Santa Barbara Marathon

This will probably be pretty lengthy, but so is a marathon!

The Expo
We picked up my bib Friday evening.  New to me was a timing chip on the back of the bib.  This made the bib quite a bit stiffer, but I didn't notice it once I got running.  Most of my freebies were picked up at the National Guard booth.  We met four of the team members and they looked ready to run.

I also met the director of the Ojai to Ocean Marathon.  We chatted quite a while.  The race has now been renamed The Mountains to the Beach and moved a week earlier to Memorial Day weekend.  Ben asked what my goal was for the next day's race.  After telling him about my Dad being in the hospital for much of my training, I said, "I don't have a time goal, but I'm okay with that.  I plan to smile at every mile marker.  I'd also like to give first time marathoners encouragement along the way."  I didn't plan that second part, it just flew out of my mouth.  I had no idea how much that would play into the second half of my race!

Of course I had pizza Friday night!  After checking in at the Agave Inn, we got a recommendation for Olio Pizzeria.  It was fabulous and I had no stomach problems during the race.  Pizza.  Can't run without it!

Race Day
The prediction of rain had dropped considerably, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky Saturday morning.  It was about 36 out, but that would quickly change as the sun came out.  I slept pretty good, and was ready to get up and get running.  We all gathered in the school gym waiting...

At about 7:30 we started gathering outside.   The sun was starting to warm things up, so I gave my jacket to Les and kept my throw away, which I ended up tossing by mile 2.

I started with the 4:30 pace group, but really did not expect to finish with them.  I smiled at mile markers and thanked volunteers along the way.  At about the 4 mile mark I noticed a woman taking frequent walk breaks.  I caught up to her and asked if she was doing the Galloway plan.  She said yes, running 5 minutes, walking one.  I asked if she minded if I joined her and away we went.  Just like women, we chatted, ran, chatted, walked, and chatted some more!  Diane was running her sixth marathon and was great company.  I finally needed a pit stop at the 13 mile mark and I told her to go ahead.  She said to try to catch her, but I never did.

Just around the 15 mile mark, as I was walking through a water stop, I met Alison.  This was her first marathon.  I asked if she wanted some company and she was happy for it.  We ran the rest of the marathon together!  We chatted, ran, chatted, walked and chatted some more!  The miles were still there, it was warm at times, hills were tough but we got through them!  She said when I caught up with her she was really starting to wonder if she could finish the race. She had trained with some friends, but they had all gotten ahead of her.  So I did what I really wish someone would have done for me on my first marathon, I helped her finish and enjoyed the race so much more!

Les was able to catch up with me many times while on his mountain bike.  He was so great!  Telling me how awesome I was doing, carrying extra Perpetuem, taking pictures, and just being there.  Between Les, Diane, and Alison I never reached a point during the marathon that I just wanted to give up.  Not once did I think "I hate this, why did I sign up for this?"  Those were thoughts that kept me company while I ran some lonely miles from Ojai, but not this time!

The final half mile was lined with American flags.  It was downhill to the finish line.  Alison and I picked up the pace for one last burst!

There's just nothing like crossing the finish line!

A hug from Alison!

And number 2 is in the books!

I think if I had realized just how under trained I was, I probably wouldn't have even attempted this marathon.  My last long run was on September 29th - my 20 miler.  That was six weeks before the marathon.  I had done nothing longer than 9 miles in the final six weeks!

The miracle isn't that I finished.
The miracle is that I had the courage to start.

Official time 5:28:52, 12:33 pace. I'll have a breakdown of all the numbers tomorrow.