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.

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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???

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We took off and I felt great..

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

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See you soon! 

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

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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.

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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!

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At mile 12 I got rid of the  long sleeves!

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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!

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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!

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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.

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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. 

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

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DONE AND DONE!!!!

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Official stats:

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

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Need Fuel!

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Need a Massage!

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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?!

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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.

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

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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!

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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! 

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Hubby had some yogurt with Captain Crunch and other goodness!

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

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

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

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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!!!


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