The West Coast Hails (California Dreaming)

So it has been far too long since the sole XY in the group (I need to recruit some more testosterone toting team-mates!) Other than general lackadaisical laziness preventing me from writing, I have in fact moved to the West Coast. San Francisco to be specific.

This marks my second full week here, meaning that I've now been here long enough to have settled in to the bar scene, the new office life, and most importantly, the running scene.

Before coming here, I'd heard many a story about San Franciscans being incredibly outdoorsy and active, and hence the running would be splendid. Well, so far my experience would be errring on the good side, but definintely still within the category of "caveat emptor."

The good:

The weather is absolutely perfect for running. In the mornings and evenings there is almost always a light fog, the air is cool and moist, but not unbearably humid. There is generally a good breeze - strong enough to keep you cool, but not so stern that it slows you down when you're running into it. This is all a serious breath of fresh air (I know, I'm sorry) compared to the sauna that is New York in the middle of summer.

• Average High Temperature July is 66F (19C) with zero rainfall
• Average High Temperature January is 57F (14C) with 5" (13cm) rainfall

The view is generally splendid - the hills mean you get wonderful vistas of the city, and the Embarcadero has views of both the Bay and Golden Gate bridges. It's tough to beat this as eye candy whilst running:

Then again, we are in San Francisco, so don't be surprised if this is the view you get:

The hills are absolutely gruelling and hence incredible for Comrades training:

The Bad:

The hills are absolutely gruelling and hence incredible for Comrades training:

Seriously have you seen these hills?

Block Length and Light Timing is COMPLETELY off for runners. All of the traffic lights in the city are bizarrely short with no specific direction of preference (each way seams to get the same amount of time irrespective of size of road) thus you will find yourself stopping at every...single...light... and trying to run in the direction of traffic on main avenues won't help at all. The only place to get a feasibly long run is on the Embarcadero, or one of the Southern streets in SoMa.

All in all, I'd give San Francisco a 3.5 / 5.0 for runners. The weather means that it's a hell of a lot more comfortable run than in NY, but the hills and the lights make it a frustrating killer, unless running on the Embarcadero, in which case you have to play dodge the tourist!

I'm sure after a few more months here I'll discover more nuances in the running scene here, but that's my take for now. Next up, this Sunday will be taking a 10 mile run in Golden Gate park, which has been recommended to me by many a local as "better than Central Park!" Ostentatious and ballsy to say the least! We'll see...