The first time I saw the Golden Gate Bridge I was 19 years old. I remember looking at it through the rear view mirror of our work truck as we drove away from Fisherman's Wharf. Now, almost a decade later, I was able to look at it from a completely different perspective. I am grateful this new experience was shared with my family.
A few years ago Jennive and I started running as a way to exercise. We have been hooked on running ever since. Every few months we try to race together. Mostly 5 kilometer races. We have even run a few 10 kilometer races. I have completed a few half marathons with Jennive and the kids cheering me on; however, we have never been able to run one together. Coincidentally there was a half marathon in San Francisco that met our before thirty criteria of running across the Golden Gate Bridge. So we signed up for the US Half Marathon San Francisco. To run together.
We decided to make this a family event. It was a hard decision which we weren't entirely sure about. Though, looking back I am glad we did. Our children love to learn. We try to teach them about the world through hands on experiences. They are young and may not remember each place we take them, or the words we say, but I am positive they will remember the lessons we teach them.
Our adventure started out on a Friday morning, bright and early. Since we were taking the kids, we decided to drive the 765 miles from our house to San Francisco. It took us 12.5 hours to get there. Jennive and I have always loved driving together. It's very relaxing and a great opportunity for us to catch up on all the things we want to talk about. The kids did well too. It was a learning experience for us all.
The night we arrived we stayed downtown in a time share. The building was an old hotel built two years after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and subsequent fires that destroyed almost all of the cities structures. We went to a local pizza restaurant for a real meal after eating junk food all day. It was a different experience than we were used to. Our first encounter with the significant lack of children in the city...
The next morning we woke up and headed out for breakfast. We found a crepe cafe and ate the best crepes I've ever had. Again, where were all the kids?
Sunday morning we woke up early and headed to the race. I was a little worried we would have problems entering the race with our three kids. The race had a no stroller policy, which when I checked with one of the race representatives at the packet pick up, they were unwilling to waive. No matter, I wasn't really asking for permission anyway. When we got to the parking garage near the starting line we unloaded and prepared the two jogging strollers. Many of the race participants driving past lit up with smiles when they saw our kids. That helped put my mind at ease about pushing them through the race. Besides, who wouldn't smile after seeing our kids? They are dang cute!The race started a little after 7:00am. There were 5,000 people at the starting line...and three kids. Jennive and I stayed out of the way and cheered on all the US Half Marathon San Francisco runners as they started. After almost everyone went past I gave Jennive my shirt with my race bib so she could run across the starting line and activate our race chips. It was fun for the kids to cheer her on too. We started out running up a hill. It wasn't bad, just the races way of saying "remember, you're in San Francisco!". After that, the race had a few ups and downs, pun intended. But the highlight was our purpose. The Golden Gate Bridge.
The morning of the race I was worried we wouldn't be able to fully enjoy the scenery of San Francisco. From what I read, the bay had a tendency to be foggy with low visibility. That wouldn't work for us. Luckily, the day was warm (about 74 degrees) and no fog. It was perfect.
After ho-humming around for the first five miles, stopping every ten minutes to appease the kids, we made it to the Golden Gate Bridge. The bridge was very loud. You could hardly hear over the rush of six lanes of traffic. Every once in a while I could hear the kids crying or yelling for me. We would stop, I would try to calm them, and then we would move on. It was a unique experience. The fast cold wind added a unsettling perspective to the vertigo of looking over the edge. It's as if the suspension cables were really there to hold the bridge from flying away.
We finally made it across the bridge. When we reached the North Vista Point we were beat. Tired, fatigued, and ready to give up. It was difficult. We didn't want to be there anymore than the kids. But we pushed through. We got back on the trail and headed slowly toward the finish. We complained, we went through the motions, but we just kept moving forward. One foot in front of the other. Some runners hit a wall. When the body requires a shift in energy source. We were there. Yet we were only half way through the race. Sounds about like life, huh?
Finally, we finished the race. We felt accomplished. We were glad we had not given up half way through the race. A short taxi ride back to the city would have been far less difficult than sticking with it. It would have also been far less rewarding. The finishers medals hang high in our home. The custom racing bibs that say "30*B*4*30" have more importance to us than any other race we've been in. We completed our first half marathon together!!! The US Half Marathon in San Francisco ended up being the perfect race for us.
Later that day we ate at IHOP. Our tradition after completing a race. Pancakes taste ten times better after running all morning! After that we headed out for some more fun. We thought to make the day a Super Sunday. One where we could cross off three of our before thirty goals. Our first goal of the day was completed. Run the US Half Marathon San Francisco across the Golden Gate Bridge.
The second goal of our Super Sunday was No. 8: See a Redwood Tree. We drove the forty-five minutes north of San Francisco to Muir Woods. It's a local redwood forest remotely discovered far from the Redwood National Forest. Unfortunately, after running 13.1 miles that morning we had no desire to walk the two miles of backed up traffic to get there. Apparently everyone else thought they would go on a family outing too. We'll try again for this before thirty sometime next year.
The third goal of our Super Sunday was No. 3: Visit A Beach (With The Kids). We did, and it was tons of fun. We'll write about it in a separate blog post.
That night we went back to our hotel. I drove around and found some authentic Chinese food. Why would we go all the way to San Francisco and not eat Chinese food, right? It was the best Chinese food I've ever had (well, not really)!
The next morning we woke up bright and early. We loaded up the car and started back home. A long drive to end a short weekend in San Francisco. Certainly one of our favorite blitz vacations ever.
I love steel. To me, it's an inspiring portrait of strength and dedication. The iconic Chrysopylae, with it's 83,000 tons of structural steel and 1.2 million rivets, is a mural of the great American work ethic. An ethic I am determined to teach my children.
