Athens -- Operation Kitty Run

ATHENS, Ga. -- This was the best idea ever. After I dropped off Kuro at the Small Animal Teaching Hospital for his chemo, I took off running on campus.

It was nice because hanging out with Susanne, I haven't had much time to run each day.

I followed directions I'd been given in the past to a coffee shop -- down Lumpkin in the Five Points section of town.

Passed the basketball arena and a track. At Five Points, I went on roads where runners had been on. I found myself in a neighborhood with few cars and giant homes. The perfect place to run.

I stopped by Waffle House for some grub and then came back along a row of Frat Houses. I hadn't reached six miles yet, so near the vet hospital I turned in towards campus, passing the Creamery and the Pharmacy School.

The kicker was the shower at the teaching hospital. I would be an uncomfortable, sweaty cat, without the shower. I'd brought a change of clothes, towels and soap and shampoo.

Mission Accomplished!

A nice, uh, Monday

Decided that after a week of Vegas and Kansas City, it would be good to ride into work for a change.

And I was pleasantly surprised. The weather has been pretty cool and there was a nice breeze as I pedaled down North Highland Avenue. Only a few weeks ago would I have thought it crazy to be riding in the morning in major humidity.

The other good thing was that my cycling legs were fresh. And really fresh. The ride seemed pretty easy. It was nice that a construction crane blocked half of Baker Street except for the sidewalks.

In other cat news, I crossed a milestone and didn't even know it. My Thursday morning run in Kansas City marked 200 days in a row. Yay!

Race for Research 5K

I almost missed the race because I went to bed about 2 a.m. (7:30 a.m. start). I even was dreaming that I missed the race and was running in it late.

It's a pretty flat course around Atlantic Station, the Northside hill being the only serious one of the course.

It was pretty hot during the race and might have been nice for more people if water was given out earlier, say at Mile 1.

I chugged a Powerade before the race and didn't drink anything during it.

I was happy at my time but thought I could run faster if I did faster runs in training.

Kansas City -- The heat

KANSAS CITY -- Man, the humidity is about as bad as Atlanta. Did a couple of runs so far, three loops around Mill Creek Park yesterday and a run up Broadway from 43rd St. to Knickerbocker this morning.

Vegas -- Why running is good for you Part 2

I made a running-related post on my other blog, Poker Cats.

An idea

ATHENS, Ga. -- Next time I'm here waiting for my kitty to have chemo at the University of Georgia's Small Animal Teaching Hospital, I'm going to put on my running shoes and take a spin around campus.

Sure, it may be a little hot, but I spied shower facilities in the hospital's restroom...

Sounds like a plan!

Ah, toasters

A quick rule of thumb: If a guy is coming up on you and he's traveling faster than you, DO NOT try to pedal harder and speed up. That makes you look like a rabbit trying to run away from a dog -- dog just tries harder.

This morning I quickly caught up with some guy on a Fuji road bike. I'm trying not to seem so aggressive so I'm just really coasting when I come by but all of a sudden he starts frantically pedaling.

It's silly because I've seen his cadence for a few minutes before I approached him -- pedal, coast, pedal pedal coast -- so it's a little silly.

It sort of took the dimensions of a Samurai movie as I approached -- I looked at all the variables. All things being equal, that road bike should be faster than my hybrid. Plus the guy looked younger than me. No helmet, though, so I pegged him for an amateur.

I turn it on and that's pretty much that.

Another addiction

Yesterday I made my way (running, of course) to Phidippides, where I noticed my favorite running shoes, the 2006 Air Pegasus, were on sale now that the 2007 models are out. (They're supposed to be lighter, but I find them ugly).

So I snatched up a pair in my size, albeit it was a narrow style that didn't seem to affect my feet.

Maybe I'll have to scour the city for more of them!

Oh that's nice

...the free MARTA Breeze card that I was supposed to get for the Peachtree just arrived today, a day after the Peachtree. LOL.

Peachtree - Down to the line

I take my Maserati to the limit/
Six seconds through traffic like Emmitt
-Lil' Wayne

So it's about 50 yards to go and who is trying to pass me but this 50-year-old gray-hair guy who's running like he's in a midlife crisis Corvette.

Only thing is, I'm driving the Maserati today.

I kick for the first time in the entire 10K race, weave through the runners and cross the Peachtree finish line with my back to him.

My first thought was, dude, this is the Peachtree, not a Peachtree qualifier. This is a fun run. Leave your suburban 'tude across the perimeter. He had been jockeying with me during the entire first mile, with fast spurts that seemed really big wastes of energy. I was just trying to get through the great crowds in the 45,000-person race. I thought he was trying to make it personal. I dropped him at Cardiac Hill.

I felt good the entire way and when I finished, I had lots left. The weather was cooler and breezier this year, so it didn't feel hot when section six started running at 8:15 a.m., 45 minutes after the race began.

I need to focus more on quality of hillwork, running hard hills hard, that is, instead of simply doing them. I felt like I was weak up the second half of Cardiac Hill and my slowest mile was the double set of hills that follow, from the Borders up to 14th Street.

This is the hardest part of the race, IMO, and I can't imagine how it's anything pleasant for nonrunners tackling it. I know that serious runners race the course, but I wonder how much of the pack gets discouraged each year after doing it. I know when I was sipping Powerade at the end of it I wasn't sure I wanted to do the Peachtree again next year. Don't really have to. Felt the same about the ING half-marathon's hilly course.

Peachtree -- I'm ready

I'm fast as lightning bro/You better use your Nikes, bro
-T.I.

I've been sick for three days where every part of my body ached and almost nothing felt right to eat. Running wasn't much of a priority, but I still eked out small runs to continue the streak (I've run everyday for more than half the year as of today).

But now I feel better, as ready for the six-mile run as a Boeing 777 preparing to jump over the Pacific.

It won't be pretty, since I'm in section six, but it'll be nice to add this year's shirt to the 2003 and 2004 ones I already have.