adidas SF Urban Run - July 30

ROUTE - (3 miles)

Start at the adidas Sport Performance store
Head up Powell Street
Left on Geary St
Right on Hyde St
Right on Pacific St
Right on Kearny St
Right on Market St
Finish at the adidas Sport Performance store

URL for this route is: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1093228

Pictures from Tying the Knot 7K

adidasSF Urban Run - July 23, 2007

ROUTE - Channel Street (5 miles)

Start at the adidas Sport Performance store

-Head northeast on Market St
-Turn right at 4th St
-Turn left at King St
-Turn right at 3rd St
-Turn right at Channel St

For a shorter 3 mile option, turnaround at corner of Channel Street and 6th Street and go up 3rd Street, left onto Market and back to store.

For those on the 5 mile route, continue on Channel Street
-Left on 6th Street
-Continue on Owens Street
-Left on 16th Street
-Left on 3rd Street
-Left on Market Street
-Finish at the adidas Sport Performance store

URL for this route is: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1161330

Lee Evans Running: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCro7swqBD0&mode=related&search=

adidas SF Urban Run - July 16, 2007

ROUTE - AT&T Park (4.8 miles)

• Start at the adidas Sport Performance store
• Right on Market Street
  
• Right on The Embarcadero (later King Street)
  
• Turn around at the corner of King and 3rd Street (Willie Mays statue at the AT& T Park)
  
• Left on Market Street
  
• Finish at the adidas Sport Performance store

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1141173

adidas Footscan Analysis

Starting this weekend, the adidas San Francisco Sport Performance store, located in the Westfield Shopping Center at 845 Market Street, will provide free footscan analysis every Saturday and Sunday.

Wondered whether you overpronate or supinate and to wear which proper running shoes (motion control vs. cushion). The adidas Footscan system is your solution. It dynamically measures pressure distribution during the footstrike for each foot individually. The footscan measurements are extremely accurate, allowing an in-depth analysis of pressure distribution thanks to a minimum operating frequency of 300 frames per second.

So come on by the adidas store from 10am to 6:30pm (footscan operating hours) to check it out.

After receiving a free footscan analysis, you will get 15% off Running apparel with the purchase of running footwear.

LET YOUR FEET DECIDE....it's all about the fit.

adidas SF Urban Run - July 9, 2007

ROUTE - (5K)

• Start at the adidas Sport Performance store
• Run up Powell Street
• Left on Sacramento Street
• Right on Larkin Street
• Right on Union Street
• Right on Columbus Street
• Right on Grant Street
• Right on Market Street
• Finish at the adidas Sport Performance store

NYC is truly a runner's paradise. There's just no excuse for not running because you will always get motivated seeing everyone run in the park. True, it may not be as scenic as SF and it may not have the perfect running conditions year round as SF, but the four days that I spent in NYC, it was perfect...for July. Summer months are almost always hell months as I will certainly witness during the NYC Nike Half Marathon in August. Upon my arrival, however, it couldn't have been better because temperatures hovered in the 70s with relatively low humidity. Thuderstorms pounded the NYC tristate area days before and during my departure from NYC as the plane was ready for takeoff on the runway (really!). In any case, I spent everyday in NYC running as well as helping my sister get ready for NYU in the fall. I ran with groups and I ran alone. On Sunday, I tried to meet up with the adidas NYC group runs. But I nor a couple others got the email that the upcoming runs were being cancelled due to holidays. But a few did turn out at the Chelsea Pier and I did a total of 7 miles from my hotel to Chelsea Pier (adidas meeting point) to South Ferry and back to the hotel, all along the West Side bike path. The path is great for bikers and runners alike as it takes you from the southern most tip of Battery Park to, I think, Riverside Park. On Monday evening I ran along the West Side Highway to the Time Warner Center on 59th Street for a group run that meets on the second floor in The Running Company store. It was part of Nike's preparation for runners training for the Nike NYC Half Marathon in August. I met a lot of fast pacers, including Worku Beyi, who has a fast time of 2:26 in the NYC Marathon to add to his credit and is gunning for the Olympic trials. I was intimidated by his presence but it was he who modestly introduced himself to me and talked about his ambitions for the 2007 year. He is only 20 and you will definitely hear about him in the marathon circuit! He ran with the pros last year in blistering pace only to run 10 min+ pace and walk during the last few miles for his first marathon at NYC. And he still managed a 2:26!!! But after all, his full time job is running. http://www.workubeyi.com/ Then there was female Ethiopean pacer, Leteyesus Berhe, with a best time of 2:42, who led the longer run. These were a couple of the high caliber pacers for Niketown NYC. A lot of runners in NYC are damn fast and in huge numbers! We ran through Central Park, a longer rolling version of Golden Gate Park, and along the bridle path plus the resevoir dirt path twice. Even though it was an easy day, we were still doing 7 minute pace. I could barely hold on for such an "easy day" in addition to the running of extra miles from my hotel. On Tuesday, I decided to take the subway to Niketown's evening run. We did hill intervals in Central Park including Cat Hill and this heck of a climb near Cathedral Parkway in Harlem's side of the park. We did 3 repeats of the long hill, similar to going up Cliff House. Tough day and it was quite warm that evening too. On Wednesday, I did my last NYC run along the East River via the FDR bikeway, passing the old Fulton Fish Market. I went under the Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Williamsburg Bridges to get to the East River Track. I only did 2 x 400 because of time. It was pretty cool. Not as great as Kezar, but still nice since it's free and along the way. I wanted to run on Brooklyn Bridge, but I had done way more than I expected during my stay in NYC; I enjoyed this trip to the city much more than my two previous visits. It just gets better each time. After running in NYC, I feel a bit out of shape.

Article and pictures on Worku Beyi and Leteyesus Berhe: http://www.nyrr.org/races/2007/wabc/local_gallery.asp
http://www.nyrr.org/races/2007/wabc/local_story.asp

Last Saturday, Alberto Salazar apparently had a heart attack while coaching some of this athletes in Portland OR. This is the same Salazar who won three New York City Marathons, one Boston, one Comrades, and plenty of other major distance races. This is the same Salazar who still runs regularly enough to accompany Lance Armstrong through the first 10 miles of last November's ING New York City Marathon. This is the same Salazar who is just 48 years old.If distance runners are as healthy as we would like to believe them, Salazar shouldn't have had a heart attack. Just as Jim Fixx shouldn't have died on the run. But things don't always work out the way we would like. Runners have heart attacks. Some die before they hit the ground. That's the reality.As a group, distance runners are extremely healthy, especially when compared to the sedentary masses in western societies. But this guarantees no one anything. Repeat: There are no guarantees. Not for anyone. Bad stuff happens to good people every day: heart attacks, and cancers, and Alzheimers, and trees that fall on houses. These things happen because we are all different from everyone else, and uniquely susceptible to random events. There is a lesson we should learn from this, but it has nothing to do with diet or exercise or flossing your teeth. The lesson is that life is precious, and also fragile. Our good health today can't guarantee us good health tomorrow. If we are feeling strong and fit and vigorous today, we should appreciate every minute in our 24 hours. Tomorrow could be different.None of us know anything about Salazar's health or family history. If we did, it might predict certain risk ratios. But even these would be mere statistical guesswork. A numerator. A denominator. What can anyone conclude from these?In my family, we all have very low levels of the "good cholesterol," HDL. I share this with my brother and sister, even though I have run regularly for 40 years, followed a mostly vegetarian diet, and consumed modest amounts of red wine. These are all supposed to raise your HDL; mine is in the toilet.I think about this every day before going out to run. I wonder if I could be lacing up for my last workout ... if I will be wrestled to the ground by my paltry HDL level. But I run anyway. Because the alternative--doing nothing--is a far worse choice.Since Friday, I've also been thinking of Salazar on all my runs, praying that he'll have a rapid, complete recovery. I've known him since he was a teenager in MA, and closely followed his astonishing career. He has made so many contributions to American distance running, and inspired so many young runners. He is still a young man himself, and I hope he will live long and healthy. He has so much to give. There is so much we can still learn from him.This week he has taught us something he never intended: to live as intelligently as we can, but also to treasure every day. Because we can't know what tomorrow will bring. We can only live today as fully and honestly as possible.

Full article taken from Runner's World