From yesterday:

In flight. Adele in my ears, and two hours left to go.

Race day is Sunday. The past two months have been a bit of a blur, and yet, here I am. Life outside running has gone haywire since the May race. I began to write a few times, and then abandoned it. But now I have some time.

Where to begin? What have you missed? Well, there was the Lighthouse Run in June, the 10 miler where I forgot Body Glide and have some lovely scarring to serve as a future reminder. It was a hot, humid run, miserable really. I finished slower than I wanted.

Outside of that, training has been remarkably uneventful. Occasionally I would see a fox, coyote, or deer on my morning runs. One morning I heard helicopters on the way out; on the way back home, I saw smoke rising in the sky. That was the Monday morning of the Patrick Cudahy fire. Currently, I have some nagging pain in my left heel, which I attribute to worn out running shoes, kept on past their good life. Though I did get a replacement pair, I took this week off to make sure the heel has some time to rest up before 13 miles.

What else? Oh, I turned another year on my calendar. 33-years-old, about to run m y fourth half marathon. Who would have thought?

Our garden is in, and growing. I have pictures to share if I ever manage to get them uploaded! Four tomatoes have taken over the midsection – a tomato hedge. Also this year, we are attempting zucchini and corn, cucumber, radishes, carrots, three colors of bell peppers and two colors of eggplant. One jalapeño pepper plant, which is doing well. Raspberries. Along the house we have strawberries and three pear tomato plants. In the back of the yard are two chocolate cherry tomato plants. I really need to get canning this year, if I can master it.

Then there’s the matter of the miscarriages. I have been in consultation with a specialist, and we have done some testing which has led to scheduling surgery, about a week after I return from California. Uterine septum is the diagnosis, and so the “cure” (so to speak) is to go in there and resection it. And that’s what we’ll do. Or she’ll do, as I’ll be under general anesthetic. The whole thing has caused a bit of friction in the home; we’re both scared of certain things, and don’t always express that fear in a productive way. We’re working on it. Will the surgery work? (for me?) Only time will tell, but it seems to help others, so here’s hoping.

So this trip to Napa is my escape, my interlude from my daily life. I’ll collect a rental car at the airport, plug in the GPS and make my way to the tkjd compound in the Russian River valley, and catch up with those kids, and meet Charley for the first time! This year will be especially awesome, mostly because tk will be at the finish of the race – quite a welcome change from last year. And Ali will be there in spirit, since she’s stuck with her Real Life in the mountain states. 
Friday, I’ll join the rest of Team Wisconsin at our hotel in the afternoon, and maybe get out to a winery or two. Saturday, I’ve made a reservation for a group tasting/tour at Quintessa Winery on the Napa side of things, and several of us will venture over there.

Of course, then the race on Sunday. About my goals for the race, I am at a bit of a blank. If I had to choose some, they go in this order: Finish; uninjured; and faster than my last race. I suppose I aim for all three any time I race. I’m hesitant to assign a time goal, for fear I’ll fall short. There’s always time to decide on one, though. I’ll be running with the Garmin, which should be fun and help keep me focused.

Anyway, I probably have a dozen vignettes to write for you – the excitement I had with a rabbit trapped in our backyard, finding the foxes on our family bike ride, and then there’s the whole chapter about Scott and his obsession with obtaining a classic car which is driving me insane. Oh, and the weight loss struggle is always a good one – I seem stalled, hanging around the same number no matter what I do. Another story for another time.