On Wednesday or Thursday of last week, I got a wild hair up my ass that I needed to run a 10K today.  This is what happens when you get fun new toys, like the Nike+ for iPod!  I have to say, I was hurting a little when I woke up this morning- the margaritas at Tia Margarita are tasty as can be, but after an afternoon of sun and a bottle of Provenance Sauv Blanc at Baker Beach, the addition of margis and Mexican food made for one happy- if not slightly swizzled- Smurf.  But, determined, I laced up my shoes, strapped on various monitoring devices and headed out into the lovely day, telling myself that I could just turn around and come back if the effort was too much for the hangover.

My route- Down Dolores , around the park, Dolores to Market, to Church, to Duboce, to Noe, to Market, to Castro, 17th to Dolores, back around the park and back down to Dolores to home. 

When I got to Dolores Park the first time, and had only gone 2 or 3Km I really wondered if I’d be able to do it.  The hills getting to Dolores Park were killer, as you can see on my Nike + assesment.  But, soon, I was running past the Safeway at Market and Church and didn’t even have to stop in to pee, like I’d expected.  As I came up on Duboce Park, the friendly voice on my iPod told me I was halfway to my goal!  At this point, even if I just ran back home, likely I’d still hit the 10K.  I gave myself a break by taking Noe instead of Castro as I’d originally planned (again, I was a bit optimistic in my prediction of tolerance for hills.)

I got a huge pick-me-up when I got to the massive Pride flag flying at Market and Castro.  Damn, I am in love with this City.   (FYI- Rob, Taste of Leather is having a Pride Blowout–20% off all leather chaps and harnesses!)

I made a bit of a mistake coming back to the park and went up 18th towards Church to get halfway through the park and cut down to the bathrooms and get a sip of water– something I’d done the opposite way on the run out.  Much to my chagrin, I was face the the steepest hill of the run, topped off by some stairs just for good measure.  I considered doing the Hipster Slalom across the grass to get to the bathrooms and avoid the gargantuon hill, but I powered on up the stairs and down through the park to wet my whistle.

At this point, knowing the hills on Dolores would be too much- especially after the back-of-the-park faux pas- I wound a path through Guerrero/Valencia on a joint avoiding-stoplights/circumventing-hills mission as I headed back towards home.  At about 20th and Valencia, I got the good word- 1 more K to go!  Sprinting on the flat down past Temple Bethel, then the voice on my iPod started ticking down every 100 meters.  Faced with a stoplight at 26th and Valencia, I made the turn towards Mission and ticked down the last 100M by hopping over some some pot smoking itinerant workers, hooting as though they knew what I was about to accomplish as they waited for painting jobs and other day labor next to the guy who sells rugs off the chainlink fence at Mission and Cesar Chavez, hitting the light just right and sprinting across Mission to Palace Steak House.  The moment my foot hit the sidewalk at the other end of the crosswalk, the kindly fellow came on my ipod to tell me I’d done 10K!  I ended my workout and Lance Armstrong came on to tell me that I’d just done the longest run yet, and I had.  Though Lance didn’t know how true this was, since he only had the information stored in my iPod.

I finished the run with a pretty brutal hike back up Bernal Hill to our house, but took a minute to look back at the City and trace the path I’d run.

Total time for the 10K- One hour, two minutes.  New Goal- Sub-one-hour, ideally 50 minutes

Here’s the playlist that kept me going:

Invisible- Fischerspooner

Let Forever Be- Chemical Brothers

Return to Innocence (Remix)- Enigma

Thunderstruck- AC/DC

Cruel Summer (Remix) Ace of Base

Good Vibrations- Beach Boys

Intergalactic- Beastie Boys

Show Me- The Cover Girls

Reach up for the Sunrise- Duran Duran

Drama!- Erasure

Everyday- Erasure

Freedom 90- George Michael

Summer Love- Justin Timberlake

LoveStoned (Workout Remix)- Justin Timberlake

Gone (*Nsyc Clubbin’ Remix)- *Nsync

Glass Danse- The Faint

Birdhouse in Your Soul- They Might be Giants