Los Osos & the Diva 1/2 Marathon

This past Wednesday I took my horse M down to Los Osos for an annual ladies & horses weekend. When we started going on this trip, we went camping locally. Then we went to Pt Reyes for a few years and stayed in this great Bed & Breakfast that has a stable. Last year we decided to go down to the central coast of California to explore the trails there. This year, we had 5 ladies and horses going on the trip. It's always a great time that I look forward to. I love being able to take my horse somewhere new and having him show me by his behavior what a great horse he is!

Hooked up, loaded up and ready to go!

When we get there we like to take the horses out on a short ride to stretch their legs. We can ride from the hotel where we stay, right down the street to a dune trail and over to the beach.

There are also some beverages consumed. Nunzilla, in the middle, comes to all of our ladies trips ;)

My horse gal pals!

Good food is always part of our trips.

Nunzilla approved dessert.

Can't beat this view. We rode in Montana del Oro State Park. There are some great climbs and beautiful views.

I drove home Saturday morning so I could go to the race expo for the Diva 1/2 marathon I was racing on Sunday. My friend Barb was also racing and this was her first 1/2. This race was a woman's race with all sorts of girlie stuff. Lots and lots of pink, boas and princess crowns at the finish, shirtless firefighters handing out medals and champagne. A little too girlie for me but it was all in good fun. I didn't really have a plan for this race other then to enjoy it. There were other people I knew racing too including my niece, Molly and friends Mary and Meredith.

The course was an out and back along the San Francisco Bay. It wasn't nearly as scenic as I was expecting but I liked the flatness of it. The worst part of the day was the bay was in a low tide and it was really smelly. 

I went out at an easy 10:45-11:00 pace for the first couple of miles to warm up. About 45 min. in I took a walk break to take a Gu. After that I decided to take a minute walk break every 15 min. After a couple of those, the breaks were every 10 min. until the finish. 

There were a couple of skinny girls and another girl that was wearing a shirt that said she was 25 years old that I ran with most of the race. Not with but they would pass me and then I would pass them. When we got close to the finish line I decided I had to beat them :) Mary's husband Gerard took this picture of my final sprint. I won! Well, I beat those 3 anyway!

Barb and I after the race. She did so great and despite cursing my name at different points during the day, I'm sure she'll sign up for another 1/2. 

Mary is second from the left, I'm in the middle, Meredith is to my left and Molly is on the far right. Fun group of girls!

I finished with a time of 2:19:59. I took 1:15 off my best time so a PR!

Overall place: 920/3558

Age group: 48/247

Fun race and I was happy to get a PR without having that as a goal for this race!