The Oakland Marathon, I learned via rudimentary internet research, has typically had sections that ran into the Oakland Hills, and so if I needed to ensure a fast finish, I was going to pass on it, but since I got my BQ in December, I registered for Oakland the day after CIM. At that point I had no particular goal but a weekend in the Bay Area and just continuing to get/be in good shape.
But 2 things happened - my speed was really good. My speedwork was not only quick, but consistent as heck. Then I got emails from the Oakland Running Festival saying that since it's the 10th anniversary of this event, they were changing the marathon route to celebrate, and that now it was running and out-and-back over the eastern span of the Bay Bridge. A little history: the eastern span construction was going on For-Evah - it started sometime in the early 2000s, and was still going on when we moved away from the Bay in 2006, but has been completed by now for a few years. The new beautiful eastern span apparently has a pedestrian trail leading to Yerba Buena Island (or Treasure Island, if you will) - I did not know this. I actually thought we'd be running on the top deck, but turns out there's this great trail! Excellent.
So the new flatter course and my consistent speedwork (combined with the confidence I got by pulling off a 3:36 at CIM) made me think maybe I could finally get the 3:33:33 I've had in my mind since Boston of last year. I made a plan to stay at 8:05-8:10 for miles 1-10, and as best I could from 10-20 (the bay bridge was a slight upgrade from mile 11-15, and then a slight down grade from 15-19), and then to just stay fast and comfortable on the last 6 miles, which were relatively flat.
There's also another thing that happened. In February, we lost a wonderful friend. Brooks had been one of my husband's best friends since college, and was a great friend to both of us the whole time I've known Sean. It was an unexpected loss, and a devastating one. Sean had been planning to head down to the bay area to see him and play D&D the week after my race. Friends arranged a memorial for him the day before the marathon, so that Sean and I could be there.
Brooks could get excited about a topic like nobody I've ever known. And he was funny as hell. He would get going on a joke or an idea and just keep hammering away at it until our faces hurt from laughing. I'm not sure how it started, but one time he got into a thing where he was grabbing my hand and looking at me intensely and saying "For you, baby, for you, I would do anything. For you, baby: I would BRAAAAVE THE SERENGETI!" It was funny and adorable and very Brooks. At the memorial, we met at a park in Berkeley, where we shared stories about him and talked and laughed with old friends, and had a sweet and somber and nostalgic time. I decided I would run the Oakland Marathon in his honor, so when I went back to my hotel room, I wrote on my bib Brooks' name and years on earth, and "For you, Brooks, I would run the Serengeti". I put a pin with his likeness on my hat, and told myself that I would think about him when the running got tough.
So before I talk about *my* race, let me tell you what a great event this was. Big enough to be festive and fun, and small enough to be friendly and un-crowded. Oakland is a complicated city, and the marathon managed to show the beautiful parts, the touristy parts, and the gritty parts without pretending it is something it's not. There were homeless, and there was blight, but the streets were clean, the volunteers plentiful and supportive, and the route both pretty and gritty. It started at Lake Merritt, a fun urban recreational area surrounded by posh homes. We started south of the lake, ran through downtown in a mini-loop, then popped down to Jack London Square. From there we ran through West Oakland and up to the bridge. After a nice long out-and-back on the bridge, we zigzagged through the 20's north of Lake Merritt before popping back on the lake trail right at Children's Fairyland before looping back to the starting area on Grand. This was a fabulously organized and friendly event that I would do again in a heartbeat. (The Portland Marathon could stand to set up a meeting with these guys, I mean it). The event is officially called the Oakland Running Festival and features a 5k, half marathon, 4-person relay marathon, and full marathon. Even the mile markers were done graffiti-style. I loved them, and because I was racing I didn't stop to snap a picture, but I was disappointed as heck to not find any online. Even the Oakland Running Festival's very good Instagram didn't have a pic. So I tried to recreate one. They looked like this, except done with talent:
So my race started out great. I chatted with a nice girl in a cute running hat while we did dynamic warmup at the starting line. It was self-seeded, with pace groups holding up signs for specific paces. I found a place about halfway between the 3:30 group and the 3:35 group. My mantra for the first 5 miles of a race is to continuously remind myself to "be like a rock in a stream", and let all the people overrunning their pace pass me like crazy, knowing I'll see the back of those same heads in the last 5 miles. I kept on my Garmin regularly to stay on pace while still enjoying the sights, but keeping myself slower than adrenaline would have me. I was having a great time and the first 11 miles breezed by in relative comfort. I didn't expect the bay bridge to feel like much of a hill, but 4 miles of steady uphill takes its toll - I read on the internet that it has a maximum grade of 6%, so if true, that explains a bit of the burn I was feeling. In any case, it didn't feel brutal, but it did feel harder than expected. Garmin showed that I slowed to 9:00 several times, and if I recall, I gasped in horror at 9:30 once. But I figured "even effort, not even speed" and figured I'd make it up on the way down. But I was wrong! I don't think there was a headwind, but for some reason, the way down did not feel great. I was still keeping 8:10, but it was hard and I couldn't figure out why. My nutrition had been spot on, I got at least as much sleep as I usually do before a marathon (which is not much, but it's my normal), and I really didn't feel like I was overrunning. At the bottom of the hill when it flattened, I was fighting a little harder for 8:30, but hadn't thrown in the towel yet.
I paused for a gatorade at one of the water stations, I think at mile 19, and shortly after I started running again, the 3:35 pace group passed me. I got sad and figured I wouldn't see them again. I started fighting for an 8:30 and got into my head, wondering what I did wrong. At mile 21, the 3:40 group passed me and I got PISSED. I ran on anger for another mile, but found myself getting slow. Mile 22 I glanced at Garmin and saw 10:something. I wondered if I should just quit and walk. I scanned my brain for why should this feel so bad? Then I said to myself "fuck this - you don't do it because it's easy, you do this because it's satisfying." Then I told myself "FFS Tami, you'll still get a 3:40 something - this isn't a bad day." Then I told myself "A year ago you'd have done anything for the opportunity to run a shitty marathon, and you're running an average one for you. Stop being a baby." I thought about Brooks and the fact that I was running this one for him. I said out loud the thing about the Serengeti. So I sped up and kept a nice easy 9:00-ish pace for a bit, leapfrogging with some guy running the relay. The girl with the cute hat from the beginning passed and offered encouragement. I passed a few people who had passed me the first 5 miles. We got to Children's Fairyland, and I remembered how much my kids liked it when they were little, and I sped up a bit. At mile 25 I pulled up next to a guy who had just stopped to walk and told him, "come on - 10 minutes from now we'll be wearing a medal and drinking a beer." He started running again and said "2 beers!". I saw the finish line and heard my husband and sister in law screaming my name. I put some kick on and sailed into the chute. When all was said and done, I finished in 3:42:55. Really right around average for me. Not a disaster, but a lovely tour of Oakland, sometimes uncomfortable, but a very nice tribute to our dear friend Brooks Chenault.
Stats:
Time - 3:42:55
Overall - 221 out of 1164
Women - 32 out of 380
F 45-49 - 4/ out of 36
