Archive for the ‘Matthew Borenstein’ Category

The AJC Peachtree Road Race is approaching, and you need nice places to train. There’s no better place to start than with Atlanta’s PATHs, a trail system that travels throughout metro Atlanta.  Over the next few weeks leading up to July 4, we take a look at the miles of paved paths that form the PATH trail system and tell you what you need to know about using them to get ready. For more information on the PATH Foundation and to check out all the PATH trails in metro Atlanta, visit pathfoundation.org.

Chastain Park PATH

Location: Chastain Park near Buckhead (MAP)

Parking: Chastain Park red lot on Powers Ferry Road near the amphitheater. A large map of the trails is at the parking lot entrance.

About the PATH: Two 3.1 mile mostly concrete loops with some of the trail covering an asphalt side street. The two big loops are mostly the same, with a slight diversion plus there is a 1.6 mile loop that shares portions of both longer loops.

Chastain Park Path (Path …

Continue reading Atlanta’s PATHs: Chastain Park »

I had just moved back to Atlanta last year and needed a new pair of running shoes. My gold-accented New Balance 769s were done. After going through the whole process, I was down to three options.

I used to only wear gold on my feet.

One pair – the Adidas Glides – was bright neon green. The salesperson and I joked about the color, but honestly, I didn’t quite think I was ready to pull those off. I wound up liking the New Balance 890s better, and they only came with a touch of bright green around the edges.

They seemed a lot brighter when I was actually wearing them.

A friend of mine went to get new running shoes and after picking a style, ordered a normal-colored pair instead of taking home the crazy color combo the store stocked.

I must ask. What is up with shoe colors these days?

Newton just about only makes brightly colored shoes. New Balance comes out with a multi-colored version of a lot of models. People buy them (and wear them in public). Maybe you all can help me …

Continue reading These colors do run »

If I could, I would drink the entire half-gallon of chocolate milk after a run. Instead, I stick with a school lunch-sized carton of 2% chocolate milk. (Staff)

You can chug Gatorade G3, scarf down PowerBars or choose any of a number of specialized recovery products following your AJC Peachtree Road Race training runs and the race itself.

Or you can drink chocolate milk.

That’s what I do.

What’s not to like about it? One of the greatest non-alcoholic drinks in the world – up there with Milo’s sweet tea, Coke and quality root beer – provides health benefits that are perfect post run. Sign me up.

Side note: This will be my last blog about drinks for a while as I know Yvonne wrote about water a few weeks ago.

I read about chocolate milk as a post-run drink a while ago, and thought it sounded interesting. The article mentioned that chocolate milk had a good blend of proteins, carbohydrates, sodium and calories to help the body post-run. Every now and then, I would …

Continue reading Chocolate milk does a runner’s body good »

The final 1.5 miles of training have been completed. With one final lap around the lake at Murphy Candler Park this morning, I’m as trained as I’ll be for this year’s AJC Peachtree Road Race. All that’s between me and the race is a weekend of work, rest and a solid weekend of sports on TV (Wimbledon finals, Tour de France start, NASCAR race at Daytona, Braves, etc.). No more running until 7:45 a.m. Monday morning. What about for you out there? What are the weekend plans (expo, anyone) and how are you feeling a little more than 48 hours from the start – less than 48 hours for those running the race overseas?

To get you ready, there is plenty of stuff online here at ajc.com and over at the track club’s website plus there is the expo Saturday and Sunday at AmericasMart in downtown. One thing about the expo: for those that believe they were placed in the wrong start wave, there will be a Race Solutions area with Peachtree staffers that may be able to help. Take your …

Continue reading The AJC Peachtree Road Race is almost here »

I won't be the winner, but the finish is still my favorite part of the AJC Peachtree Road Race. (Photo: Curtis Compton, ccompton@ajc.com)

The question seemed simple. What’s your favorite part of the race?

Unlike most AJC Peachtree Road Race veterans, I was stumped. I threw together some lame answer then started to think (something I clearly don’t do enough of when writing for this blog). For a future topic, I was thinking what was my favorite part of the course. Then I got back to thinking about what I liked best about the race. Turns out, they are the same.

Let’s re-ask the question: What’s your favorite part of the race?

The finish (except for the year the race finished at the civic center). It’s always nice to make the turn onto 10th Street and see the finish-line banner. With six miles complete, you realize that you’re almost done. And more times than not, I am able to pass just a few people during that stretch. But more than both of those, there is nothing …

Continue reading Best part of the AJC Peachtree? The finish »

Like a lot of our blog readers out there (judging from the comments), my fellow blogger Yvonne is an AJC Peachtree Road Race rookie. I’ve run the race a few times – somewhere around 10 – so I will attempt to answer some of the questions she had. From the comments, I know there are a lot of people running for the first time. Make sure you enjoy the run. I hope this helps and anyone else that has questions (or answers), please pass them along.

–How crowded is it — really? Does it make you want to turn right around and go home?

I’ve never turned around and gone home. But it’s certainly a lot of people, something I’ve found to be commonplace at a lot of runs in Atlanta. Spending the past three years in Jackson, Tenn., I ran in races with no more than 100 people and was just about guaranteed to finish in the top three in my age group. That’s not the case here.

Be prepared to wait in long porta-potty lines pre-race or to make your own potty. For the first half-mile or …

Continue reading First AJC Peachtree? Your questions are answered »

Now that you're done, what do you eat? (AJC file photo)

All those calories burned running a race; they don’t stay gone for very long. After running a race, especially if I run well, I like to enjoy a nice breakfast. My favorite two options are Chick-fil-A (most days I am not up early enough for a chicken biscuit) or Waffle House, my vote for second-best AJC Peachtree Road Race sponsor following my employer.

After running a 5K on Thursday (388 Calories burned according to my watch), I went straight for a chicken biscuit combo. As always, it was good. Looking at the Chick-fil-A website, the biscuit, hash browns and coffee contained almost double the Calories I burned running (740). At least I woke up early and made the 7 a.m. race, right? That has to be worth something, even if I’m not taking full advantage of the health benefits.

My all-time most memorable post-race meal followed my final high school cross country race. Imagine being at a Waffle House after running a hard …

Continue reading Dash and dine – what to eat after the race »

Borrowed from my uncle – the running patriarch of the family – I do 10 pushups before every race. I know from the stares I sometimes get that my pre-race tradition is a little bit different and personally know it’s not that exciting. It’s not even as good as his pre-race routine which also includes situps and some other exercises.

How about some more of my racing traditions, not that they’re any goo?

Wrongly I know, I always try to start near the front of a race, another tradition borrowed from my uncle. And I always wear the race shirt after the same day after finishing the race (hope my boss doesn’t mine me wearing it to the office tomorrow). I always try to thank the race volunteers and police, and give fives to the little kids along the side of the road. Maybe I’ll give a few “Go Dogs” for some Tech fans I see. Not too many other running traditions for me that I can think of (unless beating my brother counts). Come to think of it, finishing ahead of parts of …

Continue reading AJC Peachtree traditions (hopefully you’ve got some good ones) »

Let’s hear about that run in which nothing, and I mean nothing went right.

Here’s my most recent terrible run, occurring today. I go out on the two-mile loop around a lake at a park near my house. Nothing bad about that; I’ve done it several times over the past few weeks with no issues. Trust me, there were issues today.

After not being able to find my way to finish the trail (there are multiple branches and I somehow kept getting stuck on a small circuit and unable to make it through to continue around the lake), I realize my car key has fallen out of my pocket. At this point, I was already headed back the way I came since I can’t make it around, even though I have several times before. This is a first for me, and I know this isn’t good. I start backtracking along the trail, walking and looking for my key. After walking probably about a mile, I am back at my car with no key. I head back out, trying to make it back as far as I went before turning around (I had already turned …

Continue reading A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Run »

I was there. Interning in Denver in 2006, I missed the AJC Peachtree but got my holiday 10K fix running the Memorial Day BolderBoulder race. (Flickr photo by: scubadive67)

Like any good sports franchise or college team, the AJC Peachtree Road Race has a rival. But it’s not Yankee-Red Sox or Alabama-Auburn ugly between the Peachtree and the BolderBoulder. Instead the Peachtree and the other huge, holiday 10K complete with qualifying times, staring corrals, costumed patrons, beer along the side of the road, and oh yes, a whole lot of runners appear to get along. In the past, Peachtree race director Tracey Russell has headed to Boulder to observe the race, and the two big events share ideas. But there are still bragging rights on the line.

Almost 55,000 people took part in the BolderBoulder on Memorial Day including 53 listing a Georgia city as a hometown as that race continues to grow. The Peachtree will have 60,000 or so this year after the field was increased by 5,000. Was …

Continue reading The AJC Peachtree’s growing rival race »