Santa Barbara International Marathon Race Recap

Alarm went off at 4am and I soooo wanted to just roll over and stay in bed, but I had a marathon to get to!!!  I took a bus to the starting line and then froze for about an hour plus, because we had a late start do to a car accident.

 

How cool is this, I ran into Melissa who is a reader of NHerShoes!!! She recognized me and asked if my name is Bobbi..wow what a small crazy world! She also rocked the marathon, Melissa if you are reading how did you finish???

We took off and I felt great..

Time to get rid of the gloves..here Hubby take them! 

See you soon! 

Mile 3 my tummy started turning, I wasn’t sure if I was hungry or sick??

I took a Hammer Gel just in case. Well it wasn’t hunger, I ended up throwing up at mile 4!!! I am not sure if it was what I ate, but after I threw up I felt a lot better. I still had nausea until mile 13, but I toughed it out.

The first 13 miles were pretty flat, a couple rolling hills and I was FLYING! I was in front of the 3:30 Pacer and knew I needed to slow down..but of course I didn’t!

At mile 12 I got rid of the  long sleeves!

My Half Marathon time was 1:43..WAY TOO FAST! Just like Boston I knew I went out way too fast. After mile 13 the hills started to pick up and at mile 16 I started getting mentally exhausted. My mentality is always the hardest thing to get through in a marathon! I even thought to myself, “ok I have run a marathon before, I don’t need to finish…” Then I remembered how strong I was and how I could do it if the Biggest Loser Contestant COULD!

I really liked the course we ran through a park on a beautiful walking trail and my legs started to kill a bit. I looked down at my Garmin and I was running a 12 minute mile, WHAT..I knew I need to pick it up, but my legs wouldn’t move! Then I saw a t-shirt that said, “ It’s not like you are going die!” so true!

I then saw Hubby and saw that I was at mile 20, only 6 more miles. A 10k is nothing….I CAN DO THIS!! I have never talked/ prayed to myself so much in a Marathon!! Hubby said, “ FINISH STRONG LOVE” and I was determined to do so.

Mile 23 was SOOOO HARD!! They placed a half a mile HILL at the end of the race, HOW CRUEL!!! I was determined to run the whole thing and pick up my pace. At this time I was at 3:25 and I new I had a chance and getting another Boston qualifying time if I ran under an 8 minute mile for my last two miles, but I just wanted to finish not KILL myself. 

I saw the finish and sprinted as hard as my legs would let me! 

DONE AND DONE!!!!

Official stats:

Time: 3:44:45
Place: 31 in my age division out of 250
Average Pace: 8:32!!!!! 

Need Fuel!

Need a Massage!

What an amazing and incredibly challenging marathon, I am so happy and proud to be finished!!!! Runners are NUTZ!

NEED MORE FOOD!!! After I stretched and got ready back at the hotel, we went out to eat at The Natural Cafe in Old Town Santa Barbara. I so want one of these at home!!! They have some of the most amazing sandwiches, tacos, pizzas, and salads. What else could this girl want?!

I ordered the daily special, the Gobble Burrito; a whole wheat tortilla, ground turkey, black beans, grilled veggies, and topped with soy cheese, tomatillo sauce, avocado and sour cream.

With a cup of potato soup, mmmmm!  I only could finish half of my burrito because I needed to save room for dessert!

Hubby got the shredded chicken tacos, I had a bight they were so tasty! I brought a menu home and plan to try and make everything on it!

After our late lunch we went out to Yogurt Land for some self serve For-Yo! I filled my cup up with peanut butter, cookies and cream, and dark chocolate yogurt. I then topped it off with granola, carob chips, Reeses Peanut Butter Cups, banana, and a drizzle of fudge! 

Hubby had some yogurt with Captain Crunch and other goodness!

As if all this  food wasn’t filling enough we decided to swing over to the Santa Barbara Winery for some Wine Tasting.

Couldn’t wait for the reds! I am not a huge fan of Chardonnay and Pinots. 

 

Today Hubby was my DD..and the best PHOTOGRAPHER EVER!!!! I love you!

 

We are back home now and I am watching Dan in Real Life while resting my legs, I haven’t been this soar after a race in a long time. I am so glad I took tomorrow off I need a rest day!!!

I want to say thank you all again for all your amazing inspiring comments, I couldn’t be more blessed to have such an encouraging group of friends out there!!! Love you all!

Stay tuned for my new series tomorrow!!!