I had a great time with my family today at the Oakland Running Festival. Not only did I run my first (and probably last) half marathon pregnant (finishing time of 2:01:05!) but my daughter, Charlotte, also ran her first Kids Fun Run. She’s only 2.75yrs old, but tall and athletic like her mama.
Here we are at home before the start of the race:
Here I am still running strong at around mile 10:
And here is my daughter at the end of her race:
And here is my daughter chatting up a Raiderette (Oakland Raider’s football team cheerleader) getting a picture at the finish line:
Overall it was a great day for a race, if a bit hot. I was very surprised by my finishing time, as I assumed at 15 1/2wks pregnant, I would be closer to my 10:30 LSR pace. I wasn’t expecting to almost break 2hrs! I kept myself super well hydrated and fueled throughout, and was actually able to speed up during the last 3 miles, truly racing the last mile. I didn’t PR, I wasn’t expecting to--last year I ran this same event in 1hr 42min.
I love running this race because the people in Oakland are so friendly and so full of town pride and spirit. The mostly flat half marathon runs through some of the less picturesque neighborhoods in the city, but the people on the streets cheering us on more than make up for it. Overall, I think everyone in the family had a good time :)
I hope we can do it again next year. It might be challenging, however, as my belly dweller will only be 6 months old. Might be too hard on Daddy.
