, and we linked hands for the last 1/10th of a mile, heard the sound of Kelli's voice cheering to us from the sidelines (she had run an 8:00 minute mile pace the entire race to set a new PR of 1:44:58!), and pushed through to the finish line, hands clasped tightly and held up over our heads.
Oh the joy!
The rest of the weekend
There was much more to the weekend, including wine tasting after we cleaned up from the race, shopping, a picnic on the lawn at a winery to enjoy dinner and the Santa Ynez film classic Sideways, and a delicious Mothers Day breakfast at a charming Danish bakery in Solvang, but sharing this half marathon experience with my two girls was the absolute highlight of the weekend, and something I will treasure forever.
Though we do hope to make it a new Mothers Day tradition!
By 5:15 AM we were all awake, dressed, coffee-ed up and ready to go. We left the room and headed out into the brrrr, cold and mist. This is always the point in any race when I wonder why on earth I ever thought this was a good idea!
We found a parking spot near the Solvang Park finish line, which was good - it meant we wouldn't have far to walk to get back to our car after the race. This is one of the advantages of a smaller race, by the way (this race capped out at 3,000 participants). At larger races, which can have upward of 30,000 or more participants, getting back to your car after a race can be a lengthy exercise, sometimes even requiring public transportation. Anyhow, back to our race - we located the buses taking runners to the start line in Santa Ynez, boarded, and enjoyed the warm four mile drive before arriving and having to get off and go back out into the - take two - brrrr, cold and mist. We immediately headed for the port-a-potties where we took turns in line, and then huddled together trying to stay warm. We eventually started looking around for someplace, anyplace that might be warm. We noticed a few runners huddled near the back of a portable generator, enjoying the warm air being blown out the back end, but we decided it was a little too toxic(!) and kept walking. Success! An enterprising coffee shop owner had decided to open up early to service some of the 3,000 runners wandering around waiting for the 7:00 AM race start. We found a warm corner to stand in, and hung out there along with a few other dozen runners, until 6:50 AM, when we headed outside to get into the start line chutes and await the 7:00 AM gun start.
Not-so-promptly at 7:05 AM, (trust me, every late minute matters when you're shivering from both the cold and the adrenaline anticipation!) the starting guns went off, and the girls and I cheered and started running. As we crossed the official start line, I teared up at the realization that I was actually going to share this challenging 13.1 mile event with my two daughters. What an amazing gift they had given me!
Megan and I were hoping to run together, clear that since we hadn't included speed work in our training, we weren't going to set any personal records (also known as PR's), but Kelli, my older daughter, had been doing some extra training and was therefore planning to run separately in the hope of setting a new PR. She stayed with us for the first mile in order to warm up (yes, Megan and I were both at bit chagrined at discovering that our top racing speed was her slow start speed), after which she, literally, took off. Megan and I yelled "Good luck" as she went, and then we settled into our 10:30 per mile rhythm, agreeing that in spite of our earlier attempts to stay warm, the weather couldn't have been better for a race - cool, misty and overcast. We talked a little, listened to other racers chatting, and pointed out the interesting sights we passed to each other along the beautiful, winding route - wildflowers, windmills, farms, buffalo, long horn steer, alpaca, donkeys, horses, rabbits, squirrels and a couple of, eek!, dead snakes. But mostly, really, we ran in silence. 13.1 miles is a long way to run, and it does take getting into your head a bit to get through it.
The early miles went really well and I was enjoying myself tremendously. When we got to Mile 11, I still felt good and strong, but the top of my right foot was beginning to burn. With only 2.1 miles left to go, I was not about to give it any attention, other than to hope it didn't get a whole lot worse. As we neared the 12 mile mark, Megan had pulled just a little ahead of me, and I was working hard to catch up with her so we could finish together. My right foot was now burning so badly I was having a difficult time maintaining a sprint, so it took me almost to the 13 mile marker to catch her. I finally did though, and we linked hands for the last 1/10th of a mile, heard the sound of Kelli's voice cheering to us from the sidelines (she had run an 8:00 minute mile pace the entire race to set a new PR of 1:44:58!), and pushed through to the finish line, hands clasped tightly and held up over our heads.
Oh the joy!
 |
| Kelli, Megan and me at the end of the 13.1 mile race, finisher medals around our necks. |
There was much more to the weekend, including wine tasting after we cleaned up from the race, shopping, a picnic on the lawn at a winery to enjoy dinner and the Santa Ynez film classic Sideways, and a delicious Mothers Day breakfast at a charming Danish bakery in Solvang, but sharing this half marathon experience with my two girls was the absolute highlight of the weekend, and something I will treasure forever.
Though we do hope to make it a new Mothers Day tradition!
 |
| The charming finishers medal - it's a wine cork! |
 |
| First we ran, then we drank! Here we all are at Curtis Winery after the race. |
 |
| My girls! That's beautiful Bridlewood Winery in the background. |
 |
| Where the girls took me for Mothers Day breakfast. Yum! |
What a great tradition this would be for you! Regardless of times, PRs, etc,... these activities are priceless (although 1:44:58 is a great time). My daughter and I got to do the Twisted Ankle Trail Half Marathon this past Saturday, her first trail half - I think she has converted to trail running now :)
ReplyDeleteCongrats to you & your daughters, what a great gift.
I actually started as, and still am, a trail runner. It's so much easier on the joints! I just looked up the Twisted Ankle website and it sounds fun - so you and your daughter are also making priceless memories, how wonderful for you both!
DeleteMy daughters and I are already on the hunt for our 2013 race . . . we're zeroing in on the Providence Rhode Island Marathon/Half Marathon on May 5, 2013. My younger daughter will be living in nearby Newport, Rhode Island next May, and it therefore seems too good of an opportunity to pass up.
Wow. I need to get off the couch and start running! My son PR'd on his race Saturday with a 5:39 mile. I was very proud! :)!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on a great race and having time with your daughters..priceless! By the way, it was hard to tell who was the Mom in those pics!!!
Wow - 5:39 is wicked fast! Congratulations to your son!
DeleteI remember once hearing a family therapist say that parents would be wise to develop family activities that would bring their children home once they reached adulthood and struck out on their own. In our case, running has become a shared family passion that has taken us all over the USA together. I am hopeful we'll all continue to explore new cities and run races together for decades to come.