18 miles in San Francisco

This is what rocks about having a friend who a) is on my flight benefits, 2) loves to travel and 3) is training for a marathon: I can say, "Do you want to fly to San Francisco on September 21st to do an 18 mile run?"  And her response will be, "YES!"

So that is exactly what my roommate, Peggy and I did yesterday.  We flew to SFO Friday night, where we stayed at a hotel Peggy had gotten for a great deal on Priceline; then on Saturday we got up, ran 18 miles, showered, had chowder and beer, and went back to the airport and flew back to Phoenix.

Ready to run! Night before set up in the hotel room.

We found a route on mapmyrun.com, where other runners log their runs, so you can find routes in any city.  The weather report showed a 30% chance of rain, so naturally it started raining at mile 6 and didn't stop until mile 15.

We crossed the Golden Gate at mile 5, and I was running with a perma-grin.  It was so beautiful, and after training in 100+ degrees in Phoenix, and around 80 in Seattle, running in 60 degrees seriously felt like floating.  I didn't even feel like I was working!  I just kept looking around and smiling at Peggy and saying, "Isn't this amazing?!"  (I think Peggy may have been getting a little annoyed with my enthusiasm.)

We crossed back over the bridge and consulted a map to plan our next move.  I knew there was some kind of coastal trail, and we found it on the map, but part of it was closed.  But there was a detour, and we managed to find it with the help of some friendly runners.  (There were tons of runners out!  Tons!  And they were all friendly!)

So we followed this awesome coastal trail, which had a lot of hills, and then a lot of STAIRS, but led us to this gorgeous view

It had started to rain a bit on the bridge, but by the time we got here it was a total downpour, and the path led uphill in every direction!  Peggy was getting pretty irritated with the conditions, and she actually didn't want to run anymore! (We were at least 6 miles from our hotel, so stopping wasn't really an option!)  Peggy is training for the NYC marathon, so I said, "What are you going to do if it rains in NYC?  Stop running?!"  And she said, "Yep!"

So then I said, "You need to work on your mental toughness!  And this is a perfect time to do it!" Then I sped up, because I think she wanted to punch me.

Yay stairs!

When the wind and rain hadn't let up by mile 11 we decided to make it a 16 mile run instead of 18. But at 15.72 miles, a right turn would have led us back to our hotel a half mile away.  By then the rain had finally let up, and we were at the Embarcadero where all the World Cup sailboats are, so I said, "If we just go straight for less than a mile, then turn around and come back, we can do an 18 miler like we planned.  Whataya say?"  (I sensed that she really wanted to have accomplished 18.  I knew I had her.)

Sure enough, she agreed.  But around mile 17, when I saw a gorgeous little park off to the side of the road and said, "Look at this cute little park!  Let's run through here!" she may have gone back to wanting to punch me.

The fact is I loved every minute of the 18 mile run!  My enthusiasm drove Peggy to the brink of madness, and likely just confused everyone else.  But it never occurred to me to stop or slow down or even be upset.  That was the run, and those were the conditions.  And it was so beautiful and different, that it just flew by!  Karin says I may be different than most people in this way.  I am hoping that will hold me in good stead for the Ironman!

And, of course, after the run and the hot shower, there was the reward that had really kept us going all long...