Santa Barbara Athletic Club

In 2012 I decided to join Santa Barbara Athletic Club. I had never joined a running club before and wasn’t really sure what to expect. SBAA ended up being a great group of friendly runners who were always very welcoming. I was happy that I had decided to join and I encourage all runners to join their local running club. It is a great way to meet other local runners and to get plugged in on local running events. This year I also plan on joining, but the online registration is still currently under construction.

SBAA also organizes a series of races called the Grand Prix series. To join Grand Prix is an extra $10 and somewhere around twenty two local races are part of the series. Once you join, you compete against people in your age group. In my age group, I needed to complete four of these races in order to qualify. I ended up completing six races.

 

Jacket and pint glass!

Surprisingly, I held first place in my age group for the first couple of months, but then a very fast lady joined and kicked my butt! After getting injured, I expected to loose my second place standing, but managed to hold it when the lady in third place didn’t run any of the GP events during my down time. To my surprise, I managed to finish the year in second place!

I had started out the year thinking I would just do the GP series for fun. I’m not fast, but I am consistent and this year consistency paid off. In December when SBAA held their annual banquet, I received a nice GP running jacket and a second place pint glass! I was thrilled! It’s not often I actually place in a running event!

I don't drink beer, but this is pretty cool!

If your local running club holds a series like this, join it! You never know how it will turn out and you might just end up surprising yourself. It’s a great motivator to get out there and run!

50 State Challenge

Who doesn’t want to run in all 50 states?!? Ok so a lot of people wouldn’t, but I do! I want to see the world in my running shoes, on the streets and trails. With only two states completed, it’s a little premature for me to be announcing that I am taking on the 50 states challenge, but whatever! I’m going to do this!

My goal is to run a half marathon or longer in each state. I hope to knock off a few states each year, but I’m not rich, so this is going to take some time. Last year I completed Texas with the San Antonio Rock’n’Roll Half Marathon, boom done! And California has been in the bag for a year now. So two states down, only forty eight to go! Piece of cake!

I have a tab at the top of my blog where I will be keeping track of my progress!

Looking Back and Looking Forward

I hope everyone’s New Year has gotten off to a great start! Anyone set any exciting running or fitness resolutions for 2013? I’m doing something different this year. I’m not setting any mileage goals or number of race goals, I’m keeping it simple. 2013 is going to be about getting healthy and staying healthy, building a strong base and preparing for 2014.

I am once again down with ITBS (Iliotibial band syndrome), this time on my left leg. I irritated it running Santa to the Sea a little too hard. I thought I had my muscle imbalance under control, but apparently I don’t. So I’m getting back to the basics and easing off on my mileage and speed while it heals.

Achievements for 2012 included running my first marathon, completing thirteen total races for the year and beating my previous year’s mileage. Not too shabby. I spent almost half the year injured, so I’ve learned a lot of valuable lessons which has led to my decision to push my goals off to 2014. I’d like to run another marathon and beat some of my old PR’s, but my base needs some serious work, so I can avoid some of these injuries. Sometimes you need to take a step back in order to move forward. I look forward to what the new year will bring!

My first marathon!