San Francisco Running

I had the opportunity to visit San Francisco for the Game Developer Conference on February 20-22. I arrived on the 20th early in the morning, went straight to the Palace Hotel (http://www.sfpalace.com/)checked in and off to the Mascone Center to work at 9 am. Working in a Trade Show consist of standing all day and telling people about your product, since we have a great product www.tngames.com, its usually non stop. (It sometimes takes an hour or two to eat a sandwich, you take a bite whenever you can). A typical evening we would get out at 6pm, have dinner as a group, and sometimes head to a party, and you do it all over the next day.
So the only time I would be able to see the city was in the morning. Our hotel was walking distance from the Conference, so no one rented a car, and I wouldnt want to drive in San Francisco. My only option was to go for a morning run, but who in their crazy mind would want to go running after having to stand on his/her feet for 9 hours in dress shoes?

So I left the Palace Hotel at 5am on Thursday for a quick hill run up Lombard Street, I took my cell phone, camera,and a map of the city with me. I reached Lombard Street in about 20 minutes, and since it was still dark to take pictures, I decided to continue running. An hour later, next thing you know I am at the Golden Gate bridge.

I really wasnt planing to run this far, it just happened, I found my rythm. When I got to the hotel, I headed straight to the gym and worked upper body with free weights. After I showered, I headed to the lobby for breakfast. I estimated my mileage based on the scaling of the map, and it turned out I ran about 12.5 miles. For breakfast, I had a crab omlet, and off to work I went, energized ready for another day. As I got to our booth, I told my co-workers about my morning adventure. Since most of them run or stay in shape, they wanted to join me the following morning.

On friday morning I ran with our secretary Julie, she really never runs but wanted to run to the Golden Gate Bridge. I was expecting the others to join us in the run, but they were tired from the two days before (I think it was because it was cold and rainy). I too was tired, but I had made a promise. This time we took a different route, for some hill training up Lombard Street.



So we did make it to the Golden Gate Bridge, it was about 40 degrees and it was Julie's longest run ever.



It took us a while, but we made it. There was no way we were going to make it back in time to get dressed and make it to work on time, so we took a cab back to the hotel.
It was definetly a good trip, and it was a great city to run in.

Running Again

About a month without running, I decided it was time to get back into running. What better way to challenge myself and see where my fitness level is, than to run Tumamoc Hill. Tumamoc Hill is about 1.5 miles with an elevation gain of about 750 feet. I managed to complete the climb/run without stopping, in 17 minutes. That is the time I normally run it in. Had I had breakfast before the run, I would have thrown up like 5 times. My lungs are in bad shape, I need to practice my breathing techniques once again. I'm disappointed to think that 4 months ago I was running 50 miles at an altitude of 7,500 feet, and here I am now struggling at an altitude of about 3,000 feet and only 1.5 miles. The good news is my back is improving.