8 Mile (Not the Eminem Version)

AM: 1.5 mile w/u
Target: 8 mile tempo; 4 @6:40 then cut down
Actual: 25:55 (6:29 pace); 6:30, 6:19, 6:18, 6:14
1.5 mile c/d
Total: 11 miles
PM: 26 mins.
3.5 miles

Today was pretty much my last hard workout before MCM. Let's all pause for a moment to allow that to sink in and perhaps throw up a celebratory fist pump. Anyhow, I decided to do this out at the river, utilizing the road on Columns for the first five miles and finishing with the three-mile loop on the dirt. The air was cool, if a touch humid, and I was quite chilly in my racerback top for the first mile or so.

Once I got out onto Columns, I settled into a comfortable pace rather quickly. Unlike last Saturday's tempo, which involved fighting a substantial headwind, today there was only a light breeze to speak of. As a result, I felt quite comfortable throughout the first five miles, and my breathing was steady and even. That feeling was short-lived once I stepped back onto the dirt path, however, since I was simultaneously trying to pick up the pace and struggling to maintain traction on the loosely-packed dirt. Don't get me wrong, it's a great training surface, but it definitely felt slow when contrasted with the asphalt. That said, I was pleased with my strong finish (and even more pleased to be done with workouts!), so I was quite the happy camper on my wog back to the car.


View of Midtown skyline at sunset from Piedmont Park

This evening was my third night in a row for group runs, this time a Nightlife run at the Phidippides location in Midtown. I ended up falling in line with a few guys who work at the store and, as a result, the pace was a touch quicker than I was expecting or would've liked. We dialed it back a notch on the back half of the run, which felt much more comfortable. Afterwards I enjoyed samplings of pizza, cookies and pumpkin-flavored Hershey's kisses--that's right, I said pumpkin--and counted the run a success on account of the free dinner.

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I Heart Mondays

AM: 90 mins.
~12.5-13 miles
PM: 30 min. walk

So today I was technically scheduled for 16, but I had a pretty solid hunch that wasn't going to come to fruition. My legs are experiencing some residual soreness from the 6x2, and yesterday's massage left me feeling pretty banged up as well. I headed to the river with hopes of at least getting in a solid 90 minutes, but beyond that I didn't expect much.

Since Meredith had a planned day off, it was just Jim and myself today. Pretty much from the outset I could tell we were banging out a decent pace, and when we hit Columns Drive at 1.5 miles we settled in to about 6:55-7 min. pace for the next five. From there we hit the dirt again, took a brief detour uphill through the wooded trails (which slowed the pace but definitely didn't diminish the effort), then finished up with another mile or so on the dirt path. I dropped him off at the Cochran Shoals parking lot just after 9.5 miles and decided to do another 5k dirt loop before calling it a day. By this point my legs were pretty fatigued, but I timed the final mile just for kicks and was surprised to see the split just over 6:40. I jogged around in the parking lot for a few minutes to finish things up. While I didn't meet the distance requirement for this run, I'm pretty sure I ran at least 8-9 miles of it at or below 7 min. pace, so I'm pleased with the effort.

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Columns Drive Workout

Target: 2x6 miles @6:30 or faster w/10 min. rest
Actual: 15 min. w/u (2 miles); 6:29, 6:26, 6:26, 6:15, 6:27, 6:29; 10 min. rest (1 mile); 6:29, 6:33, 6:25, 6:32, 6:25, 6:23; 4 min. c/d (.5 miles)
Total: 15.5 miles

There are some workouts you look at on paper and know you'll be able to hit out of the park. There are also some you just hope you won't screw up too badly. For me, this workout certainly fell into the latter category. I decided to utilize Columns Drive for five of the six miles, finishing up the final mile of each interval on the dirt loop. After sleeping in way too late before driving out to the river, I finally started this workout around 10am, which made the conditions a tad warm but not terrible.

One thing I recently noticed about Columns when I started doing harder runs there is that it's a false flat; the first 2.5 mile section out to Johnson Ferry is a very gradual, continuous uphill, which obviously means that the 2.5 miles back to the river is slightly downhill in equal measure. Today there was a strong headwind on the "out" sections, which meant that the first 2.5 miles of each interval were, put simply, a struggle. I definitely looked forward to the point where I could turn around and feel a reprieve. As you can see, I took full advantage (perhaps too much so) of the return trip on the first interval, where I got a bit carried away and clocked a 6:15 mile in the middle of things. Otherwise the splits were very consistent, acceptable but certainly not spectacular, and I managed to grind things out at approximately the correct pace.

Nothing much else of note except that I took an espresso-flavored Gu in between the two intervals, which was quite tasty. Until now I'd been "practicing" with Clif Shots because that's what's provided at MCM, but after sampling Jordan's berry Gu last weekend I discovered that I liked the consistency and flavor much better. With this the case, my new plan is to carry a few in my pockets at the race and also make sure Jordan has some at the ready.

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Sunday Funday

2 hours 27 mins.
20 miles



For the second weekend in a row, I was fortunate to have Ezra's company on my long run. Opting for a course that was considerably flatter than last week (although admittedly more boring), we decided to meet at the river. Our plan was to run on the dirt loop to Columns, run down Columns to Johnson Ferry (where I usually turn around), then cross the road and run through a short wooded trail on the back side of Johnson Ferry, then return on Columns and finish the dirt loop. This comprised almost exactly ten miles, so doing it twice would provide us with the requisite mileage.

Overall, the run went very well. Even at my lowest point I felt ten times better than I did throughout most of the run last Sunday, which I consider a small victory in itself. Per Jeff's instructions of "don't eat anything before or anything during" I didn't take a gel at halfway, which would've probably helped, but we stopped 2-3 times for water and stretching and I felt better after each of those "breaks." After one of these, I suggested to Ezra that perhaps the marathon distance would be more fun if everyone had to take one or two mandatory time-outs throughout the race. You could all stop and start at the same time, so no one would gain an advantage, but just imagine how much fresher you would feel at the end! However, Ezra, unimpressed, said, "Well what about Phidippides? He was the original marathoner and he never even thought about stopping." My response: "Well yeah, but he also died at the end."

In retrospect, I struggled the most during the middle portion. Miles 10-15 were a drag, largely because of the pounding on Columns and the rising heat and humidity. According to my car, temps were in the upper 70s at the start and in the mid 80s at the end. Needless to say, it definitely doesn't feel like fall yet. Pumpkin spice latte notwithstanding.

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Lucky 13

Target: 7 miles @7 min. pace, 7 miles @ 6:30-6:40
Actual: ~13.5 miles
95 mins.

I headed out to the river for today's run, mostly because I wanted to do the majority of it on Columns Drive. I figured I could warm up on the jog from the parking lot to Columns (1.5 miles), then do two out-and-backs on the road (10 miles), then just add on via the dirt loop. If nothing else, the run would be mostly flat and I would have several opportunities to stop for water.

To put it simply, this run sucked. I may have mentioned this before, but my legs are tired. "Dead" would be an even more accurate way to describe them. I struggled to stay under 7 minute pace, and even at that I had to stop several times to stretch out my perpetually tight left hamstring. Add to that a burgeoning hot spot/blister on the sole of my right foot and humidity that felt like I'd jumped into a swimming pool, and I can say with confidence that I both looked and felt like a hot mess by halfway. By the time I finished my second trip down Columns, all I wanted was to get back to my car as soon as possible. I opted to cut the run short in hopes of salvaging my upcoming 20-miler on Sunday.

At least September is almost halfway over.

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Sunday at the River

88 mins.
12 miles

For the fourth day of the last five, I ended up at the river for today's run. Dad was supposed to do 12 and I was attempting 16, so we both agreed that the flat soft surface would be best. I jogged the first 5k loop with him before we parted ways, he to continue around the loop and me to venture out onto Columns Drive. Since the road isn't marked I'm not sure of any splits, but I sure felt like I was hammering. The only mile I timed was the 11th, which was back on the dirt loop, and I went through the marker right at 6:50. At that point I decided to shut it down because my legs were extremely fatigued--undoubtedly still not recovered from Friday's long-ish run--so I wogged back to the car to wait for my dad to finish. My legs have felt tight and heavy all week and I'm hoping to get a massage ASAP. Hopefully the sweet potato pancakes I ate at Highland Bakery (not to mention half of Jeff's peanut butter french toast) will help replenish my glycogen levels.


Me and my parents outside Highland Bakery after brunch
I look gross and I swear my nose isn't that big in real life.

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Chattahoochee Long Run

1 hour 44 mins.
~14.5 miles

After getting a late start this morning, then having to wait in a line of cars to enter the Cochran Shoals parking lot for 15 minutes (how I love the weekend warriors that screw things up for the rest of us), I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was still only 68 degrees outside at 8:45am. Thus, my long run was much more enjoyable than those in recent memory. I basically did my usual "long run at the river" route: one 5k dirt loop, half a loop then out to Columns Drive, out and back to Johnson Ferry on Columns, back to the starting point, then another 5k dirt loop to finish it off.

Truthfully the only negative part of this run was my left hamstring. It's still quite tight, and I had to stop several times to stretch it out because it kept locking up. I put in a call to a massage therapist that Jeff C. recommended the other day, but she still hasn't called me back and therefore I still have no appointment scheduled. I might try to call someone else tomorrow to see if I can get in ASAP.

Finished the last 5k in ~21 minutes, which isn't breaking any land speed records but felt like a solid effort.

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On the Road Again

11 min. w/u (1.5 miles)
8 mile cut-down starting at 7:00, 5 seconds faster per mile
(6:53, 6:45, 16:30 for 2.5, 16:10 for 2.5, 6:16) ~ 53 mins.
9 min c/d (1+ miles)
Total: ~11 miles

I woke up early, determined to make it out to the river before it got too hot. Apparently there was some sort of party out there that I wasn't invited to, because when I arrived at the Cochran Shoals parking lot at 7:30 every single parking spot was filled. I flipped a U and parked in an auxiliary lot about a quarter mile away, then ran over the bridge to get back to the main trail.

Though I could've run the entire workout on the 5k dirt loop, I wanted to mix it up both to spare the monotony and to spend some time on a "faster" surface, so I opted to start on the loop and then run out and back on Columns. While this section isn't marked per mile, I knew it was almost exactly 2.5 miles from the Columns Drive parking lot to where Columns dead-ends at Johnson Ferry, so I decided to go by feel and effort during this part of the run before finishing up with a hard mile on the dirt trail.


Part of the 5k dirt loop at the Chattahoochee River

I started out a touch faster than necessary, but my legs felt good so I just went with it. The flat, level pavement on Columns is ideal for this type of workout, and I was really able to lock into the pace and just zone out during this section. When I hit the dirt loop for the last mile I was immediately conscious of the change in traction--while the dirt might be better for the legs, the road definitely facilitates the pace. Nonetheless, I finished the last mile strong and felt decent at the end. That said, I was definitely aware of my left hamstring tightening up as I worked the pace down. Occasionally it would "catch" mid-stride and I would end up with a really awkward footstrike, which was more distracting than anything. Next week I'm going to find a massage therapist, no excuses (and preferably one who wears Brooks so I can employ the trusty barter system).

Overall, a solid workout, and one I'm glad I postponed yesterday. I'd like to double tonight but I might just give it a rest for a change and save up for the long-ish run tomorrow.

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On the 7th Day, It Rained

1:53
15 miles

I 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 Ferry and back on Columns, then added a few more dirt loops to extend the run. Overall I felt much better than on my 12-miler last week, which was encouraging. I tied up a bit on the last few miles, which was to be expected since I'm just not used to spending this much time on my feet. The sky grew progressively more overcast during the second half of the run, then opened into a downpour during the last mile. Felt terrific.

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Will Run for Apple Juice

90 mins.
12 miles

As 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 to the constant pavement pounding I was doing. After navigating the crowded parking lot at the river (perhaps I should've started earlier than 9am to avoid the dog walkers, baby joggers, etc.), I set off on the dirt loop. Thankfully the sky was overcast, which kept temps in the 70s, but good grief was it humid. I completed one 5k dirt loop, then ran 2 miles of the loop again before breaking off onto Columns Drive. In an earlier post I stated that you could run about 1.5 miles down Columns, but my memory was a tad rusty because it was actually more like 2.5. Fortunately the road is flat and even, and often shaded by the trees (and mansions) on Columns, so it's quite an enjoyable diversion from the trail. I ran out to where it dead-ended at Johnson Ferry, stopped quickly to use the facilities and splash some cold water on my face, then headed back down Columns toward the trail. Once I reached the trail again I only had two miles to go, but my legs were already done and done. The last 15 minutes was a struggle as I just felt so thirsty and fatigued. Should've hydrated better (and by "better" I mean "at all"). Overall a solid effort, but I need to make sure I'm constantly drinking today to facilitate recovery.

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