Wineglass Weekend

What a great weekend, the forecast had said cloudy and rain, but it was just beautiful. We started the weekend off getting up and leaving around 8:30 so we could reach Fulkerson around 10am when it opens. The last few times we had gone to get grape juice there was a long line and we wanted to try and get there before the crowds. Surprisingly the only other people in line before us when we got there were my parents. We picked up our 6 gallons of Gewurztraminer and 11 gallons of DeChaunac and loaded them up into my parents car so they could take them home for us. We had expected to wait at least an hour to get the juice so now we had some time to kill and decided to head up to 2 of out favorite wineries. Afew miles up the road from Fulkerson is Miles Wine Cellars and Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard. Miles Wine Cellars is in a beautiful old house right on the lake and they have some great wines, to my delight they have also added some beers to the menu. Weimer is just amazing, from the huge restored barn they have tastings in, to the wines themselves this is a must stop if we are in the area. This is also where we get our grape stock for our vineyards. Where are the pics? well sadly for some reason the cameras stayed in its carrying case for almost the entire weekend. I will have to make sure i take some in acouple weeks when we go get the next batch, I will not let this happen again!
After tasting some wines we decided to drive down to Watkins Glen and have lunch at Roosterfish Brew Pub. I always like to stop here as they have some great food, not to mention some good beers too. Then it was off to Corning to pick up my race number and do some shopping on Market St.
Later in the evening we headed out to Hammondsport around 5pm for dinner at a new restaurant we fell in love with earlier in the summer called the Union Block Italian Bistro. The food is amazing, the place is always packed and they have a great wine and beer selection. We always windup eating at the bar because we never call for reservations. The bar is located in the back of the restaurant down a set of stairs in the basement. Its everything i would like my basement bar to be, on the far side of the bar is a wall with an enclosed refrigerated wine rack. the walls themselves are made of stone and the lighting is always dark. I could stay down there all night and drink, which is why i had to get out of there at around 8:30 because our night was quickly headed there. I had to cut my self off at 5 beers, added to all the other drinks i had during the day, not smart the day before running 26.2 miles the next morning.
The next morning i get up and make my usual before marathon breakfast of peanut butter and honey sandwich using the bread i made the other day. I really wanted some coffee but there was none to be had in my grandparents house. We drove to the Start line at the Phillips Lighting plant in Bath, NY and I started warming up, it was chilly.

Lisa left about 15 mins before the race started so she could meet me at the 6.5 mile mark. We started at 8am and made our way into Bath, I felt really good clocking a 7:20 first mile. As the miles when on i found myself slowly increasing my pace. By mile 6 i was heating up so i discarded my long sleeve shirt and gloves to Lisa and the 6.5 mark.

By the 9 mile split on crossed the first relay check point in 1:05:50, which was a 7:18 per mile pace for the first 9 miles right on goal to beat 3:10. The next 9 miles i could feel myself starting to wear down, and by the half way point I knew it was going to be a struggle to even make it in 3:15 to qualify for the 2012 Boston Marathon.

The next check point was at mile 18, by this time the pace group for the 3:20 finish time had just passed me an my hopes of Boston had been dashed. I knew i could still push on and get a PR so my goal was now to make it in 3:30. I crossed the 18 mile mark in 2:15:12 for a average pace of 7:30 now. The pace for that 9 mile leg was a 7:42, 24 seconds slower than the previous 9 miles. The last 8 miles proved to be a challenge, My hips and legs started to burn. Funny thing, everyone kept asking how my feet were, i think they were the only part of me that didn't hurt. The miles seemed to drag on and I finally made it into Corning and across the finish line in 3:30:30, I made my mid-run goal time.

That last 8 miles was rough, my pace for that segment had dropped to 9:24 per mile bringing my total marathon pace to 8:02. Far from my goal pace of around 7:20 bet still better than i have ever done before, beating my previous marathon best of 3:45, dropping almost 15 minutes from my best time.

Over a great weekend, even though i didn't reach my goal, I'm always happy to improve my time.