| Running. Now this is an interesting one. Like many, do you dread running, and see no point in it? Or could you run a marathon 26 times? Well, I'm no marathon runner. But, I have to say running in San Francisco is like a refreshing glass of lemonade on a hot day.
A few months back, I went on a 6-mile run in Golden Gate Park. No, I hadn't done a 6-mile run in 10 years, if ever. And no, it wasn't planned. But I just started running, and couldn't stop! It was so amazing. Every few strides, there was a new natural beauty introducing itself to me. I didn't even know where I was going, and definitely didn't know how much there was to offer within this one park. It was like a never-ending story of nature.
I started near the Conservatory of Flowers. Now I definitely remember this from when I was a kid. My dad LOVES flowers, and we went there a couple times. Then I went through a tunnel where a few guys were sitting around playing some jazz. I think they do this often, cuz I've seen them there a couple times since then. As I came out of the tunnel, Hippy Hill appeared in the distance. Wow, there's a TON of hippies in the city, by the way. They were all smoking out, playing drums, enjoying the sun. I passed by them to approach the Children's Playground. I'll always have fond memories of that place, rushing down the cement slides when I was a kid. I reminisced about it as I ran by the Carousel. Then, I ran through the AIDS Memorial Grove. I'm telling you! There's so much diversity in this place! I felt like I was in a maze or something. I continued to pass by a baseball field, a rose garden, more trails on hills surrounded by different kinds of trees, and even ran on an island in the middle of Stow lake after passing through the Japanese tea garden! And there was a distinctive area every few strides, with an individual personality of its own.
All right so I digressed. Somehow, I ended up running 6 miles. A couple weeks ago, I ran along the Marina. Now I can't say it lived up to GGP, but running by the water and boats is really nice.
Finally we come to the present. A couple times, and more recently, I have run down the Embarcadero. After 40 days of rain, last week and this week, I ran 5 miles up and down the Embarcadero. 5! It took me 45 min. each time, but hey, who's looking for speed here? The sky and water were blue, the sun was bright, and the ferry building was calling my name. "Run, Labonee, Run." So I did. And what a satisfying glass of lemonade my run turned about to be.
It's always funny running outdoors in SF, because you're guaranteed at least a couple hollers from guys if you do. Last week, there were a couple cars filled w/ guys honking and yelling at me. And this week, there was twice as many! See, cars are cool, because at least after the stoplight turns green, they're gone and I never see them again. But when the stoplight is red and it's an unusually long time, I really can't pretend for long that I can't hear them. Today, I just busted out laughing one time. I had to turn to smile at one of the cars. Which makes it even worse. Attention really feeds them. But I have to say, it really IS a great confidence booster! It really keeps you going, and when you've been running for over a half hour, sweaty and tired, all you really need is a whistle or a honk to push you that much further.
So yes, ladies and gentlemen. 24-Hour is cool and all. Heck, I go there every other day, running on the treadmill like a hamster on its wheel. But I gotta say, running out in SF is a trip. A trip I'm excited to take in the coming weeks... |
