http://community.active.com/blogs/penguinchronicles A semi regular account of the life and times of Runner's World columnist John "the Penguin" Bingham. Mon, 12 May 2008 15:19:58 GMT Clearspace 1.7.0 (http://jivesoftware.com/products/clearspace/) 2008-05-12T15:19:58Z http://community.active.com/blogs/penguinchronicles/2008/05/12/days-of-wine-and-roses Now I know how the other half lives.<br /> <br /> I traveled with Jenny and her Chicago Endurance Sports training group to the Santa Barbara Wine Country Half Marathon. Because of a special "package" deal we stayed at the Four Seasons - Biltmore. Oh MY! It's an beautiful hotel, overlooking the Pacific Ocean, with gorgeous grounds. No way I could afford to stay there if we hadn't gotten a HUGE break on the price. But, it was nice to pretend to be rich for a weekend.<br /> <br /> Somehow, I keep forgetting that just because it's California that doesn't mean it's going to be hot. Maybe because here in the midwest we imagine that there's nothing but fun and sun out there, but it WASN'T there this weekend. I own - without exaggeration - 20 fleece jackets or vest and DID NOT take one of them with me. So, I had to by a hooded sweatshirt just to survive the weekend. <br /> <br /> The event itself was a bit of a mixed bag. Because I'm at so often a BIG races I'm always a little surprised at what "real world" events look like. They're often pretty low key affairs where the fun seems to come mostly from the social aspects of the experience. Most of the folks there were from the local running community and it was a chance for them to get together for a fun time. <br /> <br /> The big difference at THIS race was the opportunity to do some wine tasting after you finished. I'm sure that provided MORE than enough motivation for the participants to keep moving. The course itself was very scenic and the only glitch I saw was that - somehow - they forgot to put out the mile markers! Other than that, though, it was a nice event. <br /> <br /> This is a short week at home. I off to Ohio on Thursday. <br /> <br /> Waddle on,<br /> <br /> John bingham penguin running walking chicago runners world Mon, 12 May 2008 16:01:26 GMT John "the Penguin" Bingham http://community.active.com/blogs/penguinchronicles/2008/05/12/days-of-wine-and-roses 2008-05-12T16:01:26Z 3 days, 11 hours ago http://community.active.com/blogs/penguinchronicles/comment/days-of-wine-and-roses http://community.active.com/blogs/penguinchronicles/feeds/comments?blogPostID=8306 http://community.active.com/blogs/penguinchronicles/2008/05/08/lets-get-this-party-started Welcome to the Penguin Nation. We're not REALLY open for business, but will be soon.<br /> <br /> Stop by <a class="jive-link-external" href="http://www.johnbingham.com">JohnBingham.com</a> and see all that's going on in the Penguin Nation.<br /> <br /> I'll be back soon.<br /> <br /> John penguin bingham running chicago walking Fri, 09 May 2008 00:02:52 GMT John "the Penguin" Bingham http://community.active.com/blogs/penguinchronicles/2008/05/08/lets-get-this-party-started 2008-05-09T00:02:52Z 1 week, 2 hours ago http://community.active.com/blogs/penguinchronicles/comment/lets-get-this-party-started http://community.active.com/blogs/penguinchronicles/feeds/comments?blogPostID=8282