The Embarcadero....Back to a Running Schedule

For the last few weeks I have been back to riding my bike to BART 16.5 miles each day and running at lunch 4 times a week.  It really feels good to be back on a schedule and I definitely feel more productive than commuting in a car.

Where I work is halfway between AT&T Park and the Marina Green which means I can do some pretty fun runs at lunch.  I can choose to go north towards Fisherman’s Wharf and play tourist dodgem and run up the short but challenging hill at Fort Mason or I can go south past the Ferry Building and around McCovey Cove and AT&T park.

This run was initially intimidating since my pace is way off.  There are a lot of serious runners on this stretch and for good reason.  Once you get to the Bay side of the road, there are no cross streets which means you can run without worrying about street lights throwing you off your pace.  

But I will say, what I like most about running the Embarcadero is that I can really work on my speed.  I typically run 4.2 miles to 5.3 miles at lunch.  What that means is I can get a good 20+ miles in a week on a flat straight away and then add a long run of 8+ miles on the weekend.  That combined with the 7.7 miles I sprint back and forth from BART to work, I can easily get over 30 miles of running each week.

An added benefit to Embarcadero is that it is also easy to be able to pace other runners for motivation without being intrusive.

I have also learned how to run during lunch without a shower.  Let me clarify before you say ewe!!!  When I started the job, seeing all the runners at lunch made me realize that it would be such a waste if I didn’t take advantage it.  I inquired where the nearest showers were, which would have been a 10 minute walk away.  Double that time and the time it would take to get changed, I would extremely limited on how much I could run.  So I did my research and learned that there are several companies that make shower pads.  Let’s just say these are over sized baby wipes made for running; but, they really work.  So I go out for a run, which typically is about 40 to 45 minutes.  I leave my backpack with the receptionist with my lunch and my change of clothes, water, and lunch.  When I get back, I sit outside and eat lunch as a cool down for 10 minutes.  By that time I can go inside, clean up with the shower wipes and change.  I am finding I like it better than when I did work for a company with a shower.

 

Another benefit to where I work, and hopefully will be mentioned in a future post, is the Filbert Street Steps up to Coit Tower.  I haven’t worked these in, however I am looking forward to that.

So combined, at the end of the week, I ride my bike a little over 80 miles a week and run at least 27 miles.  So I now cover over 100 miles a week under my own power.  And I have the best back drop, the San Francisco Bay and Bay Bridge, to do it in.