Wine County 1/2 Marathon Recap- Part 1

*okay so i started writing this and then realized how long it was turning out to be so i made an executive decision and decided to give it to you in two parts so as not to make your eye’s crossed!

So Sunday marked my 3rd 1/2 marathon this year! When I found out that the Hubs was going to be deployed and I was going to be staying with my folks in CA I decided that one of the ways to make the time go by faster was to sign up for a couple of races.

I searched the world wide web to see what was going to be going on during the time I would be there and what locations would be the easy to make. The fist race i signed up for was the Bako 1/2 (go here to see the review). I also found another race that was rated one of the best by Runner’s World and since it was close and during the right time I decided that would be another one to add to the agenda. What race was this??? Well none other than the Wine County 1/2 Marathon in Paso Robles, CA! Here is the description:

“The Wine Country Runs Half Marathon is set in the heart of California's scenic Central Coast, an area famous for wineries, natural hot springs, pristine beaches, Hearst Castle and much more. Starting and ending at the beautiful River Oaks Hot Springs this mostly paved course takes you over rolling hills, through picturesque vineyards and down along the Salinas River.
After the race take in breathtaking views as you enjoy a complimentary breakfast bar, live music, raffles and the post-race award ceremony. Accompanying events include a 5K Race and a Kids' Half Mile Grape Stomp. All runners receive an official race T-shirt, and both male and female first place winners of the half marathon run win their weight in wine.”

Sounds great right? I was also stoked (yes i am truly back in cali) to learn that the most amazing girl and best friend ever, who had just taken up the addictive sport of running, was looking at doing the 5K. Well, after I talked her into do the 1/2 with me I was beyond excited! It turned out to be a girls weekend for the books!

So since i know you are all on the edge of your seats….here’s a little recap of what when down this last weekend:

Although I knew that me, olive oyl, her mom, and her mom’s friends were all doing the race the plans came together and were finalized in an hilarious (and I mean that in the nicest of ways) and extremely detailed email that was sent to us all by none other than Olive Oyl herself a few days before the race weekend. Due to the wonderful planning that this email ensued, we all met up at Olive Oyl’s without a hitch! The race was Sunday but we headed out late Saturday morning so that we could get to Paso, pick up or packets, get some food and check into the hotel for an early night in order to be well rested for race day (like that ever really happens)!

After getting a little turned around, almost mistakenly registering for an youth golf tournament, a close encounter with failed bladder control (don’t worry we made it to the bathroom in time), and trying to navigate the very strange street names, we made it to our packet pick-up destination! Since this was a pretty low-key race there wasn’t an expo to make us lust for all the running necessities goodies out there so of course after we were fully registered we had to hit up the local running store! And yes I couldn’t leave there without scoring some good gems. Both Olive Oyl and I got a spy belt (since my short i was running in didn’t have pockets) and some totally rad arm-warmers for only $8..score!

By the time we were done there, everyone in our little posse was totally starved so we headed out to find the perfect carb-load dive to get our pre-race grub on. We ate some fabulous pasta and headed to the sketch motel wonderful hotel I had managed to reserve for us. Olive Oyl and I shared a room so for the remainder of the evening we had a blast getting together our gear for the next day, taking race strategies, and watching the foodnetwork. It was so much fun to get to hang out with her and have some good girl time, since we don’t get to see each other that often. Oh and by the way the whole group of ladies was hilarious and kept me laughter and gasping in horror the whole weekend! All of us were very nervous so in an effort to distract us from what the next day held, we decided to have the most random and semi awkward convos, which left us all in stitches!

That night we fell into a fitful sleep on on boards beds, although Olive Oly claims she loves sleeping on boards, and tried to get as much rest as we could before our 5:45 wake up call.

Stay tuned to find out how the actual race day went…