I had been wanting to run the Oakland Marathon since the first one 15 years ago, so when the calendar finally cleared way for it, I jumped at the chance and signed up. Having lived in the Town (as it’s affectionately called) in my 20s, it’s got a special place in my heart.

At some point in a marathon, you have to “pay the piper” as I tell my athletes. The goal with training is to be well enough in shape to pay him the least amount. The crowd supports picks up as we loop off the ramp and head north up 1st Ave. Running up 1st Ave from mile sixteen to just past nineteen is a bit of a blur. It’s a lot of crowds like the rest of the race has been, but by now, I’m really focused on myself. I had been feeling little twinges of pain here and there and largely ignored them. But this late in the race as I hit mile eighteen, I’m wondering if I’ll have to pay the piper for 8.2miles or can I stave it off longer. Nothing major is wrong, but I notice, things. With this pace I’m on, I know I just got an hour left. “I can do this!” “It’s just a tempo run.” “You’ve been here before.” Let’s compare it to say, the check engine light going on. You can still drive your car, but hey you should take a look sometime soon.

What was supposed to be a bday party in Tulum, ended up being a race in Chicago to earn my second World Marathon Major star! What a run nerd!

Another AFC Half Marathon in the books! It was a great tune up race for me to see how training is going for my big race in October.

5K pacing is tough. Run out too fast early and you have nothing left in the tank to push and sacrifice ruining your overall time. Run too conservative early on because you’re worrying about blowing up and you have too much time to make up to hit your goal. I went into training for this race with a big lofty goal.

Everything you wanted to know about how the 2021 Boston Marathon went. Where to stay, places to eat, the expo experience and the race itself.