07 April 2008

Early Morning Sunshine


Dateline: Sunday morning, 6.30am...the alarm goes off. I am scared for a moment; is it a work day? Why am I getting up this early?

And then I remember, it's a race day! I slowly get out of bed (I had done a core training class on Saturday, and man, my abs were killing me), and dig through my closet to find my running clothes. Luca is very excited, he thinks he, too, gets to go for a run. Instead, I take him for a quick walk around the block, and dash to make it to the starting line on time.

The Presidio10 starts at Chrissy Field, which can be a little cold and very windy. Start time was a bit of an exception - the sun was breaking through and the wind was dying down. The first group, running 10 miles, took off at 8am. As they left, the 10K-ers lined up to start a little warm up, a few stretches, and to stand close to keep warm!

At 8.30am, the gun sounded and off we went! This is one beautiful course. Most of the 10K takes place on the Golden Gate Bridge, which is one "tourist attraction" that never, ever loses its luster for me. It is epic in every way imaginable. Usually, it is really windy up there, but it was peaceful and rather quiet. On the return route, San Francisco was to my immediate left, and as we were crossing the sun was starting to burn off the fog and the City was coming to light. I dare anyone to look at that view of the City and not be in awe of the beauty. It has to be one of the more dramatic modern skylines.

I could see the finish line in the distance, but what a tease that was! There was still almost a mile to run. I finished in pretty good time - much less than I thought it would take me! Pretty good for being so sore and not having run in a long time.

Despite my unhappiness at having to get up, when the race was over, I was sure glad I did it. I accomplished more before 10am than most people would all day, and for a good cause (the race raises money for The Guardsmen, a local philanthropy group, and the Ashlyn Dyer Foundation for brain trauma). Overall, a pretty awesome way to finish up the weekend.

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