Oakland Marathon – An Instant Classic!!

The Oakland Experience

3/20/2022

I’m going to start by saying that this was literally one of the best days of my life. An absolute highlight. BUT, there were so many things that weren’t great in the moment that it is comical to me now… I’ll give you all the details!

Saturday morning, I awoke so excited to get packed and drive to Oakland! I started my coffee and took my Levothyroxine like I do every morning…or did I? I take the thyroid prescription because I had Grave’s Disease with a hyperactive thyroid. I had to have it removed in 2010 due to a questionable biopsy and have to take medication every morning to replace thyroid hormones. P.S.A. The thyroid regulates metabolism as well as many other hormones in the body and is essential to life. If I miss a dose or take too much, my whole body chemistry is off for days….SO, I took a shower and began packing and noticed that a pill was still in the daily case in ‘Saturday’ but some of the others were missing. See, I had packed my meds for the duration of the stay in Oakland, but not the entire week. I couldn’t remember how far into next week I had filled…Hmmmm…Did I take it from another day? Did I not? I took my pill out and held it and stared at it for a long time. Finally, I just threw it in my mouth and swallowed. What’s the worst it could do?

We arrived in Oakland, CA after our 5 hour car ride at 2:30pm. At the entrance of the hotel was the entire running team. It was pure joy in that moment! David and I checked into our room; we had room 707(our area code! How cool!!!). Taking the elevator to the top floor, I started getting super dizzy. We walked to the room and I kept thinking that the hotel was swaying. Inside the room we discovered that we didn’t have a fridge, a microwave or coffee maker…yeesh. My plan for the next morning had been wake up at 4am and make coffee and warm my breakfast. A little glitch in the plan, but I had at least been prepared enough to bring instant coffee ‘just in case’. The hotel had a microwave in the lobby, but no access to ice for our ice chests and no coffee until 6am. These issues weren’t ideal, but we made it work.

After assessing the rooms upon check-in, we walked to the race venue to pick up our race packets with our Bibs and gear. The race swag was awesome and the trip to the start line was going to be a short 10 minute walk from the hotel. After packet pick-up, everyone went their separate ways. Everyone else in our party was eager to eat and drink in the many establishments surrounding the hotel. I had brought all my own meals and haven’t had a sip of alcohol all year, so I chilled out in the room for the duration of the evening. Plus, I couldn’t shake my dizzy-spells. I tried to go to sleep around 7pm, but my mind and heart were racing. I couldn’t stop thinking about the marathon in the morning…and then the heart palpitations began. All night, my heartrate was 20 BPM over where it usually is and the palpitations were happening often. I hardly slept a wink. By now I knew that I had doubled up on my medication. Dammit. What would this mean for the race?!

Sunday morning, I didn’t care about the hiccups with my plans. I got out of bed and went down to the lobby several times to warm up my breakfast and water for coffee. The dizziness had subsided for the most part and I thought the side effects from too much thyroid hormone had passed. I ate, drank lots of water & coffee, got my favorite running gear on and stretched for a while. I was so eager to start. I visualized the race and it was all positive. When we got the the start-line, my parents were there waiting. We all hugged and took photos. I handed out my custom-made VAD Survivor Ribbons to everyone.

7am! The Full Marathon began! I stated slow and then…Uh-oh. My back. My low back had the familiar and horrible twinge that happens right before the spasms take over. I feared the worst but kept jogging on. Around mile 2, the cramps started in my calves. This has happened to me a couple times in the past, but it is always a cause for concern and it rarely goes away. Was this from my back? The meds? Lack of sleep? Or maybe I screwed up my pre-race nutrition…? Either way, I stopped to walk at 3 miles in…The walking had been the original plan, but I had imagined only walking 1/10th of a mile every 2-3 miles.

I started trying to run again…trying. My feet were numb. Somehow that crampy feeling in my calves travelled all the way down to my feet and took over. I stopped, I stretched, I punched my feet to try to get some movement. Nothing helped. I was feeling defeated and travelling at a sluggish pace. I had a choice to make. Do I walk until they feel better, start running and hope, or cut my race short(and there was no way in hell I was going to end this race!). I ran. I ran and ran for the next 4 miles with dead-feet. I kept my mind positive and took deep breaths; trying to breath life into my feet. By mile 7, I could almost feel everything again! This included my bladder; now ready to explode from all the pre-race hydration.

I stopped at the next port-o-potty I saw, unbeknownst to me that the one I chose was an Oakland City bathroom, not supplied for marathoners. OOPS. This bathroom was nasty. There was vomit in the urinal, the toilet seat was melted in some places, and there was no toilet paper. So I used a napkin I had stashed in my fanny-pack and went on with the run…100 yards ahead there was a full line of clean bathrooms provided for runners. I should’ve held if for one more minute, but at least my bladder was empty.

This is when the race truly began for me. I noticed I was behind the ‘pacer’ for the 5-hour-finisher group. I thought, “Fuck That!”. I had a plan to beat my first Full Marathon time of 4 hours 33 minutes.

Side note: by this time, my fitness tracker had shown that I had run an extra 1/2 mile, and it just continued this way for the entirety of the race. By the end, my 26.2 turned into 27.6. I am still not positive on whether my watch was correct or if the race markers were accurate(but it sounds like the former). Either way, my fitness tracker was useless to me to determine my distance ran and the pace at which I was going.

From here on out, I was a running fool. Literally! My tunes were cranking in my headphones; I was dance-running; I had the goofiest smile on my face for the last 19 miles of the Marathon. Once my feet regained feeling, nothing was going to get me down. My back was clear of pain, too! I ran as planned, only much faster to make up for the first 6 or 7 miles of agonizing pain.

The Full Marathon was 2 loops of the Half. This meant that I got to see my family and boyfriend at the midway point. By 13.1(or nearly 14 miles according to my FitBit), I was just getting started! I felt great! My great friend and gym-wife, Shannon, ran and chatted with me for 100 yards to the point where my family and David were waiting to take photos and cheer me on. I got a kiss from David and some heartwarming smiles from the family and off I went on my second lap.

The second lap was wonderful. Everything was going perfect. My bestie and my sister started the Half Marathon about 10 minutes before I hit their start line. I was able to catch up with both of them between mile 19 & 20. It was pure joy to see them out on the course! They gave me even more of a boost with their energy, and I kept on my way. I was flying(for me) at speeds as fast as 8:30 per mile and I felt good doing it. Still, I was nowhere near my brother-in-law, Russell, whom took off at the start and was miles ahead of me.

21 miles in, I stopped for my usual cup of water at a hydration station. By then, I had noticed that my IT Band syndrome had flared up a bit, but I didn’t realize how bad it was until my leg almost buckled underneath me. I tried to walk and failed. I stretched for a few minutes and tried again. I couldn’t put any weight on it without excruciating pain. I was again at a crossroads, but there was no way in Hell that I was going to give up or start walking with 5 miles to go! So I started limp-running and, miraculously the pain went away rather quickly and I was back up to my quick pace in no-time. I wasn’t going to risk stopping for water again, so I ran swiftly without breaks for the final leg of the run.

I was approaching the finish line; only a few miles to go. I had been anticipating the inevitable ‘Wall’ that I had experienced at my first and only former marathon in 2015, but it never hit. I was fully aware of my surroundings, that I was able to maintain my pace, I was smiling at every other runner and they were smiling back through gritted teeth; my music was offering me the motivation to dance along the route. My mind started swirling with thoughts of how I came to be running the Oakland Marathon 2022. After the pandemic, the bilateral VAD, the many strokes, the long recovery; Then the training itself and the many injuries and set-backs that ensued. So many life-changing events which had preceded that moment; The journey that may have never happened. A life and a moment that was not promised. I was ecstatic. I was overwhelmed with emotion. I had stared death in the face and made it to a higher point in life then I ever thought possible. I wept. I cried until it nearly stopped my momentum. But I kept going; Looking like a damn fool with tears streaming down my cheeks and a goofy smile on my face. I had done it. I had accomplished the largest goal that I dared to imagine while recovering from strokes that left me down, weak, unstable and unsure.

The finish line was so sweet. My parents, niece and nephew, and David waited there cheering my name and wearing the red-zebra-striped survivor ribbons for me and the VAD community. My knee was locked-up and my toenails and feet had suffered damage that I had yet to assess(it’s bad!), but I had crossed the finish line and still maintained that goofy smile. My finishing time: 4:26:22! Nothing was going to ruin that moment for me. As I write this, I have tears in my eyes. I have no doubt that this race and the journey will stay with me in my heart and mind for as long as I live. I’m so grateful to my supporters, to my charity(Tedy’s Team!), to my family, and to my body for carrying me through. Dare to dream big…you might surprise yourself. You might also inspire those around you to do the same. And a small ripple of hope can create waves of triumph.

Thanks for the read!