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:)

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)

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 :)