Running

How I got into long distance running

Running advice

Why work with a coach?

Gear, feet, shoes

Running injuries

Things go wrong for everyone, including Meb

Maps of Oakland Marathon Courses

Marathon races run:

  1. 2011 – Oakland Marathon #1 – the original, fab City Hall Plaza start/finish
  2. 2012 – Oakland Marathon #2 – the commodious Snow Park start/finish
  3. 2013 – Oakland Marathon #3
  4. 2014 – Oakland Marathon #4 – trained 1,000 miles, ran a sub-4h
  5. 2014 – Avenue of the Giants
  6. 2015 – Oakland Marathon #5
  7. 2016 – Oakland Marathon #6
  8. 2016 – Santa Rosa Marathon – first BQ attempt; hit wall mile 23
  9. 2016 – Canyon City Marathon– rule #1: don’t go out too fast
  10. 2017 – Oakland Marathon #7 – last on the classic course
  11. 2017 – Santa Rosa Marathon – record heat days are bad for BQ attempts
  12. 2017 – Canyon City Marathon – BQ + 0:08, but truthfully nowhere close
  13. 2018 – Oakland Marathon #8 – goofy port course, nice Lakeshore start/finish
  14. 2018 – Mt. Charleston Marathon – absolute worst race! bleh!
  15. 2018 – Big Bear Marathon – BQ + PR!
  16. 2019 – Oakland Marathon #9 – the stenosis rehab race, 1st Bay Bridge course
  17. 2020 – Oakland D.I.Y. – coronavirus consolation run
  18. 2020 – (Virtual) Boston – went OK except a fall @ mile 14, gashing my chin
  19. 2021 – (Virtual) Oakland Marathon D.I.Y. – Richmond and San Rafael, across the bridge
  20. 2021 – Boston for real! – so, so much fun, in so, so, so much pain!
  21. 2022 – Oakland #10 – new double-loop course, paced poorly and paid painfully
  22. 2022 – Tunnel Light, Washington – tried the F.I.R.S.T. training plan
  23. 2023 – CIM (California Int’l Marathon, Sacramento) – BQ#2! Again it all comes together
  24. 2025 – Marine Corps (Washington, D.C.) – after 2 years of injury rehab; PR for slowest finish

“Because the marathon is just learning to be bored while you’re hurting.”
– Molly Seidel, Team U.S.A., Tokyo 2020

Fun Runs at Memorable Places:
1990 – Circumnavigation of the Old City, Jerusalem
1994 – Circumnavigation of Gulangyu Island, Xiamen, PRC
2013 – Along the Thames, Seine, Tiber Rivers
2017 – Sydney Harbour Bridge and surrounds
2019 – Winter, nighttime circumnavigation of Central Park, NYC, wearing a Rockettes Santa hat
2021 – To and about The Wedge (boundary curiosity at Delaware x Pennsylvania x Maryland)

Bookends of a happy, 10-year, 10,000++ mile journey

Fave running websites:
Running for a Better Oakland – Fabulous youth running program I volunteer with (e.g., the “act your age!” picture above)

Fellrnr – astounding compendium of advice, data, reviews, and info; where I got turned on to Altra Escalantes

MarathonRookie – excellent for beginners, what I used for my first marathon

MileMapper (Google Pedometer) -Indispensible, even with a GPS watch

My Personal Records:
– Marathon: 3:25:42 (7:51 pace), Big Bear, Oct. 14, 2018, age 57
– Half-Marathon: 1:44:18 (7:56 pace), Town Half, Aug. 18, 2016
also 1:38:31 half split (7:31 pace) at the Big Bear (above)
– 5K: 22:00 (7:06 pace), Lake Merritt, Sept. 7, 2022
– 10K: 44:46 (7:13 pace), Lake Merritt, Sept. 1, 2022
– Mile (road): 6:27, Lake Merritt, Sept. 7, 2022
– Mile (treadmill): 6:24 (per footpod), Sept. 14, 2023, age 62