Fun in fall

Look over there...enjoy the beauty. I love fall. Fall is the best time of year, no questions, no debates, I am right. And in Austin and now in San Francisco--not too much in terms of fall. So these past two weeks I've been outside of SF and have totally relished the colors, temperatures, leaves on the ground, blowing in the wind and this amazing time of year. Spending time in Napa, California for a full day we traveled around and jaw dropped at how the grapevines leaves actually change colors like the trees. The valleys and hills overflowing by grapevines are now all sorts of shades of red, yellow, orange, green and a combination of them all. What a magical time of year. The pictures don't do justice so the memory will have to last.

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My last race before the BIGGY was this weekend. In Santa Cruz, CA. A beach town with the race having a hawaiian theme. Massive fog rolled in and cancelled the swim--pretty happy about that, b/c you literally couldn't see anything, needless to say the first buoy. Would have been a mess of frantic racers running (well, swimming) into each other. So we had to run to transition from the swim exit and it was freezing, so running barefoot across cold pavement for a 1/3 mile was concerning for frostbite. Took my time (as usual) in transition. On the bike, was pretty much going 90%, trying to hold little back for the run. I wanted to see where I was fitness-wise. Set a PR on the bike and somewhat hilly course. Once the fog lifted, the hills with free roaming cows and crashing waves against the cliffs were in view. What a great race so far. Got back to transition leading my friends and husband (competitive?...hum?) felt good. Running out, took about two miles to get comfortable. That was a little dissapointing, I was expecting to spring off the bike and into my run. Once I got my running legs, I started to get into a groove, but the run was suppose to be "completely flat" but suprised with all the ups and downs this had. Anyway, getting into a groove moving to a high at mile 6-8, saw two of my friends and Mark, I was crusing. Getting stoked about Florida. Mile 10 I saw I was on pace to set a pretty good PR on the run. Keeping Florida in mind I started slowing down, taking my time at aide stations, and even walking a bit. This was welcomed--after mile 10, I needed a break, it started to be a little bit harder to keep one foot in front of the other, so rather than mentally chugging through it, I let myself walk and feel okay with it. I needed it. So I saw the finish and the beach run into the chute was really unique. Nothing like running through sand in tennis shoes and already have blisters and feeling like you aren't going anywhere racing the guy in front of you. I made it, again, in front of all my friends and Mark! :) That was a first and enjoyed it! With all that, I still ended up setting a PR on the run. Wow, so the message is: train for an IM and do a 1/2 IM and it will feel like a strong race and set a PR without trying. Honestly, it wasn't as "easy" as I wanted it to be, I still had to push myself and mentally get through it, but it went by much faster than any of the others and the word of the day was "strong." I felt really strong and that was very liberating. IM 12 days away.