Wildcard Run (Stow Lake, 3.3 miles)-10/31/19

Thursday October 31st Wildcard Workout (3.3 miler)
Golden Gate Park’s Stow Lake

Thanks for another great season, wildcarders! Captain Emily will lead the charge tonight with an easy three miler through Golden Gate Park.

Course Map & Directions

Course Map- https://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/2757529258

Course Directions:

-Exit Kezar Stadium’s west entrance
-Turn right and run to the stoplight at Kezar Drive
-Cross Kezar Drive and proceed on the paved path along MLK Jr Drive
-At intersection with Bowling Green Drive, cross street and turn left to stay on MLK Jr Drive
-Cross Nancy Pelosi Drive, Music Concourse, and Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive
-After Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, turn right onto Stow Lake Drive East
-Climb up the short hill via the road and then proceed onto the paved pedestrian path that runs alongside the lake
-Complete a full counter clockwise loop around the lake, staying on the paved pedestrian path
-After completing the loop, exit the lake the way you entered (on Stow Lake Drive East)
-Turn left onto MLK Jr Drive and retrace your steps back to Kezar stadium

Wildcard Run (Stanyan Street Hill Repeats, 3-3.5 miles)-12/26/19

Hills. Love them or hate them, running in San Francisco we can’t avoid them. The great news – running hills builds strength, improves speed, and develops mental fortitude, aka what I like to call GRIT.

Tonight’s workout is accessible for runners of all levels. After a fifteen minute warm-up run together, we’ll do hill repeats at Stanyan Street, running from its base at Fell St up to Fulton St and returning to Stanyan.

Workout:
-1.5 mile warm up
-.2M hill repeats
-.5 mile cool down run back to Kezar

Route:

1.5 mile warm up
https://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/2744532028

Stanyan Street hill repeats
https://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/2262810670

Warm up & cool down:

-Exiting the stadium’s west gate, we’ll turn right and run on the paved sidewalk path that runs along the right side of Kezar Drive. This will take us to Stanyan and Oak streets.
-Cross Stanyan then make a left to get onto the Panhandle. We’ll do a clockwise loop from here, running along the paved Panhandle path in a clockwise direction.
-At Masonic, make a right, right on Oak Street, and then back to Stanyan Street to complete the loop.
-After completing the loop, make a right and proceed to the corner of Fell and Stanyan Streets.
-This will be the starting location for the hill repeats. After the workout, we will return to the stadium the way we came.

Wildcard Run (Golden Gate Park Tempo Run 4.5 miles)-10/17/2019

From Coach Toby.....

Hey gang, get ready for a “Tempo Thursday” version of our weekly wildcard runs. After a warm-up run together, your task will be to hold a tempo (comfortably hard) pace for at least 20 minutes. We’ll wrap things up with an easy cool down run back to Kezar Stadium.

I’ll review the route and how to approach the workout before we head out on the run. As we’ll see some darkness, pack a headlamp or other light, and do your best to wear reflective clothes. See you tonight!

Course directions-

-We'll warm up together by running to MLK and Transverse.
-From there, you'll run a counter clockwise loop via Transverse, Middle Drive and back to MLK to MLK and Transverse. TEMPO DONE!.
-Cool down by running back to Kezar stadium.

Course map-

https://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/2735382145

Wildcard Run (The Sunset's Secret Steps, 3-4 miles)-10/10/19

Tonight we’ll run over to the Inner Sunset neighborhood’s beautifully tiled Hidden Garden Steps (location: 16th Ave and Kirkham) for a fun and challenging team stair circuit workout. Get ready for some epic ocean and city views too!

Course Map:

https://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/2304607870


Directions:

-Exit Kezar Stadium and turn left
-Cross Frederick Street and turn right
-Frederick Street turns into Lincoln Way
-Left onto 8th Avenue
-Right onto Kirkham Street
-Stop at 16th Avenue and Kirkham at the base of the Hidden Garden Tiled Steps.

The steps circuit begins here!

-Head up the steps. At the top, make a left onto Lawton Street.
-Run along the sidewalk one block to 15th Avenue.
-Turn left, heading down these second set of steps back to Kirkham Street.
-At the bottom of the steps, make a left onto Kirkham Street and head back to 16th Avenue along the sidewalk to the start.
-Repeat 3-5x.

Wildcard Run (4 Mile Fartlek Run-Panhandle/Golden Gate Park)-10/03/2019

From Coach Toby......

Hi Team! If you are looking for a quality workout to improve speed and endurance, this week’s wildcard is for you.

You will have the option to run 4 miles with or without a “fartlek” component. Fartlek (Swedish for “speed play”) is a type of running that involves varying our pace during a run. We highly encourage it for runners of all experience levels. It’s also a fun word to say. Try it. (“Fartlek!”)

I’ll provide instructions before the workout. Tonight’s run is FLAT. We’ll be running along the Panhandle and in Golden Gate Park. It's getting dark out so headlamps and reflective gear are highly encouraged.

Directions and route

Course Map-http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/1999610189

-Exiting Kezar, turn right and run towards the Panhandle on the paved path which runs alongside Kezar Drive. This path will take us to Stanyan and Oak streets.
-Cross Stanyan and then make a left at Oak St to get onto the Panhandle.
-We’ll now do a full counter clockwise loop around the Panhandle. Head east on the paved path that runs alongside Oak St.
-Cross Masonic St and continue on the path to Baker St. Baker marks the very end of the Panhandle.
-Turn left at Baker and then left again at Fell St. Head west on the paved path that runs alongside Fell St, all the way back to Stanyan.
-At Stanyan St, cross into Golden Gate Park on the north side of the street and run west along JFK Drive, passing the Conservatory of Flowers (on right).
-After crossing the intersection with 8th Ave on the right, use the pedestrian crosswalk to turn left onto Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive.
-Run on the paved path, passing the de Young Museum (on right) and until the path ends at MLK Jr. Drive.
-Turn left onto MLK Jr. Drive.
-Cross Music Concourse Way, Nancy Pelosi Drive, and then turn left just before 9th Avenue and Lincoln way stoplight to stay on MLK Jr. Drive.
-Stay on the paved path on the left side of MLK Jr. Drive until the intersection with Bowling Green Drive.
-Turn left to stay on MLK Jr. Drive.
-Cross Kezar Drive to return to Kezar. All done!

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!