Sunday Morning Run. Outside. In the ATL.

I am currently in Atlanta, visiting my daughter on vacation.  Our first full day (Sunday) saw me take my first outside run of over 5k in a very long time, my first run in the state of Georgia at all, and my first outside training run for my 10k in a little less than a week.  It is also the first run I ever took where I got flat out lost.  Here is how it went.

I started gearing up at about 8:45, much to my surprise I looked out the window and saw that a race was taking place on one of the streets adjoining the apartment complex.  Having no interest in becoming a bandit or generally interfering in any way, I finished gearing up and headed out to the opposite street to do a quick (and somewhat unsuccessful) warm up run.  At its end, I still had my bearings somewhat intact, but my course plans were all confused.  Gotta start somewhere, right?  I head north on Parkway Dr. , and away we go.

At about 7:00 a kilometer, I stride north.  The residential neighborhood is mostly quiet, save for a teenage girl talking on her phone sitting on the hood of a car, and a well dressed gentleman and what I assume to be his well dressed mother in a wheelchair waiting at the end of his driveway.  (Yes, he did smile and say hello.)  I ended up taking a left on Ponce De Leon Ave.  I wanted to somehow turn around and head the other way; there was what looked like a mosque across the street with open gates but no cars in the parking lot, however I figured that people who want to go and worship would not be crazy about seeing a sweaty gray haired runner turning around near their entrance.  I maneuvered around a couple of small streets and ended up heading east on PDL Ave., passing said mosque on the left side.

Ponce De Leon Ave turns out to be a great road for a run.  There were some challenging hills, some downhills that countered the hills, lots of things to look at to distract my attention (the huge iron cross in front of Grace Methodist Church was intriguing) and my pace and stride were just about where I wanted them to be.  My problems seem to start in front of the CVS at the bottom of a hill.  I look up to see a iron bridge running over the street, and assume that it is the trail that runs near my daughter's apartment, however there seems to be no way to get to it.  I have not seen a street running south in a while, and I just hit 3k, so it would seem like a good time to begin to circle around to home.  The first road I see seems a little too big, so I pass it and end up taking a right unto Highland Avenue at about 4k.  Pace, stride, and wind still fine.

I go about another .5k when I see a park, with a trail.  As luck would have it, this trail is hosting the very same race I saw out my window when suiting up.  Had I had the cajoles to bandit, I would have found my way back home perfectly, but I was a nice guy and moved on.  I hit an area with some quaint shops, many dog owners out walking their pets, and, you guessed it, a hill.  A very sharp hill.  I have no bearings as to where I am, and at the top of the hill I hit 6k, so I decide to run a little further at a fast pace and call it a run.  Now to get my bearings.

It turns out that the last street I turned onto runs sort of straight, then diagonal, then straight again.  It did not connect with the street my daughter's apartment is on, however if I cut through the park the race was being held at, I probably could have found it.  I ended up on an overpass with the Beltway Trail running underneath it, so I tuned in Wahoo Maps and got reoriented.  Two short cool down runs later and I was in front of my daughter's apartment.

My pace was 11:04 mile, a little slower then I wanted but I figured the hills cost me some time.  My distance (3.89 miles) and Strava relative effort (87) were just about where I wanted them to be.  I did cross four, count 'em, four Strava segments.  One, the "Ponce Climb" (the hill on Ponce De Leon Ave.) put me at first place in my age division.  And yes, there were only two people in this category.

I am planning on running an outdoor 10k either Tuesday or Wednesday, then going easy in preparation for Saturday's race.  I'll study the maps and make out a full report.

All Signed Up!! Ready to Go??

Well, I finally pulled the trigger.  I am officially signed up to run my first race since the accident.  I thought that my first race should be the 10k by the Bay out of Warwick, RI, so I went ahead and registered.  I felt this would be a good race back for a number of reasons.  1)  Familiarity.  I have run this race twice before and know pretty much exactly what to expect.  Interestingly enough, the race this year takes place about three weeks later then in previous years; great for me since it will fall on the tail end of a vacation week.  Even little things, like knowing where to park, where the water stations on the course will be, and where to warm up can make a big difference.  2) Course.  I will go a little more into detail about the course itself when I post about the race report, but I can tell you this much about the course right now.  It is flat.  Pancake flat.  I mean if you step up on a curb, that will be your only elevation.  I have done about 98% of my training on a treadmill, mostly because I am still a little leary of running with traffic.  I have done all of this treadmill training without hitting the incline button, so a flat course offers a great deal of optimistic comfort.  3)  Past Success.  My 10k PR is at this race; 52:52 three years ago.  I am very confident I will not come anywhere near time, but it would be a great boost to my morale to put in a decent time.  I am hoping for under 70:00; I think for a first race in sixteen months this is not too much to ask.

As I eluded to before, the vast majority of my training has been treadmill based.  I have hit 10k on the treadmill a few times, but I have yet to do it outside in real life since the accident.  This is really my only concern.  Even if I did not hit that 70 minute mark, a DNF would have to be considered a fail.  I am going to try for a training run of 10k tomorrow, just for the sake of knowing I can pull it off.  I think the course I am going to try is very hilly, so a finish would help my psyche a great deal.  I will try to post on Wednesday with an update on both training and how I am feeling.

Thanks for reading.