My Story

Timur Crone is a running coach and massage therapist who helps runners prevent and heal injuries so they can enjoy a lifetime of sustained joyful running. His InTensional Running™  technique helps runners break through blockages and realign their stride to experience effortless motion. He brings an integrated approach from his career as a sponsored marathoner, certified massage therapist, strength and conditioning specialist, US Track and Field Coach and Chi Gong/Thai Chi instructor. His new book, InTensional Running™ is an accessible and informative resource for runners of all ages.

Timur resides in Oakland California where he works 1-on-1 with runners and fitness professionals to help them bring the joy back to running. In his running career he’s placed first at the 2011 US Half Marathon, Golden State Marathon and second in the 2012 LA Marathon Open Division.

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Read My Full Story Below

I love running. I always have. And yet I discovered distance running almost by accident. After a season with the track and field team my freshman year in high school, friends starting telling me about something called cross country. And then they started telling me I had to join.

A friend came by where I had lunch every week, asking me to join the cross country team. And so I did, promising I'd be there for tryouts at the end of that summer.
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Little did I know, that summer changed my life.

While on a week long boat trip in Turkey with my family and friends, I got to play fight with one of the stranger, more magical people I have ever met. Laughing, we would balance on different parts of the rocking boat, and whack each other with foam tubes. I thought this was all just good fun.

But then I came back to the US and I was fast. Fastest kid in the school fast, when before I had been as quick as the other freshman runners.
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As it turned out, I had unknowingly been trained in the principles of body connection by one of the top Chinese internal martial artist masters in the world. He had shifted my body's functioning such that muscles throughout the body were taught to work as a coordinated whole.

Not to mention the laughter and play, which was and continues to be an important lesson. Play and lightness lead to better performance.
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I then continued on to UC San Diego, running for the Cross Country and Track and Field Teams there. Here the beginning of my next lessons began. 

I knew I had bad form, but no coach was willing to show me what to do about it. "Oh, its working for you, let's not mess with it." And then there was the psychological side of performance, which without any wisdom to guide me on was becoming a greater and greater drag on both my performance and enjoyment in the sport.
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I graduated from UCSD in 2009, and the Chinese martial arts master returned. I became sponsored by Topspeed Running, training intensively for marathons and half marathons for two years. I was trained deeply in the arts of Chi Gong and the principles of Tai Chi.

I learned on a far deeper level how to train the body's muscle and fascia connection and how to get into "the Zone" on purpose through different types of meditations. I became certified as a Chi Arts Association Taoist Mind-Body Mastery Teacher in this process.

But my performances were still not quite what I wanted. My head wasn't truly on right. Granted, I still did quite well- notching first places at the 2011 US Half Marathon and in the 2012 LA Marathon Open Division. But I knew I could do better.
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So I went back to school, and worked to receive a Masters in Counseling Psychology at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology (recently renamed Sofia University). I became a USATF Certified Coach.

An idea of what I wished to do with my life was forming in my mind. I could become the InTensional Running Coach. I could combine the physical, the psychological, and the spiritual. I could bring in advanced martial arts principles, my growing therapy and psychology skills, and my passion for involving meditation and the art of letting go.
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​I've been coaching for the last four years. During that time, I also worked as a registered Marriage and Family Therapist intern working with kids ages 3-18 at Head Startand CHAC. I worked as an Inventor Mentor and later as the Program Director for Wizbots, teaching kids how to make lego robotics in a brilliant model combining teamwork, engineering, imagination, and project oriented learning.

In the past four years, I started receiving requests to provide life coaching to previous whole person running coaching clients. And so, my practice has expanded to include working as a life coach. I've also had several adult running groups at different times. And inspired by my experience with running and designing after school and summer camp programs, I offer my own Youth Programs some summers.

During that time, I've been also become a Certified Massage Therapist (CAMTC #78225), Reposturing Bodyworker, and am completing my CSCS training in my efforts to improve continually as a coach. ​I also founded InTensional Running's umbrella organization, InTensional Movement for those interested in sports and fitness exploration beyond running or just want to get out of pain.
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I believe in whole person running coaching as a path for personal growth. 

I value grace, play, and community. Grace in humility, grace in competition, and the grace of trusting one's own training and capacities. Without play there is no enjoyable running or living. And without community, we isolate ourselves and lose sight of what truly matters.

And if you've made it this far, don't hesitate to contact me. Perhaps it is time to get started on your next path together.
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​Contact Information
Timur Crone, MA, USATF Certified Running Coach, Certified Massage Therapist (CAMTC #78225), Chi Arts Association Taoist Mind-Body Mastery Teacher, Reposturing Bodyworker, Clean Slate Specialist

Location: Oakland, CA
Email Address: timurcrone@InTensionalRunning.com
Phone: 510 328 3702

​InTensional Running is a subsidiary of InTensional Movement