2 Days, 40-miles!!! I'm so happy that I made it through!
Sunday's walk was pretty epic. We started at Fort Mason in SF, walked through Crissy Field, up and over the Golden Gate Bridge, through Sausalito and other parts of Marin County, over to Tiburon. We had a leisurely lunch at Sam's in Sausalito, before catching a Ferry back to San Francisco (via Angel Island) which brought us back to the Pier 39 area (ugh) and we walked another 1.5 miles to our cars.
Sunday's 20-mile Training Walk!
I think this was my favorite training walk so far. Part of it may be because of the epic length - on Saturday, we did 20-miles, but it was two loops of 10-miles each. I think I also loved seeing Marin County - an area a hardly ever go to, and have certainly never walked around, so it was so new and different.
Walking through Crissy Field towards the Golden Gate Bridge
Walking across the Golden Gate Bridge at 7:30am was just amazing. The Golden Gate Bridge is notorious for being cold and windy. This morning, it was not cold, and the wind was still. There wasn't much traffic at this hour of the day, so it wasn't very noisy. The most amazing part, though, was watching the sun rise over Alcatraz, from the Golden Gate Bridge. It was magical.
Watching the sun rise over Alcatraz, while walking across the Golden Gate Bridge at 7:00am was pure magic.
Walking across the GG Bridge
The Golden Gate Bridge from the Marin Side
We made our way down to Sausalito, which was also neat to see so early in the morning, before any of the stores open. I haven't been here in years, and it was neat seeing it from a different perspective.
Sausalito
The walk to Tiboron was long, but really nice. We usually walked near the bay, so we usually had a nice view. The weather was sunny and warm, but not too bad. We were really lucky with the weather.
I arrived at Tiburon at 1:00. We had a nice leisurely lunch at Sam's before catching the 2:30 ferry back to SF. At this point, we had walked 19.6 miles, so the break felt really great.
The ferry from Tiburon to SF
The ride on the ferry was pretty great. By this time, the wind had picked up and the fog had started to roll in. The cool wind was refreshing, and we were so glad that we didn't have to make the trip back over the bridge.
Lizelle & Trina on the ferry ride back to SF
Passing along Alcatraz
The Golden Gate Bridge socked in fog
The ferry brought us back to the Pier 39 area, and I was reminded once again why I never go to this part of SF. After we dodged the tourists, we walked another 1.5 miles back to Fort Mason to our cars.
A few random things I learned this weekend:
- changing into a fresh pair of socks at the half-way point makes a huge difference!
- there's something that happens around mile 15 or 16 that makes the walk seem suddenly long. This happened to me on both days. However, I perked up after mile 18 or so on both days, after realizing that we had hit the homestretch.
- I think the hardest part of doing these training walks may be waking up so early on a weekend. (we met at 6:00am both days this weekend) Once I'm there and walking, I find I really enjoy being up so early, and love feeling so accomplished by early afternoon. Also, I love walking around parts of the city while it is so quiet.
- One of the very best part of the longer training walks (16-20 miles) are the wonderful and amazing ladies who volunteer to do route support. This weekend, we had two or three cars who drove along with us, met us at rest stops (or even before rest stops along the way!) and constantly offered us water, Gatorade, fresh fruit, candy, and even fresh, cool towels. At the rest stops, they would open their car trunks and supply us with bagels, chips, homemade deviled eggs, peanut butter, etc., to make sure we had plenty of food along the way. They were just amazing, and so very appreciated!
- I've been told I'm a fast walker. Someone asked me yesterday if I always walk quickly. I told them it's probably because my husband is a full foot taller than me, and that I'm always trying to catch up to him. ;)
- I feel very fortunate that I have not lost anyone close to me to Breast Cancer. I am doing this walk because it's something I can do, and it's a good cause to raise money for. I have met so many people in my training group who have lost loved ones, or who are in recovery or remission themselves. I walk for all of them.
This weekend was the pinnacle of the Hottie's training walks for the year. We'll be taking Labor Day Weekend off, then will have (slightly) shorter training walks (10/12/16-miles) for the next 3 weekends before the event. This is designed to let us continue training without wearing ourselves out before the event on Oct. 1-3.
I feel so great (and a little bit amazed) that I was able to make it through both days of 20-miles. I'm proud to say that I walked 40-miles this weekend. :)
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