I did it! Not only did I beat last year’s Giant Race half marathon run by 45 minutes, but I earned a new postpartum PR by 5 minutes! 💥 To say the least, it was a fantastic day in San Francisco! From start to finish, there’s not a thing I would have changed.

I’ll be honest and say that lately when I travel one + hours away for a race, my go to pre-race breakfast is a McDonald’s egg and cheese biscuit with a hash-brown and coffee. I’ve been so slow lately that I figure what’s the use in fueling my body properly. *insert shoulder shrug

The morning of the Giant Race, however, I did NOT eat a McDonald’s breakfast. Instead, I made myself some overnight oats which has been my go-to breakfast as of lately. The overnight oats that I make consist of 2/3 cups of oats, 1/4 cup of frozen blueberries, 1 tsp of cinnamon, and unsweetened almond milk covering it all. I place my overnight oats in a mason jar, take it out in the morning, microwave it for two minutes, and then place 1 tablespoon on top. It is so tasty and so filling!

On top of eating overnight oats for breakfast instead of McDonald’s, I also have made a commitment to work out every day for at least 30 minutes. I started this commitment the week before the Giant Race. Within that first week, I lost over five pounds! I’m sure this weight loss added on top of my smarter food choice made a difference in my speed and how I felt that day.

I left my house to drive to the Giant Race at 4am and arrived to Oracle Park at about 6am. Seeing the bright lights of the park among the slowly rising sun and waters of the bay was beautiful!

After soaking in the sights for a moment, I made my way to the Juan Marichal statue to meet up with Jenn (who was kind enough to pick my bib up for me the day before) and the rest of the We Run Social crew.

I ran quickly back to my car to drop off my race shirt and bobble head then quickly made my way to the starting line. Much to my surprise, up behind came two friends who had spotted me in the crowd. We lined up together and started the race together, but quickly parted ways since they were running the 10k and I was running the half marathon.

From the start of the race, I was amazed by how much better I felt compared to a year prior when I was 29 weeks pregnant! Growing a baby is hard work! Although I feel a lot better physically, I still am working on getting back in shape because my heart rate is still super high. I’ve mentioned this in prior race recaps, but I’m still running based more on heart rate versus pace. If my heart rate is up in the 190s, my head starts to pound making things not enjoyable. If I employ a run/walk strategy, but heart rate stays more manageable and my head doesn’t pound. #winwin

The highlight of my 13.1+ mile journey was seeing my friend Ashely out on course! She is the founder of Every Runner Counts. She was out on course around the 11th mile supporting every last runner with bracelets, cheers, and hugs. I love her heart and positivity!

Before I knew it, Oracle Park was in my sight and I had just run a new postpartum PR!

I grabbed some post-race water bottles / snacks, took a new picture for a side by side, and made my way to the stands to relax for a bit before make the two+ hour drive back home.

Would I return to run the Giant Race again for a third year? Yes, absolutely! See you there next year?

Out of the four half marathons I’ve ran since giving birth 8 months ago, not only was the OakTown Half my fastest half marathon, but I also felt the best during this half! After running the OakTown Half, I feel hopeful about my future postpartum running endeavors.

Of course, the first step to preparing for a race is laying out your outfit the morning before. Although my Nike dri-fit shorts are my normal go-to, for the OakTown Half, I decided to wear my Lululemon skirt instead. (A little fun fact… This skirt was my first Lululemon purchase and I bought it during a We Run Social shakeout run in San Francisco on April 6, 2019.)

Since I’m now a mom to a baby, I don’t usually spend the night at a running location unless it is more than a three hour drive away. If it takes me less than three hours to drive to the race, then chances are I’ll be driving there the morning of. Since it takes me about two hours to drive to Oakland, I left my house at 4am and drove there the morning of the race. The Bay Bridge looked so beautiful in the wee hours of the morning!

I made my way to the race starting line after finding a place to park my car (for free) on the street. I snapped a quick pic of the starting line and then looked for the place to pick up my bib. (I paid the $20 fee to pick up my bib the morning of the race. For people such as myself who live two or more hours away, driving down on Saturday to pick up my bib and then driving down again on Sunday to run the race is a little much.) Sadly, when I got to the front of the line to pick up my bib, my bib number could not be found. This was the first time this has ever happened to me. Fortunately, they were able to find a new bib number for me and I was quickly on my way to the starting line. (While waiting in line to pick up my bib, I got to chat with fellow BibRave Pros Rory and Fallon!)

Before I knew it, the race was under way. I was so focused on running and enjoying the course, that I missed the first mile marker! I don’t know about you, but I have a tendency to start races too quickly. The OakTown Half was no exception. By mile four, my head was pounding! I haven’t done a lot of research on this, but I think my heart rate gets too high during a race and so my head starts to pound. I think my heart rate gets too high because I’m not in proper shape. It truly is a vicious cycle.

With that being said, once my head started pounding, I decided to slow down my pace and change to Garmin Forerunner 235 to display heart rate zones as opposed to my mileage and pace. I decided that I was going to run until my heart rate was in the mid Maxium (red) zone. I would then walk until my heart rate was in the low to mid Anaerobic (dark orange) zone. As this point I’d run and repeat the process. This worked so well that the miles seemed to just click on by! I was feeling good, no head pounding, and I was able to enjoy the views!

They changed the OakTown course this year and I’m so glad that they did! As mentioned in my Top Reasons to Run the OakTown Half, I love running anywhere in which there is a view of water… a lake, river, ocean, etc. To be able to run about 6 miles of the OakTown course while taking in the views of Lake Merritt were magical!

Since I wasn’t following my mileage and pace as closely as I do in other races, I was so pleasantly pleased to see that I was set to PR when I looked at my total elapsed time as about mile 11. I continued to comfortably pushed my pace all the way to the finish line. I, in fact, beat my time on this course last year by over 20 minutes! I beat my previous postpartum PR by 7 minutes. Still chasing that pre-pregnancy PR, but that’s okay. Overall, I’m thrilled with my performance.

Is there anything quite as nice as a finish line beer?! I love that the OakTown Half hands all finishers a custom mason jar when you cross the finish line so that you can fill it with water, beer, or a little or both! 😉

To conclude, the medal is SO way awesome! I love the detail of the lake and that those parts were see-through.

I did it! It may have been painful and it may have been really slow, but I did it! I am now a 19-time full marathon finisher!

The Santa Rosa Marathon wasn’t my slowest marathon ever (my first full marathon postpartum, Orange County Marathon, was my slowest) and a far cry from my PR of 4:28, but today I am celebrating my progress, not perfection. As I wrote in my pre-race blog post, I really wanted to drop down to the half marathon, but I pushed through the full. I wanted to quit, but I kept putting one foot in front of the other.

Let’s back it up to the start of race day morning. My alarm went off at 3am with the goal to leave the house by 3:45am. By 4am I was on the road to make it for the 6:30am race start time. Normally, when I’m driving two plus hours away for a race, I stop along the way to grab some coffee and a little something to eat. Sadly, I stopped at three different places and each one was closed. I finally found a place close to the starting line, ran in quickly to get some food/coffee, used the restroom, and rushed to the starting line. I parked my car and made it to the starting line with 10 minutes to spare. Enough time to run into Vanessa and find Holly.

One of the first things Holly said to me was, “Want to drop down to the half?” Although I REALLY wanted to drop down to the half, I told her no and we made our way into corral three.

As we started to run those first few miles, my mind went from, “Oh, this isn’t so bad,” to ” Uh oh! What have I gotten myself into!” and then back again.

By mile six, Holly and I had gotten into a nice rhythm and my hopes were high that we could keep up our run/walk pace.

At mile 10, we had the pleasure of running through DeLoach Vineyards and receiving a shot of chardonnay. Yum!

Shortly after the 10 mile mark, things started falling apart pretty quickly. I could already feel blisters forming on my feet, the sun came out from behind the clouds, and I was slowing down.

By mile 15, I told Holly to continue on without me since she was still feeling good. After a little bit of protest she wished me well and away she went. I proceeded to walk the remaining 11 plus miles. Yes, that’s right. I walked nearly the entire second half of the marathon.

Some of the highlights of the rest of the race include getting to try some local grapes being passed out by some of the residents along the route. They also served ice cold water in mason jars to us.

If it hadn’t been for not wanting to let anyone down, I probably would have called it quits somewhere along the course. I was not in the physical nor mental state to be completing a marathon.

When I finally made it to the finish line, I didn’t even take any pictures. I hobbled my way back to my car, pumped (still breastfeeding), and began driving home. I had thought that after pumping I’d go back to the beer fest, but I forgot to bring my Oofos recovery sandals, I didn’t want to walk back in my running shoes, and I wanted to get home to spend some time with baby.

As for the Santa Rosa course and if I think it’d be one I would recommend for you, I can tell you that we got to see some incredible views of vineyards, it was peaceful, and relatively flat. The aid stations were well supplied with volunteers, water, nuun, and gels, but elsewhere on the course there were few spectators. I may just have to run Santa Rosa again next year to better my course time.

I left my house at about 4:15am for a 7am race start. It was an early morning. I made it to the Sonoma Plaza with barely enough time to spare. Since there is not parking at the start of the Napa to Sonoma half marathon, runners are encouraged to either take a shuttle to the starting line or get dropped off. Since I drove myself to the race, I had to catch a shuttle. The website said that the last shuttle was departing at 6:30am. I, of course, arrived at 6:25am. As first I didn’t see anyone around. I reread the shuttle information page and realized that I was standing at the corner of 1st Street West and Spain instead of 1st Street East and Spain. Uh oh! I quickly ran one block to the correct location in just the nick of time.

Before I knew it, I was standing at the race starting line and the countdown was over.

Next to water as one of my favorite things to run beside, I’d say that vineyards would be a close second. So many vineyards and wineries along the course of the Napa to Sonoma half. I think a fun add on to the race would be a wine tasting bus tour that visits all the wineries along the course. 😉

Some of the highlights of the race, besides running past vineyards, were running into one of my fellow BibRave Pro Linda and drinking some Rose while on course. #roséallday

The course was well marked, traffic was controlled beautifully by law enforcement as well as volunteers, and the views were next to none! Next, it was time to cross that finish line and enjoy the finish line festivities. (I was hoping for a time that was a little faster, but I had too much fun taking in the views while out on course.) . I trained with team Endure Strong for this training cycle and would highly recommend checking them out!

Before picking up my wine glass at the finish line, I walked to my car that was close by so that I could change my clothes and pump (I’m still breastfeeding my 7 month old baby).

Twenty minutes later, I felt like a whole new person and made my way back to the finish line festivities. The Napa to Sonoma half finish line was probably one of my favorites! There were quite a few wineries all pouring at least two different wines (usually a red and a white). The best part is that with your wine glass and a wristband showing you were over 21 years of age, there was unlimited tastings! I have already contacted several friends to tell them that we need to run this race next year and spend the night Sunday night to fully be able to enjoy the finish line festivities. 🙂

Speaking of running this race next year, race registration is now open and will sell out. Who will I see at Napa to Sonoma next year?

Expo: Well organized and great vendors. Lots to see and do!

Race Day: It took me a few minutes to find the start line after I was dropped off at 5am. I may or may not have followed a couple of runners into a hotel because I thought they were going to the starting line, but I eventually made it to where I needed to be. Most of the time I do not warm up or stretch before starting a race. I figured the walk/jog to the starting line is sufficient enough.

When I arrived to the starting line, I could tell there were many more half marathon runners than full marathon runners. (There were 6818 half marathoners and 1551 full marathoners.) The full marathon started at 5:30am, whereas the half marathon began at 6:15am. As I made my way to the starting line, many of the half marathoners were deboarding the bus. Many of the marathoners were already lined up at the starting line. Since I knew it was going to be a slow race, I made my way to the back of the pack and found the 5:30 pacers.

I'm not exactly sure what I was thinking as I lined up with the 5:30 pacers... hopeful? delirious? insane? I ran a 6 hour marathon at the California International Marathon in 2017 and to do so I ran intervals of walk two minutes, run one minute. I thought the 5:30 pacers would maybe do intervals as well, but I was mistaken. Within the first few miles, I fell back behind the 5:30 pacers.

Off and on throughout the race, I texted my mom and husband to update them on my progress. At first, I had told them that I would finish at 11:30am (six hours from the start). At about mile 18, I informed them that I would be finishing closer to noon based upon my pace. I was so happy to see the two of them and my baby at the finish line when I finally finished!

This marathon was the first race in which I had serious thoughts on calling it quits. I was in a lot of pain due to a giant blister on the bottom of my right foot and several blisters forming on my heels (not to mention that nearly every muscle in my body was screaming at me). What made me continue forward was the fear of letting people down. I am not a quitter and didn't want others to think of me as such. Also, I have never dropped out of a race before and did not want to start now. I was physically able to continue, so step by step I continued on to the finish line.

The second half of a marathon is always hardest for me. You would think that I'd be happy that I am over halfway finished, but that is usually not the case. The excitement of starting the race has diminished and the reality that I still have 10+ miles to go hits me.

The OC Marathon was especially difficult in the second half. The half marathon runners had already split from the group and the course no longer had scenic views. Instead, the second half of the marathon course takes runners through neighborhoods and a river trail.

The race website states, "Marathoners continue into the heart of Orange County, Costa Mesa, passing by the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, around South Coast Plaza, and through the campus of Segerstrom High School. One more mile in Santa Ana before turning onto the Santa Ana River Trail for 1.5 miles before exiting at Gisler foot-bridge. Also new this year, runners will go through beautiful Mesa Verde neighborhoods and then the "Bird Streets", providing you with that much-needed support on the home stretch towards the OC Fair & Event Center."

At first, I didn't want to feel proud of my finish. It was so slow. BUT you know what? I AM proud. I completed a marathon, my 17th, just five months after delivering my baby. No matter how slow, I moved 26.2 miles. When I first finished my mom asked, "Are you glad you did the marathon?"

I replied, "Ask me in a couple of days." I wasn't ready yet to be glad I had completed the marathon. I was in too much pain. By Wednesday, however, I was running again and ready to sign up for my next race.

Overall, I'd recommend the OC Marathon.