It’s not every day someone has the opportunity to do a double workout in the same day but on different coasts of the continental United States. I thought up this idea when I made the airline reservations a few weeks back, and I wanted to do a run workout first on the East Coast and then later in the day on the West Coast.
My 2:30pm flight from Dulles Airport in VA would put me in San Francisco, CA at about 5:30pm. So, at noon, just before heading to the airport, I ran my usual 4+ mile loop through my Rockville, MD neighborhood. It was a clear day but incredibly windy with gusts up to 50 miles an hour and temps in the mid 40’s. Twenty-eight’ish minutes later, I was in the shower and then jumped into my car heading toward the airport for my flight.
Dulles airport was empty! There were no lines at security and since I wasn’t checking bags for my 4 days in San Jose, I was more than an hour early at the gate.
My flight departed a few minutes late, around 2:45pm EST and I was headed west. Almost six hours and about 10 mini bags of pretzels later we were in San Francisco at 6:00pm PST. The second half of the flight I was literally chasing the sunset. From my bulkhead window seat I could see a brilliant saturation of red clouds below as the sun hit the bottom of the clouds we were flying over. Off in the distance was a red, yellow and orange glow. I was able to view a 3 plus hour sunset.
In San Francisco, I headed directly to the rental car department, picked up my Hertz Honda Civic and headed down route 101 south for about a 40 minute drive to the Cisco campus in San Jose. I arrived at 7:30pm PST at the Cisco gym in building 5. Outside it was pitch dark and slightly overcast. At close to 65 degrees, it was more than 20 degrees warmer than my earlier run on the east coast.
In San Jose, there is a vast system of storm water levies and dikes. They are miles long and crisscross the city. Included in this system are gravel paths which are great for running because they are quiet and off the beaten path, except for the occasional underpass at a road. They are also dark at night.
My route was a very flat 5 mile loop around a levy which ran just behind the gym. Finally hitting the path at 7:30pm, I was completely alone. About 3.5 miles in and of course on a very dark section, I could see a dark figure about 50 yards ahead. Keeping way to the edge of the trail, I passed a person who was probably homeless. I said hello, and he mumbled something. A little spooked, I picked up the pace for a few hundred yards and finally reached the end of the loop and headed back into the gym.
My flight departed a few minutes late, around 2:45pm EST and I was headed west. Almost six hours and about 10 mini bags of pretzels later we were in San Francisco at 6:00pm PST. The second half of the flight I was literally chasing the sunset. From my bulkhead window seat I could see a brilliant saturation of red clouds below as the sun hit the bottom of the clouds we were flying over. Off in the distance was a red, yellow and orange glow. I was able to view a 3 plus hour sunset.
In San Francisco, I headed directly to the rental car department, picked up my Hertz Honda Civic and headed down route 101 south for about a 40 minute drive to the Cisco campus in San Jose. I arrived at 7:30pm PST at the Cisco gym in building 5. Outside it was pitch dark and slightly overcast. At close to 65 degrees, it was more than 20 degrees warmer than my earlier run on the east coast.
In San Jose, there is a vast system of storm water levies and dikes. They are miles long and crisscross the city. Included in this system are gravel paths which are great for running because they are quiet and off the beaten path, except for the occasional underpass at a road. They are also dark at night.
My route was a very flat 5 mile loop around a levy which ran just behind the gym. Finally hitting the path at 7:30pm, I was completely alone. About 3.5 miles in and of course on a very dark section, I could see a dark figure about 50 yards ahead. Keeping way to the edge of the trail, I passed a person who was probably homeless. I said hello, and he mumbled something. A little spooked, I picked up the pace for a few hundred yards and finally reached the end of the loop and headed back into the gym.
The day was complete, the blog written in my head as I ran. And, of course, it’s impossible to catch the sunset no matter how you chase it.
