New Half-Marathon Series in Atlanta

If you ran the ING Georgia Marathon/Half-Marathon, you probably received an e-mail promoting a new road race coming to Atlanta. The 13.1 Marathon hits Atlanta on October 4. It promises to be lively, with southern rock bands along the race course. If you’ve never run a half-marathon, you may want to check out this event. It’s geared towards novice runners and walkers. The course is a bit odd – running from Oglethorpe University to Perimeter Mall and back, with a good portion of the route along Ashford-Dunwoody Road. It’s not as picturesque as the ING Georgia course, but it’s convenient if you live in Buckhead or Brookhaven. The cost is $55 if you register by August 20. Afterwards, the cost goes up to $70.

Runners: Take Care of Your Feet!

When runners talk about injuries, it’s typically issues with knees or hamstrings. But feet can be especially vulnerable to problems if you don’t take care of them. While I’ve been able to run with knee issues, a foot or toe problem leaves me on the sidelines.

Who Knew Flip Flops Could Be Bad?
Believe it or not, wearing flip flops for long periods of time can affect the health of your feet. Why? According to a story in the New York Times, people alter their way of walking which can lead to pain in the feet, hips and lower back. Flip flops don’t provide arch support, heel cushioning or shock absorption and the shoes leave toes vulnerable.

Walking barefoot is also not a good option. Aside from leaving your feet exposed to sharp objects (like broken glass and pebbles), it can contribute to collapsed arches and flat feet.

This doesn’t mean that you need to stop wearing your favorite pair of flip flops. Just limit use to short periods of time. The Foot Solutions Atlanta blog offers helpful tips for foot care and injury prevention.

Pamper Your Feet with Professional Pedicures
I love this piece of advice I found at Traxee.com. It’s important to keep toe nails short and properly trimmed. Pedicures also take care of calluses and moisturize feet and toes. While it may be tempting to save a few bucks by doing a pedicure at home, most people don’t do a good job of cutting toe nails properly. My own attempts to trim toe nails have occasionally led to hang nails –- very uncomfortable.

Give Your Running Shoes Time to Dry
Our feet sweat during runs, which can lead to moisture building up in your shoes. Do you run two or more days in a row? If so, consider purchasing an extra pair of shoes to alternate shoes between runs. This lets your shoes have an extra day to dry out.

Claims of Cheating at the Peachtree Road Race

The AJC published two separate stories this week concerning allocations of cheating at this year’s Peachtree Road Race. In Mark Bradley’s column, he complained about seeing 2 women with high seed numbers who passed the 2-mile mark before the elite runners – a clear sign they started the race past the official starting line. Bradley’s point – why participate if you’re not going to run fairly. The column attracted nearly 200 comments on ajc.com; an indication that Bradley hit on a sore point with a lot of runners. Some of the comments expressed amazement at the number of “runners” they saw waiting at the side of the road to jump onto the course.

Yesterday’s front page featured a story about the disqualification of elite runner Tadese Tola over claims he deliberately elbowed another runner to finish fourth in the race. While I haven’t seen the video of his alleged misconduct, the photo in the AJC does show him tangled with runner Boaz Chebolywo near the finish line.

With 55,000 runners, it’s not surprising to me that issues of unsportsmanlike conduct would occur. However, I agree with Bradley and the comments at his column – why run a race if you don’t run the entire race? In the end, you’re just cheating yourself from achieving a true sense of accomplishment.

This week’s route is the course from the Peachtree Road Race. Click here for map.

· Start at the intersection of Peachtree and Lenox
· Follow Peachtree for approximately 5 ½ miles
· Turn left on 10th Street
· Finish at Piedmont Park

Peachtree Road Race: 55,000 Runners hit the Streets of Buckhead & Midtown

That grand old southern event, the Peachtree Road Race, celebrates 40 years of great running. For many local runners, it’s a traditional start to 4th of July festivities. The race starts at Atlanta’s most popular shopping district – at the corner of Lenox and Peachtree Roads.

Elite runners start at 7:30 a.m. while the last group of runners hit the road just before 9:00 a.m. Given our recent burst of summer humidity, it’s gonna feel hot out that at the starting line. But no need to worry since there will be plenty of water stations and bands along the route to keep runners moving.

Not into running the race? Join the thousands of spectators along the course to cheer on the runners. The Atlanta Track Club’s race site lists locations for viewing the event.

Thanks to the end of our multi-year drought, the finish line is back at Piedmont Park. Local runners that I’ve talked to are thrilled to return to the race’s long-established route.

Good luck runners!

Run, Walk, Bark … Help Innovative Program Support Georgia Kids

The Bridge hosts its inaugural Run Walk Bark 5K Race/1K Walk on Sunday, June 28. The event takes place at Brook Run Park in Dunwoody.

For troubled and abused kids in our community, The Bridge provides residential, therapeutic and educational services. Proceeds from the event benefit The Bridge’s Animal Assisted Therapy Program. This is a pretty cool program … dogs are part of a therapy treatment for abused youth. Kids learn coping skills and establish a sense of security and comfort with themselves and with others.

The event includes a 5K race (people only; no dogs) at 7:30 a.m. and a 1K dog walk that starts at 8:30 a.m. Registration is available at Active.com. If you’re not able to participate but want to help, you can make a donation at the event site. Register by June 22 and pay $20. The event fee goes up to $25 after June 23.

This week’s running route is courtesy of the Oakhurst Running Club. It runs along the East Lake Golf Course.

· Start at One Step at a Time
· Head west down East Lake Dr.
· Turn left on Wisteria Way
· Turn right on Rockyford Rd
· Turn left on College Ave
· Turn left on Howard St.
· Turn left on Hosea L. Williams Dr.
· Veer right onto Oakview Rd
· Veer right onto Cottage Grove Rd.
· Turn right on 3rd Ave.
· Turn left on Alston Dr.
· Turn left on Spence Ave.
· Turn right on E. Pharr Rd.
· Turn left on Garland Ave.
· Turn right on S. McDonough St.
· Turn left on W. Hill St.
· End at One Step at a Time

Review of the Garmin Forerunner 405

Last month, I praised REI for its hassle-free return policy that allowed me to exchange my two-year-old deteriorating 305 for the nifty and sleek 405. Well, my excitement about owning the 405 quickly diminished once I started getting to know the device. Here’s my story:

Set-up: Initially, setting up the device seemed fairly easy. But I had a few problems correcting my profile and setting up the training screen. So, I went back to REI for help. After the REI associate spent 30 minutes with the device, he couldn’t figure out how to fix the problems either. Not a good sign. Eventually, I had to erase the data and start over again.

Pace Accuracy: I was really excited on my first run with the 405, but that feeling didn’t last long. Why? The pace reading wasn’t accurate. I ran with the 305 for two years and I had a good sense of my running pace on my routes. On downward hills where I knew I was running a 7:50 to 8:00 minute-mile pace, the display showed a 12:30 pace. During random stretches of my runs, the display reported a slower pace than what I knew I was actually running. I rely on the pace reading in road races to judge my performance, so this issue has been a real concern for me.

Ease of Use: The bevel responds inconsistently. Just trying to get to the training screen for the start of my run has been a challenge. Sometimes it’s easy to find, other times I can’t get it to display. During the Summerfest 5K, the training screen disappeared a few minutes into the race … which meant I could no longer track my running pace.

Also, the wrist band seems oddly over designed. A small metal piece in the rubber loop on the band makes it a bit hard to secure the wrist band in place.

I was hesitant to write this review, not knowing if perhaps my experiences where due to a defective device. But after doing a bit of research, I’ve found other users complain about similar problems with the user interface and device accuracy. To be fair, there are also plenty of reviews from people who simply love the Garmin Forerunner 405. But, I’m not a runner with a lot of patience … especially for a device. I’ve felt so frustrated with my experience that I didn’t even bother to download the software from Garmin to sync the device with the computer. What’s the point if I don’t trust the information it shows me during my runs?

As a busy mom with a full-time job, I want something simple and easy to use. While the Forerunner 305 is a bit clunky, I loved the fact that it was easy to use and the information was accurate. I could push a button instead of scroll through seemingly endless screens of information.

Given the number of positive reviews I found for the Forerunner 405, it is worth checking out if you don’t mind spending the time needed to learn the device. But if you’re looking for something simple, stick with the Forerunner 305. You can find more reviews at Amazon.com and at REI.com.

For me, it looks like I’ll be heading back to REI to exchange the Forerunner 405 for the 305.

Hey Atlanta - It's National Running Day

Today was the inaugural celebration of National Running Day. The mission of this event is to promote the benefits and convenience of running and encourage Americans to adopt the sport as part of a healthy lifestyle. Several running clubs across the country, including the Atlanta Track Club, supported the event. Nearly 100 running events were hosted, starting at midnight and concluding at 9 p.m. I ran tonight with about 20 runners from the Oakhurst Running Club. While the heat and hills left me feeling out of shape, I ended the run motivated to hit the pavement again. So Atlanta, get out and run!