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CHANGING COURSE: SNEAKERS TO FINS
CHANGING  COURSE: SNEAKERS TO FINS

Of course I knew that my running was not forever, but as my miles and trophies piled up, I wondered. Could I be different?  Could I be the lucky one that runs and runs and runs forever? Could I be the one to defy that inevitable combination of age, time and my body? Alas, no. Time […]

Icon Run: Chrissy Field
Icon Run: Chrissy Field

Whatever else you might want to say about former President Clinton, he did know what to do with a well endowed military (wink wink).   His decision to transfer large portions of Army land to the National Park Service gave San Francisco access to an incredible stretch of land with a drop dead iconic view […]

Sheltered Cove
Sheltered Cove

In a state of acute post Avenue-of-the-Giant-Half afterglow,  I went in search of an ocean in which to stick my feet, an ocean for walking in the freezing cold water, with waves up to my knees, maybe higher to make up for my PR sins.  (My chiropractor had warned me in no uncertain terms~ no […]

Avenue of the Giants (some very big trees)
Avenue of the Giants (some very big trees)

Everything is bigger in America, right?:  bigger cars, bigger bellies and bigger pocket books!   Well, no not really but the Avenue of the Giants truly IS one of the validations to the myth: one of the American Icons of Big~ only this time we mean it.    If you wanted to, you could sit […]

America’s Cup 2013~ Loma Prieta
America's Cup 2013~  Loma Prieta

Close to downtown, with easy access to public transportation and an uncluttered route with no significant stop lights along the way, the Embarcadero easily became the go-to spot for running clubs and friends meeting after work.  Thank you Loma Prieta!!  It was the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake that finally answered the stand off between the […]

Flat and Fast: Hayward Salt Flats
Flat and Fast: Hayward Salt Flats

I prefer the window seat when I fly: to snuggle up to the warmth of the window sun, to have room enough to stretch out without my legs being caught by the beverage cart and time enough to stare out the window and watch the patterns of the landscape pass by. Flying into SFO, I […]

Comfort Run: Strawberry Hill
Comfort Run: Strawberry Hill

Some days are meant for Comfort Runs.    A run you can cuddle up to.  Something easy on the eyes, knees and determination.  A macaroni and cheese of a run. Buffered from street noise by the encircling waters of Stow Lake, Strawberry Hill is a leafy green oasis that combines the steady regularity of a one […]

Night Lights: Market Street
Night Lights: Market Street

Starting at Montgomery BART, follow the festive holiday LED snowflake banners hung along Market Street like breadcrumbs from the fairytale Hansel and Gretel, leading you deep into the forest, in this case this stretch known as Mid-Market which is well worth a night time visit this season.    You heard it here first~ this neighborhood […]

Night Lights: Union Street
Night Lights: Union Street

Running in cold dark rainy weather is an annual challenge.  But that’s why the holidays were invented, right?  A festival of lights to cheer us all up when the world is so dreadfully gloomy? From Union Street to Union Square, the city is bustling with holiday lights to add a bit of spice to your […]

Jonesing for endorphines: Goat Rock Beach
Jonesing for endorphines: Goat Rock Beach

Like a moth to the flame, I fluttered back to the Pacific Ocean in hopes of finding a glamorous viewpoint on the otherwise gloomy situation of my injured tendon.  My once dreamy images of 20 plus mile runs in bucolic Sonoma County have been replaced by stoic walks in the frigid waters of Goat Rock […]

Following the Conversation (1974)
Following the Conversation (1974)

My torn Achilles’ tendon renders stairs a nuisance and the act of running on them the forbidden fruit and the promised land simultaneously.  But that’s not true for you now is it?  Enjoy! Stairs anyone? The Conversation (1974) was known as much for the editing techniques of Walter Murch as for the direction of Frances […]

Abbotts Lagoon: an ice bath for your feet
Abbotts Lagoon: an ice bath for your feet

Hurting cowgirls need to to make their days off from running count.    Miles of the turbulent ice bath known as the Pacific Ocean provide ample options for Bay Area residents but Abbotts Lagoon at Point Reyes National Seashore is a particularly dreamy spot.  The ever present California crowds, intimidated by the hour and half […]

Hill Park
Hill Park

A necklace of the white marble fragments of broken headstones are worn like talismans by the west side walkways of Buena Vista Park: evocative of a pioneer past, when this small mountain was known as Hill Park, and bodies were allowed to be buried on San Francisco soil. But in 1900 Board Supervisors voted to […]

Run for Coffee
Run for Coffee

In the need of a bit of motivation for your next run?   Run for Coffee!!  The extra bonus of a tasty cup of jo might be just the trick to nudge you out of bed on a cold wet dark morning. Iphone app Coffeespot helps you find an indie coffee shop near by or […]

In the footsteps of Giants’ (fans)
In the footsteps of Giants' (fans)

Want to relive this jubilent week of civic pride?  Take a run down the route of the World Series Victory parade along Market Street, starting at the Ferry Building and turning in toward Civic Center Plaza at 7th.  Just don’t forget to wear your orange and black! I’ll admit to an appalling lack of knowledge […]

Graton (i think i can, i think i can)
Graton (i think i can, i think i can)

Following the tracks of the once vital Petaluma and Santa Rosa Railway (P&SR) are the The West County and Joe Rodota Trails, a fitting location for my first day after post-18 mile run with my i think i can, i think i can mantra chugging through the miles with disbelief.  Transversing the apple orchards and […]

Vampire Run
Vampire Run
Presidio Habitats
Presidio Habitats

presidio habitats