CTS 841: Silver Comet (Mableton to Powder Springs)

MABLETON, Ga. -- I've tried to make a point of doing a long run during my days off so today I returned to the Silver Comet Trail, picking up near where I left off last time in Mableton.

I Googled the directions for the Silver Comet Depot Bicycle Shop. There's a nice parking lot there so I parked there and headed up the trail.

Really pretty canopy of trees that nearly seem endless. After a few miles there's a pedestrian bridge you go over.

I could feel my right knee at the start of the run but my legs were in a pretty good rhythm not feeling any kind of pain later on.

I made the parking lot near Powder Springs then turned around and headed back. I liked that out that way there were only cyclists and no runners.

Time: 5 p.m.
Temp: 72 degrees
Gear: SST (Race for Research), shorts (ING half marathon), Nike Air Pegasus/D2.

CTS 838: Raptor one-five to Bemis

Borrowing a page from BSG, I call long turnaround runs Raptor one-five missions. Basically I'll use the Hammer of Dawn and run for a certain distance and then turn around at that spot and return.

The first time I did it was the other day when I ran 10 miles on the Silver Comet.

Even before this trip I had in my head I would get a long run in at Bemis Woods. I didn't want to do another 10 mile run so soon, as it really took a while to recover from it.

So I settled on 8 miles. Instead of leaving one of my parents' cars at the forest preserve parking lot, I decided I would just run from home and turn around when the Hammer of Dawn said 4 miles.

It's nice being able to run a bit of distance again because it means I can go places.

Not too bad down the flat grid rows in my parents' neighborhood. It was a little tricky crossing Ogden Avenue into the Bemis Woods entrance because the traffic is so bad.

I was happy to be back on the Salt Creek Trail and dutifully turned around at my spot (I was glad I didn't run farther).

All in all a pretty nice outing. I was pretty wrecked from yesterday's run but felt really refreshed today.

Time: 9 a.m.
Temp: 48 degrees
Gear: LST (Brookfield Zoo Run), shorts, Nike Air Pegasus/D2.

CTS 837 -- Back to Hamburger U.

OAK BROOK, Ill. -- Today I did about 18 holes of disc golf in the Chicago suburbs and decided to run on the 4-mile loop around Hamburger University.

It's a good indicator of my fitness, since the last time I ran it was in September 2007.

While I was running on it I thought of how I've been running on this for 13 years -- I used to run it during my lunch breaks when I worked for a weekly newspaper out here.

I've run in it in the snow and the cold. I used to fear the hills but they're really nothing to me now.

McD's has cleaned up a lot of the goose poop on their portion of the path, which I appreciated.

Time: 4:15 p.m.
Temp: 61 degrees
Gear: SST (MGM), shorts, AP/D2.

CTS 835 Middlebear H-Loop

Today I was feeling frisky so I decided to tackle the Middlebear H-Loop. It turns out it's the first time in nearly 14 months.

The reason is many times when I get to the turn off on East Ponce, I would opt to go home.

But this time, maybe because of the recent 10-miler on the Silver Comet or the ING Georgia Half-Marathon, I decided to run a longer run.

Having run it, I can tell the quality of my running has changed. L1 really kicked my butt. I passed another runner up L2 and then on L3 I could feel my leg muscles not completely used to this hill.

It's an interesting balance between training and training too hard. I'm pretty sure, though, that these runs will be added to the rotation as I continue to work through the spring.

Time: 11 a.m.
Temp: 61 degrees
Gear: SST (Bally's), shorts, AP/D2.

CTS 830: Wanted it to be an easy day...

I thought today would be a slow day but like in the Big Lebowski, this aggression won't stand.

Some guy passed me as I was casually going down Orme and while he took a few steps ahead I gauged his ability to run: the love handles under his shirt, slight calf muscles.

So when the hill to Monroe came, I put it in second gear and dusted him and kept it up to the park.

At the park I made my way up the Middle Earth steps and for the first time since the construction accident at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, made my way through there. Looks like they've put in a really cool car bridge.

Then I came down Piedmont and onto Morningside and back to Highland.

Didn't want to run that hard (the last part of the run is all uphill) but was glad I could do it.

Time: 11:45 a.m.
Temp: 68 degrees
Gear: SST (Race for Research), shorts, AP/D2.

CTS 829: Silver Comet 10-mile

SMYRNA, Ga. -- It's been 6-1/2 years and I had never found my way to the Silver Comet Trail until today*

One reason was that I was never sure where to access it and I am very unfamiliar with that part of the 'burbs.

So I drove around for a while but lucked out and found a sign that said "Silver Comet Trail" and then "Silver Comet Trail parking" that led me to Milepost 0.

It was fun -- there weren't so many people out and I decided I would run out five miles and then turn around and come back.

At first I didn't really like the angled nature of the path of the first mile or so. My legs were really fighting me -- and later I think I discovered why-- it's a slight grade but totally uphill!

I was happy to meet up with the Mableton trailhead at Mile 4.2 but I decided I'd still continue on until I hit 5 miles on the Hammer of Dawn.

When that happened, I turned around and was pretty pleased it was all downhill the rest of the way.

Ten miles was arbitrary -- I felt that I really had to push it at the end of the ING Georgia Half Marathon, so I should do less miles.

I think my current range is about 8-9 miles. Inside the last mile to go I had to worry about leg cramps.

But I got it done. It will be an excellent place to train and explore from here on out.

Time: 2 p.m.
Temp: 53 degrees
Gear: LST (Ted's), shorts, AP/D2.

*To run on the trail, that is. I did cover the grisly killing of the cyclist for my news organization a few years back at around Mile 16.

CTS 828.5: Back in the cold

I wasn't satisfied with the last run so I headed out around the park just before dark. I up-armored with a windbreaker, but had to unzip it by the 2-mile mark.

Time: 7:15 p.m.
Temp: 44 degrees
Gear: windbreaker, CFLST, SST (UNLV), shorts, AP/D2.