Boston Hot Shot = NOT

Okay, I know I am going to sound negative here but think about it, really.

For many runners it is their life's running goal to make it to the Boston Marathon sometime in their life. It usually starts with a primordial goal of just finishing a shorter distance race and then graduating to just finishing a marathon. Then another marathon and another, and then eventually leading to the desire to want to improve your marathon time, finally graduating to qualifiying for Boston.

Last year in March I qualified for the Boston Marathon. I was all proud of myself and decided that I could finally once and for all declare myself as a runner. Why not, I qualified for Boston? To make it there I had to log hundreds of miles, grueling time spent on the track, hill repeats, blisters, and many hours on Saturdays pounding the pavement while my friends are all out riding their bikes. Not to mention that I when I ran the Napa Marathon (my Boston qualifier), I was really sick with a cold/flu thing that I caught on the plane on the way over. But I did it, sniffing and sneezing and battling nausea, I qualified, making it by a mere 7 seconds! I was still proud of myself, because whether I ever ran Boston or not, I knew that I was part of some unwritten club and could now call myself a runner.

Well that was March of 2009 and the Boston Marathon registration was already closed, so that means April 2010 - Boston here I come.

Last week on my long run, my running parter Julie commented that she was happy to hear that Boston has starting shoots to queue up so it's not a massive 30,000 runner start. I commented something like, what's it matter, we are going to be the slowest ones there; it's not like we need a great starting position because we need to weave ourselves through the crowd to pass thousands of people. What?? she said.

Think about it. We barely qualified (not to diminish our huge accomplishment, but, we barely qualified). Not to mention that I bet 50% of the runners are younger than us which means they need a faster qualifiying time. Then add the older runners who more than met their minimum qualifiying time. My guess is we rank in lower 10% of the runners. Out of 30,000 people, we are going to practically be the slowest ones.

I think I let a little air out of Julie's balloon. But, who knows, it may inspire her to train harder!

The Boston Marathon is rich in history and tradition, the course is rather infamous and it is no wonder that it is highly revered. Even if you aren't a runner, I encourage you to read about this prestigious event here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Marathon.

Some keywords to note: Boston, Patriot's Day, Heartbreak Hill, Boston College, Wellesley College, Rosie Ruiz scandal.

All I can say is that it's Heartbreak Hill that is motivating me to train. I thinkof the hill constantly and I am sure that it will most certainly live up to its reputation.

A few photos to document my incredible trip to Napa with the running girls (despite being sick).

Julie, Me, & Lily

Post Race Day Wine Tasting

Me, Julie, Brend, & Martha

Inside joke

Double click on this to see a larger view. This is the tree biker at my neighbors house. He regularly dress the biker up and accessorizes him. One day after the marathon I was walking down the street when I saw a bus full of Japanese tourists stopped here taking photos.

I can't wait for Spring Release....

It was an incredible weekend with friends. It all started when rather spontaneously we decided to open up the wine cellar and indulge in some of better wines that we have been saving for a special occasion. The problem is that we always save it for a special occasion and our purchases have far out weighed our consumpution, so consequently we are stocked (not stacked, but rather stocked). And what better time of year than a nasty rainy cold evening to open the cellar up. THE CELLAR IS STOCKED, THE WINES ARE RIPE, AND WE ARE RE-DEFINING "SPECIAL OCCASION". Life is good.....

The result was a very long and relaxing evening in the living room with Randi & Kat where the 4 of us savored 5 very different bottles of some excellent vino.


A little detour: If you know Tom and me very well, you know how much we love Walla Walla and we go every spring. So it should be no surprise that about 90% of our wine inventory is from there. And in case you wonder why we love Walla Walla (besides their premium wines and many boutique wineries) - here is a photo that I think captures why it is so special to us. So each and every bottle that we drink from Walla Walla also represents a memory of someone special we met, an interesting conversation with the wine maker, and/or flashbacks of a beautiful day. Most often, it is all of the above.

Back to wine tasting. Here is what we tasted (our selections were random, but we tasted them in this order):

• 2005 Walla Walla Vitners Sangiovese
  
• 2003 K Vitners "Lucky No. 7" Syrah
  
• 2006 Five Star Cellars Merlot
  
• 2004 Four Vines Anarchy (the only non-Walla Walla wine) - this is a yummy Red Rhone Blend from the Central Coast of California in the Paso Robles Appleation.
  
• 2004 SYZYGY Cabernet Sauvignon

While we didn't take detailed notes and all of us have different palates, it seemed as though we were all crazy over the Five Star Merlot.
As much as I love wine, I am no sommelier, so I plagerized the winery's website to describe this incredible Merlot:
Intense cedar and spicy clove fill the senses. A lush mouth full of black cherry and pepper is offset with the balanced acidity. The carmel notes on the extended finish are framed with the fine oak tannins.
Ymmmm....
Then, another great evening spent at Jack and Anne's along with Anne's parents. And of course, sipping wine. It just doesn't get any better than this!

The Blog has been Ressurected

Okay, I know, it has been over a year since I started this blog and almost as long since my last posting. Today I was reading someone else's blog and decided to delete mine since I obviously don't make it a priority. But then I read my posting - "Things I Learned This Week". Reading it brought me back to that week and I realized that jogging my memory is totally needed and it made me happy to relive all those little things that I wrote about.

I spend a lot of time reading my friends blogs and I love it! Time is always in short supply and I am not one to really talk on the phone (except with my Mom), so reading blogs is a fabulous way for me to somewhat catch up on my friend's lives. Facebook kind of does that too, but I much prefer to read the fabulous blogs of all my friends.

So instead of deleting my lame blog, I have decided to try to use it more often to document things, mostly random, that happen in my life. Really, it's all about me, in that the purpose of my blog is for me to go back to at a later date.

Check out that video of Porter in the snow. It makes me totally happy to watch it. He loves the snow so much and I think I get more enjoyment watching him in it that he actually gets rolling in it.

Stay tuned for more random thoughts and occurances......