Oakland Marathon this Sunday!

The OAKLAND MARATHON is back and is taking place this Sunday, March 28th! I know that there used to be one in the 80's because my Dad ran it. I'm trying to talk him into letting me sport his 1984 Oakland Half Marathon singlet when I run the half on Sunday... it's pretty cool, see above (pic coming soon... see twitpic to the right for now). On Sunday, there will 1000 people running the full and 3,400 running the half from 37 states and 6 nations. Oakland is an interesting city for a Marathon because of its dynamic reputation and demographic. This quote from the San Francisco Chronicle caught my eye. The race organizers are talking about the Baltimore marathon because it is demographically similar to Oakland... "In Baltimore, when we run through less-than-spectacular areas, crowd support tends to be very large," said Lee Corrigan, president of Corrigan Sports, the promoter of the Oakland Running Festival who also plans the Baltimore run. "It's an expression of civic pride and the whole city turns out to support us." Read the rest of the article HERE. See you all on Sunday! Look out for Undefeated Running stickers!

Not-So-New and Improved LA Marathon this Sunday 3/21!

The LA Marathon will be celebrating it's 25th anniversary with a new course, new sponsor (Honda) and a sold out race! It also has one of the coolest RACE POSTERS I've ever seen and it was designed by Shepard Fairey. Who would have thought race posters would become cool like rock concert posters!? Way to go LA Marathon Team and good luck to all runners!!!

Brooks Green Silence Review

As some of you might know I am running the Big Sur Marathon on April 25th. As most of you don't know, I did not decide on which shoes to wear until last week. Since my recent move into some barefoot style running shoes, The Evo by Vivo Barefoot/Terra Plana, I decided to find some unstructured racing flats (not ready to go 26.2 in barefoot shoes yet). That's when I came across the BROOKS GREEN SILENCE. Staying true to their dedication to making more green products, Brooks launched the Green Silence this February. Every part of the shoe has a green element; soy based inks, their BioMoGo sole which breaks down 50 times quicker than average running shoe soles, plastic bottles make up the laces, gillies, mesh and tongue webbing. The Green Silence has about 48% as many parts as normal running shoes, uses 41% of the energy required and uses half of a liter less oil/pair. Get all the Brooks "Greening Info" in the BROOKS GREEN ROOM.

Not only are they green, these shoes are also exceptional racing flats. They are very light, comfortable (spacious toe-box), breathable, and very flexible. They are also truly neutral and have a minimalist feel. I had an awesome first run in them, 10 fast miles.

Running Camaraderie!

I have been running (seriously) for about 7 years now and when I first started out I felt little connection between myself and other runner's I would see on the road, trail, etc. I did not occur to me that we share quite a bit in common and a smile, nod, or a "hi" might help push us to achieve our respective goals or just brighten our days. Even as I became more involved in the running world I still viewed most other runners as competition. That was until I realized that I am my only competition and You are your only competition! Everyone is out there competing with themselves, we are all united by that. Lately, I have been noticing more runner's acknowledging each other while running and I think it's great. I'm not sure what the reason is, maybe it's just my outlook on things or maybe it is a shift in running culture or consciousness. Certainly, books like Ultramarathon Man (Dean Karnazes) and Born to Run (Chris McDougall) have brought the running community closer together. So has training groups, fundraising efforts, and running blogs! I would also guess that the recession and the rise in diseases has prompted the world (especially the USA) to refocus their attention on being healthy and living an active lifestyle.

This runner's wave business has been a hot topic in the running community lately, check out this RUNNER'S WORLD ARTICLE and even Hal Higdon suggests saying "hi" in his ADVANCED I TRAINING SCHEDULE (see tuesday). See how much the runner's wave means to FATGIRL2FITGIRL.

I also am a big fan of running to MUSIC... yes, it can be an unfair motivator but more importantly music just fits certain moments. However, I have been training more and more without headphones because I have noticed a rise in communication with other runner's and I enjoy getting in tune with nature... It also puts me at an unfair advantage when running through areas with mountain lions and coyotes! In the past month I have had two conversations (each less than 2 minutes) with other runners, i did not know, while on a run. This was pretty cool. So say what's up to someone on your long run this weekend or throw them a smile or a wave.