Santa Cruz or Bust!

I'm running in a race this weekend. Its called "The Relay." A 199 mile, 12-member team race from Calistoga to Santa Cruz, CA. The team is split into two groups, each member of the team running 3 parts (legs) of the race, varying distances over two days, kind of frog hopping along. This is the 5th time I'll be participating in a race of this sort.

My collective group of legs totals 18 miles: 7.4 miles, moderate difficulty; 5.9, all uphill, HARD; and 4.7, easy. Continuing with the numbers: 6 sweaty men and women, sharing one van, over two days and two hundred miles, with no sleep, using porta-potties (ugh!) along the way. Highlights of this race include running under a full moon, thru beautiful wine country, across the Golden Gate Bridge, thru San Francisco, thru cities in the Silicon Valley and finally finishing on the beach in Santa Cruz. Did I mention that its rained 25 days in the month of March and it is anticipated that it will rain through the weekend? Did I mention the road closures because of landslides, cracks, flooding, and downed trees? Did I mention that one of my legs is thru a vineyard of mud?

Yesterday, I checked "The Relay" website for updates on the race and course conditions and read this:

"Due to mountain lion sightings on Hudson Vineyard (Leg 8), consider running with pepper spray or a teammate." Remember me mentioning my run thru a vineyard? Yes, this is one of "my" legs. What? MOUNTAIN LIONS!!! I'm a true-bleu city girl. I know nothing about protecting myself against mountain lions. Arrrrgggghhhh!!!

I sent an email to my fellow runners, asking who would be willing to run with me during my leg. What a great idea to bring along a teammate, I throw my teammate to the mountain lion and while the lion has lunch, I run off and meet the van!

It will definitely be a fun weekend!!! ; .)