18 Miles in San Francisco

You know it's going to be a good run when this is your view from your parking spot.

Ed and I decided that for this momentous 18 mile run (and 24 for him), what better place to do it, than where I did countless miles back in college. 

Ed and I had a simple plan. Start at Crissy field and run east along the waterfront to the bay bridge. Then, back and over the golden gate. Ed would head into the hills of Marin, and I'd finish up back in Crissy Field. 

It all went perfectly! The miles flew by in a way they certainly didn't in Oakland, and running over the Golden Gate was spectacular. Eating and drinking went much better, and while my legs were tired by the end, I felt great. Amazing. With a sub 10 minute pace for my last mile. 

I am thrilled with the 10:56 overall pace, and afterwards felt so much more excited about my marathon (of course the two runs I've done since then have been pretty sucky, but hopefully I'm just getting it out of my system). 

Back to this moment, where I cooled down and stretched post run with a huge grin on my face,

and ate my now standard protein bar with the best view imaginable. 

After I recovered a bit, I walked out onto a pier, where I took in even more beauty.

I watched a man paddleboard out under the Golden Gate. 

Enjoyed the view of Alcatraz (where Ed has never been! We definitely need a SF trip before we leave town).

And took in the cityscape. 

Then, I saw my favorite sight of the day - a sea lion having fun interacting with some onlookers.

He was so cute and was lots of fun to watch. 

After a while, I got cold, so I put on my (falling apart) uggs, and continued to enjoy the view from the car as I listened to Harry Potter and waited for Ed to return.

About an hour after I finished, Ed approached, having had an equally spectacular end to his run. After all that activity, we were starving, so we headed into the warming hut for some sandwiches before heading back to south bay. 

We also couldn't help but buy two more of the Golden Gate park posters: 

and

to add to the ones we already have:

and

Needless to say, our Arizona home will be quite full of California artwork. 

After we finished our food and making our purchases, we took in one last look. 

No matter where we go, we will always be Californians at heart.