Golden Gate Half

A 5K is about 3.1 miles, and a 10K is about 6.2 miles. That's a lot of running, but long-distance races don't stop there. There's half marathons (13.1 miles), marathons (26.2 miles), 50K's (31 miles) and 100K's (62 miles). Anything beyond that is crazy. I was in San Francisco today with the simple intention of running across the Golden Gate bridge to Marin and back. What I did was much more than I expected.

I parked at Crissy Beach around 11 AM. I was wearing a T-shirt and sweatpants, and headed off towards the bridge. After about 1.2 miles or so, I arrived at The Warming Hut, a gift shop near but below the bridge. It was a lot warmer in SF than I anticipated, and I was sweating bullets. Fortunately, I had other clothes packed, including swimsuit shorts, which I could run in. Since I had already ran quite a bit, I really debated hard whether or not to go back to my car. But, I knew the day would only get hotter, so I began my run back to my car.

Eventually I return, grab my clothes, and change in the public restroom. At this point I had already run over 2 miles, and would have to retrace my steps yet again. But, putting on the shorts instead, was pure bliss. Since I was wearing my swimsuit after all, I decided to give myself an early reward and hop in the water. It was freezing! I did not stay in for very long, and after drying off and a short pause, I once again begun my long and arduous journey.

On my way back to The Warming Hut, I noticed I was being followed for quite some time. I worked up the guts to turn around and ask the guy if he wanted us to pace off of each other. His name was Nate, and we ended up running together almost until we arrived to the bridge, when we split up again. It was definitely motivating to have someone to run with and I know we were going at a pretty fast pace.

Once I arrived at the bridge, around mile 4, I stopped for a moment to take some pictures and then jetted off. It was really cool running across the bridge - but crowded! How it works is that the Pacific side of the bridge is designated for bikers, and the bay side is for pedestrians. However, many bikers seem to not know this so I found myself having to play parkour around bikers the whole time I was crossing the bridge.

I finally reached Marin around mile 6 and ran over to the vista point. This was the perfect place to rest for a while. There were some street vendors selling hot dogs, and while I hesitated at first, I realized I was starving, and the snacks I brought with me wouldn't be enough to refuel. I paid $10 for a hot dog - but it was the best, overpriced hot dog I've ever had. I sat at the vista point while eating, and took several pictures of the bridge and SF. I also got to go beneath the bridge and take some pictures there.

After some rest, I started making my journey back to SF. I knew I would be running at a much slower pace after eating, but surprisingly I was still moving at 9-10 minute pace, according to Strava. I took a bunch more photos while on the bridge, of the bay islands, Marin, and SF.

I ran to SF over the bridge and all the way back to Crissy Beach without much trouble. I did stop a few times for pictures. When I got back to my car, I checked Strava. To my surprise and dismay, I saw it read 10.6 miles. I knew what I had to do. I picked up my now-heavy legs and ran to the wave organ, and looped around Marina Green. Finally, returning to my car, it read 13.5 miles in under 3 hours of movement. Unexpected half marathon: Success!

I found a shady space to lay down and literally did not move for an hour. It felt amazing. (That's probably not good for the muscles...) When I finally got back up, I decided against jumping back into the water, but I knew that there were public showers for the beach. I was still wearing my swim trunks so I just rinsed off in those and changed back into the clothes I was wearing earlier. The shower, again, was amazing. What a day!