Day 167: All the Way Around!

On day 167, I finally ran all the way around 3-mile, winding, hilly Chastain Park, no stopping!

This in and of itself sounds pretty good compared to my last attempt at running around this park, but what makes it better is that I had taken a four-hour red eye flight from Portland to Atlanta that morning, slept for about two of those hours, got into Atlanta at 6:00 AM, WENT TO WORK, and came home and ran the best I ever have.

Oh, and that I hadn't run in the four-ish days I had been in Portland, and had turned my bloodstream into beer and doughnut superhighway. 

(NOTE: This is also impressive behavior post-overnight flight if you remember after my San Diego red eye, that I slept from 11:00 AM to 5:30 PM.)

But yes, the run was simply fantastic. I got up the winding hill no problem, as if I had blown the hill up in my mind to be way more of what it ever was. The long straightaway that I almost puked on last time was just a breeze, and I rounded the corner, ready for the next hilly climb with plenty of juice left in the tank. When I got to my car, I even thought that I should just keep running because I felt so good. I didn't keep going because all the race training guides say to take it easy the week of the race, but now, 6 days in retrospect, I wish I had seen how far I was capable of.

I'll see on my next run :)