Getting Back on the Horse

4.5 miles (40 mins)

Hi all.  My apologies for the long sabbatical.  Life has been hectic lately and I've totally neglected this blog.  Yesterday I ventured out on an exploratory run through my favorite part of San Francisco: Russian Hill.  This is the area overlooking Alcatraz Island, the Golden Gate Bridge, North Beach and Coit Tower, and where the famous curves in Lombard Street lie.  I can't get enough of the neighborhood (filled with beautiful, yet non pretentious Edwardian homes with cozy cafes and wine bars tucked in every corner), so I took off on my run without a specific route in mind, but ready to meander through the streets of San Francisco.

I started at my apartment, ran north on the beautiful tree-lined Hyde St. At the intersection of Greenwich St. and Hyde, I came across a true find: a park with gardens and tennis courts completely open to the public, situated on the ridge of Russian Hill. It's very rare to find places in the city where you can see both the Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate bridge from 1 place...and you can at this location! I continued on my 'Out and Back', taking a right on Greenwich and headed east down Russian Hill and towards Telegraph Hill (where Coit Tower is situated).  At this point, I headed down towards the water and slowly made my way back towards Polk St. The run wasn't particularly long, but heading up and down those hills was certainly a workout!  

Next up: I'm moving to a new apartment in the historic Mission/Dolores neighborhood with my homegirls (Jess and Michaela). I'm definitely aiming to get some runs in that area and explore the neighborhood:)

Sunday - On a Hamster Wheel

5 miles (40 mins)

Upper body weights.

Core.

Was still sore from Saturday's run + lifting at the new gym.  Just took it easy yesterday and watched a House re-run while on the treadmill.

The GG Bridge and Back / Spandex

~9 miles

Upper body weights.

Core workout.

On Saturday morning, Jessica Kondrick (shout-out to Brown volleyball!!) and I went on a jog together down Jackson Street, down the Lion Street staircase, along the Marina, past Fort Point and back to our neighborhood.  I purposefully left my watch at home, so I don't know what our times were. We stopped a couple times to take in the scenery, but other than that, kept up a pretty even pace. The temp was ~65 degrees.

On the way back, I finally sucked it up and became a member at my local Crunch Fitness. (Up until now, I've been mooching off friends' guest passes..)  This particular Crunch fitness gym is pretty awesome. It's was a huge theater back in the day, which they've now converted to a sick, state-of-the-art workout facility.  It's the type of gym where everyone is wearing spandex and looks like they just stepped out of an Adidas catalog. This is no big deal for the former volleyball players (like Jess and Elvina) who are used to living in spandex, but I am still working on building up my spandex tolerance.  More info on that topic later.

Next up: Sunday - rest day

Monday: To the GG Bridge and back (hopefully)

Happy Hour - Friday, April 24th

61:20 (7.2 miles)

Drove down a little country road in Monterey County early Friday evening.  I had set out to get 6 or 7 miles in so once my odometer clicked over, I found a good place to pull over and park.  Did an easy out and back run in a quiet, green, secluded valley.  Temp was about 60 degrees.  Next up: I need to start getting in some intervals so I can increase my speed and drop my average mile time.

Out & Backs

46:05 (5.2 mi) morning (in Corral de Tierra)

41:12 (4.5mi) afternoon (very hilly - Fort Ord)

Morning: covered some easy rolling hills near the Markham Ranch/Corral de Tierra neighborhoods.  Beautiful, lush ranch land with cows, goats and plenty of bugs!  Heading out was easy, but I ran out of steam on the way back.

Afternoon: Tough, hilly run in Ft. Ord. Thought i'd gone farther than the 4.5 miles...  I'm shooting to consistently get my mile times under 9 minutes on 5+ mile runs.  I feel like some days it's easy, and on others its a struggle.

Pebble Beach

58:00 (6.3 miles)

Today was an amazing day for a run. I think Spring is turning into Summer, as the temp got up to 90 degrees on some parts of the Peninsula.  Pebble Beach (while the area is one of my all-time favorite neighborhoods to run in), is normally really foggy and pretty chilly. Today that wasn't the case and I loved it.

I ran a portion of 17 mile drive (for those of you that have been to the area before, it's a 17 mile scenic drive that wraps along the jagged coastline and through some beautiful, wooded neighborhoods around world-renowned golf courses).  I started at the Lone Cypress (check out the pic), and ran north, towards Spanish Bay and back.  There was some sort of wine festival going on in Pebble Beach, so many a tour bus passed me while I was on my run, but the other than that it was a quiet, warm day.  Just me and the sea otters.

With some of the hillier runs I've been doing, I've aggravated the tendon above my left heel and I can feel there's scar tissue that just won't go away.  For the past 2 weeks, I just figured I'd ignore it and the problem would solve itself, but clearly that's not the case.  I guess it's time to take a closer look and start proper stretching and ice/heat treatments.

The Golden Gate Bridge & Back

119 mins (9 mi)

Let me start off today's post by stating that it's recently come to my attention that I may be living in the ghetto neighborhood of San Fran (also referred to as the Tenderloin).  This is a bit disconcerting since I specifically stayed clear of any places in the 'Loin when I did my apartment hunt a la Craigslist (shout-out to Jilane for all her tips and help when I was replying to roommate adds:) ).  I like to think of my quaint neighborhood as the "Lower Nob Hill" area. It's an awesome neighborhood in the heart of the city.  Yes, there is a half-way house across the street from me, but I ask you, what neighborhood doesn't have a friendly, local SRO facility?  I have also heard of my neighborhood referred to as the Tender Nob...an unappealing (albeit witty) hybrid name of the Tenderloin and Nob Hill neighborhoods.  Sigh.  Oh well.

Anyway, back to business.  Today I started my run at my apartment (at Polk & Sacramento St.) and headed out up Larkin St, past Ghiradeli Square, the Presidio and aimed straight for Fort Point (the brick building at the base of the bridge in the pic above), turning around just at the southern tip of the Golden Gate Bridge.  Honestly, when I started out, I had no intention of going as far as I did, but fortunately I got in a good rhythm and felt pretty loose the whole way.  Ironically my iPod crapped out on my within the first 20 mins out, which surprisingly turned the run into a much more enjoyable experience.  Definitely going to go sans iPod again in the future.

This is an exceptional run, a good portion of which is on a quiet gravel path that borders the Marina.  As you near the Golden Gate Bridge, the path becomes dotted with purple lupin bushes and bright orange poppy flowers.  It doesn't get much more California-esque than that!

All in all, a great run. Very thankful to be out in the Golden State :)

San Francisco: To the Presidio and Back

55:34 (7 miles)

I started my run around 8:30 pm tonight. When weaving throughout the picturesque streets of Nob Hill, this seemed to be no big deal.  But then when I got to roads in sketchier hoods that weren't well-lit and the running path along the water (where I used car headlights to see where I was going), I realized I hadn't timed my run during the safest hour of the day.  The upside is with my adrenaline pumping, I was able to squeeze out a pretty decent run.  The view (from what I could tell) looked pretty spectacular, with the Golden Gate bridge straight ahead on most of my way out and places like Lombard St. and Alcatraz Island to peak at on my way back. I'll definitely be making this run again; hopefully during a time when I can fully appreciate the scenery.

 

Hello From CA

Sorry I've been such a flake about the blogging!  I'm now back in northern CA and have had the opportunity to run around some really beautiful areas.  Yesterday I was at Garland Park, today I was running along the ocean in Pebble Beach (see the pic above).

Tomorrow, I'm moving into my apartment in SF (where all my belongings have been living for the past 2 weeks - now I get to go join them, yeah!!), and hopefully, I'll get some great runs in around the city. 

Today's workout:

6 miles: 52 minutes

Beach and Back

37:28 (4.5 miles)

Broke in the new running kicks today. Felt great out, but got a bad cramp on the way back. Sucked it up and finished pretty well.

2/10/2009

41:05 (4.5 miles)

Weights.

Core workout.

Ran to the beach and back.  Enjoyed some King of Leon, Lady Gaga and Britney's "Phonography" :)

Back At It

63:11 (7.25 miles)

This past week has been a complete whirlwind.  I'm not going to go into details, but let's just say getting miles in has been the last thing on my mind.  Luckily, I've grounded myself again, and after a long week off, I got a solid run in today.

For the first time in awhile I ran outside, around dusk and the temp was an awesome 63 degrees (yes, it does occasionally get cold in the sunshine state).  Rumor has it it snowed in NYC this morning, so I'm feeling great about running this time of year in a t-shirt and shorts.  I did the loop through downtown Ft. Lauderdale, along the beach, over the causeway and back through Rio Vista, a cute, sleepy neighborhood.

I'm signing off for now, but am looking forward to running (and posting) more frequently from now on.

Over the Causeway and Through the Woods..

Today I did a 7 mile loop that starts at my building (my building is the beige one in the left corner in the pic above), goes down Las Olas (straight through downtown Ft. Lauderdale), along the beach, over the 17th street causeway (first pic above) and then loops through a sleepy little neighborhood, back to my place.  I didn't run a stellar time (60 minutes), and had to stop a couple times (the causeway bridge was up, traffic lights, etc), but given that this week was rather stressful and taxing, I was glad to get the miles in.   Unlike some ridiculous people I know (read: Jilane who runs 21 miles on a whim b/c she feels like it (see her post from yesterday morning...), I am content being a social runner.  Hopefully with some time and better training, I can elevate my status from yogger to runner!

Next up for today, Adriana and I are headed to the Farmer's Market in Hollywood:)

TGIF!

I hit the treadmill during lunch today. With the inauguration still in our rear-view mirror, there is still oh-so much for CNN to cover. So, I happily kept pace while watching a daily segment called Obama's First 100 Days. Still got 96 days to go! Woo-hoo!

But seriously folks, the workout:
5 miles in 39:38 (3 miles, walk 3 minutes, finished up w/ 2 miles in 14:52).
Upper body weights (increased weights today).
Core workout.

Looking forward to running outside tomorrow! The weather's been chilly here (very rare for South Florida) and I can't get enough of it.

Welcome!

Hi there. Jilane's been peer pressuring me to get this blog up and running for awhile now. But in my defense, I actually created it awhile back, just haven't written any posts....

So, today I've called in sick from work. I never do this, but today I was in dire need of a personal day. Seeing that my theme for the day will be refocusing and re-energizing, I figured this is as good a time as any to start blogging. While I'm not as crazy as the rest of the former Brown track/XC team who seem to be all about the blogging (I was a soccer player...not a competitive runner), I do like to get my runs in. Sadly, now that I've sold my soul and conformed to the standards of Corporate America, I get my miles in on a treadmill everyday during lunch. Granted I've usually got Bravo, E!, or if I'm feeling sufficiently intellectual, CNN's Anderson Cooper (*swoon*) on the TV with me, but it's still a treadmill, in a gym, in a large office building somewhere in South Florida.

Running is like a good friend. No matter how bad the day is going, once I've spent time with this friend, everything gets better. I can recall several moments where I've either experienced something life-changing, or had an epiphany while on a run. Sometimes I wish someone I care about had been there to experience it with me, but there is something sacred about having that time to yourself and using it to refocus on what's really important in life.

Now that I'm through with my Hallmark card-like monologue, I'll get on with the show. I probably won't be posting much else today, but at least wanted to break the ice. And now I'll have an answer for Jilane the next time she inquires about whether or not I've made any progress with this site. :)