Running Amongst the Vines

Yesterday's 8-mile run in Livermore was beautiful! It certainly beat the one we did there late last spring on two counts (http://laurapayette.vox.com/library/posts/tags/livermore/). First, the weather was perfect -- about 60 degrees and overcast when we started. And second, we took a more scenic route -- through the vineyards!

I'm not sure whose vineyards they were, but they were pretty. The vines were full of luscious purple grapes -- no doubt almost ready for crush! (On a related note, my friend, Iain, just crushed the first batch of his grapes. For a behind-the-scenes view of his winemaking, check out his blog.)

Despite the beauty of the run, and the excellent company (I ran much of the route with Lynsey and Kim, and the whole way with Kelsie), I felt like I had lead weights in my shoes. It was definitely the opposite of last Saturday's fantastic outing. Oh well, they can't all be good runs! Despite the difficulty -- partly attributable to the hills -- I managed to run a negative split: 43 minutes out and 39 minutes back.