Two New Runners

We're excited to welcome two new members to the Running Club! 

                                                     Jonathan and Alejandro

They are prepared to jump right in with our 5 mile run tomorrow!

Training Recap 1/19

Karina recaps today's run:

Ran 4 miles nonstop at a slow constant pace. It was such a great day to run that I thought I could go running for miles until I got to my 4th mile. No cramps and the RBO water bottle helped a lot. I had to make sure not to drink too much water at once even though I was almost dying of thirst halfway. Learning how to drink water while running is a good skill to develop but I still wonder how the hell will I run 13 miles when I almost finished 4 miles perfectly until I stopped to watch the ducks quack their way home. It's going good so far.

3rd Long Run

Today was the students' third long run at Lake Merritt - 4 miles.  For many students this was the furthest they've run before.  They would be running around the lake once and then doing an additional half mile out and back.  I stayed behind on this run so I could catch some good photos of the students running. 

I'm so proud of them for showing up early each Saturday morning ready to run.  I know with high school students sleep is precious so their dedication in making it out here each Saturday is really awesome.


Here come the leaders of all of the students running that day.  There's Junior and Victor in front with Anthony right behind them.

Poor Anthony looked a little tired at this point!

We then saw Mr. Schooler running with Ivan and Eduardo.  They were running with a smile on their face so it didn't look too painful to them!  The other RBO volunteer running with them is a big ultra marathoner.  He's run many ultra marathons and all of the students love hearing his stories of his long runs.

Next we saw Jefferson and Javier come running.  They made it look so easy!

We saw El Capitan, Nick, running next. 

He showed us how he hydrates while running.

Jaontra came through next.  She was running with Tod the RBO founder.

Ana Laura came through next looking great!

Here's David doing awesome.

We caught Karina at the finish.  She made a point to tell me that she ran the entire time without stopping - a first for her.  Way to go!

The students did great on their 4 mile run today.  Next Saturday they'll be doing 5 miles!

Students Running on their Own

We've been telling the students from the beginning that in addition to the two weekly runs we do together, it's important for them to run on their own at least one additional time as well.  Until now though no one has done it. 

Eduardo recaps a run he did this afternoon with Ana Laura and JJ (Jaontra):

Following every run we heard the emphasis from Mrs. Schooler that
we should do an extra run or two during the week. Being a busy student, I
didn't think I had the time to go on an extra run. Luckily JJ, Ana
Laura, and I had a free period, so we decided it was time to listen to
the Schoolers.

As soon as we started our run we realized it was fairly
hot outside. Although the sun was beaming down on us, the first mile seemed
much easier than we had anticipated. We decided to practice pacing
ourselves and conserving our energy on the first mile. As soon as we
reached our one mile point we decided to take a detour, thus adding an
additional half a mile to our run. It wasn't until the run back to the
school that I started sweating, but I was still feeling good. Once we
finished our run and stretched in front of the school we ran to Mrs.
Schooler's room and told her about our run. She mapped out our run (2.6
miles) and then invited us on another three and a half mile run that afternoon with her, but I
definitely didn't want to be out in the sun again.

In the end the run paid off and left me feeling ready for the next training session.

Lesson Learned: Listen to the Schoolers, they know what they're doing.


I was so happy to see Eduardo, JJ, and Ana Laura after their run!  I hope they continue to add on an additional run or two each week.  Come March 24th they'll be glad they did!

Training Recap 1/16

We had our weekly run today.  Javier, The Captain, gives us a recap:

The Wednesday run today was awesome and a lot of fun! I personally enjoy running even if it gets me tired after a while, but I like running because of that. Although we did a 3 mile run last Saturday at Lake Merritt  I felt like the 3 mile run today got me tired faster than the run at Lake Merritt. The sun beaming down on us while we ran wasn't helping either. The best part was coming back to the school knowing that you accomplished a 3 mile run after school! Hopefully we can slowly increase our mile runs on Wednesdays as we near the 13.1 marathon. Go Mustangs!

Training Run #3

Here are the students getting ready for their third training run - second run with Running for a Better Oakland.

Third Training Recap: Ivan

We had our third training run this morning - 3 miles around Lake Merritt.  This was our second Saturday training with Running for a Better Oakland.  The students first ran one mile at an easy pace.  For mile two they were being timed and encouraged to give it all they had.  The last mile was at a recovery pace.  This was Ivan's first Saturday run as he couldn't make it last week.  Here he shares his thoughts on today's run:

When I first arrived I felt welcomed.  All the moderators were very respectful and they were committed 100% to Running For Better Oakland.  During the warm-up mile I met a couple different people.  I met this guy that happened to be a former graduate of Saint Elizabeth that was around his mid 20’s.  It was funny because I asked him if he knew Mr. Schooler and he said yes.  He didn’t realize that Mr. Schooler was right next to him. So they started talking and catching up.  Getting tested on the mile was pretty tiring because I put a lot of my effort to it.  As I ran by people I could see all the effort that all the other runners were putting in which encouraged me to do better and better.