What a journey... this will be....

Welcome to my blog, the coach Alex blog....

What an awesome privilege and responsibility it is to coach a new group of runners (also known as MARATHONERS)... My brother, coach Rex, and I have coached over 60 runners (all of whom have completed marathons successfully). It is with great pleasure that our coaching will extend towards the UC Berkeley Student Learning Center Community of Students, Alumni, and ardent supporters of the SLC.

2009-2010... The SLC Sole Team Emerges!

Budget Cuts, Increased Life Stressors and Pressures, and Disconnectedness... the economic downturn poses amazing challenges... on individuals and the SLC community...in fact, a long litany of despair can easily emerge. The SLC Sole Team Running Group forms to create a counter-litany: Community, Connectedness, Empowerment, Support, Budget Augmentations through fundraising, Health, Wellness, Strength, Courage, Commitment, Transformation. This litany of empowerment is at the core of the Student Learning Center. For close to 40 years, The Student Learning Center has always been a site of awesome support for undergraduates in their transition to meet the challenging demands and expectations of a research one institution, in their translation of the power of their intellect and talent to grow as scholars and leaders, and in their academic and personal transformations that lead them to continue the legacy of scholars and leaders that have come before them. As alumni and supporters of the UC Berkeley Student Learning Center, we form the SLC Sole Team, a running group that actively takes on the litany of challenges and transform the challenges into opportunities for empowerment. We run. We raise. We RISE.

This 20-30 weeks of training is a journey that is arduously physical... it will be a journey that will push you to strengthen your mind (the mindset that runners are "born" well... that's b.s.... one can "become" a runner if you put your body and mind to it... human beings are "becoming" to behold).... this journey is a growing of the spirit (you will be calling on some higher power to get you to the finish line and beyond, trust me). To commit to run a marathon or half-marathon is an act of courage and of beauty.... The coaches and fellow runners are supporters of your courage and have the privilege of seeing the transformational beauty of growth and learning in this process of "becoming" a marathoner...