Run Like Hell

A little late, but I wanted to update the thousands of people that read my blog and send fan mail...uh hum...Kristen and I were in Atlanta for a few days during the Halloween weekend and we ran the Historical Oakland Cemetery "Run Like Hell" 5k. It was a great race that started at the entrance of the cemetery and ran out into the surrounding streets (of course, filled with hills that I was not prepared for) and then ended with the final quarter mile winding through the actual cemetery. It was a fun race with a lot of really enthusiastic people dressed up in Halloween costumes that were blown away that Kristen and I came all the way from L.A. to run their race (we didn't tell them that we were there for another reason). I ran just over my PR, but because I was excited and in the moment I went out with the leaders of the race and ended up running a 6:21 pace for the first mile. I realized that I screwed myself at that point and ran the remaining two miles at about 9:35, but oh well. It was fun. Kristen was 4th female overall and won 1st place in her age group...as usual.

While in Atlanta we also drank some wine as usual. Had something called JAM JAR. It's a Shiraz from Western Cape, South Africa 2009 vintage and the name says it all. It's a fruit bomb, too sweet with a long, syrupy finish and no tannin. It was hard to drink. Probably needs something spicy or robust like barbecue to tame it. Another wine was a Lang and Reed Cab Franc from Lake County 2007 vintage. It was a good wine, nice structured tannin, medium finish with a hint of fruit. The final wine worth mentioning was a Terlato & Chapouitier Shiraz blend 2007 vintage. It was very inky with a pleasant tannin and a dry finish.

Two weeks later we ran the Cal State Long Beach Pyramid 5k that started and finished at the base of the big blue Pyramid on the CSULB campus. It was another fun, but tough 5k that had a major uphill climb that started right at the beginning of mile 2. I fully intended to run a solid 8 minute pace for each mile, but since I wasn't prepared for the huge hill, I ended up dropping from 8:08 in the first mile to a 8:17 pace for the remaining two. Not horrible, but again it put me just over my PR. Oh well. Kristen won 1st place in her age group again. Hooray!

The next race coming up for us is the Long Beach Turkey Trot 10k down in Belmont Shores. I pulled a muscle in my lower back lifting weights and have had to cut back on the miles so we'll see what happens. Anyway, keep on runnin' and havin' fun!