2 years ago I decide to take my chances at the first annual Oakland half marathon and today I challenged the city once again. Back in August, my friends and I passed around an uber deal of a discount code for the Oakland half marathon. At the time I thought I'd try to PR not realizing that I'd take my chances with the Napa Marathon just 3 weeks prior to this race.
I decided going into this marathon I would take it as steady as I could and try not to injure myself. I thought a 1:45 was realistic since I ran most of my marathon at 8 minute pace, but I wasn't really thinking too hard about it. Success! I ran a 1:45 chip time, which is not a PR, but around what I thought I'd do, and I managed to end up with NO STOMACH PROBLEMS, which is the biggest success I've had with ANY race.
Now when people think of Oakland they don't usually have too many positive thoughts, but I actually think Oakland is a pretty awesome city! Unfortunately, I was not able to enjoy the course too much because I was having some major achilles issues/pain, but I still made it to the finish line.
This is how it all broke down:
Mile 1: I started off slow, but a little speedy since we headed downhill for the first mile. I planned to run with my friends Kristin and Amy, but this proved to be an epic FAIL by mile 2 or 3 when we all got separated in the crowd with the twists and turns.
I managed an 8:14 for the first mile as we winded past the Paramount Theater
Mile 2: We made some more twists and turns through Oakland heading into what seems like a Chinatown district. The course was pretty flat here, but I tried to stay as close to the corners as possible.
8:02
Mile 3: This is where I tried to slow down and find my friends, but sadly I'd lost them so I headed on trying maintain a steady pace 7:55
Mile 4: So many spectators out to cheer us on!!! We reached the first water station and since I was feeling pretty good I ventured on with no H20 break. However, this is where my time got a bit off, we headed through a tunnel where my garmin lost signal which explains the 7:28 mile.
Mile 5: This is where the trouble with my achilles began, and I contemplated a DNF, but managed to push to the end. This is also where we encountered the Raider fans decked out in their black and silver, greeting us with high-5s. 8:01
Mile 6: With the pain in my leg and the scenery becoming very industrial I started to stop paying attention to the sights and start focusing on finishing. I kept looking around for friends, or maybe even a way to cut back to the start, but no luck. 7:55
Mile 7: Half way through this mile we met up with the Marathoners, this was uplifting, because whatever pain I was facing they were hitting their rough and tough 18 mile mark. 8:09
Mile 8: This is where I ran into a few familiar faces. Apparently I wasn't the only one struggling to the finish. I had a few friends having some aches and pains of their own, but we cheered each other on and kept pushing toward the finish. I finally took in some water and I'm pretty sure this is the mile with the fire cave, by the fire arts building which is always a cool sight to see. 8:11
Mile 9: From this mile I could see the sights of Lake Merritt. We winded back through down town passing the HUGE Amtrak station and headed toward our last miles around the lake. We headed over a little bump of a hill passing the beautiful civic auditorium. 8:11
Mile 10: Yay! only 3 more to go. I was really struggling with my achilles by now, but I knew I only had to make it around the lake and I would be home free. I was feeling pretty good in terms of nutrition so I kept pushing on toward the lake with the final few twists and turns of the course. 7:52
Mile 11: We had to climb a tiny hill here, but I was pushing a bit harder since the park was just across the water. Although I don't want to swim in Lake Merritt anytime soon, being by the water has some kind of serenity to it, but maybe that is because my favorite races are close to the ocean. 8:05
Mile 12: The countdown continues as I push toward the finish. I started to pick up the pace a bit more passing the rowing club and other scenery surrounding the lake. 7:47
Mile 13: We wound past Lake Chalet, and since we had done a shake out run the day before around the lake I knew we were almost to the finish line, plus the mile 13 sign helped. I used my garmin to coach me to the finish running a 7:26 mile
Mile .17: The last bit was up a small roller so I pushed up the little incline relieved I was so close to the finish...I stopped my garmin reading 1:44:35. Crossing the finish line marked the end of running season for me and the start of tri season heading toward Wildflower and eventually VINEMAN 70.3.
Today was a beautiful day in Oakland for a race, and then we headed off to eat and celebrate a friend's birthday!
I decided going into this marathon I would take it as steady as I could and try not to injure myself. I thought a 1:45 was realistic since I ran most of my marathon at 8 minute pace, but I wasn't really thinking too hard about it. Success! I ran a 1:45 chip time, which is not a PR, but around what I thought I'd do, and I managed to end up with NO STOMACH PROBLEMS, which is the biggest success I've had with ANY race.
Now when people think of Oakland they don't usually have too many positive thoughts, but I actually think Oakland is a pretty awesome city! Unfortunately, I was not able to enjoy the course too much because I was having some major achilles issues/pain, but I still made it to the finish line.
This is how it all broke down:
Mile 1: I started off slow, but a little speedy since we headed downhill for the first mile. I planned to run with my friends Kristin and Amy, but this proved to be an epic FAIL by mile 2 or 3 when we all got separated in the crowd with the twists and turns.
I managed an 8:14 for the first mile as we winded past the Paramount Theater
Mile 2: We made some more twists and turns through Oakland heading into what seems like a Chinatown district. The course was pretty flat here, but I tried to stay as close to the corners as possible.
8:02
Mile 3: This is where I tried to slow down and find my friends, but sadly I'd lost them so I headed on trying maintain a steady pace 7:55
Mile 4: So many spectators out to cheer us on!!! We reached the first water station and since I was feeling pretty good I ventured on with no H20 break. However, this is where my time got a bit off, we headed through a tunnel where my garmin lost signal which explains the 7:28 mile.
Mile 5: This is where the trouble with my achilles began, and I contemplated a DNF, but managed to push to the end. This is also where we encountered the Raider fans decked out in their black and silver, greeting us with high-5s. 8:01
Mile 6: With the pain in my leg and the scenery becoming very industrial I started to stop paying attention to the sights and start focusing on finishing. I kept looking around for friends, or maybe even a way to cut back to the start, but no luck. 7:55
Mile 7: Half way through this mile we met up with the Marathoners, this was uplifting, because whatever pain I was facing they were hitting their rough and tough 18 mile mark. 8:09
Mile 8: This is where I ran into a few familiar faces. Apparently I wasn't the only one struggling to the finish. I had a few friends having some aches and pains of their own, but we cheered each other on and kept pushing toward the finish. I finally took in some water and I'm pretty sure this is the mile with the fire cave, by the fire arts building which is always a cool sight to see. 8:11
Mile 9: From this mile I could see the sights of Lake Merritt. We winded back through down town passing the HUGE Amtrak station and headed toward our last miles around the lake. We headed over a little bump of a hill passing the beautiful civic auditorium. 8:11
Mile 10: Yay! only 3 more to go. I was really struggling with my achilles by now, but I knew I only had to make it around the lake and I would be home free. I was feeling pretty good in terms of nutrition so I kept pushing on toward the lake with the final few twists and turns of the course. 7:52
Mile 11: We had to climb a tiny hill here, but I was pushing a bit harder since the park was just across the water. Although I don't want to swim in Lake Merritt anytime soon, being by the water has some kind of serenity to it, but maybe that is because my favorite races are close to the ocean. 8:05
Mile 12: The countdown continues as I push toward the finish. I started to pick up the pace a bit more passing the rowing club and other scenery surrounding the lake. 7:47
Mile 13: We wound past Lake Chalet, and since we had done a shake out run the day before around the lake I knew we were almost to the finish line, plus the mile 13 sign helped. I used my garmin to coach me to the finish running a 7:26 mile
Mile .17: The last bit was up a small roller so I pushed up the little incline relieved I was so close to the finish...I stopped my garmin reading 1:44:35. Crossing the finish line marked the end of running season for me and the start of tri season heading toward Wildflower and eventually VINEMAN 70.3.
Today was a beautiful day in Oakland for a race, and then we headed off to eat and celebrate a friend's birthday!
