Birmingham Long Run

2 hours 13 mins.
18 miles

While Jilane was off winning her 20-mile road race, I enjoyed a surprisingly, well, enjoyable 18-miler in Birmingham. Tracy Poole, a friend and longtime Trak Shak employee, offered to join me for the first 10-12, and I was immensely grateful for his company. He's pushing 50 but still keeps a respectable clip on his runs, so our 7:20ish pace through the hilly streets of Homewood and Mountain Brook felt about right. Something I'd almost forgotten about Tracy is that he knows everyone, literally EVERYONE, who runs in the greater Birmingham area. We started our jaunt with ~3 miles on the Shades Creek Greenway, and it is no exaggeration to say that we passed at least 25 people and every single one of them greeted him by name. He's kind of a big deal around here.


Congrats, Jordan and Jilane. I'm happy for you both.

Anyway, this morning was a bit warmer and more humid than others this week, but overall it wasn't too bad. I felt kind of sluggish for the first hour, but by the time we looped back to his truck at 90 minutes I was feeling pretty chipper. I took a Clif Shot and some water while he toweled off and stretched, then I bid him adieu for my final six miles out and back on the greenway (yes, it's boring, but I was in the mood for something flat and shaded). While I never picked up the pace significantly, I felt strong and light on my feet throughout the remainder of the run, which was a refreshing reversal from yesterday. Not to mention that only having to run ~45 minutes by myself was absolutely wonderful. Props to Tracy for hanging in there for the majority of this outing.