Candler Park Double and Grapefruit Martinis

AM: 54 mins~7.5 milesPM: 23 mins3 miles2 mile walk w/Brooke and BizThe sky was overcast and the air was cooler than normal this morning, so my easy run was quite pleasant. I did the Candler Park loop in reverse, plus some meandering around in the Highlands (it's funny--this run continues to be shorter than I expect it to be. Like, every time. You would think I'd realize this by now). Of note, guess who was sitting on the SAME bench again (or still)?? That's right, the guy I mentioned yesterday. This morning he appeared to be napping, with his head...

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Happy Trails

AM: 57 mins.8 milesPM: 26 mins.3+ milesThis morning I got up early and met Jeff at the river for an easy run. We ran around the dirt loop until we reached the entrance to the Sope Creek trails, where we spent the majority of our run. The time flew by as we followed the rolling single-track trails through the woods. It boggles the mind that we could be smack in the middle of a huge city and yet feel so far from it. This was the most enjoyable run...

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Hill Repeats

AM: 18 min. w/u (2+ miles)10xhill repeats, recovery on the way down(1:27, 1:27, 1:27, 1:27, 1:26, 1:27, 1:26, 1:27, 1:24, 1:23)15 min. c/d (2 miles)Total: ~9 milesPM: 30 minute walkThe first workout of our marathon training cycle consisted of hill repeats. Specifically, 10x1:00-1:30 with recovery on the way down. I had a hill in mind but wasn't sure if it would be the correct length, but luckily I found it to be just about perfect. I warmed up from...

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New Life: Day 1

AM: 60 mins8 milesPM: 30 min. walkstretching, pushups, absI woke up early today to head out the door before a long day of visiting accounts. Ran to Piedmont Park, meandered around some nearby Midtown neighborhoods, ran three or four laps around the AO for good measure, then headed home. This was a nice, easy run to start off the week.In the evening I took a brisk walk through the Highlands, then came home for some stretching and core work. Since I haven't been to yoga in basically a month (sigh), I might as well do something to help maintain my...

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Week in Review

~49-50 miles8 mile hike (that effectively maimed me)several long walksball girl at pickleball matchWell, I definitely heeded my coach's advice and took advantage of this "down" week. My mileage was significantly lower than it has been in recent memory and I actually took a day off (!!) from running. It was great to have Jordan to run with this week, especially on my workout attempt(s). I'm hoping to enlist Jeff Campbell to help me on some of my upcoming workouts, as he is trying to get back in shape and has offered to pace me through some of my...

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Time for an Intervention

AM: 73 mins.10 milesPM: ~40 min. walkThis morning I tried a new route to Lullwater Park at Emory. Instead of going Briarcliff to N. Decatur to Clifton, I ran up to Ponce and hopped on the bike path until it crossed Clifton near the IMAX at Fernbank. Then I ran along Clifton, which wound around past Druid Hills Golf Club and through the picturesque North Druid Hills neighborhoods, until I reached the park entrance. This route took me ~28 minutes, as opposed to 20 going the other way, but the shoulder is wider here and this route should involve slightly...

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Reverse Candler Park Loop

55 mins.7.5 milesI'm still indescribably sore from the other day, which is pathetic, and my run today was pretty miserable. Put simply, every step hurt. I felt marginally better once I warmed up after a few miles, but I was pretty much counting down the minutes the entire time. I ran the Candler Park loop backwards, then added on a bit in the Highlands before heading home. Normally I would've wogged around for five more minutes to make it an even hour, but I was having none of it today.Just a few minutes after arriving home, Brooke messaged me...

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Breakfast Club

58 mins8 milesLet me just get the complaining out of the way: I have not in recent memory experienced a level of soreness on par with what I'm feeling right now. When I woke up this morning I was seriously questioning whether or not I would be able to put any weight on my legs, as my back and upper glute muscles were in so much pain. Nonetheless, I hobbled out the door and down the stairs (which I have never loathed more) to my car so I could head up to Buckhead and meet some peeps for the Friday morning breakfast run at the Big Peach, a running...

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Kennesaw Mountain Hike

120 min. hike8 milesAfter waking up way too early to take Jordan to the airport, I met my friend Christina at the Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield for a hike/powerwalk along the trails. This was somewhat of a weekly routing of ours when I lived in Atlanta before, and on the drive over I was reflecting on how both our lives have changed since then. Two years ago I was working for Mizuno and she was a running specialist at Dick's Sporting Goods....

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Post-Pickleball Fatigue

62 mins.8+ milesLast night's rain cooled things off a bit for this morning's run, which was a welcome respite after last weekend. I wanted to take Jordan down to Lullwater Park by Emory, so we set off for an easy run around 9am. His hip was hurting quite a bit--possibly from his workout yesterday but more likely from getting owned by Brooke's dad in pickleball last night--and he stopped several times throughout the run to stretch. I wasn't feeling...

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JSK Does the AO

23 min. w/u (3 miles)4x400 @ ~75Various pushups, crunches, stairs20 min. c/d (2.5 miles)Total: ~7 milesJordan wanted to do one workout on the Active Oval while he was here, since it's the greatest training venue ever, so we decided to head down there Tuesday morning. He wanted to do 8-10x800, which works well on the AO as one lap is just a bit over 800m. Since this was the first true day of my "off" week, I was content to spectate the workout and fashion my own little "circuit training" rotation. So, after Jordan started each 800 repeat, I would...

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8k Tempo Attempt #2

18 min. w/u (2+ miles)4 mile tempo (6:18, 6:15, 6:09, 6:13)~30 min. trail run and c/d (4 miles)~72 mins10 milesJordan was clearly exhausted from pacing my workout.Um, yeah. So the whole "getting up early" idea really only works if you change your watch over from Central to Eastern time when you cross from Tennessee into Georgia. So. Needless to say, we made it out to the river a tad later than we had hoped. It was very warm and humid but contrasted...

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Week in Review

78 miles1 walk with Brooke and BiscuitI feel as though I say this every week, but this was my highest mileage week to date. I'm almost anal enough to go out for a 15-minute wog just to hit 80, but that would be relatively pointless. I'm glad I got in two quality workouts, even more glad that I nixed the workout today, and most glad that Jordan is here. I'm pretty sure both of our cell phone providers and my employer will appreciate a marked decrease in our text message volume for the next few days.Next week is an intentional down week before we...

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8k Tempo Attempt #1

67 mins9 milesAccording to my coach, the plan for today was "Sunday: Kick JoKin's ass." Which translates to, "Make Jordan sacrifice his own workout to pace you through 8k at a speed he could run backwards." Lucky for me, Jordan was willing to do so, and I was perfectly amenable to having him set the pace.After picking Jordan up and going out for a late dinner Saturday night, we were understandably slow to get going on Sunday morning. By the time we got down to the Shelby Bottoms greenway around 9am, it was well over 85 degrees and unbearably humid....

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The More the Merrier

AM: 61 mins8 milesPM: 40 mins5+ milesToday I had the pleasure of enjoying not one, but two runs with other people. I've grown so accustomed to running alone that I'd almost forgotten how much I enjoy having company. This morning I ran with Drew and Ryan, two guys from Fleet Feet Nashville, along Belle Meade Boulevard near Percy Warner Park. We did two four-mile circuits out and back on the gently rolling (but much flatter than the park) streets. The temperature was tolerable, as we started well before 7am, but the humidity was pretty unbearable...

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Percy Warner Park

AM: 52 mins7 milesPM: 35 mins4.5 milesAfter arriving in Nashville around 11:30 last night and getting up at 6 for my run, I was feeling a bit sluggish. That feeling got fun-forced out of me once I embarked on the extremely hilly trails in Percy Warner Park. The trails are beautiful and entirely shaded, and it was refreshing to finish a run without dripping sweat everywhere, but the rolling hills proved quite challenging for an "easy" run. I would've...

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Shades Creek Workout

24 min. w/u (3 miles)5xmile @ 6:10-6:15 with 1 min. rest in between(6:20, 6:15, 6:10, 6:10, 6:06)15 min c/d (2 miles)Total: 10 milesI woke up this morning even more sore than I was yesterday, if that's possible. The thought of doing 5xmile did not interest me at all, and for the briefest of moments I thought about sacking it and going for an easy wog instead. But then I thought, WWJD? The "J" could be any of the pertinent J's in my life at this time...Jilane, Jordan, Jeff...and I knew each of them would put their big girl face on and run the workout....

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Hump Day Double

AM: 46 mins. 6 milesPM: 45 mins.6.5 milesFirst thought upon waking up this morning: I wonder how much cereal I have left? Second thought: Crap, my legs are SORE! So apparently the fun, frolicking workout I enjoyed yesterday took more out of me than I thought. My quads felt like a midget had been jumping up and down on them all night (or a non-midget...but I like any analogy involving little people). I gingerly set out for an easy run on the Candler...

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Speed Play

20 min w/u (2.5 miles)30x30 secs on/30 secs off16 min c/d (2 miles)Total: 10 milesI was anxious to redeem myself from the debacle at the track on Saturday, and I hoped this workout would do the trick. I decided to use Piedmont Park as the setting because it's mostly flat. The air was cool as I headed over to the park, and as soon as I reached the Active Oval I launched right into my first interval. I did the first set of 10, jogged around a few minutes to recover, then did the next set on another loop in the park. Took a five minute break after...

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Emory Run, Take 2

AM: 67 mins9 milesPM: 25 mins3 milesEmory president's house in Lullwater ParkAfter checking things out on Google maps, I set out on my second attempt to find the trails at Emory that comprise Lullwater Park. As I suspected, the park entrance was located near the medical school just off Clifton (basically a quarter mile beyond where I gave up looking last week, naturally). It takes about 20 minutes to get there, mostly on sidewalks, but it's completely...

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Week in Review

Total: 75 milesA couple long walksA million times up and down my stairsAs I sit here typing this, it's hard to believe that another week has passed and we're already well into July. This summer--actually, this entire year--has absolutely flown by. Although it seems as though MCM is still in the distant future, I know it will be upon us before we know it.Overall, this was another solid week of training, and my highest mileage to date. I got in one solid workout (Tuesday) and one lackluster workout (Saturday), capped off with a strong long run today....

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On the 7th Day, It Rained

1:5315 milesI woke early and drove out to the river to do my long run. Certain parties dissuaded me from doubling last night, so I went for a walk instead and decided to extend this run a bit. My schedule called for 12, which would put my weekly mileage at 72, so I thought I'd overachieve and shoot for 15, which would put me at a nice round 75 for the week. I wanted to stay on soft surfaces for most of the run, so the river was the most logical choice.I did basically the same route I did last week: a loop and a half on the dirt, out to Johnson...

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300s, Sort Of

25 min w/u (3 miles)12x300 w/100 jog(60, 59, 60, 59, 59, 58, 58, 59, 59, 58, 59, 58)25 min c/d (3 miles)Total: 9 milesWell. This didn't go quite as planned. The workout was originally billed as 16x300 in sets of four (58s for the first set, 57s for the second, and so on). For some reason, however, I just couldn't get it into gear. I started off hitting the first one in 60 and just couldn't cut it down much after that. Even the 100m "rest" jog, which...

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Highlands Run

67 mins9 milesMy schedule said I was only supposed to do four miles today, with the intention of running a race tomorrow. Since there were no races scheduled in the metro area this weekend, I got my coach's approval to go a bit longer today and run a workout tomorrow instead.Set out on a relaxed, easy run meandering through the Virginia-Highland neighborhoods. I made my way down to Piedmont Park, ran a few loops on the Active Oval just for kicks, and headed back toward my house. I got back to Briarcliff right at 1:07, so it felt like a natural...

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Briarcliff Double

AM: 51 mins~7 milesPM: 27 mins3+ milesI set off this morning on my first run from my new apartment. I decided to run toward Emory in hopes of locating a trail on campus that I'd run a few times previously. The problem was, I'd only been on that trail with other people and I really had no idea how to get there. Unfortunately I ended up timing the run perfectly to coincide with the traffic headed to work/school, and I ended up having to stop multiple times at lights and crossings. Not ideal. Worst of all, I never found the trail (although I'm pretty...

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Little Five Double

AM: 52 mins7 milesPM: 24 mins3 milesStorefronts along Euclid in Little Five PointsI woke up this morning stiff and sore, in equal parts from the killer workout yesterday and from moving. Did the original Candler Park loop. I took it slow and easy and tried to stay relaxed, but legs felt heavy throughout.In the evening I fashioned a new mini-loop from Brooke's house. I went the back way down Elizabeth, up Euclid through Little Five Points, back up...

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"It's a long way, isn't it?"

30 min w/u (4 miles)6xmile @ "10k pace" w/3:00 rest in between(5:53, 5:53, 5:52, 5:51, 5:54, 5:52)31 min c/d (~4 miles)Total: 14 milesWhen Jilane and I read that our workout was 6xmile at 10k pace, that sounded bad enough. When we learned that our coach believed our 10k paces to be 5:50 and 5:45--speeds we would be thrilled to run for a 5k right now--we were appropriately enraged. This was the first workout in our cycle that I was 100% sure I could...

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The Hills Are Alive

AM: 60 mins 8 milesPM: 3 mile walk w/Brooke and Biscuit This morning I awoke bright and early to get in a quick run before the movers FINALLY arrived with all my belongings. I'm typing this from the kitchen counter in my new apartment, as it's currently the only surface I have on which to set my computer. Decided to do the loop through Candler Park that I did last Wednesday, only backwards this time to see which direction was "easier" (read: less...

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Week in Review

72 miles(and a few long walks with Brooke's dog)Week 3, done and done. This was my highest mileage week thus far, and my legs are still feeling pretty spry (excluding the death march that was miles 9-12 this morning). This was also my first week back in the ATL, and it's been fun revisiting some old training routes and plotting new ones. Once I'm settled into my place next week, I'll definitely have to invent a few new loops. And I haven't even been down to the Active Oval yet, which was Jordan's and my clutch discovery a few weeks ago, so I've...

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Will Run for Apple Juice

90 mins.12 milesAs I just texted Jilane, there was nothing remotely enjoyable about this run. Actually that's not true. Stopping at Einstein's for a coffee and apple juice immediately following was pretty tasty. But otherwise, no, I cannot think of any superlatives to share with you.I decided to drive out to the river for this long-ish run because I wanted to stay on a soft surface for as much as possible. The only stress fracture I've ever experienced occurred the last time I lived in Atlanta, and I'm convinced it was due less to mileage than...

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Candler Park Loop

51 mins7 milesNice and easy Saturday run on the same Candler Park loop that Jordan and I ran a few weeks ago. Ran down the Freedom Trail all the way to where it dead ends on Ponce, then back through the Candler Park neighborhoods, up McLendon through Little Five Points, then back up the trail to Brooke's. Legs felt decent after yesterday's effort.Of note, I spotted a port-a-potty on the corner of McLendon and Ferguson just past the Flying Biscuit. Those of you who know me well know that finding an easily accessible port-a-potty is like finding...

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Chattahoochee River Workout

20 min. w/u: 2.5 miles5 mile tempo: 6:57 (long, started at wrong marker), 6:45, 6:38, 6:30, 6:306x300 w/100 wog in between: 58, 57, 56, 55, 54, 5315 min. c/d: 2 milesTotal: 11 milesThis morning was definitely the warmest and most humid since my arrival to Atlanta, which undoubtedly made things even more miserable at the Peachtree Road Race this morning, but nonetheless I was excited to drive out to the river for this week's only workout. The river...

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Inman Park Run

75 mins10 milesI hit the ground running at 6am to meet my friend Kristin and a few other people for an early run. Kristin is a girl I ran with occasionally when I lived here before, and since we will now be living less than a mile away from each other, I hope to tag along with her on a regular basis.I jumped on the Freedom Trail, ran down Highland, and met them where Highland crosses Virginia. We ran back up Highland toward Inman Park and then meandered through the neighborhoods there. Crossed through Little Five, ran down Euclid for a few miles,...

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Back to the ATL

AM: 58 mins8 milesPM: 25 mins3+ milesView of Atlanta skyline (and my favorite house!)from the Freedom TrailFirst run back in Atlanta, and it could not have been a more beautiful day. With low humidity and temperatures in the 70s, it felt more like fall (my favorite season) than the middle of summer. I set off from Brooke's condo (where I'm staying until the movers arrive with my belongings on Monday) and headed down the Freedom Trail, up Ponce, then...

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Peace Out Ft. Worth

PM (last night): 27 mins3.5 milesAM:70 mins9+ milesThis morning was unusually cool and crisp, and I headed out early from my parents' hotel to run with my dad before they took me to the airport. We did an out and back on the river trail, but a different section of the trail than I normally run on. Ran from the Courtyard Marriott down to where it dead ends at Southwest Blvd. and then came back. I ran with my dad on the way out, comfortably at 7:30-7:40...

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