If it turns out that I qualify for Group A of the Peachtree Road Race on Feb. 22 or break four hours for a marathon for the first time in the Dec. 14 Honolulu Marathon, I'll have days like today to thank.
Light rain, a temperature of 36 degrees to 40 degrees and having to do three 2-mile intervals on the schedule. That was in addition to a warm-up and cool-down run and a half-mile recovery in between each set (8.5 miles total).
It was cold when I started. I went down North Highland and didn't start the first interval until I crossed the Moreland/Ponce light. Then I ran along the Olmsted Linear Park parks until getting to Clifton and then turned right and went down to the Candler Market area.
The first set ended just after Candler Park. I really regretted not having gloves on this run because my fingertips were extremely cold. My shoes were long ago soaked but my feet still felt warm. Because I wasn't used to the interval program on my Garmin Forerunner 610, I accidentally hit the "Lap" button and skipped my 1/2 mile rest period. So my second 2-mile interval started immediately.
I turned down Oakdale and then ran up along North Avenue to Moreland. I decided here that I should cut up into Little Five Points to possibly return to the PATH for my third interval. But at L5P I decided to go down Euclid and connect with the Eastside Beltline trail.
This was perfect because it gave me a steady downhill that would resemble the downhill Charles Harris 10K course. There were only a few runners the entire length of this 1.9-mile section. So I opened up on this section and my split times for the final 2-mile interval were 7:38/mile, something that I probably have not done in a long time outside of a race.
Time: 9:04 a.m.
Temp: 40 degrees, light rain
Gear: Technical T-shirt, long (2013 Atlanta Half Marathon), North Face windbreaker (more waterproof), hat (AP), shorts, Nike Air Pegasus+ 30.
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