I had the good fortune of attending a writer’s conference in San Francisco last weekend. I decided again to take public transit. Caltrain’s baby bullet train is faster than a car, and costs much less than just one night’s parking.
The conference was at the historic Mark Hopkins hotel on Nob Hill. Now hills in San Francisco are steeper than some mountains, so I carefully planned my excursion to avoid climbing any of them. My plan was to take a bus to a train to a bus, get off and walk to a cable car that would deposit me right outside the hotel. I figured business clothes didn’t warrant any more exercise than that. But my heart sank with the bus as it descended into the tunnel, realizing I had not pulled the chain early enough, missing my intended stop. Lesson number one, of course, is to always have a map, even when taking public transportation.
However, I was familiar with this intersection, downhill from my hotel and at the edge of the famous Chinatown. I hoisted my suitcase, and squared my shoulders towards the sidewalk like an offensive guard awaiting the snap. My torso almost parallel to the slanted slope, I trudged the two long blocks, where I saw the light at the top of the hill. The climb was not as strenuous as it was last year, when I was barely 12 months out from cancer treatment. Apparently the fitness efforts I made since then paid off. I felt empowered entering into the potentially life-changing conference, knowing that taking the easy road wouldn’t have led me to this destination.
Filed under: fitness | Tagged: caltrain, cancer, exercise, fitness, public transportation, san francisco, writer's conference
