Napa Valley Marathon 2011

Well, Happy New Year to all!  The new year brings about new goals and resolutions--new you.
I am not immune to this newfound renewal.  As the new year embarks, so does my love affair for running.
Losing both spots in Big Sur and CIM in November and soonafter the novelty of running NY wore out, I signed up for races that I thought might follow suit in early sellouts. What a weird phenomenon, I thought. We're deep in recessionary period, and yet, more and more people are signing up, a lot earlier to these running events.  What's the deal? Case in point, Big Sur and CIM closed in November.  Boston closed at 5 p.m., in one day!  More recently, Napa closed on New Year's Eve. I narrowly dodged the bullet on that one.  Being scared that Oakland might fill up early too, I signed up last night.   I sent in my registration to the Avenue of the Giants Marathon in November. At last check, my name is still not on the roster.  That's on my to-do list to call.   On to training.
My first marathon this 2011 will be Napa.  Running it for the 6th time, it will be #19 for me.  The course never fails to inspire me. The beauty of the valley is breathtaking even in the downpour of 2007 or the extreme heat of 2003. It keeps me coming back.  I will be using the same training program I used in NY. Even with my head not totally in the game,  enjoying the sights and senses of the New York experience, I still ran my personal best.  Just imagine, using the program a second time and knowing what to expect and being on the Napa course for the 6th time, I can do some serious damage, barring injuries, extreme weather changes.  Probably best not to get ahead of myself.  I am anxious to see the difference this running program will make considering for Napa last year, my training consisted of only two 20-milers with hardly any goal paced runs. This go-around,  I will be running one 18-miler, two 20-milers and one-22 miler--all goal paced.  With 8 weeks left before Napa, I am so looking forward to running the 18 miler next weekend. NY seems like a long time ago.  My legs are dying to run. Will let you know how the 18 goes.  Happy running!