Luck of the Irish

I had the luck of the Irish this past weekend, which included St. Patrick's Day on Sunday.
Saturday morning I ran the St. Patty's Day 5K in Piedmont Park. This race is the former O'Highland's Jig Jog 5K, which I did a few years ago when it was held in Atlanta's Virginia-Highland neighborhood.
This race day was fairly warm. I got to wear the old Jig Jog T-shirt.
This year's race was entirely within Piedmont Park. It wasn't too bad.
Then on Sunday I met my friend Jessica for a long run. Jessica has very nearly convinced me to sign up for the Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon in Nashville, Tenn., next month -- the old Country Music Half Marathon. That will certainly allow me to add Tennessee to my list of states I've run a race in.
We met up on the Greenways trail in Alpharetta and got seven miles in. It was a beautiful morning.

Along the Greenways trail

The trail follows along Big Creek and is very nearly flat. Jessica and I had a great run, and I even found a dime as we crossed over Kimball Bridge Road. Luck of the Irish on St. Patrick's Day!
But I was lucky for another reason.
This was the distance I felt would let me know if I could run a half marathon again. If I could do seven miles and my IT band not give me too much trouble, then I felt I could do the whole thing. I'm hoping to get out to do eight miles this weekend again with Jessica and then will likely sign up next week.
It will be good to do a half marathon again. I honestly believed endurance running was behind me. But maybe not. I'm ready to press my luck.