Sometimes a little trail run does a lot of good.  Before this weekend, I hadn’t done a race since the marathon in October, and I didn’t realize how much I missed it. 

Saturday morning, we woke up at 5:30 in order to have time to take Tessa out, get ready, eat breakfast, and pick up S’s dad from his hotel and drive the 1.5 hrs to Sausalito for the 9am start.  Breakfast for both S and I was protein oats:

1/2 cup oats, 1 scoop chocolate protein powder, raisins, walnuts and peanuts. 

I skipped my morning coffee (boo!) since it was a trail race and I wasn’t exactly sure what the bathroom situation was going to be. 

We actually got on the road in time.  Luckily, Friday’s rain had cleared and the skies were blue and sunny. 

We got to the starting point at Rodeo beach.  I had never been here before, it was beautiful!

It was also muddy, from the rain the day before, and cold.  We all waited in the car until the very last second.

Sometimes small races are really fun.  We all gathered at the start line, where a man welcomed us, spoke for a while, and then led everybody in singing “America the Beautiful”. Then he said “Go!” and we were off!

The best thing about this race?  Besides doing it together with S and his dad, which was really special, was the fact that we were encouraged to enjoy it.  Sure, it was a race.  But it was one where you take the time to look at the beautiful scenery – the amazing overlooks at the top and the incredible views of the beach when you are on it.  The hills were unbelievable and tough.  There was mud, there was wind.  And the last quarter mile was on sand, which was really tough.  And it was AWESOME.

I was really proud because the three of us stuck together the whole time.  S’s father had some knee pain around mile 2.5, and we all stopped to walk for a while.  When he was feeling better, we started running again together.  Toward the end of the seven miles, S needed to go very slowly.  So we all slowed down together.  And in the end, in the sand… we all struggled through together.  We did it as a team. 

And it really meant a lot to S’s father.  First of all, to be able to run such a difficult 7-mile race when he couldn’t even run a mile a few months ago.  Second of all, to be able to do it with his son, who is now grown up and living in another country, and his girlfriend.  He was almost in tears, he was so happy and proud.  It was so nice to be able to share that.  He was adorable, he couldn’t wait to sport the t-shirt

After the race, we chowed down on the grub they had.  I finally tried the peanut butter-filled pretzels that I have seen so many people raving about on blogs… I didn’t think I would particularly like them, because I’m not a huge pretzel fan.  But man, I was wrong.  I guess I should have known… put peanut butter on anything and it will taste amazing, right?  I also had a larabar (PB&J flavor, my favorite!), a banana and a handful of twizzlers. 

By the time we got home, I was starving again.  I made a monster salad with turkey and goat cheese on top.

In the afternoon, we finally made a trip to Costco, where I got another monster container of Jelly Belly’s!  Any bets on how long this one will last me?

We had about an hour to relax when we got home.  I chilled on the couch with my laptop and Tessa.

Then we had our first training class for Tessa.  It was great… we learned a number of helpful hints and tips and got our “homework”.  And we also learned a new, very valuable secret….

The LASER POINTER!!!

This thing is incredible.  The girl who taught the training class said that if we played with the laser pointer with Tessa for a while, she would be less inclined and excited to chase the cats.  So we bought one.  S played with her with it for about a half hour… and she went NUTS.  She was absolutely exhausted by the time they were done.  It was amazing!!!

This weekend, one of the biggest things that I learned (or rather, remembered) was how much I love racing.  The second I started the race, all my stress and exhaustion from work, the dog, family, etc… melted away.  I was so, so happy.  It was exactly what I needed, and I didn’t even know it.

So… from now on I am always going to try to have at least one race either that I am registered for, training for, or in mind that I want to do next.  It does wonders for my mental state. 

One of the next ones up?  The Pittsburgh half-marathon on May 2!!!  What actually happened… last week I went online to register for the race and it was full!  I was really upset.  After a helpful hint from Abby, who is also doing the marathon, I was able to find someone who had signed up for the half marathon and gotten a number, but could no longer do the race and was selling their spot.  And it was totally lucky because April 1st was the last day to have a transfer – you can pay $20 and transfer your number to someone else.  So the girl transferred hers to me and I bought it from her.  We officially completed the transfer today!  So to make a long story short, I am running the half-marathon.  Yippee!!!