Hi Lindsey!

As Kelly said, Portland Running Company is one of the better running stores in PDX. Here is their website: http://www.portlandrunningcompany.com/[/URL" target="_blank">

Another good store is Fit Right Northwest. http://www.fitrightnw.com/[/URL" target="_blank">

The New Balance store in Pioneer Place is iffy. I've talked to some people there who are quite knowledgeable, but others I question what they know.

I'd stay away from NikeTown. The funny thing is I run with the NikeTown Running Club, so I have had an opportunity to talk with a lot of their sales people. Most are clueless about running shoes!

Good luck in the RFTC. Econo is not kidding about wanting a race report...we really enjoy reading about them.

Have fun!

Hood to Coast '05 Report...

I wasn't going to run this race this year, really, but it's kinda like a late night tequila shot. You know you're going to pay for it later, but just can't help yourself. My team had the last start time at 7:45 - our goal was 23:00 hours, or 7:00 pace.

Leg 6 - 7.4 miles. With the 11:00p start I couldn't really see how bad the hills were. I passed six runners through the first 4 miles, and then didn't even see another runner until the exchange. I ran steady until the 4 mile mark, then picked it up over the downhill stretch, finishing with a 6:43 pace, meaning I set a 10K PR somewhere along a 12K leg - uh oh. The team is several minutes ahead of pace.

Leg 18 - 4.2 miles of gradual uphill. Started at 6:30a or so, and I was still feeling leg 6. I heard someone trying to catch me right from the start, so I pushed it a little to make sure I didn't get passed. We'd caught quite a few teams by this point, but it was still pretty spread out; I passed another 6 runners and finished up at 6:58 pace. When we got the handoff from the other van, we were still faster than goal pace, but at the end of this leg we'd given it all back and more - about 5 minutes behind, I think.

Leg 30 - 5.3 miles. I was feeling pretty beat up at this point, with blisters and a sore hip, but glad to be running my last leg so I gave it whatever I had left. We'd caught up to the top women's teams by now, so there were some fit ladies to chase down and that was about my only motivation for this leg. I kept telling my legs to move faster, but they couldn't do it. Managed about 6:45 pace, but didn't start my watch on time so I don't have the exact number. Team was now about 12 minutes off the pace and we would finish at 23:14:41 (7:05). Good enough for 59th overall, and 10th in the corporate division.

Great reports and fantastic placing, S Agsten & Portlander!

I use Dr. Greg Skaggs (GP) at PeaceHealth downtown. He works with our athletes here at UO Athletics as well. He's relatively young and athletics oriented.

Dr. Jackie Sotelo, Podiatrist (Family Foot Clinic) advertises on the radio, but I don't know her reputation.

Dr. Shapiro is the Orthopedic Surgeon who did my achilles re-attachment. He did a great job on my ankle.

Good luck, I hope you get it resolved quickly. What race were you at? I ran the Bohemia 1/2 last weekend and really enjoyed it. Not a lot of amenities, but I really enjoyed the course and I liked the small town atmosphere.

Ran the Pints To Pasta 10K on Sunday as a tune-up race for the Portland marathon. It's a net downhill course, and I was hoping to go under 42:00. I started out pretty far back to avoid going out too fast, and ended up going out too slow (most of the downhill was in the first mile, so it should have been my fastest). First 3 miles went by more or less as planned (6:53, 6:56, 6:56) and I realized I needed to start working harder if I wanted to make my goal. After crossing the Steel Bridge I started pushing the pace and passing some runners, but my splits didn't get much faster. Next 3 miles were 6:53, 6:24, 7:18 - pretty sure that mile marker at 5 miles was in the wrong place, my forerunner measured those miles as .94/1.07 (6:50 avg) - and the final split was 1:21 for a 42:41 finish.

Happy with the time even though I didn't meet my goal - got a 6 minute PR out of it, ran negative splits, and didn't get passed by anyone. Nice race, easy course, will definitely run this one again.

I'd like to hear from anyone who ran the McKenzie River ultra (30 miles, I think).

Hey everyone,

I'm new. I am doing C25K, it's going pretty well so far. I live in southeast Portland, moved here last summer. I really like this city, it is just so beautiful!

I have a question for other Portlanders: anyone know a good podiatrist? Preferably downtown or close-in east side. I stepped on a belt buckle a couple months ago, it went into the bottom of my foot and now there is a painful persistent callus on the spot . I've tried getting rid of it with pumice stones and salicylic acid callus removers, but it keeps coming back. And now the top of my foot hurts too, I believe the pain from the callus has changed how I walk and that is stressing the top of my foot. So I think I need a professional to remove it...

Anyhow, I hope to be joining you all in a 5K soon! I did the Bridge Pedal this year and it was pretty fun (although very crowded on some of the bridges!), I just love biking around this city.