We got back on Sunday from a week in the San Francisco Bay area and it was a wonderful trip! The family had a great time, and more than that, I had a week of really awesome runs. We happened to be in a hotel that was right on a stretch of the San Francisco Bay Trail, which was just fabulous. No stunning views of the Golden Gate Bridge or anything like that, but it was still lovely to be able to run next to the water. I ran 4 times while we were there, and most were pretty gray and windy, but there was one lovely sunny day and it was gorgeous running next to the water. The trail isn't completed and we were at one end of what I think was around a 7 mile stretch. In one direction, the trail went 1.71 miles from the hotel, and in the other direction I'm guessing it went closer to 5 miles or so. The farthest I went was 4 miles, to do an 8 mile out and back. Other than that one sunny day the weather wasn't above like 55 degrees or so when I went out to run, and it was overcast, but that made for some excellent running weather.
The first day Haakan pushed me out the door while Charlie took his morning nap and I did 6 miles at 10:22, which is quite a bit skippier than my usual 11-12 minute miles I'd been slogging through at home. I had a spring in my step and it really barely felt like an effort. The two 8 mile runs were both around 10:55, since Haakan had told me to keep it around 11 minute miles, since that's where it seems like I should be right now. Those 8 mile runs were awesome. I ran past a couple of marinas, a veritable minefield of giant snails trying to cross the path (that made for an interesting little stretch, trying not to stamp on them), and ran up a nifty hill to a spectacular view of the bay (I believe that was at San Bruno Point - I was mostly running between there and Oyster Point, closer to the hotel). And, totally geeked about this, I ran past the Genentech offices, which thrilled me a little since I know they were the company that first synthesized human insulin (thank you, Mr Salsi, for that tidbit of info that I've remembered since high school!). I also ran past a building that one day smelled like Krispy Kreme doughnuts, and the next day smelled like black licorice. It was a USDA building, I discovered the next day! The anise smell wasn't too bad, but the Krispy Kreme smell was like torture, since I was pretty hungry when I went past it. The last run I did was a 3 miler that Haakan suggested I do at a zipper pace, since it was short. I did it at 10:12, significantly faster than my most recent 5k.
Clearly the weather is a HUGE factor to me in how fast I'm able to run, and how much I enjoy my runs. This is amazingly comforting to me, knowing, for real, just how big of a deal the weather is. I just need to get through these next few weeks until the weather cools off, and then I can begin to enjoy my runs more, add to my mileage, and think about some future cooler weather races. Heck, even a drop out of the 80s would probably make a huge difference. It was 91 degrees when I went out to do 6 miles yesterday, back down to 11:38 for my pace (and a stop to tie my shoes in there, during which I stopped the clock), but it didn't seem so bad knowing that cooler weather is around the corner.
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