12 miles!

12 miles (Actually per gmap-pedometer, 13.5. Oops).

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3691344

Route: Left the house, walked along MLK to the beach. Ocean Beach north. Passed Cliff House and took the Land's End trial. Through Sea Cliff, then up the Presidio along Lincoln Blvd. to the Golden Gate Bridge. Took a right, walked down to Chrissy Field. Along to Marina Green and past Fort Mason. Down Van Ness, wove over to Hyde. Took Hyde until it became 7th St., and ended at Harrison.

The walk: Weather worked out. Thank you, Mother Nature, for raining only during the week. Sunscreen was needed, and applied twice. Broke in my Camelpack. Emptied it twice. Took the iShuffle, which is starting to break down. Or maybe it's iTunes that is breaking down. Half the time when I plug in the shuffle, iTunes doesn't recognize it, and I end up having to restart the computer. I'm listening to podcasts. Specifically, Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, The Now Show from the BBC, and Sound of Young America. An interview with Louis CK was great, and I'm part way through an interview with Nick Hornby. Since no headsets are allowed on the walk, I didn't listen the whole time. Music or podcast is better during the cityish part of the walk-it drowns out the cars and busses. Nature has it's own soundtrack-it doesn't need help.

Along the way, I found myself wanting to know the distance completed and distance remaining. Having identified "chunks" in my head (such as Chrissy Field) it was easy to think about the walk in terms of sections. It would have been helpful to know when I hit the half-way point. It was hard to keep walking, knowing I had a deadline (haircut at 1:30), when I was tired and needed a break. For the next walk, I'm going to have food for the trail (skipped breakfast-bad idea) and make sure restrooms are available.

Success: Made it up the Land's End stairs (I counted 111, but could be off) WITHOUT STOPPING!!