DATE: 09/04/2018

WHERE: Flying V

THE PAX: Beater, Hooch

Total # of PAX: 2

QIC: Hooch

INTRO:

YHC has been looking for the opportunity to take the PAX on a tour of a few new routes.  Unfortunately the best way to do so is when our #’s are low enough to have 1 pace group, lest each man be sent out with a map and some directions.  When my man Beater pulled up and no one else did, we made lemonade of the lemons and set off on the Robin Hood Run, a 5K through the old ‘hoods of downtown Woodstock.

WARM-O-RAMA:

The Flying V’s warm-o-rama was true to form, consisting of only some stretching and the setting of our activity trackers (mine being the highly-recommended Garmin VivoActive HR).  Off into the gloom we went.

THE THANG:

YHC could feel the bad kind of pain within the first tenth of a mile, but we maintained a 9:10-9:30 pace for the duration of the 3.16 miles.  From Canyons Burger Co, we end-to-ended Hubbard Road, crossing Towne Lake Pkwy (henceforth TLP) at the Amphitheater entrance. Up the hill and right on East Main St. along the fringes of the amphitheater and the Park at City Center.  Cross Main Street at the intersection of Rope Mill Road and follow Rope Mill’s sidewalk up to our left turn on Rusk Street.  Beater and I were chatting away about actual life matters of too much importance to break in a little history lesson on the Rusk family, which I’ll save for this point in the run at some point in the future.  Heading west down Rusk Street takes you into the ‘hood.  No, not the kind portrayed in gangsta rap videos.  And not just any neighbor”hood”.  This is Robin “Hood” territory.  The four sides of a rectangular “loop” at the turn-around point here are, in order of counter-clockwise encounter, Robin Hood Drive, Nottingham Drive, Sherwood Drive, and Little John Lane.  Then back to one little portion of Robin Hood Drive, before hitting the return route back up Rusk Street.

We retraced our steps back through town, down to the amphitheater entrance, and returned up Hubbard Road to the J. Christopher’s corner.  The last 200 yards is a challenging uphill that has now twice burned my legs and lungs right up next to the point of splashing fine merlot, as I give it all I got to finish strong.  Great work out there, Beater.

Some stats from the run: Average Pace: 9:17/mi.  Average Speed: 6.5 mph.  Average Heartrate (Hooch): 153 bpm. Average Cadence: 155 spm.  101 feet elevation change for an overall 266 feet descending and 259 feet ascending.  +/- 320 calories burned.  Total Distance was a near-perfect 5K at 3.16 miles.

CIRCLE OF TRUST:

Although content and blessed in many ways, Beater and I are praying for one another with regard to career and family.  We lifted up our brother Kiffin and his grieving family, as well as others.

Naked-Man Moleskin:

Beater is just a good dude.  Happy to run in the front or the back pace group, perfectly able to push himself and kill it, and perfectly willing to hang back with new runners or those with leg injuries.  Also seems to be a husband and father driven by the love and truth of the Lord Jesus.  Blessed to be getting to know him this year.  Side note: his M and I have known each other since attending Davis Elementary in east Cobb County in the early 1990’s!

After this tour, now there are TWO of us who could lead a pace group through the Robin Hood Run.

Whether steep or gradual, the inclines and declines of the Robin Hood Run are much more difficult on foot than they appeared to have been on several scouting trips behind the wheel.

And finally, it was after this run that I realized my knee/shin is not progressing like I hoped.  Spiked some MAJOR pain after the run, which lasted well into the evening.  Seems I’ll have to find other ways to stay connected to my F3 bros for at least a couple weeks. PT says no running, no boot camps, and no 0.0’s until further notice.