The Napa 12

I spent the holiday weekend with friends in Napa. I ran almost every day. I made Luke run with me early one morning before we went out to drink too much wine.

The weather was perfect at 7:00 a.m. and the views were stunning. Not a bad way to start the day. We passed the main part of St. Helena before mile 2.

There weren't any convenience stores along our route, but we managed to fill up our water bottles along the way. I'm not sure how we found the only sketchy locations in Napa. First, there was a motel where I can only assume convicted murders stay when touring wine country. Booze bottles were lined up outside the doorways to each room and the management office was mysteriously empty. Luke, naturally, let me poke around by myself while he stayed safely outside. Water stop #2 was a fire station with no firefighters around. Luke tested the water from the outside hose. "Tastes like old rubber," he said. Yuck. Finally, we found an deserted strip mall with a water fountain.

I was only planning on going 10 miles. Luke was feeling good around mile 5 and suggested we go down the road a little before turning around. Famous last words. Before it was all over, I'd beat 12 long miles out of him. I'm pretty sure he wanted to kill me for at least the last 3 miles. "Come on! You can do it," I would shout over my shoulder. I could feel the death glare through the back of my head. At minimum, he wanted to kick me ... and he might have done it --- if only he could have caught me :).