Miss Congeniality

AM: 90 mins.
12 miles
PM: 25 mins.
3 miles

Today I had the pleasure of meeting and running with a potential new running partner and/or friend, Meredith. I met Meredith's husband Jim at Phidippides (a local running store) a few weeks ago, and he and I struck up a convo about marathon training. Turns out he and Meredith just moved to Atlanta a few months ago from Florida, where they both ran track and xc at Florida State, and are both looking for new places to run and people to run with. He passed my info along to Meredith and we started corresponding from there. Since they live within half a mile from the river, that seemed like the logical first meeting place, so we planned to meet in the Columns Drive parking lot circa 7:45. I arrived a little after 7:00 and did about 35 minutes on my own, then joined Meredith for another 40 minutes through the trails. It was a beautiful morning and the conversation flowed, so the run was very enjoyable (minus the one time I tripped over a root and almost fell headfirst downhill--luckily I caught myself with my (green) lightning fast reflexes just in the nick of time). After parting ways, I decided to continue for another few miles, since I was sure I wouldn't be able to run this evening due to a work engagement. Meredith and I made plans to meet again next week when I return from Hood to Coast, and I'm excited to get to know her better. Just call me Miss Congeniality.

Almost equally exciting, my help ended up not being needed at the spike night I was supposed to attend, so I managed to sneak in a quick shakeout through the Highlands this evening. My legs felt decent, the one upside to bailing on the workout yesterday, and I kept the pace slow and relaxed throughout. Now it's time to overpack my bags and get ready to hit up the west coast tomorrow.