Preparation by way of racing

I have a bit of a head start on L on the running thing and maybe the wine thing as well. I ran the Turkey Day 5K race in Charleston, winning my age group in 24:03. That time is not particularly impressive unless you are under 10 or over 60. I'll leave it to your imagination into which category I fall. It was a perfect day for a race, chilly (46 degrees) and sunny with negligible wind. The post race libation was beer--bizarre on a cool morning, but we enjoyed it. It's a fun race and well attended (4000 plus). It's not always the case that a charity run can create an event which appeals to serious competitive runners. I am off to Chicago for a couple of days and then will try to better that race time at the Reindeer Run next Saturday. My most serious local competitors will be doing a half marathon at Kiawah on that same morning. I'm thinking their times will give me some idea of what I might be able to do in Napa next summer.