The Silverado Trail is a wide 2-lane road that runs most of the length of the eastern edge of the Napa Valley in California. On either side of the road there are miles and miles of vineyards and wineries. It is so beautiful and peaceful there in the early morning:
A week ago Sunday bright and early I joined a few hundred skaters of all types and skills--speed skaters, derby girls, and fitness enthusiasts--on a half marathon/full marathon race. My friend and roller derby participant, Cheryl (aka "Jayne Clobber"), met me at the start of the race.
I did the half marathon...13.1 miles. It was both more difficult and more fun than I had expected. Here's a summary:
- I finished but it wasn't pretty! I had some issues with my skates, a took a wicked tumble at about mile 9, and for the last 3 miles I doubted my ability to finish.
- In the end, I did finish--second to last of all the 1/2 marathoners that finished, but also ahead of the 7 people who failed to finish, and according to my friend Tricia, WAY ahead of all the people that stayed home that morning. (Sometimes your friends know just what to say!)
- I loved interacting with all the people. Those of you that have participated in races know what I'm talking about. Everyone was friendly and supportive:
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| Nancie & "Jayne Clobber" (Cheryl) |
- my friend Cheryl who was the one who first told me about the race
- the derby girls that I met through Cheryl
- the high-caliber skaters who finished the FULL marathon in less time than I did the HALF
- the fellow Moraga mom, Brenda, with whom I skated the first couple of miles
- the spectators cheering us on
- one of the race support guys who skated from mile 11.5 to 12 with me, giving me a pep talk
- and my faithful husband Marty, who woke up with me at 3:30 AM, drove me up to the event, and was my most ardent supporter
- I am not as good of a skater as I thought I was but I am still out there getting it done. And I know I can beat this year's time of 1 hour, 55 minutes.
- the "taper" that I did the last 2 weeks of my training did not help and probably hurt a bit. I need to do more research about training for a skating 1/2 marathon. It's clearly different training for skating a 1/2 marathon than a running 1/2 marathon.
- Chocolate Gu is delicious and just the pick me up I needed at mile 8. Thanks to Tricia for sharing a packet with me. Not only did the flavor and calories give me a boost, but thinking about my friends that run this distance encouraged me as well. It was as if Tricia and Eileen were mentally there cheering me on!
- I should have listened to my friend Cathy's advice about not going out to fast in the beginning. I got caught up in the race excitement and in trying to keep up with a couple friends and ran out of juice halfway through the race.
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| An inspiring group of women to hang out with! |
- I am totally doing this race again next year!
My friend, Cynthia, who trained "with" me in Connecticut and skated the race distance on her own that same day, wants to do the race with me next year, but she wants to do the full marathon. I need to think about that a bit!
In the end I realized that finishing something is sometimes a matter of deciding to not stop--to just keep putting one skate in front of the other until little by little the task is done.
Keep skating...I know I plan to!
Hugs,
Nancie ♥
Nancie Zimmerman
NamiZuni Jewelry Design
Expressing Your Inner Goddess
NamiZuniJewelry.etsy.com
My 1/2 marathon skate:
7/14/13
Skate #106 of 200
13.1 miles
1:55:15
Silverado Trail
Napa Valley, CA
Scroll down if you want to see what my leg looked like after my fall. I really think I need to break down and start wearing knee pads! It's healing up nicely.
(DON'T SCROLL down if you don't like seeing "road rash"...okay that's my warning!)
(DON'T SCROLL down if you don't like seeing "road rash"...okay that's my warning!)
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