Chattanooga, TN

I headed to Chattanooga on Monday for our quarterly KBE team meeting. The trip is about four hours, traveling over the mountains or through Atlanta. Of course traveling through Atlanta is not as pretty and can become much longer depending upon traffic. I generally opt for the mountain pass and with a beautiful day it was a no brainer.

The drive is beautiful, especially once you get past Seneca and Westminister. You cross the Chattooga River and are suddenly in Georgia. The town of Clayton is next, then past two beautiful lakes (Lake Burton and Lake Chatuge). The Appalachian Trail crosses between these two mountain lakes. The scenic drive continues as you spend about 30 minutes driving along the rugged Ocoee River. You eventually get off the back roads and on the I-75 near Cleveland, TN.

I met my friend and teammate Prince at Eagle Bluff Golf Course. We had never played the course before and will definitely go back. Almost nobody on the course, fantastic views and some challenging holes and only $30 fees including cart!

We headed to dinner after our round, settling on Carrabba's, before heading to the hotel for the night. I was pleasantly surprised to see my beloved St. Louis Cardinals taking on the New York Mets on ESPN. A solid Cards victory made this one sweet day!

Tuesday morning I woke at 6:30, dressed and headed over to Camp Jordan Park for a run. The park is about 10 miles outside of Chattanooga. There is a gravel 2 mile loop around the park and a side trail that travels along a levee for an unknown distance. The temp was low 60's and I decided 6 miles sounded good. I started with the 2 mile loop, reversed directions until I took the spur, crossing the river on a paved pathway through the woods. You cross under I-75 and then run across what I believe is a levee. I stayed on the levee for about a mile, turned around and headed back and then eventually finished up the remaining portion of the loop. A nice 6 mile run in just over an hour and my longest run since the Vermont Marathon 5 weeks ago.

Back to the hotel, breakfast, showered and ready for the meeting. The two day meeting was cut back to one day, so about 4:00 I'm back on the road to South Carolina. The river, lakes and mountains were absolutely amazing in the late afternoon sunshine. Four hours in the car each way also gave me plenty of time to begin catching up on my podcasts.

I met Gerri for a nice dinner at Copper River Grill and the came home and relaxed. Something I'm looking forward to during the rest of this holiday week.