Category Archives: fitness

Tough Treads Trail Series – 5K

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https://www.atlantatrails.com/hiking-trails/cochran-shoals-trails-along-the-chattahoochee/

It was our first event yesterday and everything went swimmingly! We held our 5K at Cochran Shoals, part of the Chattahoochee National Recreation Area. It is a marked 5K course, really flat (remarkably so for Atlanta), with great gravel footing. We started at 8 AM and the parking lot was already crowded. Luckily the trail is really wide all the way throughout and it never felt crowded while running.

It was great seeing how many of our friends decided to show up and spend some time outdoors. Some came out to race, others to test themselves or set PRs, and still others came to enjoy the morning and get some exercise. We had about 14 people show up. It was lovely!

My husband and I decided to make things a bit more interesting. We both set what we figured were realistic goals for the course (both having run here numerous times before) and then I got a time handicap. I started with everyone else and my husband waited several minutes to start. The idea was that if we were both accurate with our estimates, then we would meet at the finish line. It was fun to have someone chasing me and my husband enjoyed having someone to chase. Turns out that my time estimate was better than his because he crushed his estimate by almost a minute and passed me with about 0.1 miles to the finish. I think we will probably try this again for the 10K in a month, but it’ll be a bit harder to get a good estimate because of hilly and less familiar courses. My guess is that it’ll be fun regardless!

While we waited for everyone to finish, I was pleasantly reminded about why I originally decided to organize this endeavor. It was really nice to see friends that I hadn’t seen in months except over a Zoom screen. We stood around chatting in a nice big circle with our masks on, just enjoying each others’ company. At that point it didn’t matter how fast we ran, just being with each other was more than worth the effort of organizing. Looking forward to next time!

Trail Training: Chicopee Woods Trail System

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This past weekend we did our long-ish run (8 mi) in the Chicopee Woods Trail System up in Gainesville, GA. This is part of the Chicopee Woods Nature Preserve, which also contains the Elachee Nature Center and the Chicopee Woods Mountain Bike Trails. There is a $5 daily fee ($50 annual fee) to get into the area and use the trails and dogs are not allowed anymore. There is also a fee if you want to go through the small natural history displays and museum at the Nature Center when it is open. They have a great native reptile and amphibian collection that is great for kiddos.

The hiking trails are well maintained and the scenery runs from lovely forested hills, to creeks, to bottomland, and then to a large lake on the other side of the property from the nature center. There are trails with options of 3 mi and 5 mi loops, and several shorter trails that wind around the nature center. It’s beautiful and if you get there before 10 am you’re not likely to see many folks in the winter time. In the summer, the trails get a bit more crowded and the Nature Center has summer camp programs that bring people to the area.

This is one of the more difficult sets of trails that we have experienced in the greater Atlanta area (minus the hike to the top of Kennesaw Mountain). The trail parking lot starts at a high point and all trails head downhill toward the lake. Some of the trails follow streams and are relatively flat along stretches and then climb up and down switchbacks as it follows the mountain contours. There are several areas with stairs set into the trail to facilitate uphill climbs. We tend not to run this trail very often right after all the leaves drop in the fall because it makes roots hard to see, but in all other seasons it’s easy to avoid tripping.

Highly recommend a trip up here to hike, run, or mountain bike!

Trail Training – Kennesaw Mountain

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Took a trip to Kennesaw Mountain this weekend for our trail running adventure. I would highly recommend this site for anyone interested in trail running or hiking or Civil War history. My husband did a 51-miler here this past summer when his ultra race was cancelled because of the pandemic. It’s still one of his favorite trails, so that’s saying something! There are a total of 17 miles of trails here, divided into three separate sections.

The northern section includes the main parking lot, visitor center, restrooms, and the mountain itself. During the summer there is a tram that will take you to the top of the mountain if you don’t want to walk. The mountain loop has some steep trail headed to the top and some technical trail heading down the backside of the mountain and I haven’t run this section in years.

The middle section looks like one half of a butterfly, with a long straight and wide trail down the middle and then two half loops headed out to the west. The loops are fairly hilly and connect back at a bridge in the middle of the section. It is lovely and picturesque.

The southern section is definitely my favorite and the section that we ran this weekend. It has gentle rolling trails that butt up to the back of neighborhoods and travel through densely forested areas. There are a few bridges over creeks. The Illinois monument can be seen along one section of trail. The trail is well maintained and well traveled. Dogs are allowed, as well as horses and the trail can get crowded on beautiful mornings. Most of the trails are fairly wide, allowing for social distancing during the pandemic.

The only restrooms are at the main visitor center, but there are Krogers pretty close to the middle and southern sections that have well-maintained restrooms. There is a $5 parking fee that can be paid online, or you can purchase an annual pass for $40.

View from the Illinois Monument, Southern section – July 2020
Middle section – July 2020
Middle section loop – July 2020

Tough Treads Trail Series By 7 Wonders

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Vickery Creek, Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. Photo by Miranda Wilson

This pandemic has taken a huge hit on running with the cancellation of almost all in-person race opportunities. We have been missing our running community horribly and so my husband and I decided to organize a trail race series to do with our friends.

The idea is to hold 5 “races” throughout the year in a pyramid of distances – 5k, 10k, half, 10k, 5k. They will be spaced 4-8 weeks apart and will all be at local trails around Atlanta. We will meet in the parking lot at a specified time (with masks on of course), say hi, and then run. There will be a staggered start to limit contact, and people will time themselves. All the races will be self supported to limit contact as well.

We are going to make shirts for everyone, as we’ve been wanting to do for a while and if people complete the series, I have agreed to make medals. If people want to compete we will keep track of times for everyone and may have extra medals for those.

We already have 12 of our friends that want to come out. I’m really excited to see people and have something to train for. I’ll keep you posted!

DexaFit – Body Composition and Performance Metrics

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Every athlete wants to perform better in their respective sport. Sometimes that means having a greater power:weight ratio. Sometimes it means having better aerobic fitness and endurance. Sometimes it means having more muscle mass. And sometimes it just means weighing less so you have less to carry around in your activities. In this case, knowledge is power, and places like DexaFit are there to help provide you with that information.

DexaFit is an organization expanding throughout the U.S. and geared toward athletes that want to know more information about their body composition and performance. This organization, and others like them, can assess a variety of metrics that help athletes perform better, train smarter, and reach peak potential. Just a few of those metrics include:

  • Body Composition: They use DXA scan technology to assess lean muscle mass and body fat percentages. It can identify asymmetries in muscle mass and assess bone mass density. This can be a great tool for preventing injuries because of asymmetries and can help guide future targeted training.
  • VO2 max: They use a traditional treadmill test to identify both aerobic and anaerobic thresholds. This can be a good tool to track progress for endurance athletes, but can (along with additional information) also help identify a heart-rate-specific calorie burn and heart rate training zones.

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  • Resting Metabolic Rate: This is by far the easiest assessment. It only requires breathing into a tube for 15 minutes while at rest. This can give athletes (and really anyone) a good idea of the number of calories the body burns while at rest (i.e., if you were to laze around in bed all day). This metric can be especially helpful in planning nutrition decisions.

As an athlete, the more one knows about their body and how it functions the easier it is to know what changes need to be made and help plan strategies to reach individual goals.

I have been to DexaFit twice and both times have had very positive experiences, learned a lot about my body and how it functions, and have used the information to make goals and plan my training in a smarter way. I would highly recommend paying them or other organizations like them a visit.

Welcome to SEA Fitness

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Welcome to my new endeavor! A fitness blog!

First off, you might be wondering what SEA stands for. Strength, Endurance, and Agility!

You also might be interested to know what prompted this new blogging experience. I am a long term runner, soccer player, triathlete, and ultimate frisbee player and have always been interested in maintaining fitness and training for specific athletic goals. I have finished graduate school and am interested in regaining my pre-graduate school fitness and motivation, with an aim to complete a marathon by the end of 2013.

My husband also plays on top nationally-ranked ultimate frisbee team and is planning on trying out for the U.S. National Team in March. He has asked me to be his “personal trainer” so that he can go into tryouts in top shape.

While I do not have any formal training in exercise science, personal training, or nutrition, I do have a plethora of personal experience and the web at my fingertips. Please do not take anything I say as medical advice. I am just here to share the ravings of a fitness enthusiast.

Thus, I am going to use this blog to do a variety of things:

1. Document the workouts, advice, and training regime I have designed for my husband and the sport of ultimate frisbee.

2. Discuss my own marathon journey.

3. Talk about training, nutrition, motivation, gear, and racing.

4. Discuss the benefits of developing and maintaining fitness.

I hope to be posting once or twice a week and look forward to interacting with the blogosphere!