Just doing it - why not? Pier to Peak

Four years ago I learned of the Pier to Peak half marathon that takes place on Labor Day weekend in Santa Barbara, that gains 3996 feet in elevation, starting at the dolphins by the beach and ending at La Cumbre Peak. Because of my political involvment,one of the highlights of Labor Day is that it marks the unofficial beginning to campaign season. While this tough race seemed appealing it looked as if though it required a lot of heavy training, so I put it on the list of races to run in future years.

Two summers later, I began training for the race for a couple of weeks. One day I asked a friend to drive the course with me just to check it out. The road was never ending and we don't in fact know if we ever reached the top or not. I psyched out and scratched it off the list of races to run.

The next summer I vacillated a serious consideration of the race. It was a campaign season, and interesting one since I didn't work on a campaign in the same capacity as previous years, but training would've been hard. I figured I'd make a decision within the first week of August. The decision was simple and it was a definitive NO - since I fractured my shoulder on August 1st. That would leave training and all running out of the question.

This year I posted on Facebook that I was thinking about doing it...Ms. Kristiana said something to the effect of - just do it. I considered it a little longer and on July 29th I finally signed up. While I had spent most of July building a base mileage I started 'training' at the beginning of August. I'll be able to get up to an 11 mile run in by the week before the race, but I don't know where I can work on hills... 

Jude, a friend told me that her and her then- boyfriend ran it and were almost crawling toward the end. But recommended it as worthwhile. A couple of friends mentioned on Facebook that they're doing it for a second, and some even a third time. While it sounds like a grueling race, it must also be rewarding one to finish.

This is the course map:

And here's a video of the race last year.

If it goes well - meaning that I finish, I think I'll be in good timing to train for the SB full in November. The first 2 loops (10 miles) of the full is the same loop that I ran daily for YEARS! The second half of that race is the 'SB half marathon' which I've already run before, so I'd have home court advantage to finally PR.

P2P will be my 7th half marathon, and one that will be plenty challenging, I am anticipating. I'm still really excited about it - it's my nerdy way of celebrating my 28th year. This upcoming year will be one of just doing things! Not in a wreckless manner, but with just enough caution to not be deemed wreckless, but not as measured as my M.O. We'll see how this approach goes.