CTS 1,098: Running when inspired

Faulkner once was asked if he wrote every day or if he wrote when he was inspired and he said i only write when i'm inspired but i'm inspired every day.
-Cormac McCarthy

I only had about a mile and change to make 30 miles for the week but the gf inquired about a long run today. So a cat thought, why not?

I took some time last night reviewing the ING Georgia Marathon course, particularly the back half of the course, as I'd already run most of the half-marathon course on Friday.

There's a lot of great territory the race course covers. (Here's the map).

I thought about just running the entire half but then wanted some flexibility, in case my legs didn't have the energy after running 10 miles the day before.

So I opted to run from Virginia-Highland to where the half marathon and marathon splits, on North Avenue and North Highland Avenue (where Manuel's Tavern is).

We ran down North Avenue, went up a short, steep hill by Mary Lin Elementary School and down McClendon to the Candler Market/Flying Biscuit intersection.

The race course turns north on Clifton Road but instead of turning and following the marathon course at Ponce, we went through the intersection and took it all the way to North Decatur, where we rejoined the course.

We headed up Lullwater, which I have never run the entire length before, went up Ponce to Oakdale, followed the course route to North Decatur and back to Springdale. From there we connected to The By Way and then followed Briarcliff to St. Charles and then back home along North Highland Avenue.

It was nice, if not somewhat hilly. It probably isn't my favorite part of the ING course but it got me thinking that if I kept adding parts of the course to my long routes, I could be in a position to take a stab at the full marathon in March.

The hills are brutal along this course but it's something to think about.

The gear was fine- I was warm enough but I never was able to take off the windbreaker. I did remove my gloves during the route. Could use something to cover the tip of my left ear.

Time: 9:30 a.m.
Temperature: 23 to 29 degrees
Gear: windbreaker, gloves, CFLST (Atlanta half '08), SST (Claddaugh 5K), shorts, Nike Air Pegasus/D5.