The Oakland half marathon is less than two days away!  I am ready!

I’m less than one week away from participating in my very first half marathon.  I’m excited about the thought of running 13.1 miles as thousands of people around me complete the same trek (while others run the full 26.2-miles).

Since my training began almost three months ago, I’ve learned the importance of making sure I logged the necessary miles.  Each time I skipped a run for one reason  or another — most often for the dread of actually running — I’ve learned to enjoy it more than I imagined.

I don’t plan on trying to set any speed records.  A finish of 2:10:00 or less would be ideal, but I just want to make sure I can cross the finish line with a smile.  I am going to follow Ted’s pace sign that he says will give me close to a 2:10 finish.  We will see.

The excitement begins!

The Oakland Running Festival kicks off on Saturday  in downtown Oakland, with the city hosting a twilight 5K, kid’s run, half marathon, and full marathon.  More than 6,000 of our fellow runners will hit the streets — an expected 5,000 will tackle the half marathon course Sunday morning — and I’m excited about the experience.

Here’s a tidbit from a recent Oakland Tribune article:

“It’s something that will be there after I’m gone, and kids I’ve helped, maybe they’ll do the same,” he said. His favorite run in Oakland is along the West Ridge Trail in Redwood Regional Park. Goldman’s passion, he said, is his working with children who are getting into the sport.”I tell them running is a lot like life: You get out what you put in,” he said.

“It’s not only about how you’re going to run the marathon but about setting a goal, working toward that goal, having a plan and sticking with it.”

The trails in Alameda have seemed a bit more crowded, and I’ve chatted with first time half marathon and marathon runners (just like me).  It has been great training with some of you, and hopefully I’ll see you on Sunday!

Instructions for running a half marathon in two hours and fifteen minutes.

Alamedated, that’s me, will be running a pace group to complete the 2010 Oakland half marathon in 2:15.  To complete the run in 2:15 we will have to run an approximate 2:10 pace.  Here is a picture of me and my sign.  It is not fancy but it will work.

I will be there 30-45 minutes early.

I will be standing around mid pack.

I will be handing out pace sheets for a 10:15 per mile pace.

We will be running at approximately 10:00 per mile to make up for lost time in the crowds.

We will start out by standing with space around us. The space will close up and people will pack in ahead of us.

It will take time to get to the start line. Do not worry, we will make it up.

If you get pushed away by the crowd, just keep the sign in sight and slowly catch up. It will get easy after the first couple of miles when the crowds start to disperse.

We will be behind schedule until mile 10 or 11.  Do not worry, we will make it.  It does not matter if we are 2 minutes late as long as we finish.

I will walk approximately 15 seconds at every water station.

Do not worry about missing a station, there are plenty.

If it is hot or I notice fatigued runners, I will instruct people to drink and slow down to accommodate fluid intake at the aid stations.

I do not have a speedometer so the mile times may vary but I will try to maintain a constant pace.

If you feel fatigued, slow down to an easy shuffle. Keep the sign in sight as long as possible.

If you are new to half marathons and want to speed up, stay with the group until mile 8 then slowly speed up.

Along with my sign, I will be carrying a camera. I will take some pictures along the way. I may hand the sign off to someone then dash ahead to take pictures.

I will post all pictures that are not blurry.

Good luck and have fun. I will post more instructions as I think of them.

alamedarunners.com
Mile    Time
0    0:00:00
1    0:10:15
2    0:20:30
3    0:30:45
4    0:41:00
5    0:51:15
6    1:01:30
7    1:11:45
8    1:22:00
9    1:32:15
10    1:42:30
11    1:52:45
12    2:03:00
13    2:13:15

“Mount Diablo Half Marathon March 20, 2010”

Today was a taper day for Mike. Since he is resting up for our big half marathon next week in Oakland, I decided to do a trail run. I had a ball.

Kevin and I started out the day as a team and we quickly met up with Mary and then Doug. After a little while in the hills,we met up with Miss Reno. We separated during the day but we all had fun.

Brazen racing puts on a wonderful trail racing series.  On Saturday I ran the Mt. Diablo run. It is a typical trail series with small crowds and a friendly support group. I think all support groups are friendly but the smaller events seem to be much more personal.

Any run that has Mount as the first word in the name is bound to be difficult. If Diablo is the second word difficult is a sure thing. We were going up hill before the first mile was over. We were running through water before the second mile was over. We ran through a lot of water. I would have more pictures but the batteries on my camera died early. If anyone from the event is reading this and has pictures, please send me some. I will be happy to post them.

This course had a lot of water and hills. The cold water on my feet felt really good. Towards the end of the run, I went out of my way to play in the water.

Did I mention the hills. I like hills. They really get your heart rate going. It seems that people who are just cruising along for a run form a bond that is nice to have. When you get really tired, you don’t worry about forming an image and keeping it. The true people come out and relax. You know that your running partner (or partners) are working hard and they worked hard to get to that point to be there with you.

I must apologize for the pictures. I have been having a hard time
with the camera lately. I just don’t have the enthusiasm to practice with the cameras these days.