After the last Rock 'n' Roll 1/2 marathon that we did in Seattle in June, my parents and I decided to sign-up for the Rock 'n' Roll 1/2 marathon in San Jose. We thought it would be fun to do and we would be able to visit some family while we were down there. My parents had a flight from Bellingham with a layover in Seattle. Andrew gave me a ride to the Seattle airport where I was able to meet up with my parents and we all had the same flight into San Jose. The flight was uneventful for the most part, however, my mom did get to see some major butt crack on the Bellingham flight which was the highlight of her day. Debbie picked us up at the airport in San Jose. I was amazed by the terminal as it was totally redone from the last time I was there.
We headed to Greg and Debbie's house and relaxed for a little bit. I got to stay in Trinity's room with her guinea pig that I decided to call Chester even though its real name was Bilbo (or something like that) while my parents stayed in the guest room. Debbie had made salad and spaghetti for dinner which we all enjoyed after the flight. After dinner, we took a quick walk around the block with their new German Shepard puppy Koda.
On Saturday we woke up and headed into San Jose for check in. We were a little disappointed as the expo wasn't as big as the one in Seattle. My parents and I decided to sign-up for the Dallas event that is in March 2011 there. I also decided for my 30th birthday I wanted to do the Las Vegas event, which is the Sunday before my big day. My mom decided to sign-up for that one as well. I am excited to go and do something memorable for my dirty-thirty. Greg and Debbie are thinking about coming along as well and we are trying to talk Melinda into it also.
After check in we headed up to Henry Coe State Park to check out the Tarantula Festival. We had a barbecue lunch there in the shade. There wasn't too much going on but we did see a couple spiders, snakes and owls. They also had a children's activity room set-up to make small spiders to take home so my mom, Trinity, Debbie and I all made a souvenir.
When we got back from there, it was Greg's nap time so my mom and I took Trinity with us for a couple errands while my dad sat out by the pool to enjoy the sun. One of our stops was to Trader Joe's where they provided me an extensive list that showed all of their gluten free items. It was fun walking through the store looking for the things listed; it kind of felt like a treasure hunt. I did get some snacks and some protein bars so I would have options if there were no gluten free food for me to eat and I was hungry.
For dinner we headed into downtown Morgan Hill and ate at Ricatoni's which has a deli atmosphere and really good food. I was happy to see that they had gluten free pizza so I had a chicken and pesto pizza for dinner. After dinner we went to Trinity's favorite frozen yogurt place for dessert. It was still fairly early when we got home and we all went to bed early on Saturday to prepare for Sunday's run.
Poor Greg was up most of the night with an upset stomach and wasn't feeling good Sunday morning as well. As we were getting ready to leave, he wasn't sure if he was going to run as he was feeling so crappy. We drove into San Jose and were able to find parking near the start/finish line. Melinda met us down there so she could hang out with Trinity while my parents, Greg, Debbie and I ran. My main goal for the day was to do it in less time than the Seattle run and I was hoping to do it in under three hours.
The run was really nice. The course was very flat and there were good bands along the way. Some of the neighborhoods we ran through were really nice and it was cool to see people sitting in their front yards cheering us on. I still wasn't feeling 100% after the cold I had the week before and when I stopped around mile seven for a potty break, it was hard to get going again as I was starting to cough really bad. I was able to cross the finish line quicker than I did in Seattle and have a new PR of 3:04:54. I didn't hit under three hours, but at least now I have a goal for Las Vegas.
After the run, my parents and I decided to get our medals engraved with our name and time. Greg and Debbie hitched a ride with Melinda as Aunt Barbara and Earl were at their house. They had driven up for the day to visit. My parents and I stopped for coffee and Subway before returning to the house. I was fairly tired that afternoon but visited with the family after. Patricia and Lola stopped by as well which was fun since Lola is at such a fun age. To relax our muscles, we went in the hot tub and enjoyed the sun by the pool in the afternoon.
Around 4:00 my parents and I left to go to Santa Cruz for the evening for dinner with friends. When we got downtown we made a quick trip to Borders and then headed up to Pacific Wave. My long-time friend Morgan found me in Pacific Wave. For dinner we met with Terry and Clarice Haschert, Jim and Karen Healy, Ryan and Krista Healy and Morgan. There were ten of us all together and we ate at El Palomar. The restaurant wasn't as crowded as it used to be, but the company was good. We ended up staying there for over two hours. Then, we walked down to Marini's where I got some after dinner candy and some chocolate covered bacon to bring home to Andrew.
My flight left Monday morning. My parents were staying until Tuesday, but I decided to be responsible and not miss class and come home a day early. Debbie and my mom took me to the airport and on the way we dropped Trinity off at school. I got to the airport in enough time to get a coffee before boarding. The flight was uneventful. We landed smoothly into foggy Seattle where Andrew was waiting for me right outside the gate.
I had a nice weekend in California and am excited for the next event in Las Vegas. Now, it's back to training! If you want to see more pictures, check out my
flickr account.
