Marathon Training near Golden Gate Bridge during SF Mileage Run

This is a tough year as my marathon training schedule is colliding with my mileage run schedule. In September, i would be flying 3 of the 4 weekends. Only one of them would be my long run (20 mile) weekend but it is still tough completing the run on a short mileage run. I would be landing at SFO around 6pm Saturday and flying out Sunday at 8pm so there is plenty of time to complete both runs but the logistics of it is not trivial.

I needed to complete two runs, one 5 miles and one 20 miles the following day. I also did not realize that the America’s Cup was still going on and that the main racing area was right in the Marina District. It sounds stupid when I say it that way.

Run #1

I finally checked in around 8:30pm but I still needed to run 5 miles. I decided to run along the coast from Marina District to Golden Gate Bridge. This is when I realized that the America’s Cup was being held right in Marina District. I don’t advise anyone do this as its mostly in the dark with very few people around. There were some people walking around and biking even in the dark. Here is the route:

Run #2

I had to run 20 miles as my last long run before the Chicago Marathon. I thought it was a good idea to run over the Golden Gate bridge and then up towards USS San Francisco Memorial and then back. It ended up not being a good idea as the path between Golden Gate and China Beach was washed away and there were too many hills for my long run. I headed back towards the city right by China Beach and did the rest of my run at Fisherman’s Wharf.

Here is the route:

The route was very hilly and did about 980ft of elevation ascension. I survived the run, but barely.

Here are some pictures of the route:

I started the run just before sunrise.

My run started in the Marina District so I passed by the America’s Cup area.

Below pictures taken near or at Vista Point.

There are water fountains on the other side of the bridge at Vista Point, but I could not find any in Golden Gate Bridge Park.

The Presidio Coastal trail was washed away due to heavy rain so there was a small detour. Not bad but very hilly.

There were some old bunkers near China Beach. There is still a model artillery on top of the one of the bunkers.

I got to the edge of Land’s End but the coastal route was much too hilly so I decided to turn back towards the city.

Here are some pictures of the Marina District early Sunday Morning. The stands were empty as the race was scheduled to be at 1pm. I am not sure if they raced that day as many races were postponed due to wind conditions.