You can learn a lot about your city training for a marathon. On average, it takes 20 weeks to go from zero to 26.2 miles. For my training program, I averaged around 30 miles per week as I was ramping up, and got closer to 50 near race day. Spread out across three to five runs a week, there’s a lot of our city to take in.
My long runs often went from my cottage in Ocean Beach up through Point Loma, around Harbor Island, past the airport, down toward the Embarcadero, and past Seaport Village before turning around.
I was never alone on these runs. Free-spirited souls played guitar and spun fire on the beach near my home as groups of cyclists whizzed past me in Point Loma. Families gathered for picnics along Spanish Landing Park and the sounds of planes arriving with travelers hoping for a sunny vacation lingered overhead.
At Waterfront Park, skin-tight neon outfits and barely-there tops during CRSSD made way for cowboy-hat-wearing locals yee-hawing their way through Boots in the Park. My favorite days consisted of watching sailboats float by on the bay and megayachts visiting San Diego for the week.
No matter what month I was running, one thing was always clear: Our city loves the sun and everything under it. We’re active, but more than that, we’ve grown up here and gathered here because there’s just no place like it. Even on its worst days, this is still a place you want to come home to.
This issue is a love letter to San Diego. This month we gush over our favorite surf spots while calling out what loving those breaks means about you. Sure, Tourmaline is a longboarder’s heaven, but we’re betting you’re enjoying a few early bird specials these days. We check out the skate fashion of today’s youngsters hoping to become the next Tony Hawk, or at least land their next backside heelflip.
We hit South Mission Beach hoping to find the spirit of volleyball, and explore a new aquaponics system helping Pala Reservation grow more than 1,600 plants at a time while using 90 percent less water and land.
If you love the sun (and this issue), keep an eye out for a rebrand of our Hikey Bikey Beer newsletter, launching this month. We’re calling it Everything Under the Sun. It will still focus on active lifestyle content, but will include more things like surfing, running, climbing, sailing, pickleball, and all the things that get our heart rates up outside.
For me, after crossing the finish line for my first marathon, it was this city that I was the most grateful for. Training for the longest run of your life is just a little bit easier with nearly perfect weather year-round and all your friends outside keeping you company.
So, here’s to more adventures under the sun.
