SRM WEEK 10 OF 20: All Things Golden Gate

On Sunday afternoon I didn't think I could face another long run doing loops through Golden Gate Park. Don't get me wrong; there are major advantages. I know every step. I have the elevation profile memorized & know exactly what's coming when. Bathrooms & water fountains abound. Traffic lights are few & far between. Sometimes, though--and I know you know what I mean--you know that if you have to look at your same good ol' trusty route even one more time you are seriously going to hurl.

Something I have been meaning to do for a while is get to know The Presidio from a running perspective. It's too far to be a viable option for even mid-distance runs, but if you run about halfway through GG Park and then cut north, it's a straight shot. The Presidio is lovely for running (or so I'm told) thanks to its myriad trails and pedestrian-friendly streets and is also pretty much covered in all kinds of gorgeous foliage. The only trouble is that it's kind of a maze, so if you don't really know where you're going, it's easy to get lost. Still, I figured worst case, I could always just run in until I hit 8 miles, then retrace my steps.

As I followed the most obvious path, though, I soon realized that I was on Doyle Drive, which (eventually) leads to the Golden Gate Bridge. Another long-time running ambition of mine has been to run to the Bridge either via the Presidio or Marina, through the Bridge, and then back out the other side to make a nice loop. I've always known it's possible and there is a pedestrian route, but the roads up that way get a bit finicky (particularly in terms of which ones are pedestrian friendly), so I've been hesitant to try it on my own.

When I made it to the old batteries right around 8 miles & the bridge came into view, I decided this would be the day in which I figured it out.

Approach to the Bridge

So close!

Living in San Francisco is ok I guess

(Serious question: How many times can you stop for photo ops before it really doesn't count as a long run anymore?)

It was a little dicey because there's some construction going on, plus the pedestrian walkway under the bridge is quite narrow and often crowded with tourists, but in the end I emerged on the other side of the bridge and found my way back down to the Marina.

Success! GG Bridge from Marina Green

I think I did something like this, more or less.

In the Marina with six miles left, I was kind of afraid I'd gotten too far out & would end up having to cab home. Although it's about as polar opposite of the Bridge as it's possible to get, I took Van Ness Ave. most of the way back to the Mission because the hills are less insane than most other options and I didn't want to get too much further east.

For most of this run I actually felt pretty good (better than I have lately in a lot of my easy runs...Did I mention how last weekend's 14-er felt like 20?), but it got weirdly hard around 12ish--that same feeling I've had lately sometimes where it just feels like my legs are out of juice. It didn't help that I was also going up-up-uphill on Van Ness at that point, so I was less bothered by all the stop lights than I maybe would have been otherwise.

Thankfully, once I got down to two miles left (and, y'know, downhill again) things got easier, and I actually made it back to my house at ~15.5ish (and took a quick spin down the street & back to get the last half mile). There were more hills than usual on this run, and I think that took a toll on my gimpy right leg. It's still better than it has been, but was bugging me more than usual Monday morning.

~*~*~SRM WEEK 10 OF 20~*~*~

This week was a wee bit shy of the number I was shooting for (40) for sort of insignificant and not-interesting reasons, but I did manage to get in all the key workouts in spite of feeling REALLY crappy towards the end of the week.

Grand Total: 36.7 miles

* 10.25 easy
* 6.7 speed
* 3.75 threshold
* 16 long

Monday: Karate

Tuesday: 1.25 warm up + 6 x 1K @ 7:25 = 5 threshold

SF Track Club workout at Kezar. This was really supposed to be a speed workout but the pace of the group I was with was such that it was more of a threshold interval session than speed work.

(In case you missed the pics of our BEAUTIFUL new track!)

Wednesday: Karate

I thought this might be a good day to get in a few extra miles to make up for Tuesday's slightly short workout, but after running some already-much-procrastinated errands after work there wasn't time before karate.

Thursday: 6 easy

So the way I do these weekly recaps usually is by copying & pasting the formatting from the week before & then just replacing the text. When I got to Thursday's run, though, I could have left it almost exactly as it was: "Oh man. I literally cannot remember the last time I felt this terrible on an easy run [except yes I can, it was last Thursday]. It was supposed to be six eight, but less than a mile in my legs felt like lead & I'm pretty sure I only made it two [three] out & two [three] back out of sheer force of will.

Basically it's like my brain kept sending the signals to my leg muscles but somehow it was a bad connection & the muscles were kind of like, "Whaaaa...? Wha' u say?" Guh #overit

Friday: 1.5 WU; 6 x 200m + 30:00 @ GMP + 6 x 200m; 1.5 CD = 9.7 speed

A hot one! I went into it having felt blah for a couple of days, finished feeling like a zombie, and then slept for 10 hours, but the workout itself (mostly) wasn't too bad.

TRAAAAAAAACK!!!

Saturday: Rest

Sunday: 16 long