Hi all, I’m back in Caracas now and will be posting my marathon race report soon(ish), but I couldn’t do that without writing about my trip to San Fran first. It was a short trip but I enjoyed it soooo much, SF has got to be the most beautiful city in the world.
Everything on my trip there was awesome, starting with the pilot of my flight from Miami to SF. He and the copilot had this cool Californian surfer accent, when we landed they said on the speaker something like:
“Welcome to San Fran, if you happen to live here… dude, you’re awesome! If you come here to visit and have been before, welcome back, you know you’ll enjoy your stay. And if this is your first time coming to San Fran, welcome to the best city in the planet”
…they were right.
I stayed at a friends house. Her grandma happens to live right next to my house here in Caracas and we’ve been friends for a long long time. When I planned my trip I was thinking about staying at a hotel, but when I told her that I was going to visit, she offered me stay at her house.
I spent most of my days before the marathon doing something I can’t do in Venezuela: Walking. I would wake up early in the morning, walk 2 blocks to the Muni station and just walk around the city. I walked so much during my first days there, the first day I must have walked at least 10 miles! I was loving it, enjoying every inch of the city.
Then later in the afternoon I would call my friend and we would meet somewhere and eat together. She took me to her favorite sushi place, her favorite pasta place, her favorite burger place… So I was eating everyday something delicious somewhere I had never been before.
When race day was getting closer I started to take it easy, getting to bed early and walking less around town. My friend was a great host and offered to take me on her car on a ‘bike store tour’. We went to all the bike stores that I found in google maps in San Fran, test riding and looking for the perfect bike for me (that I could afford). Until I found a gorgeous and speedy Orbea Fleche (I’m installing the aerobas and fitting it, I’ll post pics once it’s ready to ride).
The day before the marathon I woke up early but stayed at home in bed until the afternoon, when I went to the marathon expo. There I had a small pre-marathon-panic-attack. San Fran is about 30 degrees colder than Caracas and I only had a sleeveless tech shirt for the marathon. So I got really nervous about the colder temps. Luckily I had Terri’s email address on my blackberry, so I sent her an email asking for advice. She was the best friend ever, gave me some great advice that pumped up my confidence (basically she told me: ‘don’t worry, use what you have, you’ll be fine’ but I really needed to hear that from a cold weather experienced runner).
That day I went to bed really early and woke up at 4 to get ready for the marathon. My friend was really nice and also woke up to take me to the race. But that belongs to another post…
I spent most of the day after the marathon sleeping, woke up to have dinner and watch a movie that my friend had rented, and the next day I came back to Caracas. All in all, SF is the most beautiful city I’ve been to, I loved everything there, the food, the people, the streets. Can’t wait until I can go back. Here are some pics from the trip, I’ll get to writing the marathon race report now.
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I’m glad you enjoyed the SF! Having grown up in the area, I didn’t appreciate it much, to be honest. I remember hating the cold weather. But now as a runner, I love it when I’m racing. I read/heard from somewhere that you should dress for a marathon as if it’s going to be 20-30 degs warmer so what you had should be fine. I actually always run in a tank top even in 30-40 degs but wear a garbage bag or thin windbreaker to stay warm before the race and for the first few miles. After that, only gloves on my arms/hands if it’s below 50.
Look forward to hearing about your race!
Hi!
Thanks for your comment in my blog! FYI, my brother-in-law is from Barquisimeto.
I can’t wait to read your race report and I’m now following your blog so watch out!
Keep running!
That’s so cool!! Your brother-in-law is a Wuaro!!
My whole family is from Barquisimeto!!!!
You had me curious as to what the temps actually are there. I was thinking it had to be warmer than Minnesota but it is quite the opposite right now. 50s there and near 80 here. Anyways, can’t wait for the report!!
Sounds (and looks) like you had so much fun in San Fran! I really do love that city (and I might be moving there in a year–fingers crossed!). Can’t wait to read the race report!!
So glad to hear you had a great trip and race in San Fran! It is an amazing city! I was there running a really crappy half marathon! But I had fun and it was cool and beautiful-which I LOVE!!!
Good job!!
Love your pictures, and the one of the pier with the sky all yellow, now that I will have to download! so glad to hear you enjoyed your stay there in SF, and glad to know I helped you the day before. I had a feeling you wanted to hear those kinds of things from someone used to freezing her butt off when running in the winter, and see, you were fine, more than fine! I’m sure that fog felt awesome to run in, didn’t it?
anytime I can help again, you know how to reach me!
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[...] I mentioned in a previous post, I was staying in San Fran with a friend that lives there. The day before the race I bought a small [...]