Always a bridesmaid, never a bride - PR

This summer has proved to be a relatively dry summer for weddings. In the years since undergrad, weddings have been one of the primary reasons my college girlfriends have continued to remain so close. We always

had an event, a reason, to travel cross-country to see one another.With the knowledge of knowing 2010 was going to be a dry wedding summer, we decided to begin planning our 2010 summer getaway in the fall of 2009. When all was said and done, we decided in mid-November to register for the Napa to Sonoma half marathon – a 5 day getaway where we would ultimately reward our running feat with a few days of wine tasting. Needless to say, my girlfriends and I are quite the planners.

As anticipation and excitement built, the trip crept closer, and I began to feel a growing anxiety about the half marathon. I’m convinced my half marathon race time hit a plateau when I crossed the finish line at my very first competitive half marathon race. Although I had completed 13.1 training runs at a faster clip, achieving a sub 1:40 official race time continued to allude me.

For lack of a better way to put it, I had fallen into what I like to refer to as the always a bridesmaid, never a bride rut.

That all changed on Sunday, July 18^th. As I made the last turn in what was quite possibly the hilliest course I have run in over 2 years, I knew the majority of the on-looking crowd was somewhere in the distance. I certainly didn’t want them to see how ridiculously exhausted I was, so I picked up speed.

I can’t put in words how excited I was to see Kelby (Elizabeth’s husband) about 300 yards from the finish line cheering. I waved, smiled, and let him know I would come meet up with him after I finished. With what had to be luck, and the irrational fear of potentially running over a 1:40:00 half, my 13.1 mile race came to an end with a personal record – 1:36:50 (avg 7:22 mile).

After finishing up, I quickly made my way back to the course to cheer on the rest of the runners in our group. This race by far topped them all, because I was able to see my good friends wrap up their last 300 yards, and cheer them on. It was a great morning.

Things only continued to get better as the week progressed. We cooked together, enjoyed wine tastings, ate fabulous food at remarkable restaurants (Celadon, Ad Hoc, etc.), and made more memories that will continue to last a lifetime.

A big thank you to Jenny, Elliott, Elizabeth, Kelby, Mike, and Evelyn for making the last 5 days ones to remember!

I know I run like a girl. Try to keep up.