I wrote this post four years ago, in the fall of 2013, and am updating it since I revisited this cool urban run last week. Now that the entrance to Yerba Buena Island is open and links to Treasure Island, you can loop around there for a longer run!

I wrote this post four years ago, in the fall of 2013, and am updating it since I revisited this cool urban run last week. Now that the entrance to Yerba Buena Island is open and links to Treasure Island, you can loop around there for a longer run!
So much of my stress is tied to perfectionism, to wanting to get it just right or not do it at all. I overthink and underproduce.
Training and race-day execution can make the difference between those who stiffly struggle and those who smoothly speed up toward the finish.
A from-the-archives 2008 post on Olympic marathoner Magdalena Boulet of Oakland, who is rising on the ultra racing scene and will race Boston on Monday.
Trail Runner magazine asked, “What would you nominate for the best ‘old-school’ trail race and why?” Like a favorite old shoe, the Skyline 50K feels good and doesn’t wear out. Always friendly, never flashy.
A look at Inside Trail and a conversation with its RD, Tim Stahler, as the organization turns 3. Plus, my mini race report from the 30K.
Racing four very different races in a six-week period gave me a lot of time to ask “Why?” Why do I repeatedly register for something that sort of feels like taking a test? This post recaps the races and gives four reasons why.
I’m entering a new phase in my training: being coached. I hired Matt Hart three weeks ago to dictate how I run. We barely know each other, but, like Santa Claus (though not at all jolly or fat), he knows when I’ve been bad or good.
The Oakland Marathon followed by a long run on Mount Diablo gave me an apples-and-oranges kind of comparison between road marathoning and trail ultrarunning, making me contemplate, which is “harder”? Which is better for me, and which do I like more?
After so many trail races, it felt good to line up and take off through the heart of a city in an urban road marathon again. Over 26 miles, I went from feeling like a rock star to feeling like a Southwest jet ready to rip apart and crash land from metal fatigue.