May
26
Tripped-Out Running – San Diego Style
Note
Tripped-Out Running is a new feature on Predawn Runner, where I share experiences from my travels. I believe that running is one the second best way to learn about an area (just behind eating), and the first step I take in planning a trip is exploring potential routes, using the tips I shared in a previous post on running while traveling. Because most of my trips are more suburban or rural in nature now, the content may be slow to come for a while, but I am more than open to guest posts if you have taken any trips that have provided memorable running experiences.
- San Diego from the north end of downtown along the bay (Photo used under Creative Commons license from http://www.flickr.com/photos/jiazi/ / CC BY-SA 2.0)
Overview
In early May of this year, I had the opportunity to travel to San Diego for a trade show. I honestly think that San Diego is one of America’s finest cities, blessed with a glorious climate and an abundance of scenic coastline. And the running in San Diego is sublime, no matter what area of the city you are visiting. On this trip I happened to be staying at the Hilton Bayfront, along the San Diego Bay right in the heart of downtown. Finding good routes on this trip was going to be easier than shooting fish in a barrel – I didn’t even bother to do the research as I knew exactly where to head.
The Weather
The climate in San Diego is unique in its consistency – always 70 degrees and it never rains. OK, if you consult with Wikipedia, it will say that the high temperatures technically do have a range to them – from 66° F (19° C) in January to 78° F (25° C) in August, with average lows bottoming out around 49° F (9° C) in January. San Diego is classified as semi-arid, with an average of 12” (25 cm) of rainfall per year, mostly in the cooler months.
For this trip, the weather was purely average – and for average, please substitute “gorgeous”. Perfect running conditions no matter what time of day, with maybe a little breeze off the bay. It amazes me that a city in SoCal can host its marathon in June, but there is nearly zero risk of it getting too hot. And this has to be one of the few locations that can also hold a marathon in January (the Carlsbad Marathon). Frankly, they can feel free to sprinkle marathons in during the fall and spring too, as far as I’m concerned – it would work.
The Runs
A three-day trip yielded three runs; I was in my taper, with just 10 days until the Cleveland Marathon, so I had to keep the distance reasonable. That can be hard to do here, as there is plenty to explore. As I’ve said before, a trip can be a great way to spice up the taper, but you do have to be careful not to overdo it.
Day 1: After a 6AM departure from Cleveland and a connection in Houston, I got into San Diego around 10:30 local time. We had to set up our booth at the show, which would have been easy had the booth actually arrived on time! We discovered it was slated for delivery by FedEx that day. My colleague knew I was chomping at the bit to run (to work off those airplane legs, I explained), so he volunteered to wait around for the booth. I headed back to the hotel to change and, just as I was headed out the door, he called to let me know the booth had arrived and he needed help putting it up. This actually worked out just fine – I ran a half-mile warm-up to the Convention Center, helped with the booth (which took 10 minutes), then headed out from there for a run on the harbor.
The beauty of running along the San Diego Bay is there are no traffic lights to contend with. The drawback in the mid-day was that it was flooded with tourists (another argument for being a Predawn Runner). So there was a lot of weaving, but my eagerness to run offset that and I delivered a 6:50 pace on this 5.4 mile run. OK, it was supposed to be 4 miles, but I *forgot* to turn around. It didn’t help that I also meandered through the Seaport Village Shopping Center and all of its glorious restaurants and green space on the way back.
- Route from the bayfront to Balboa Park – 6 miles (click to enlarge)
Day 2: Back to the predawn time slot, this time I decided to head in toward Balboa Park. I didn’t realize I’d also head “up to” Balboa Park, as this apparently involves a 300’ climb from sea level. My originally-planned route along Park Boulevard was blocked, but fortunately a friend who had just visited San Diego (Jason W) had given me some alternative directions to get there the night before – and frankly, all roads in San Diego seem to lead to Balboa Park (unless you hit the ocean, in which case you simply turn around).
There is plenty to explore in Balboa Park, and it is clearly a preferred destination for the locals as there were many running groups meeting there. As I was aiming for only 6 miles (which was more than the 4 plans called for already), I just went into the center and back out, enjoying the downhill cruising back to the Bay. If you do want to hit Balboa Park and intend to run there, it is better to get out early as there were many intersections along the way, plus traffic in the park can get hectic when the 2 dozen museums and the zoo open.
- Route along the bay to Harbor Island – 8.25 miles (click to enlarge)
Day 3: Since I had only gone partway to Harbor Island on Day 1, I decided to go all the way there today, knowing that this would meet my need for an 8 mile “long” run. In fact, I could only do half of Harbor Island before hitting the turnaround. If you like city views, harbors, ships ranging from modern carriers (the Ronald Reagan was in dock at the naval base) to the oldest active sailing ship in the world (the Star of India), and even airports, this run has something for you. If you just like peace and quiet, or like to see other runners, that happens here too (in the predawn, before the tourists arrive). No hills, no intersections, just flat, fast, and safe running (with maybe a few non-intrusive homeless people along the way).
For More Ideas
While I haven’t visited there in many years, the Mission Bay area also has an outstanding reputation for great running paths. Surprisingly, Runner’s World has not done a feature on San Diego, at least that I can find. If anyone has any other advice for those heading to San Diego, please fire away in the comments.
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