West Coast Adventures

Happy Tuesday and for those of you who had yesterday off, I hope that you had a great long weekend! I had an adventure filled several days actually, and drove more last weekend than I have in a couple of months! First was a stop to Grass Valley, a town where gold was discovered in 1850. Their main mine, the Empire Mine was the richest hard rock mine in California, producing 5.8 million ounces of gold in its operating history of 106 years. Just to put that in perspective, currently one ounce of gold is sold for about $2,000.00! I spent a couple of days spending time with family, playing games and hiking around Empire Mine, which is now a park with dirt paths for hiking. 

Mill St. Grass Valley in December

Next, I headed to Monterey and Carmel for the annual MLK girls trip with K, A & L. We had a great time searching through the tidepools for fancy shells, eating candy, playing in the waves and watching the sea otters try to crack things while floating on their backs (they are so cute!) We also drove the 17 mile drive, which winds along the coast and has some great views! I think the girls were happier to just find shells on the beach and were not as impressed by the drive, but we had fun all the same! It rained a bit on Saturday and Sunday, but overall we had pretty good weather and I even got a tad burnt! 

Carmel Beach

Lone Cypress Tree - 17 Mile Drive

L looking for otters at the Monterey pier.

On Monday, I went with a friend to hike San Francisco's crosstown trail, which is a 17 mile trail that goes from Candlestick Point, which is on the southeast side of town to the Cliff House, which is on the northwest side of town. 

Crosstown trail map (found here)

It is actually a really cool taste of the city, and goes through some neighborhoods and parks that I had never been in before. It also tries to go on a lot of dirt, so it would randomly just pop into the trees on a path that you may not have even noticed. It also went on a lot of hidden stairways (which I have talked about before) and I found some of those too that I had not been on before. All in all, it was a great way to see the city in a different way than I had seen. However, it did go through some of the places on my 10 things to do in San Francisco list too, for example, we went on Irving Street and stopped there for pho!  

16th Ave. tiled steps - very cool mosaic! 

16th Ave. stairs with Ocean Beach in background.

Moraga stairs with downtown San Francisco in background.

Ocean Beach

This was the second "town tour" walk I have done in the last month; the first was the same kind of thing in the city of Pacifica on new year's weekend. So now I think I need to make one or find one for Oakland and that can be the next one in the tour of the town series! Maybe I will try to include some of my favorite nooks and crannies on my next tour! 

How was your weekend!? Have you ever been to the California coast? Have you ever done a walking tour or a long walk around the neighborhoods of your town? 

10 Things To Do In San Francisco

I know many of you have probably already been to San Francisco, and have done the usual touristy things (Fisherman's Wharf, Ghirardelli Square, Golden Gate...etc.) but thought it would be fun to provide you with a few of the lesser known things to do on your next trip that are a bit less touristy! Or, if you have never been, perhaps you can do a bit of both. This is obviously not an all encompassing list, but just a small slice of the many fun things to do! Everything on this list can be reached by public transportation or on foot, or there are many public bikes and scooters if your feet need a break (link to below map here). 

                   

1) Twin Peaks / Sutro Tower: My family has always called the tower Godzilla, and I am not sure why because I Googled it and can only find reference to it being called the Space Claw... It is kind of a monstrosity either way, and was built in 1973 (it recently had its 50th birthday) to help improve the television signal in the city. However, the real reason to go up there is the fun drive (or hike if you are feeling athletic; it is only a couple of miles depending on where you start) up and down and the great view you get from the top! 

View of downtown from Twin Peaks

(2) Golden Gate Park: This is a lot of ground to cover, but a favorite loop of mine is to go and ogle the bison in their paddock (2a), walk past the Dutch windmills and tulips (2b) (in bloom in February) and then end up at Ocean Beach (2c), where you can watch the (kind of scary) waves of the Pacific beat on the shore. If you like walking a lot, you can keep going and head over to the Cliff House (2d), an icon of the city, and the Sutro Baths (2e), where people used to bathe with a view of the ocean! For these places basically being in the middle of the city, they can all be surprisingly quiet. Tip from a local: bring a jacket, no matter what month it is. It gets chilly on that side of the city! 

Dutch windmills & tulips

(3) Land's End: If you keep walking after the Sutro Baths, you will get to Lands End, a dirt walking trail along the coast, which has some good views of the ocean and the Marin Headlands to the north. Also, this is right near the Legion of Honor (3a), which is worth a look-see (and if you don't want to walk so much, you can split the park and these two places into two groups). 

(4) Irving Street: Since we are already down near the park, we may as well go to Irving Street for something to eat! There is pretty much anything you could want between 19th St. and 24th St., but some of my favorite things to get are either pho, dim sum or Thai food (Marnee Thai  (4a) is a must and if you go, you have to try the kanom krok - even if you don't see it on the menu, ask for it). You also can't go wrong if you just wander, or stop when you are hungry (after your GG park walk you will be!) This guy has a fun map with restaurant names and notes. Oh, and if you feel like straying a bit for a good pizza or bread, check out Arizmendi Bakery (4b) on 9th and Irving. 

(5) Chinatown: Pick up some dim sum to-go from Delicious Dim Sum (5a) and sit in Portsmouth Square (5b) where you will have a view of the Transamerica tower, and watch the locals play their daily board games. They really get into it and it is fun to watch the competitions arise! Plus the area is just so vibrant; it is a great place to people watch. 

Delicious dim sum!

After that, if you feel like being a tourist, you can walk down Grant Street, or if you want to see how the locals shop, take a stroll down Stockton Street (5c). Local tip: You can get great prices on fruit and vegetables here. If you want to buy anything from the shops, there are not really proper lines. Just walk in, put your item on the scale next to the register and get your dollars out quick. It is a dog eat dog world out there and you need to be quick to win your right to pay for your goods! Also, I have never paid with a card, so I can't confirm whether they take them, but I would have cash on hand just in case. 

(6) Filbert Steps: These go from Sansome Street up to Coit Tower, so they are a little touristy, but it is also  fun to go up or down them. It is a stairway within a neighborhood and it is fun to check out everyone's gardens and at the same time you get a glimpse of the Bay Bridge and the San Francisco bay. If you feel like doing a loop, I like to go up (or down) Vallejo Street (6a) which is also steep but provides a nice view. If you like hidden staircases like I do, San Francisco has over 600 public stairways (map here) for you to explore; here is an article about 11 of them to get you started. 

(7) The Murals in the Mission: Head down to Clarion Alley (7a) and scope out the cool murals, and afterward, go and get a burrito. There are so many places to choose from, and you can't go wrong with most of them, but I often end up at either El Farolito (7b) on Mission & 24th or El Toro Taqueria (7c). And don't forget to eat the burrito properly, which I describe in this post. You can also find more mural locations in this article. 

(8) Crissy Field/Fort Point: If you feel like taking a nice walk along the water, you can go from Crissy Field down to Hopper's Hands (Fort Point) (8a), which is about 1.5 miles each way. If this is too much, there are options: you can park in the Warming hut lot (8b), which makes the walk only about half a mile, or you can drive all the way to Fort Point if the gate is open. Either way, it is a great way to get outside and get some fresh air, plus you have the added bonus of a view of the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, the water, the Marin Headlands and the city! Basically you can't go wrong. Don't forget to touch Hopper's Hands for good luck when you get to Fort Point! 

Fort Point

View from Crissy Field

(9) Fort Mason: You can go and watch the sea lions at Fisherman's wharf, or you can go to Fort Mason instead and watch them at the marina, swimming around and sunning themselves on the docks. Also, if you are looking for love, supposedly the Safeway (9a) across the street is frequently listed as one of the city's best pick-up spots and is affectionately known as the "Dateway." 

Fort Mason / Marina

(10) Biking the Embarcadero: Most people talk about San Francisco's hills and how scary they are when running or biking, but despite the rumors, there are a lot of flat options! The simplest one is to bike along the Embarcadero where you will have to climb a small hill to get to Fort Mason, but after that, you will go back down towards the Marina and Crissy Field where it is flat again. Of course, you can make this a multi-mile trip pretty easily: the Mission is also flat, Ocean Beach/Great Highway are gorgeous, you can even bike to Sausalito (and beyond)! Really the city is your oyster. 

Bay Bridge / Embarcadero

Well there you have it folks, a handful of fun things to pick from next time you are in San Francisco! Of course feel free to ask questions if you need more information! 

Have you ever been to San Francisco? Have you been to any of the places/done any of the things on this list? If not, what is your "local tip" for your neck of the woods? 

Tales From the Trails: Hidden Neighborhood Gems

NGS wrote a recent post about her walks around her neighborhood and I was mentioning to her how I really have gotten to know some fun places near me due to walking and running. I have lived in Oakland for about 11 years now and have lived and worked in San Francisco on and off for about 25 years, and through those years I have found so many fun little alleyways and stairways and incredible views. 

In Oakland, Berkeley and San Francisco, there are a lot of little stairways or walkways where it is sometimes unclear whether or not they are on someone's property or not, but if you are brave enough to take them, you can find some wonderful shortcuts and some really fun things. You can probably find a map of where they are and follow that if you want to, but I kind of like just stumbling upon them; it's an adventure! Here are a couple of my favorites from each city. 

Oakland: 

Buena Vista Ave / Broadway Terrace - This may be cheating a little, as there are maybe ten different sets of stairs in this little neighborhood. It is like a Choose Your Own Adventure book and each time I go that way, I find something new! Also this neighborhood is up high and you can sometimes get some great views of the city and beyond! Google map. 

Yellow denotes stairs/paths.

Van Sicklen to Elbert St. via Trestle Glen - This neighborhood is nice and this path is hard to find, so I kind of felt like I was trespassing at first! However, it does get you through to higher ground and is a fun little clandestine route through someone's "backyard." Google map. 

Berkeley: 

Rose Walk - This path is about nine miles from my house and I found it on a run when I was trying to get approximately 20 miles total. I was looking for a turnaround spot and did not want to keep going down La Loma, which was the street I was on. It's a cute little path that you may even miss if you are coming from La Loma, but once you get on it, you go down the hill to Euclid where you can then turn right and check out the Rose Garden before turning around to go home. Google map. 

Indian Rock Path - This was another one where I just wanted to find a turnaround on a long run and I stumbled on this path. Not only is the path fun and tiny and green, but at the top of the path is Indian Rock, which I of course climbed up to see what kind of view was at the top. I was not disappointed, as you can see all the way to the city and the Marin Headlands. Google map. 

San Francisco: 

There are entire websites and books dedicated to the stairways in San Francisco, so I am not going to try to outshine them! However, here are two I frequent often. 

Greenwich Steps - If you walk along the Embarcadero going northbound, when you look up and see Coit Tower directly above you, turn left and you will be taken to a fabulous set of stairs that leads up to Coit Tower. Not only is the destination a good one, with a view and everything, but the stairs themselves lead through a neighborhood garden path and make you wonder how the people living here get their groceries home! Google map. 

Chestnut Street Stairs - These are not really "hidden" but they do provide a good bump in your heart rate and a rewarding view of Fisherman's wharf and Alcatraz when you get to the top. Also this has nothing to do with stairs, but if you are just looking for a run to do, going down Chestnut is fun and there is a public bathroom at the library that I have utilized often. I like to run down along the Embarcadero/Marina and then back on Chestnut for some variety. Google map. 

Here are a few extra photos of cool things that were not included in the list above: 

Brigeview Path

This Mormon Temple lets you cut through their property.

This sign changes from time to time.

SF alley to Transamerica tower.

Where have your walks taken you? Do you have any fun nooks, crannies or oddities in your neighborhood? 

Flowers in Their Hair

The last weekend of September, as I mentioned in my September recap, was a great, fun (and eating) filled weekend with a few of my blogger friends (turned real life friends). They have been all meeting up together for a running weekend each year for about the last 3 or 4 years. This year, I was lucky enough that they chose my city to have their adventure in. I have met up with a couple of them before in various places around the world (Minneapolis, San Francisco, Charlotte and Squamish) but it was especially fun to host them and to show them some of my favorite places. In addition, they all rented a house in my old neighborhood, and it was so nostalgic being back there again, especially since their house was laid out just like the place I had when I lived there!

It started on Thursday, when Lauren and Lisa arrived. I met them in the city and they came over to Oakland with me on the bus. They were really troopers, hauling their suitcases on the public transportation during rush hour. We all went to one of my favorite Korean restaurants, Jong Ga House, which was really fun, as both Lisa and Lauren had never had Korean food. If you have ever had it, you will know that you get several "side dishes" called banchan, which vary in number. In this place, we got about 20 different ones! Of course we also had the traditional spicy tofu soup as well as a variety of barbequed meats.

Old photo, same restaurant

On Friday, I had to work all day and then I had a work event afterward, so the girls were on their own. However, on Saturday, I met up with all four of them (Leigh and Amber had arrived the night before) and we all ran the Berkeley Trail Adventure in Tilden park. Afterward, we went to Sam's Log Cabin in Albany for some delicious pancakes, eggs and fried chicken. I dropped the ladies back off in the city, went and dropped off the car and then rode my bike back to meet up with them again.

Of course, the next part was my favorite, because it was in my old neighborhood! We wandered around the Mission, stopping for a burrito at El Farolito and then HAD TO end the night with some ice cream from my favorite place in the city, Mitchells. The only problem is deciding which flavor to get (I got a double scoop of pumpkin and macapuno)! 

The next day we did something I have never done, although I have lived in the area for years. We biked across the bridge to Sausalito and took the ferry back. It is such a touristy thing to do that I have to admit, I have poo-pooed it, but I am so glad that we did it, as it was a ton of fun. We started nice and early, so that there were not too many looky loos on the bridge, so I think that made it even better. Once in Sausalito, we wandered to a breakfast place, Freds, which was pretty darn good! We headed back on the ferry and then rode over to the Ferry Building before all going our own ways. 

It is so fun to see my home through different eyes, as it reminds me of how much I love it here. The girls were taking photos of the fun houses and the interesting food, and it made me remember how lucky I am to live in such a gorgeous place, with good weather, and multiple food choices.

Another plus was the ease of spending time with these ladies. They are like old friends, even the ones I have not officially met before, and it was so easy to hang out with them. There was no drama, no worries about impressing people or worry about what to do. I made them all ride crammed in a mini for an hour in traffic and they were such good sports about it! I dragged them around the city and made them eat weird food and they did not complain once. All in all, I could not have asked for a better group of girls or a more fun weekend. They are welcome back any time (plus there are still so many things I want to show them)!

What is your "tried and true" routine when you have visitors to your home town? What is your favorite type of food? What type of food have you never tried that you would like to try?

Boston Strong SF

When I saw this post over at Pavement Runner's site, I knew that I would have to join in.

Little did I know, I would not be the only one. According to the press release, there were over 80 cities worldwide and over 2,500 participants. I know that about 250 people RSVPed for the San Francisco one, and although I don't think they all made it, there were at least 100 people.

We ran from Crissy Field down to Fort Point (the foot of the Golden Gate bridge) and back and we took it nice and slow and people talked and ran and had a great time. It was such a show of solidarity and support of other runners, the victims and their loved ones, the running community and the community in general! It felt great to be a part of it. There are so many feelings swirling around regarding the race and the events surrounding it, that it is nice to feel like you are part of a group of people that have your back, and that you ARE strong.

I wore my Boston shirt and was one of 4 people at the event who had been at Boston this year. There were also people in Celtics, Patriots, Bruins and Red Sox gear, people wearing yellow in general and people wearing any other race or Boston tops and hats. It was awesome. In fact, the news was there and they interviewed me, so I have last night's 11 o'clock news on tivo (since I will not be up!) and will watch it tonight to see if it aired (ABC and NBC were there!) Here is a little clip they put on the internet.

Did you run Boston Strong in your city?  Do you like to surround yourself with people when times are tough, or do you like to be alone?

10 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 4 & 5

I will be foregoing my weekly Fitness Friday post today for a continuation of the 10 days of Thanksgiving. Today we have number 4 and number 5 of the 10 things I am thankful for this year.

4. Where my Parents Live

I have posted about this a million times before, but the place I grew up is so beautiful. It is pine trees and clean air and swimming in the cold river on a hot summer day. It is the sound of birds in the morning and the smell of pine and the wandering up and down through the mountains. It is a great place to go home to. I can't wait to go home for Christmas and play in the snow and bake cookies and play a few rounds of Rummikub and read my book near the fire. For some reason it's that much sweeter at Mom and Dad's house.

Hiking with Dad

Lovely snowy day

5. Public Transportation

One of the best things about living where I do is the fact that I don't need a car. I could probably write a whole post about this too. I have talked a little bit about the Casual Carpool, which is how I get to work, and it only takes about 20 minutes. Going home, I take the bus, which also only takes about 25 minutes. There is also the option of taking the train or a boat. I also walk a lot, and it is nice to have the option to do so. Other than that, there are options for bike shares, car shares, rent by the hour and more. One thing I recently found out about is Get Around, where you can rent out your own car if you don't need it, or you can rent a car by the hour if you do. I love that my monthly transportation cost is roughly 150 dollars and that's including all transportation and gas!

My favorite - the F train

Do you enjoy going back to the area you grew up in? How much do you spend a month on transportation?

Nike Women's Marathon

I got up at 5 to get on the bus to cross the bay. The bus terminal in San Francisco is about a mile from the race start, which is in Union Square. I decided to walk. I got to about 3 or 4 blocks from the square and it was a mad house. Of course that was just when I started to have to use the restroom. So I ducked into the Marriott (thanks JW!) and used theirs before heading over to the Square to line up in my corral.

Like I said before, my corral was 7:30 - 9:00 and actually they were letting the faster corral in at the same place, so they had to go in and then fight their way to the front of all of the people in my pace group. It was a bit of a mess. Everyone had pace bracelets, so you could tell when they weren't supposed to be in that corral, and there were several that weren't.

Once the race started, it seemed like it took forever to cross the starting line, but once I got my results, I realized it was really less than a minute. My Garmin was having a bad day and it kept telling me I was running a 3 minute mile. I was passing a lot of people (trying to get around everyone) but I don't think I was that fast! For the first mile or so, it was a lot of bobbing and weaving, but luckily I had rudely pushed myself to the front(ish) of the start line, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. I can't imagine what it was like in the 9:00 - 10:00 group, which was pretty far behind us. I checked out some of the people who came in near the end, and their chip time and gun time were a half an hour apart!

The course was great; miles 3 - 6 were on one of my favorite routes, through Crissy Field, where normally there is an awesome view of the Golden Gate bridge. However, it was quite foggy and there was a view of nothing. I felt kind of bad for the out of towners who came for the views. At this point I started to fuel. I had decided earlier that morning, in a split second decision (dumb maybe) to try dried apricots as fuel. They went down fine with a little chewing, and at about 15 calories each are about the same as a Gu Chomp. Mile 1 - 6: 6:50*, 6:19*, 7:26, 7:34, 7:27, 7:39 (*these may have been Garmin error)

After Chrissy Field, it started to go up, and up, and up, and down and up and up! Basically miles 7 - 11 were about a thousand feet total elevation gain according to the Garmin. This is where I had a lot of trouble. I can run up the hills, but it sure is hard. I could feel my face getting redder and redder. At this point it was kind of misty raining, which was a blessing! Somewhere around mile 11 the marathon and half marathon split up. They went toward the finish and we went toward the park. This made a HUGE difference! All of a sudden, I was running alone. It was great!  Mile 7 - 11: 8:19, 7:37, 8:11, 7:57, 7:15

Uphill, chug, chug

Miles 12 - 17 were all in Golden Gate park and were flatter than the coast, although not flat by any means. They were just more gradual, and more up, up, up and then down, down, down (rather than up, down, up, down). According to Garmin, this was another 900 ft gain/loss. It was fun running this section, as the park is beautiful and I got to see my friends, the Bison. There was also a huge jumbo-tron here. Check out this video  of the 10k, 15k and finish line. You can look at my waddle. All I can say about that is...I run funny! We also met back up with the halfers around mile 16 (their mile 13) and it was a crazy mess for about a half a mile before I popped out into the solitary confinement of the Great Highway. Mile 12 - 17: 8:01, 8:18, 7:58, 7:45, 7:50, 7:32

Miles 18 - 20 were along the Great Highway which goes along side Ocean Beach. I was really looking forward to seeing my family, as I was getting pretty tired at this point. The road was a chip and seal rather than a nice smooth asphalt and it was killing my feet! Also, I just needed a smiling face, which is funny because as I was scanning the crowd for my parents, a person jumped out of the crowd and hugged me! It was my new running buddy! I gave her a high five and kept on. Then there they were, the Parentals and grandma, right near mile 18. Seeing them gave me the boost I needed to keep going. Mile 18 - 20: 7:49, 7:52, 8:11

The Great Highway

Miles 21 - 24 were around Lake Merced. If I would have known how bad this section was going to be, I would have asked the Parentals to be over here. It was dead. I was tired. It was raining on me. There were a lot of cars. The lake was nice though. At one point this guy came out of nowhere and was running right next to me for about a mile. Then he just stopped. I am not sure what that was all about. Maybe I looked tired? Like I needed a push? Well it worked; I was trying so hard to get away from him and to have a little space between us that I picked up my pace by a few seconds. Mile 21 -24: 8:14, 8:13, 8:09, 8:06

Miles 25 to the end were back along the Great Highway. This part was fun, because all the runners behind me were coming the opposite direction. I had a few friends running and I looked for them, but never saw them. Also, I saw two guys that had ridden my bus into the city that morning! What a small world it was shaping up to be! Mile 25 - 26.2: 8:08, 8:15, 7:59

Still feeling good!

Then I was at the end. Almost. First I had to muscle my way through a bunch of walk/jogging half marathon people who were sharing the finish line (and the 200 feet or so leading up to it) with me! Then I was over the line, and this cute fireman in a tux gave me a little blue box. I could have hung out with him longer; why is the box giving portion so short and the run so long? It should be the other way around.

And then I was done. I was wet and cold and hungry but I felt great!

Final Time: 3:29:16
Overall: 46/4452
Gender: 30/4051
Age: 9/837

A few fun facts: *Dried Apricots = good fuel! This may be my new favorite! * I did not pee once. * Total elevation gain (according to Garmin) = 5000 ft (can that be right?) * Elevation loss = 4860 ft *Fastest time = 2:56 (M) and 2:59 (F) * From my loose calculations, about 3% of the people in this race BQ (compared to 35% in the Santa Rosa Marathon) *

Tell me how you feel about firemen. What is your favorite type of dried fruit? Have you ever seen footage of yourself running?

The Giant Race

What's better than running in San Francisco on a cool summer morning? Doing it with thousands of your closest friends and Giants fans!! I have to admit, as much as I don't like bigger races, it was fun to see everyone running around in their orange and black, although I wonder if they are really fans, or just like to dress up. It doesn't matter; it made me feel all warm and tingly inside.

I think I mentioned that I lined up right at the start this time, and when I say right at the start, I mean front and center, second row back, right behind the really fast people. So I didn't have to pass anyone! And this, my friends, made a big race into an enjoyable one. If there are 20 people or 20,000 people behind me, I don't care! It makes the race so much better. I may have pissed off a few fast people who had to pass me, but so be it.

I ran this race with a friend of mine who runs about 10 miles a week. When he asked me what my pace was going to be, I said that I just wanted to PR, which meant I wanted to get below a 1:37. He said that he had been training at a 1:35, but wanted to beat that by a bit. This is why you shouldn't run with guys. His slow pace, his pace he runs on his one 10 mile jaunt a week, is faster than my speedy, feel like puking pace! But, we decided we would start off together and if he needed to go on ahead, he would. This would put us at about a 7:15 pace according to the Cool Running pace calculator.

Instead of doing the usual recap, I am going to do a few Good, Bad, Uglies.

The Good: Mile 1
The Bad: Mile 13
The Ugly: Mile 3.4 / Mile 9.3 (Van Ness Hill / Fort Mason Hill)

The Good: Having a partner who is faster than me kept me going.
The Bad: It was a little bit too fast for me.
The Ugly: Doing a hilly trail run the day before a race is not a good idea. My legs were like lead!

The Good: The run started and ended in the ballpark.
The Bad: The run went right through Fisherman's Wharf
The Ugly: The course went over two hills.

The Good: Brunch afterward at Grub.
The Bad: The reason we needed to eat was because there was no swag food.
The Ugly: There were beers, but they cost 9 dollars.

Here is a cliff note recap: The race was good; the course was beautiful; it was mostly flat except for 2 hills; we got to see the golden gate bridge and lots of people wearing orange. There were plenty of water stops, but no Gu/fuel except for power bars. By the time we finished, which was not super late, there was no food left. We were told there had been tons, but the 5k people ate it all. Race director fail! My legs hurt and we wavered between a 7:08 and a 7:40 pace the entire time. My friend ended up hurting his knee so I ended up going ahead of him. The race ended on the field where we got to walk around and pretend to be ball players (that part was really cool!)

Final time: 1:36:35 (7:22 pace)
This was a new PR by 42 seconds!

Verdict? If you want a Matt Cain Bobble-head and a half of a banana, you should run this race. However, if you just want to run in the city and go to AT&T park, call me, we can do both without paying $100 to do so!

Have you ever run a race that went through a stadium of some sort? Do you get annoyed when you pay a lot for a race and don't get good swag? Would you rather run with someone faster than you or slower than you?

Don't forget to stop by Jill's for some Friday fitness inspiration!

Are You an Olympian?

Yesterday was the Giant Race, which is a half marathon in San Francisco that starts and ends in AT&T park. Before I started, I was googling stuff about the race and noticed something exciting, Brett Gotcher, US Olympic Alternate for the Men's marathon, would be running this race. He is from Watsonville, which is near Santa Cruz, so it was exciting to hear that he would be running a local race! I checked out his photos online so I would recognize him if I saw him.

As we were waiting for the race to start, I saw him, warming up right next to the "Leadoff Hitter" pace sign (under 8 minutes/mi).

I went up to him and said, "Are you Brett Gotcher, the Olympian?"

The guy looked at me funny and said that he wasn't but that he would love it if he were.

Oops. I kind of mumbled something about how he was blond and he looked fast so I just assumed he was the Olympian (what makes someone look "fast" you ask? Short shorts and a running singlet. And flowing blond hair. I guess).

Then we lined up at the start line. I got right in the front. If there is anything I have learned over the past several races, it's that I hate having to pass a bunch of people at the start. So now I get as close to the front as I can. In this case, it was the second "row" of people.

They started the announcements and one of the things they said was that Brett was here and There He Was! The real Brett Gotcher. The funniest part is that the guy I had mistaken for Brett was standing right behind me, so we had a laugh about the case of mistaken identity.

This is the end.

As soon as the event photos are online, I am going to post a side by side, because I swear these guys look very similar!

Here is a video of the start, where you can see Brett (blonde guy, orange shirt, black shorts) and me (blonde girl, white hat, orange shirt, black shorts). What? Is that confusing? No really, I am at about 11-12 seconds. Brett is around the 7 second mark.  So technically, I was only 4 seconds behind Brett!! It's a bit of a blurry video but I thank the person who took it!

Have you ever mistakenly talked to someone who you thought was someone else? Where do you line up: at the start/in the proper corral/anywhere/you don't care?

It's Causal

I have had a lot of questions lately about what form of transportation I use when I go into the city. I sometimes take the bus, sometimes the BART, but mostly I use the Casual Carpool (you can also take a boat if you are so inclined). People can understand the bus or the BART, but the looks I get when I tell people that I use the Casual Carpool are priceless. I mean, didn't all of our mothers teach us not to get into a car with a stranger?

In case you are not familiar with it, it is an informal carpool starting from several places throughout the Bay Area and going into the city. There is no prior arrangement; if you are driving, you go to a corner and wait for people; if you are a person, you go to the corner and wait for a car. When the car has three people, it goes into the city. In the afternoon, they go back to where they came from. The benefit of this is twofold for the driver. By having three people in their car, they get to go through the toll booth in the carpool lane, which not only saves them time (possibly an hour or more during the worst part of rush hour) but also saves them money. It used to be that if you had three or more in your car, you got to go through the toll booth for free. Now it is $2.50 instead of $6.

It sounds great, right? Except I have had people ask me some interesting (and valid) questions such as:

How do you know where to go? There is a list of sites where people meet. It's usually on a corner where the bus stop is, so if you cannot get a car, you can catch the bus at it comes by. That is what I do. If the bus is coming at 7, I go to the corner around 6:45 and wait until either a car comes and fills up or the bus comes. Once you are in the vehicle, be it bus or car, the drive itself takes the same amount of time. However, the car is cheaper. Which brings me to....

Do you have to pay to ride? Oh, now this is the hot topic of the month! Since this is technically informal, aka no rules, but we all want it to continue, there has been no clear black and white answer to this question. Also my friend and I just had a discussion about this. The loose rules are: the driver can ask for a dollar or two and the passenger can choose to give or not AND the passenger can offer a dollar or two and the driver can accept or not. I will tell you that as a passenger, I offer 9 times out of 10 and they accept 7 of those times. So, I pay 70% of the time, but it's only a dollar as opposed to $4.20 for the bus. However, my friend says she never offers as a passenger and that people who want you to pay them will have a little sign, which I have never seen.
 
Do you always ride with strangers? Yes. But, if I go around the same time of day, I often see the same drivers, so you get to know certain people. Usually, these are people in my neighborhood, as the carpool site is only a few blocks away for most of us. So, they are my neighbors.

Do you talk when you are in the car? This is another informal "rule". Supposedly, and I don't know where I heard this, if the driver talks to you, you can talk, but if not, you should keep quiet, as you don't want to distract them. I would say that maybe 20% of the drivers want to talk. Most stay quiet and we listen to NPR. Seriously, there are a lot of NPR fans in the casual carpool group.

Has anything bad every happened to you?  No, but there is a forum where you can post warnings about bad drivers or rude people or whatnot and it does happen. However, it is not a very big forum and the casual carpool has been around for a few decades, so I think that the bad things are minor. Also, you are allowed to skip a car, for instance if a man pulls up in a two-seater, I may give it a pass. Drivers are allowed to refuse passengers as well. I have never seen this happen though.

So, there you have it. The ins and outs of the casual carpool. Tomorrow I will be talking about Riding the Bus. Just kidding. I will probably talk about that next week.FYI for you excel nerds like me: by using the CC, even if I did pay a dollar each time, I would save $16/week! That's a glass and a half of wine at the airport! Or a new sweater at Target! Or...3 burritos! Thanks Casual Carpool!

Do you have a similar program in your area? Have you ever gotten into a car with a stranger / done a ride-share? How do you get to work/school each day?

The Relay: Race Recap

The Friday before this race, I was not sure what to expect. What I got was an experience very similar to traveling alone. You are by yourself, but you meet fellow travelers who are on the same path as you, and you become friends in minutes. Often, your paths only cross for minutes, or days, but you feel as if you have known the people forever.

My van was like that. A bunch of travelers, all going down the same path, with stories about our craft. Everyone is different; the level of experience varies, but you are all united by a common goal/love. Age range: 20 - 45. Ability range: Once a week runner (1) / Once a month runner (1) / Second race ever (1) / Marathoners (3). Quickly, I will go over the players. Names have been changed to protect the innocent.

MYL: The Organizer. Has run a couple marathons and some smaller races, but is currently not training for anything. She is also the one who got walking pneumonia and therefore was not sure if she was going to be able to run. Texas: A jokester. Has only run one other race before, which was 6 miles long. He ran that race in cross trainers. Backseat B: Fitness Guru. Not a frequent runner, but has buns of steel. The 6 Minute Man: This guy put down a 6 minute mile as his pace. We were all in awe. Young R: At 20 years old, was by far the youngest of the crowd. But he was still picking up what we were putting down.

All 12 of us got together for dinner on Friday night, for a little meet and greet. I am glad we did, because after the first 2 minutes, we already knew that our group was going to have fun. Do you know how I knew? First thing 6 Minute Man says to me is, "I read your blog". I was thinking, "oh crap; I hope I didn't say anything incriminating about this race!" Anyway, I learned that he had Googled everyone after he found out who was in our van. Creepy, right? But funny. You know what, if you put it out there, someone can find it! So beware. At least 6MM was honest about it (cough, cough, stalker!) Everyone was really nice, even the Van 1 people! But I didn't spend as much time with them, so you won't hear about them as much.

On Saturday morning, Van 2 (that's us) met up with Van 1 in Calistoga, CA (in case you are not familiar, that is in Napa County in the wine region) at the start line to see them off. The way our relay was set up was on a wave start. The first teams left at 7 a.m. and every half hour, about a half a dozen teams left the start line. The last teams (the fast people) left at 3 p.m. There were about 200 teams. We went over the start line at 9 a.m.

Doing "team stretches" before the big race

Our van then had to wait, since our first leg was not until about 1 pm. So we went and had some pancakes and coffee at the Hydro Bar and Grill. To be honest, I wasn't sure what to eat. Usually I run in the morning, so I have a simple breakfast (must have cereal!) and I hit the road. But this time, the time of day and the waiting, and the HEAT...I did not know how to play it. About an hour before my first leg, I had a bagel with peanut butter. You know how they say that certain things work for some and not for others? Peanut Butter? Does NOT work for me. Urp.

Leg 1: 5 pm Saturday. Finally, it was time for my first leg. It was about 85 degrees and very, VERY windy. The wind was not a nice, cooling breeze. It dried out your eyes, and your lips and your tongue. It pushed you backwards. It was hard. The beginning of my leg was through Petaluma, which is pretty flat, but that meant navigating the streets, which are not shut down. Around mile 3, there was a steady (and HOT) uphill until around mile 5, when it finally went down to the end. I saw cows (this area used to be known for it's dairies), sheep (I yelled MMAAA at them and the one other runner, who I didn't realize was behind me, laughed at me) and lots of green rolling hills.

TOTALS, Leg 1: 6.9 miles / 54:23 / 7:56 pace

Much of leg one looked like this

After our van was done, we headed to San Francisco, where we had a chance to rest at a friend's house. Unfortunately, we went the wrong way and ended up taking the coastal road instead of the freeway. This gave us the chance to have dinner in Stinson Beach, which is lovely, but made it so we did not arrive to San Francisco until about 9:30 and we were needing to leave by 11. I got about 1 hour of sleep.

Getting ready for the night run. Photo Credit: Texas.

Leg 2: 12:05 a.m. Sunday. Since MYL had gotten sick, I agreed to run this leg for her. I am so glad I did. This leg started at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge and wound it's way around the coast, past Baker Beach, the Legion of Honor and the Cliff House and then down the Great Highway for the last 3 miles. It was the easiest 7 mile run I have ever done. It was cool, about 50 degrees, there was a nice cool sea breeze coming off the water, the city was quiet and dark (which I thought I wouldn't like, but I LOVED) and it was nice to just run along, without music (I know! Me? No music!) through the city I love so much. It was a little hilly as well, but they didn't even phase me this time.

TOTALS, Leg 2: 7 miles / 59:11 / 8:22 pace

This is where I ran for leg 2. It was dark, but still beautiful!

Leg 3: 3:30 a.m. Sunday. This leg was quick and easy, and although not as great as the last one, it was still nice to run quietly along in the dark.

TOTALS, Leg 3: 1.8 miles / 13:33 / 7:44 pace

After our last runner was done, we went to the resting place, which was a college gym, with showers and where you could stretch out in your sleeping bag and rest. We chose rest over sleep, but still by the time we got in, it was about 5:30 a.m. We got up at 7, making the grand sleep total about 2.5 hours. 

Van 2

Leg 4: 12:34 pm Sunday. Holy hills batman. This one was a doozy. It went up and down and up and down and up and up and up. From mile 4.5 to 6, there was a 700 ft elevation change. I thought I was tough. I have run hills before. I run trail races. But these hills, running on no sleep, in 80 degree weather, up and up and up...they killed me. I was hurting. On the plus side, I passed 6 people. Hey, sorry dudes, but that made me feel good. I'll admit it.

TOTALS, Leg 4: 6.3 miles / 55:23 / 8:46 pace

Over the hills and through the Redwoods

After I went, the next runner was our last runner. Her leg was 6 miles total, and we all jumped in at the end to run the last mile with her so we could all (including Van 1) cross the finish line together as a team.

Finishing Leg: 1.2 miles / 15:56 / 13:07 pace

Team TOTALS:  194 miles / 29:32:56 / 9:08 pace

The finish line. The guy in orange is who we were running/raising money for.

*Just a side note, the Google team usually wins, at least they did for several years. This year, they got lost and came in 2nd. However, this did not stop them from maintaining UNDER a 6 minute mile the entire time! (their total was: 19:49) Results HERE.

Afterward, there was BEER. And burritos. I was in heaven. Actually I ordered a burrito AND a plate of nachos, which I did not even come close to finishing. Then we had to drive back home (about two hours), get gas for the van and drop me off at my car where I had a 30 minute drive to get home. Then I took a shower and went straight to bed. I think it was about 9 p.m. I slept for 11 hours. Phew.

The Verdict?  If you are not from California, or even if you are, you should do this race. The scenery is amazing and it varies, showing off many of our best places. This is a great way to get introduced to some of the smaller towns and roads and off the beaten path areas.

Would I Do it Again? Yes. It was hard and I don't know how some people, who weren't regular runners, did it, because I think I am in pretty good shape and I had a hard time on some of the legs. It was challenging to have to run several times in one day, without proper food or sleep, up hills, in the heat. But I have to say, I loved every minute of it. Also, I made a bunch of new friends, and that is invaluable.

Van 2. Photo credit: 6MM.

Who is ready to run with me next year? Have you ever conquered a fear and found it better than you imagined? Have you ever been to any of the towns we ran through? 

Don't forget to check out other Fitness Friday posts over at Jills. Have a Happy Mother's Day on Sunday all you MOMS!