CTS 878: Middlebear again

Today was laundry day but I didn't want to settle for just a 2 or 3 mile run. So I opted to do what I did a few weeks ago and run first and then worry about laundry later.

I started out, my legs still a little empty from the 12-mile run on Monday. But I started to get my pace back and felt pretty good. The edge of my right foot was a little sore, so I untied my shoe and tied it back a lot lighter, which helped.

It's awesome to run up huge hills with no effort. After L1 I was pretty dehydrated so I stopped by the Candler Market for some Powerade.

I still felt worn out after that, though and I thought I would just cut the route short after hills L2 and L3. But when I got to the Moreland intersection, I felt pretty good and continued on the course the rest of the way.

And still had time for laundry when I got home...

Time: 11 a.m.
Temp: 75 degrees
Gear: SST (Beltline), shorts, Nike Air Pegasus/D2.

CTS 876: Silver Comet (Hiram to Powder Springs)

HIRAM, Ga. -- I played disc golf with the crew at White Oak Park and then came back to the Hiram trailhead for the Silver Comet.

The plan was to run back to the Carter Road trailhead, giving me more than 16 miles of trail completed.

I thought it was only about 4.5 miles, giving me a 9-mile run. But it turned out it's 6 miles for a 12 mile run total.

My first run on the Silver Comet was 10 miles and it really wrecked me. So since then I've capped my long runs at under 9 miles.

But this run was good. I knew I could eke it out. Right at Carter Road it started raining- light rain. But still I was soaked so it wasn't that comfortable coming back.

I did appreciate the water fountain/rest area right after Milepost 11.

Time: 6 p.m.
Temp: 86 degrees
Gear: SST (Bridge to Bridge), shorts, Nike Air Pegasus/D2.

CTS 875.5 Second run of the day

I ran earlier in the day before I went to the Braves game. It basically was a short, safety run.

When I came back this afternoon I had plenty of time and it happened to no longer be raining.

I decided to run the hilly route in an Emory University neighborhood. I didn't have any gas in my legs, it seems and a slight tinge I've felt in the back of my left hamstring (from cycling to work I think) I felt again.

But not too eventful other than I'm able to run up and down series of hills with no problem.

Time: 7 p.m.
Temp: 72 degrees
Gear: SST (Let Levi Run), shorts, Nike Air Pegasus/D2.

CTS 873: Summerfest sign-up

Five years ago I signed up for the Virginia-Highland Summerfest "to see where I was at," I told a friend at the time.

I knew where I was at -- a sorry level of training. That February I had qualified for Time Group IA of the Peachtree with a 47 minute time and felt I didn't have to train any more.

June came around and I had hardly run. In the 5K Summerfest race I did my best but really was fatigued in the last mile.

This year, thankfully, I don't have to ask where I'm at. I'm running the hardest hills in the neighborhood by attacking them, not just trying to survive them.

The last hill today, after five other grueling hills, up to the North Highland Post Office, I pretended I was in the Tour.

"Cat, you've got a good pace," I said.

I looked at the Hammer of Dawn. I was running at 7:30. A few moments later, it showed 6:45.

I hope I can keep up this kind of motivation and momentum. I like everything about it so far.

I'm looking forward to another Summerfest shirt.

Time: noon.
Temp: 75 degrees
Gear: SST (Va-Hi Summerfest '04), shorts, Nike Air Pegasus/D2.

CTS 872: Around town

Not much to note in this 4-mile run. Started out feeling like there wasn't very much in my legs. This after I overslept three hours.

But after a bit, I got a good pace. I ran up a hill on North Highland I typically don't want to do.

By the time I got back to the Freedom Parkway/North Highland intersection on the PATH, I could tell I was dehydrated, so I headed home.

Time: 11:30 a.m.
Temp: 70 degrees
Gear: SST (Las Vegas), shorts, Nike Air Pegasus/D2.

CTS 871 Middlebear H-loop

It's nice to get to this point, to get up for a run and know that you can knock out your hardest courses on a regular basis.

Took advantage of waking up early and the overly cool weather.

Time: 8:15 a.m.
Temp: 60 degrees
Gear: SST (Bridge-to-Bridge run), shorts, Nike Air Pegasus/D2.

Day 869 to Atlantic Station

I think it's been a while since I've done this run and I was again surprised how easy it was.

Once daunting hills, such as up 14th to Peachtree, are now easy. My training 10K time has dropped, enough to qualify for the Peachtree 10K road race.

Time: 1:45 p.m.
Temp: 62-70 degrees
Gear: SST (Race for Research), shorts, AP/D2.

CTS 867: Will run for ribs

Today's run was part run, part recon. Today was a promo -- Shane's 2nd Annual Rib Giveaway, which meant if you were one of the first 100 in line when the restaurant opened, you would get a free commemorative T-shirt, a half-rack of ribs and a large cup for a drink.

I left a little after 10 a.m. so was not sure where I would be in line when I got there -- maybe 57th? Maybe out of the running?

But it turned out few people were there. I was 32nd in line and signed my friend up too.

I started to get hungry after I cooled down. Maybe ribs are not my first lunch choice, but I will run for free food!

Time: 10 a.m.
Temp: 66 degrees
Gear: SST (Climb Atlanta), shorts, Nike Air Pegasus/D3.

CTS 866: In the heat

Today I ran through Piedmont Park up by the Botanical Garden, down Piedmont to Rock Springs and back to North Highland.

I did the long hills pretty well but really thought it was hot.

Time: noon
Temp: 82 degrees
Gear: SST (Va-Hi Summerfest), shorts, Nike Air Pegasus/D2.

CTS 865: Middlebear again

Today I decided to make good on my long run switch from yesterday. There was a nice breeze out, so that helped a little bit.

But it was the same old humidity that made me drenched. I was pretty happy though that I had great speed up the third portion of L3.

Time: 11:12 a.m.
Temp: 72 degrees
Gear: SST (Ketchikan), shorts, Nike Air Pegasus/D2.

CTS 864: Laundry run

Today I was going to go on a long run but my laundry really was needing to get done. So I did a switch and decided to do the laundry run first.

The good news is that the tree that's been blocking the Freedom Park PATH next to Candler Park is passable because they cut away most of it. But there's a piece that still looms overhead.

My right foot was hurting a little bit like it does when I break in new running shoes. So I untied my shoes and lightly tied them on the way back and that seemed to help.

Time: 11:30 a.m.
Temp: 62 degrees
Gear: SST (Las Vegas), shorts, Nike Air Pegasus/D2.

CTS 861: Bemis Woods

WESTERN SPRINGS, Ill. -- I wanted to get in a long run on my day off so I decided to run in Bemis Woods again. It's a couple miles from my parent's house to the path. It was pretty nice and cool out and now the forest preserve is pretty green.

I turned around again just after 4 miles. Maybe in the near future I'll run the entire path (12 miles round-trip).

Time: 11 a.m.
Temp: 62 degrees
Gear: SST (Carolina gray), shorts, Nike Air Pegasus/D2.

CTS 860: Running down old courses

WESTERN SPRINGS, Ill. -- One of the runs that I used to do when I lived here was to run around the huge block that is Wolf-47th-Willow Springs-55th.

It's not a hard run but it's nice to know that my fitness is at a level where I am doing all of my old runs, especially the ones I used to think I wouldn't be able to do.

Time: 1:30 p.m.
Temp: 65 degrees
Gear: SST (Carolina gray), shorts, Nike Air Pegasus/D2.

CTS 859: Will run for pancakes (Cornerstone run)

As you probably know, I am always on the lookout for an excuse to run, especially a longer run.

So when it was announced that Batter Blaster would try to break the Guinness World Record for most pancakes served, I knew I'd have to run there. Especially since it's near where I work.

The run was pretty good. It felt effortless and I made it down there. The pancakes were good and at first I was worried I wouldn't be able to run back. But the run back was no problem!

Time: 10 a.m.
Temp: 70 degrees
Gear: SST (Race for Research), shorts, Nike Air Pegasus/D2.

CTS 856: Back to Middlebear

Today, buoyed by nice comments yesterday from staffers and other people in the building of the results of my recent exercise program, I tackled the Middlebear course.

The tree on the Freedom Park PATH next to the Candler Golf Course was still down over the path and I opted to climb through it than wait for golfers to make their putts next to the makeshift path created by the tree.

There also were two huge trees down near Ponce. I kept a pretty good pace through it all but was totally drenched in sweat by the time I crested L3. It was the right time for a Powerade at Buddy's.

Time: 10:15 a.m.
Temp: 71 degrees
Gear: SST (Beltline), shorts, Nike Air Pegasus/D2.

CTS 855.5 The new Botanical Garden

Second run of the day. I headed down to the park but the dog park wasn't crowded with dogs because of the recent rain.

I headed up the Middle Earth steps and found the new parking deck and the front of the Atlanta Botanical Garden was open. The parking deck is pretty nice and open with a great view of the park and beyond from it.

The entrance to the garden is pretty cool, with easy to see signs and ticket window.

I decided to head out past the garden to Piedmont and then up to Morningside Drive to N. Highland. I was pretty happy that it felt really easy up the hills back home.

Time: 4:45 p.m.
Temp: 71 degrees
Gear: SST (Las Vegas), shorts, Nike Air Pegasus/D2.

Peachtree start times

I'm glad I qualified for Time Group 1 this year. Last year I was in Time Group 4, which you can see starts nearly a half-hour after Time Group 1 starts.

I've had to run in Time Group 6 in the past -- 52 minutes after the start of the race.

Top-Seeded - 7:30 a.m.
Sub-Seeded - 7:30 a.m.
TG-1 - 7:30 a.m.
TG-2 - 7:36 a.m.
TG-3 - 7:47 a.m.
TG-4 - 7:59 a.m.
TG-5 - 8:11 a.m.
TG-6 - 8:22 a.m.
TG-7 - 8:33 a.m.
TG-8 - 8:44 a.m.
TG-9 - 8:56 a.m.

CTS 854: Road detour

I did a hybrid run today, thinking I would do the Middlebear route again. But when I was on the Freedom Park PATH near Candler Park, a huge tree had fallen over the path.

It was too massive to climb over. So I cut over onto the park's golf course -- other people were doing the same.

I decided not to turn up the Mpx hill and instead crossed Ponce onto Lullwater, which is a beautiful road to run on because it is very wooded on the side. Made my way up The By Way to Briarcliff and back through my neighborhood.

Really hot and humid, but this cat is happy I got a nice run in.

Time: 10 a.m.
Temp: 70 degrees
Gear: SST (Race for Research), shorts, Nike Air Pegasus/D2.

CTS 853: Errand run

A four-mile run today to literally run some errands. It was hot out but I still felt really good.

On the way back I did stop to rehydrate. Maybe it's part of the acclimation process but I can really feel the effects of when I need water. I start thinking about it a lot.

Time: 12:30 p.m.
Temp: 73 degrees
Gear: SST (UNLV), shorts, Nike Air Pegasus/D2.

CTS 852: Back to Middlebear

Today I wanted a long run to complement the Stone Mountain run I had the other day. I thought about running the Stone Mountain trail but decided I had gotten up too late to comfortably do that and make a noon lunch appointment.

I felt good the entire time, which is a good thing to say. The big hills, L1, L2 and L3 were as daunting as ever but I have lots of experience climbing them.

I did notice that after cresting L3 I was thinking about water a lot. Instead of gutting it out and drinking water when I got home I stopped at a CVS a few blocks from my house and drank some Gatorade.

It could be that I'm getting older and am getting dehydrated quicker. But this will be something I'll have to pay attention to from here on out.

Time: 10 a.m.
Temp: 68 degrees
Gear: SST (Ketchikan), shorts, Nike Air Pegasus/D2.