West Stride and Phidippides Offer Free Training Program for ING Georgia

Plan to run the ING Georgia this year? Don’t train alone.

Last year, I trained for the half-marathon with Girls on the Run at West Stride. Owner Genie Beaver was a terrific host, offering free coffee and baked goods, route maps and prize drawings.

This year, West Stride and Phidippides have teamed up with Adidas to offer the Fit for ING Training Program. Each store alternates hosting group runs on Saturdays at 8:00 a.m. Along with routes that feature water stops, Olympian Todd Williams will be on hand to offer training tips. After each run, take advantage of the free coffee and food. You can find the schedule for group runs at both West Stride and Phidippides’s web sites. The next run takes place this Saturday at West Stride’s location.

This week’s route comes from West Stride’s group page at MapMyRun. You’ll find a lot of good long routes for half-marathon training.

Nursing a Running Injury

In August I wrote about recovering from a bruised toe. This week, I learned that I was suffering from a strained ligament in my knee. During my runs, my knee literary felt like it would give out from under me. Needless to say, I was not happy. Since I’m trying to increase my mileage for the ZOOMA Atlanta Half-Marathon next month, this was not the time to encounter an injury. I’m taking nearly two weeks off from running to give the knee time to recuperate. Thanks to my trainer, Calvin, here’s the approach I’m taking to treat my injury:

· Take ibuprofen twice a day
· Lap swimming for my cardio exercise (in place of running)
· Ice packs on knee for 15 minutes followed by heating pad

I also decided to purchase a new pair of running shoes. My current pair felt as if I wasn’t getting an adequate level of support as my mileage increased. I had been running in Adidas Supernova Classics (which I loved for the high-arch support). It was a tough decision to select a new shoe – I literally spent 30 minutes at Big Peach Running Co. in Decatur deciding between a pair of Mizunos and Sauconys. I ended up with the Mizunos. Hopefully, I’ll returned to a comfortable running experience by next weekend.

Since I’m not running this week, I decided not to post a route. However, if you’re looking for a running route, here are a couple of sources:

Map My Run (Atlanta Running) – This is where I keep maps of my running routes. Currently, there are 20 routes available.

Run.com – The site offers 18 different routes, which are primarily located within intown neighborhoods.

Atlanta Track Club – You’ll find 9 routes in neighborhoods across Metro Atlanta