Carbo Load!

Pete and I left 3pm on Wednesday afternoon, an hour later than we had planned. Of course, it was more my fault than his. I had to make a last minute pit stop at the bank and it took forever, but that's to be expected. Then we forgot to pay our land lord because we're going to be away on the 1st of the month. After all was said and done, we were off, and missed any traffic that was to slow us down. The border crossing was smooth sailing. The look on the guards faces when we tell them were going across the border to run an ultramarathon, is becoming a little bit of a trend.

About a 1/2 mile from the Aldergrove border there is a dairy farm called the Edeileen dairy and OH MY GOD, they have the best soft serve ice cream cones on the face of the planet. As you can see I am very passionate about this place. I only just got introduced to it from Peter, as his family has been going there since he was a kid. I had to opt out this time but I will for sure be going for one on the way back home. Peter, however, enjoyed one and I stared and salivated the entire time. We drove for 8 hours that day. We got as far as Salem, Oregon and slept that night at the cozy Motel 6. That place is starting to feel like home!

The next morning we got up at 7am. After a quick breakfast we drove another 9 hours to Sausalito, CA. The drive always goes by so fast. We ate in the car, drank a butt load of water, and only stopped once at lunch time for some PB and banana sandwiches. The temperature got up to around 21 degrees Celsius and there were patches of rain but none of them lasted longer than 5 minutes. We arrives at our hotel and were instantly greeted by Peter's parents. It was so nice to see them. They have had a hard couple of weeks because Peter's Grandmother died on the 18th. His parents live in Winnipeg and his grandmother "grammie" lives in Thunder Bay, ONT. So they had been back and forth between the 2 places a lot that week and now were off to San Francisco to crew for both Peter and I. They are staying a few extra days after we go home so hopefully they will enjoy some much needed rest and relaxation.

We headed out to find a nice Italian restaurant to begin our carbo loading. There was an Italian place connected to our hotel but after checking out the menu we decided to drive into Mill Valley to see what they had to offer. Mill Valley is such a cute little place. It was filled with awesome little shops and a great community feel. This man had just come out of whole foods and was walking to his car with his 2 daughters. I stopped to ask him if he could recommend anywhere to get some Italian food. He told us to check out this place called Vasco's. Said it was a great place with a bar, small, upscale vibe with not upscale prices. The vibe there was happenin' and we were greeted by the host, who happened to be the owner. He was obviously having a good time, chatting up locals inside and out, all the while sipping on a nice glass of red.

I am sometimes weary of having any alcohol the week before a race. I don't know why. Perhaps it is all those running articles you read on week of race day prep that tell you to avoid it. I think the beauty of trail running is that most runners were out having beers the night before the race, during the race, and after the race! Ok, maybe during the race was a bit of a fib, but this has been done. This time, I really just wanted to relax and enjoy supper with a nice glass of red. Pete's mom ordered the Chianti and I followed suit, and once it hit the lips, I was in heaven. We started off with a warm beet, goat cheese, and arugula salad topped with a pesto vinaigrette. I doubt you need to know the details but I love food, so maybe I think you'll enjoy hearing about it. Then we both had the same pasta. It was sooo tasty. I hadn't had pasta that good in a long time.

I'm back at the hotel now, feeling pretty carb pumped up! Looking forward to a day of leisure tomorrow. As fun as sitting in a car for 8-9 hours over 2 days is, it's much more fun to be moving around. Enjoy the day and I'll be back to update soon.