Running In A Movie

Continuing with the holiday we ended up in Las Vegas. What happened here could  make for an interesting post, but it happened in Vegas and you know the rule. However we did venture out the Grand Canyon and since this is in another state it can be mentioned.

The Grand Canyon was definitely a highlight. We took in the Western Rim. To be cliché, words will never do it justice. There is a reason it is a Wonder of  the World. Made me wish I had the time join in on a run down below, but I'm not on that type of trip. With only having one day and the fact the temperature was sitting at 44 degrees Celcius we opted for some awesomeness. The combination of boat, canyon and helicopter delivered that and more.

Final destination was San Francisco. Turns out we didn't appreciate how good this joint is and only booked a short stint here. I was keen to hit those steep streets. On my radar were the Filbert St Steps. Touted as a street that was too steep for a paved road in one section. So on this steep section there are houses, fire hydrants and other markings as per a normal street, but no road. In its place are some long and fairly steep sets of stairs.

I left my hotel on sunrise to a pleasant, crisp, cool morning. The minimal running in the last three weeks showed up as fresh feeling legs. I chose a route over a couple of hills and then onto Filbet St. I felt good and kept the effort on the cruisy side. I approached from from the west side which meant there was a road in this part. It was steep, but my legs liked it. The way the parked cars tilted indicated this the grade was over 30%. The views at the top were in the spectacular category.

Then it was down those steps. Heading down was slower than I thought. The steps were narrower than the length of my foot leaving little margin for error. Down on the other side and I found myself at the piers. Now was I obligated to follow the coastline towards the Golden Gate Bridge.

The iconic fog was in. I could only see half the bridge and Alcatraz just looked awesome. It felt like I was running through a movie set. Eventually I decided it was time to head back.

Retracing my route I got to those steps and and was looking forward to the run up. It was steep, but definitely doable. Not quite the steepest slope I've been up, but the length added to the challenge. It felt good to reach the top and it was on the down hill I began to really appreciate the grade.

At the time that run felt quite comfortable. Looks like it was the fact I had fresh legs that really helped. Next day my legs were far from fresh and repeatedly telling me how steep the hills really were.

Finally it's the end and hours of fun flying back down home. Might start training next week.