“The steeper the mountain the harder the climb- the better the view from the finishing line.” ~ Rusty Snow*

The day started out as almost any other day in beautiful Santa Barbara: with a thick layer of misty fog. And getting up at 4:30am was as awesome as it sounds.  Ah yes, race morning! No matter how many times I do this, the lead up to a race always plays out in the same scenario, with slight variations: a few hours of mostly fitful sleep dozing, waking up before the alarm actually goes off, rising before the crack of dawn, changing into race clothes that have been laid out the night before in exactly this fashion, followed by an attempt to get some food down while trying to stay warm (the latter of which more often than not fails miserably). Then it’s off to the start with enough time to spare for a last minute pit stop, or two, or three, or… (yes, I’ve been there!) but not too much time as to risk frost bite. Although this year I felt surprisingly calm and actually slept five uninterrupted hours. A definite first first for the night leading up to race morning.

After the pre race morning routine that is planned out to the last detail it was off to the start line by the beach, where a 50 degree temperature difference from the desert greeted meand at 6am I found myself yet again in the back of Wally‘s van covered up to my nose in a cozy blanket until the last minute to line up for the start of the yearly epic race that takes us from the Santa Barbara pier up to La Cumbre Peak for 13.1 miles and 4000 feet of relentless climbing.

At 6:30am sharp the start gun went off and we made our way through downtown Santa Barbara, a place I called home for nine wonderful years. The first three miles went by fast, catching up with old running friends, as we slowly warmed up and made our way passed the Mission and onto Mountain Drive where the first timers get the first taste of things to come. Although Mountain Drive gets fairly steep it still levels out at certain points, small breaks before the fun begins at the bottom of Gibraltar Road. Just as a side note: Gibraltar is the road Lance Armstrong used to ride to train for the Tour de France… By the time we reached Gibraltar we were out of the fog belt and the early morning sun was shining down on us as the terrain turned into the relentless climb this race is famous for. When we reached the turn onto Gibraltar Road I had found a good rhythm, my breathing was under control and my heart rate still relatively low. In other words: I felt good, except for a nagging pain in both achilles tendons and ankles but I was ready to do this! Miles 4 to 8 are mostly in the shade and although I had definitely broken a sweat I was by no means overheating even as the temperature slowly climbed with each uphill step. Although this section is definitely a steep ascent, there are short, ok, very short, sections that are less steep and give you a bit of a relief, which my ankles were grateful for. At mile 7 1/2 you reach the famous hair pin, the moment those of us who have run this race before realize that things will get ugly in about 1/2 mile and the first timers believe that at this point most of the race is behind them, when in fact it is really only beginning. The next few miles will separate the tough ones from the tougher ones, the determined from the relentlessly determined, the fools from the foolish fools. The next 1/2 mile after the hair pin passes relatively quickly and before you know it you have reached mile 8, where the shuffle begins. At first the road gets steeper ever so slightly until mile 9. Mile 9 – 10 have some very steep climbs and by the time you get to mile 9 fatigue has usually set in. Some runners start to cramp, some feel the on set of dehydration, many start to walk, all slow down! This is also the part of the course where it leads to the sunny side with very few and short shady spots. What is also interesting is that, with few exceptions, the runners you are with at mile 10 are also the ones you finish with. Between mile 11 and 12 you get a bit of relief as you reach the only downhill part of the entire race. This is the time to enjoy the last breather before the relentless last mile point one! The last mile is brutal and features one of the steepest parts of the race. It also seems to be the longest (don’t argue!) before you finally see the last turn into the park that holds the finish line. And don’t even think that the finish line is flat. Oh, no, you will have to climb it to reach it!

As I do every time I run this race I had a great time. This is by far my most favorite race and I truly run it for the fun of it. This was the year where leading up to the race I did not have a gym membership and missed a full month of uphill training. I had no idea how things would play out. They went surprisingly well and I actually took my first walk break later than last year. My first stop came at mile 11 at which point I walked for about 1/4 mile. I had started to cramp in the front of both lower legs and ankles and used the walk break to stretch things out. That’s also when I started to feel slightly nauseous and had trouble getting water down. Nothing new, really! I picked up the pace on the downhill from mile 11 – 12, with my complete left foot in a fully cramped state, before I started my on and off walking routine from mile 12 to 13. I wanted to reserve some energy for last 1/4 mile and come over the finish line smiling and, most importantly, upright! Both goals were achieved.

The final result: a finish time of 2:38:44, out of 162 female runners that finished I placed 41. This was definitely my slowest finish time for this race to date but I always hold true to the notion that I run this for pure fun, not to break any records. Age is creeping up on all of us with each passing day and I have come to realize that I will never run the same times I ran 10 years ago. As long as I reach my own personal goals, which in case of this race is to break 3 hours I am happy. And my finish time was more than enough to make that happen!

looking onto fog covered Santa Barbara from about 1000 feet

my personal support vehicle with one of the crew members

Mile 8

“Are we there yet?”

still running

“See you at the top!”…

…next year!

*a Santa Barbara running legend

Today’s Running Tip: There will be no running tip today!