Napa Valley Half Marathon (1:31.29)

I was excited to run the Napa Valley Half Marathon. As someone who used to live in Napa, I love an excuse to return, and the race is always well-organized. We stayed about half a mile from our old house, and it was a fun little road trip. Unfortunately, the next day, I got sick with the stomach flu. Do I think I was coming down with it during the race? No. It didn’t feel like it played a role.

Before the Napa Valley Half Marathon

We drove up Friday night, stayed in Fresno, and I ran a shakeout run there. Since my spouse had the car that morning, I ended up running to Woodward Park. Unfortunately, Apple Maps gave me bad directions that didn’t account for a fence that had been put up, and I ended up running about 10 miles when I wanted to run 7. Normally, that would just be whatever…the day before a half…not idea.. From there, I just focused on getting the fewest steps possible, which seemed to work.

We had a quick dinner at one of my favorite spots and were in bed early. Packet pickup was at a local hotel which was both nice and chaotic since all runners had to filter through that hotel. It was fairly uneventful, which is exactly what you want before a race. I woke up around 4:30 and was on the bus at 5:10. It was pretty cold that morning, and I brought some old clothes to toss in my quest to get rid of things. I stayed on the bus until around 6:15, went to the bathroom, and was ready to run the Napa Valley Half Marathon. I ran about 1.5 miles to warm up.

The course for the Napa Valley Half Marathon is mostly flat and fast. There are some rolling hills in the beginning, but for Napa Valley, it’s flat. You can see my Strava here, and the course has about 200 feet of elevation gain…most of it in the beginning.

Napa Valley Half Marathon Race

The Napa Valley Half Marathon started right at 7 a.m. I placed myself right behind the 1:30 pacers. I wasn’t really sure if 1:30 was in the cards for the day, and I didn’t want to push it. I’m glad I didn’t because during the first few miles, I averaged 6:45, and they were still about 15 seconds ahead of me (6:52 is 1:30 pace).

Two years ago, when I ran the Napa Valley Half Marathon, the wind in the last three miles was a factor for me, and this year was the same. The wind just beat me up.

The first few miles went by without much note. Unlike the Mesa Half Marathon, the race didn’t feel like it was inching along—I swear I was counting the seconds with that one. Before I knew it, we were 5K in, and I was averaging just about 6:45–6:50 pace. I realized I kind of needed to pee, but I wondered if I would be able to hold it or not.

Miles 4–5 of the Napa Valley Half Marathon had more downhill, and I ran a 6:54 and 6:45. I was feeling somewhat confident that maybe this would be my sub-1:30 day. I saw a bathroom just before mile 6 and quickly stopped (I think about 20 seconds in total). It was my slowest mile at 7:13.

From there, I knew one of the larger hills was coming, and even then, I ran 6:54, followed by a 6:44 back down. I could tell I actually felt a lot better than I thought because I was able to maintain under 7 minute pace up the hills.

Miles 7–9 of the Napa Valley Half Marathon always feel like they take the longest. It’s a straight line, and you can see for what feels like miles ahead. I just kept staying engaged. When we made a right and changed directions, I knew the headwind was going to be brutal. I kept telling myself, “Just stay in it,” but whew, it was hard. The wind wasn’t terrible (maybe around 10 miles per hour), but it felt brutal.

I ran a 7:11 and 7:08. In the last mile of the Napa Valley Half Marathon, I just focused on the finish. “Just keep going,” I told myself. I was surprised I ran a 7:05 because it felt like I was crawling. I finished in 1:31:29.

Napa Valley Half Marathon Thoughts

I am proud of this. Do I think the stomach flu affected me? Honestly, I don’t know. I may have picked it up there, but I didn’t feel too bad. I am happy to run almost two minutes faster than two years ago, and back then, I was amazed that I ran that fast. I do know I’m in sub-90 shape on a good day…I just haven’t had a good race day yet.

In all, the Napa Valley Half Marathon is so much fun, and I definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a great race getaway.

You can see Strava here and all race recaps here.

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Questions for you:

What is your favorite half marathon?

Have you run the Napa Half Marathon?