Wildcard Run (Strawberry Hill Repeats, 4-5ish miles)-09/26/19

From Coach Toby...

Tonight’s wildcard run takes us to Strawberry Hill in Golden Gate Park, one of the prettiest spots in San Francisco for a run. I’ll lead us on a short group warm-up jog over to the park.

After arriving at Strawberry Hill, I’ll provide a quick overview of the workout and directions before sending you on your way up onto the hill. The workout will involve circular loops up Strawberry Hill, followed by 2-3 minutes of downhill recovery. We'll return to Kezar Stadium as a group after we're done.

Accessible to runners of all levels, this 4-5 mile workout run is a combo of road (warm-up and cool down) and trail (hill repeats). Road shoes are just fine as the trails are well-groomed, but wear your trail shoes if you got them.

Directions to Strawberry Hill (again, we’ll be running as a group from Kezar Stadium to the start of the run at Stow Lake)

URL: https://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/2702423260

-Exit Kezar stadium, turn right and run to the stoplight at Kezar Drive.
-At the stoplight, cross Kezar Drive and enter the park onto MLK Jr Drive.
-At T-intersection, cross over and turn right onto Bowling Green Drive.
-Turn left onto Nancy Pelosi Drive.
-Turn right turn onto MLK Jr Drive.
-Immediately after passing Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive on your right, look for and take the pedestrian path that veers off to the right.
-Shortly thereafter, take the first path you see on your left. This path will lead you to Stow Lake Drive.
-At Stow Lake Drive, cross over pedestrian path, make right and run on the path until you see a bridge on your left. The bridge is our starting point.

Wildcard Run (4 Mile Progressive Hill Run)-09/19/2019

From Coach Toby...

This is an excellent workout for runners of all abilities and will help notch up your overall endurance and strength. For those new to running the hills of San Francisco, this will provide a nice place to start.

Each of the first three miles will progressively include more incline and climbing.

Mile 1 – flat, then a gradual climb - 100 ft elevation gain
Mile 2 – the gradual climb continues then becomes a little more challenging – 150 ft elevation gain
Mile 3 – save some gas for this one – 200 ft elevation gain. Your reward: enjoy the amazing views from atop Tank Hill
Mile 4 – This recovery mile is mostly downhill. Enjoy.

This four miler includes park, city streets, and a very short trail diversion at Tank Hill to capture a nighttime panoramic view of the city. Unless Karl the Fog is visiting of course!

Please review the route map.

Route:

Please review the route map.

https://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/2287961389

Directions:

-Exiting Kezar Stadium’s west entrance, turn right and cross Kezar Drive at the traffic light at MLK Jr. Drive into Golden Gate Park.
-Stay on the paved sidewalk on the right. MLK will intersect with Bowling Green Drive just shortly after we enter the park.
-Cross Bowling Green and turn LEFT to stay on MLK. Continue on the right-side paved path on MLK for less than a ¼ mile to 7th Ave.
-Turn LEFT onto 7th Avenue. You’ll be exiting the park here, crossing over Lincoln Blvd and continuing straight on 7th Avenue
-Turn LEFT onto Clarendon Avenue (traffic light, busy intersection). Stay on the sidewalk on the left side of Clarendon
-Steady climb all the way to Tank Hill. After you the crest the hill, you will run down hill a short distance
-After passing Twin Peaks Blvd on your left, turn left onto the steps leading up to Tank Hill. Take the dirt trail to the top of Tank Hill.
-Return back down to the steps and turn left back onto Clarendon. Clarendon will turn into Twin Peaks Blvd.
-Turn LEFT onto Clayton St
-Turn LEFT onto Frederick St
-After passing Kezar Stadium, turn RIGHT onto Arguello to get back to Kezar’s west entrance/our start.
-Done. Nice job!

Wildcard Run (Tried. True. TEMPO! 3.5 miles)-09/12/19

Long runs, like we tackle and celebrate on Saturdays together, are great for building endurance. Short tempo runs give us the opportunity to focus on improving speed while also developing strength. Tonight we focus on the latter.

From Coach Toby...

I’ve often incorporated this type of short tempo session into work run commutes, short workout runs during leisure or professional travel, and those “sneak it in” runs I do on Sunday afternoon prior to eating a big bowl of pasta with sauce with family and friends. I LOVE the challenge they present, and I really appreciate that they only take 30-45 minutes of my time. Small investment. Big gains.

Tempo running is a type of workout where after an easy-pace warm-up, you ease in to a “comfortably hard” pace for a prescribed distance or amount of time. This isn’t an all out sprint or race; think more of along the lines of running at an accelerated pace which you can maintain for 20-30 minutes. I aim for 20-30 seconds slower than my 5K race pace.

Tonight’s workout is being taken over by guest coach, Eva Davis. If you haven’t met Eva, you should know she may even be MORE friendly and MORE hardcore than Coach Toby. Ask her about her recent birthday excursion where she ran 44 kilometers to celebrate the day. (Truth!)

Nothing like that for tonight, of course. Here’s the workout. Enjoy.

- 1 mile warm-up – start at Kezar stadium, run to 10th Ave and JFK
- 2 mile (appprox) tempo run (comfortably hard pace) – start at 10th Ave and JFK, finish at MLK and 9th Ave
- Cool down run back to Kezar Stadium
(approximately 3.5 miles total)

Route: https://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/2106032191

Run starts promptly at 6:35pm. Please review the route via the link beforehand. Coach Eva will go over the route with you before the start of the run.

Tried. True. Tempo. Let’s do it!

Wildcard Run (Mount Olympus Mashup, 3.5 miles)-09/05/19

From Coach Toby.....

Mashups combine a little bit of everything – trails, pavement, flats and of course a wildcard favorite, hills. As a full body workout, the training benefits of these kinds of short runs are tremendous. In addition, they allow us to practice and develop skill and confidence in running different types of terrains.

Tonight's run is a 3.5 mile (total distance) “loop” including a beautiful forest jaunt through the city’s “Interior Greenbelt”, and a short stop at Mount Olympus, a less known San Francisco hill and according to SF Parks and Recreation, the city’s geographic center.

Please note that our warmup will be included as part of tonight's run!

We’ll wind things down on the flat Panhandle on the return to the stadium.

Ignore your speed tonight and enjoy the views. Yes, we’ll be running some trails, but road shoes will do just fine.

Course Map:

Here’s the route. We’ll get some directional chalk markings down for you, but please do review:

https://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/2169378391

Course Directions:

-Exiting the stadium’s west entrance, turn left.
-Left on Frederick St.
-Right onto Willard St (just in front of Kezar Stadium entrance)
-Head up Willard St (enjoy the climb)
-Right onto Belmont St.
-Left onto Edgewood St.
-Edgewood dead-ends at the forest’s edge. Proceed into the forest on Edgewood Trail
-Proceed to intersection with Historic Trail
-Left onto Historic Trail and proceed down through the forest all the way to Stanyan St
-Left onto Stanyan St and then a quick right onto 17th St
-Running on the left side of 17th St, run up towards and then cross Clayton St is a busy traffic controlled intersection
-Immediately after crossing Clayton St, turn left onto staircase (Monument Way – this may or may not be marked with a sign)
-At top of staircase, turn left onto Upper Terrace
-Run around Upper Terrace (it’s a loop)
-Climb up the steps to the Top of Mount Olympus. You are now in the middle of SF. Literally!
-Exit back onto street and complete the loop back to and down the staircase
-Right onto 17th St
-Right onto Clayton St
-Take Clayton St to Oak St and cross over into the Panhandle
-Left onto Panhandle pedestrian path
-At end of Panhandle, left onto Stanyan St, then quick right to cross Stanyan St. into Golden Gate Park
-Run on the paved path along Kezar Drive back to Kezar Stadium. Watch for cyclists here
-Mashup complete!