Santa Barbara Half Marathon

I naively signed up for Santa Barbara before even running the San Jose half. Ultimately I was glad that I signed up early because I may have talked myself out of it - not because I didn't love running in October, but because I was so tired by the whole experience. Santa Barbara was barely a month later, but the calls to Anna  and Maria had been made. We had paid the entrance fee, put down money on the vacation rental, and settled on travel plans. 

The race was on Saturday, November 10. This complicated things because I didn't want to miss work, so Seth and I left as soon as that final bell rang and made the drive to the central coast. Seth dropped me off at the darling beach house I was staying at with Anna's family and Maria close to 11pm. We unsuccessfully tried to sleep and were lacing up our shoes just after 5am so that we could line up for the busses that were supposed to get us to the starting line.

 The busses were hopelessly behind, so we stood in the freezing morning sunshine and took pictures. I think our feet look so tiny. Not quite sure how the proportions ended up this way. 

For it being so early and so cold, we look pretty happy. Lots of laughing and lots of people watching. 

 This amazing woman has three boys and a husband working towards a PhD at U.C. Riverside, and she still managed to fit in time to train. We've come a long way from our days running around the halls of our freshman dorm. 

This is the iconic Instagram of the day. 

Our lavish travel arrangements - Santa Barbara school busses. Oh so fancy. 

 Maria ran her heart out and finished much sooner than Anna and I, so Maria was able to snap this action shot of our final turn on the course with Gangam Style blaring every inch of the way. This half marathon was a good excuse for Anna and I to catch up without her cute boys climbing all over her. It was also was an incredible view of the ocean as we rounded a corner during the last couple miles. 

 Tired, starving (my two pre-run bananas just weren't cutting it), and happy.

It was Veteran's Day weekend so our course had these fine gentlemen clad in uniform hanging out at the end. 

The standout thing about this run is actually what happened after. While it was a great adventure to run with these two friends, it was Maria getting so sick on our bus back to the parking lot that left the more lasting impression. The poor girl threw up over and over again over the course of the hour after the race and was so weak that I drove her back to Los Angeles because I was nervous about her being alone on the road. I was sad to leave Anna, Justin, and her boys much earlier than planned, but glad that I had the ability to get Maria home. Besides my legs shaking like crazy while Maria and got stuck in traffic on the 101, we had a surprisingly good time just chatting and marveling about the fact that we had done two races in a month. We even mused about the possibility of a marathon and gushed over pictures of her new niece. I fell asleep before eight that night curled up on Maria's couch. 

Because Seth had continued on to Orange County after dropping me in Santa Barbara, he was able to come pick me up the next morning so that we could make the trek back home. Naturally we had to stop in San Luis Obispo (which we also did on the way down) for food and to drop off Seth's friend Jim. When we got back to the Bay Area, it was hard to tell what had just happened. SLO, SB, LA, and back to the Bay in 48 hours - not to mention the 13.1 miles run in the middle. Oh, the insanity!!