Golden Gate Bridge - San Francisco

New Year's Weekend, December 30, 2010 - We have an annual trip to the Bay Area to visit my brother and his family.  My daughters and their sweethearts went along.  Jessy said, "Another bridge we need to run" and so the planning began.  We had a pretty packed long weekend planned, so we decided an early morning start driving from Southern California and an early afternoon run across the bridge.

I did a little research; first to be sure you can run the bridge.  Yep, there is a pedestrian and bicycle path.  Now, how to get there and where to park for the run?  Steve didn't want to drive in San Francisco, but that was going to be the best way to get there.   We took a quick tour by Lombard street (the line of cars was way too long to make that attempt) and then drove North across the bridge.  The Vista View parking lot was packed, but just as we were ready to give up a parking spot opened up.

We were blessed with a beautiful day.  In what is normally overcast San Francisco, it was clear and we had gorgeous views and could see all of the islands and into the downtown of the city.  Fabulous! 

Adrian took off first and at each end of the bridge there were lots of tourist sightseers we had to navigate between.  Steve and I jogged together and everyone else decided to just walk half way.    Jessy is young and figures she will have another day to "run the bridge".  Jake had a knee injury and Bill said he wasn't in shape.  Course anyone is in shape to run my speed. 

Instead of doing intervals I decided to run all the way to the other side. I met Adrian on his way back on the last 1/3rd of the bridge.  I didn't take water with me and wished I could find a drinking fountain in the little park on the other side.  I joined back up with Steve and we did intervals on the way back until we caught our group.

Distance was 1.7 miles one way or 3.2 both.  It was a little crazy getting through the people on both ends, but a great day for a run.

Brooklyn Bridge

It happened on a whim on a girl's weekend to New York City in June 2010.  My sister-in-law, Cyndi, daughter, Jessy and friend Maleia were trying to get see the sights in four days.  We walked a lot, as most city dwellers do, but found out that the Brooklyn Bridge has a pedestrian path connecting the city to Brooklyn.  "Let's get up early Sunday morning, and run the bridge," I said.  The girls were game and our adventure started.   It's approximately 1 mile across. Cyndi, Jessy and I were currently attending a 3-day a week boot camp so we felt the distance would be pretty easy.

We all decided it was a fun thing to do.  The exercise wasn't bad and the view was great!