Bayram Cigerli Blog

Bigger İnfo Center and Archive

Hills for Lill

When R at Livin the Fit Life, who is a fellow runner and 12 in 2012 member, let us know of her plans to run a virtual half marathon in honor of her 95 year old grandmother, I was automatically in! I had my Bay Breeze Half last weekend that I had already run in her honor, but last weekend I thought maybe I would just run another 13.1 and use that one instead.

I am currently living in Oakland, and am finding new running routes each day. You may think that Oakland is like this all the time:
source
But it's not. There are a lot of nice places in Oakland. And by nice, I mean hilly. According to Garmin, the total elevation gain was about 4275 ft. See the hill right around the 40 minute mark? It went on forever. Well, 10 or 20 minutes, but they seemed like forever.


I went uphill for a really long time and finally found the park I was looking for. I asked some bikers if they knew of a path that was fairly flat and then directed me to the Sunset trail. Either I was not on the Sunset trail or those guys mislead me because the next mile or so was variable. It did "flatten" out after a little while and I had a nice couple of fast, easy miles before deciding that I had no idea where I was and so I turned back. I did not go the same way; I decided to take a different trail, which went pretty much straight down (see above around 1 hour and 15 minutes).

The good thing about all these hills was the view. I had a view of the entire bay and San Francisco, including the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate. It was priceless and well worth the effort.



I took a photo for Grandma Lill and kept going down the hill.


Since I turned around too early, this is how I ended up not running 13 miles. Instead, I ended up with about 10.5. I have this hangup about after I turn around, I don't want to just run around in circles to add miles. I don't know why. But once I turned around, I was like a horse to the stables. So I ended up finishing with about a 10 minute/mile average. But, since I didn't complete my distance, I will just use my Bay Breeze for Grandma Lill's 95th!

I leave you with this. Wessssiiide!

source

Do you prefer out and backs or loops? Do you like running or walking in new places or do you stick with the same route? Have you ever been to Oakland?


Share

Related Posts:

  • Cherry Blossom: Pros and ConsYesterday I ran the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile race in Washington DC. I have been lucky enough to have been to DC several times before, so I did not feel pressured to go and see all the sights or stand in really long lines to get… Read More
  • Race You to The Finish!Have you ever signed up for a race via lottery? What about a race that was not close to where you lived? I have done it twice. The first one was the NYC Half Marathon. I had just completed my first half marathon and when my f… Read More
  • Diva Dash: Pros & ConsWhile visiting a friend of mine in Kansas City, I dragged her to invited her to join me at the Diva Dash in the great state of Kansas. I am trying to race in every state and this would satisfy my Kansas quotient. Right now it… Read More
  • Bidwell Classic Race RecapRace #3 of the 12 in 2012 Running Challenge started off good. It was a little chilly, maybe around 40 degrees, but I knew that it wouldn't last for long. After about 1000 feet, we ran into the 5k racers who had already finish… Read More
  • Diva Dash: Race RecapLast weekend I ran the Diva Dash 5k in Kansas City, KS. It was a pretty nice day with approximately 50 degree weather and pretty strong winds. I was wearing pants, a short sleeved shirt and a long sleeved shirt. Once again, I… Read More

0 Comments:

Yorum Gönder