Good luck in Anaheim. I will be in Huntington Beach on the 5th to do my second Surf City Marathon/HM. Had my shoulder operated on 11/7, cannot say I am OK'd to do this but have been running and cycling and as long as I finish, my finish time is ot as important. I know I can do it in 3, I am going for 2.40.00. Good luck to all running in the next few weeks. Kind of crazy that we all started getting e mails again, see y'all on facebook. Hopefully the trolls have been removed from this place.. Run On PENGUINS!!

TMFRob it does take some time to work up to it, especially as we aren't as young as we used to be ha ha.  I started almost 2 years ago and have had a few times when I've had to stop and then start over again because of one thing or another.  A year ago this fall it was a bad case of sciatica that had me barely walking for a about a month and then it was another month before I could start trying to run again.  But slowly and surely if we keep working on it we get there. 

MouseRN love the color!  Great idea.  Good luck at Disney.  It's on my list of places I want to do someday.  Living in Silver City, I have to travel if I want to race at all too.  Las Cruces is 2 hours from me and that's the closest place usually.  Deming, an hour from me, does have an annual Turkey trot and I've done that for 3 years now (the first year I only walked the 2 mile course.  That was what made me want to start running.  Wearing a bib and being timed was a brand new experience for me and triggered something inside that I never knew was there).  Albuquerque is 4 1/2 hours.  There are usually 2 really small races here in my area  year.  One for Memorial Day Weekend and one for Halloween.  I mean about 40 or so people total in these races.  I wanted to train for the Las Cruces Marathon this past December but things came up and then I was going to have to be in Albuquerque for work on Friday, drive back home on Saturday, and go to Las Cruces on Sunday and decided it was just more than I wanted to do at that time so never registered.  Then there was a snowstorm the day before so I was glad I didn't.  But I want to prepare for it for next year.  2 years ago I walked the Shiprock marathon the beginning of May and have wanted to go back to do that one again but run it this time.  I can't don't have as much money to travel to a lot of races right now as I'd like to so I have to pick a few that require staying a day or two etc and then do what's available in Las Cruces because it's only 2 hours away and I can leave early in the morning.  I have a daughter who has been sick and unable to work for about a year that I'm supporting with her 3 kids. 

I was on another board for along time for newbies over 50 and I stopped getting notifications for a long long time and then all of a sudden yesterday they started showing up again.  This morning there were about 10 or 12 e-mail notifications between these two boards. 

Happy running today.

To Mikala and TMFRob and other fellow penguins -- Consider a marathon team relay, where each of the 4 team members runs between 6 and 7 miles. I just did my first team relay in the Baltimore Marathon, and it was a terrific experience. A great step up from a 5K and/or 8K. My team consisted of 3 penguins and an elite runner, who graciously did not mind how long it took the rest of us. For him, it was a training run for a full marathon he was doing a month later.

I will be trying to arrange a few "penguin" relay teams for the next Baltimore Marathon in October. The University of Maryland Children's Heart Program is an official charity in the race, and if a runner signs up to raise money for the program (easy to do through website), his or her registration fee will be nominal, compared to well over $100 otherwise. Please let me know if you're interested. We'll firm up teams in June.   

Hey, it's nice to get the emails again! I've been absent for awhile, but I'm still continuing to run. The last official race I did was the first weekend in December, the Snowflake Shuffle 5K. There was one I planned to do in New Year's Day, but it was about 15 degrees with 40 mph winds, so I settled for running 5K on my treadmill.

I just hit my one-year "runniversary" on 1/14/12, and can't believe how far I've come in a year. Tonight I signed up for my first-ever Half Marathon. If someone had told me a year ago that I'd be doing this, I would have laughed in their faces . I just can't wait for the weather to warm back up since I've learned I really hate to run on the treadmill.

Glad to see so many of my "old friends" here on Penguins.  I'm in the middle of a lazy streak of non-activity, but I've got to get off my butt and get running again.  After much progress, followed by backsliding, I ended 2011 at the same weight that I started it.  BOO!!

Kathy, inspired by your 2011 snopsys, I added up all of my events too, and though I didn't run as much as you, I guess I did. 

In 2011, I completed 19 runs: 8 5Ks, 1 4mi, 1 8K, 4 10K's, 1 15K, 1 10 mi, and 3 HM's, plus 5 triathons: 4 sprints & 1 Olympic distance.

I hope everyone has a great, inspiring year!

Mikala - I haven't run in the rain but I have run nearly 7 miles in a wet snowfall and actually enjoyed it (go figure...native NorCal gal enjoying running in the snow...what's up with that?). If you have trail shoes those might be best to give you some extra traction but not necessary. Wear tech socks...you'll need the wicking to keep your feet as dry/warm as possible. I tried to avoid as many slushy puddles as possible but since I was also running on narrow town streets I did get splashed by cars on occassion...try to run on the sidewalk when possible (as far left from the gutters as possible). I would say you could probably get away with what you normally wear in the same temps, but you might want to consider at least a water resistant tech jacket to help maintain you core temp in you torso region. I don't like my head to be cold so I wore a beanie but it was also in 20° temperatures. You may want a very light pair of gloves if it's cold (again tech material for warmth/dryness)...just something like liners or whatnot just saying that because my hands are always cold. Oh, and if you wear glasses...try to wear contacts if you have them, makes life easier. Oh! And make yourself as visible as possible, bright colors, reflective clothing/belts/etc. Visibility does go down in the rain for drivers and pedestrians alike.

Run safe, run smart, run happy!

Ok. Im a proud penguin who has been very slowly for a while. Ive done a few 5 K's and and a few 5 milers. My average time is about 12 min mile. However, everytime I start training consistantly, my sciatica kicks in. You know, the whole numbness and pain in the leg when sitting and standing. It turns out, I have a few heniated disks and a previously fractured vertabrae according to my last MRI. So.,....I can walk all day long and not have a problam at all. Question is, do I work throught the pain and deal with it an perhaps increase the herniation of the disks just so I can run or do I just power walk and a nice clip and not run at all. I just get so discouraged each time I make progress only to be sidelined again with sciatica. I read a lot of material about working through it and running makes it feel better. But what if running is actually causing the problem by the constant impact? Honsestly Im leaning towards the walking briskily every day thing and just work with what I have.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

OK, kb3cpq, I'm going to put on two different hats here...

First, my nurse hat: When was the last time you had a check up with your doc? Did you mention your concerns at that time? Are you under any kind of treatment for the existing injuries? Physical therapy may be an option to treat the sciatica and learn different treatments/exercises that you can do yourself to help alleviate the discomfort. PT can also evaluate if a type of brace might be able to help alleviate some of the discomfort (I run with an sacroiliac belt for my pelvic misalignment issues). You didn't mention yoru age, current health status (other than above), weight range, etc. all of which could have some factors in your pain. If it's been awhile since you were followed up now may be a good time to have things checked out again before entering into any regular training plan. Pain is really the only way our bodies can tell us that something is wrong...it's a good thing to listen to it. If the problem aggravates the issues with your herniations...what kind of pain might you be looking at in the future?? If a sports med specialist is an option I'd go for it.

Now my athlete hat: We, as athletes, have a tendency to buy into the whole "no pain, no gain" ideology. That's not always a good thing. There's nothing wrong with race walking or even doing a run/walk/run method (which is what I do). I speak from experience of having ended up with stress fractures the first time I tried to start running to my current issues with ITBS/hip pain that I spent 8+ weeks in PT for. Aside from what I stated above, have you had a gait analysis and proper fitting of running shoes from a specialty store? Improper footwear could be an issue. Fairly regular massage and really good stretching (dynamic pre/early run and static post run) can be beneficial. You'll find that some people with sciatica do continue to run and find that things improve but may not ever see that specific distance that they dream of. Some will even say that by continuing to run the sciatica actually decreases. It's all an idividual thing...some things will work for some but not others. Because of my own experiences with run associated pain, I've come to be a firm believer in listening to what my body has to say, but it's your choice. I'm saying keep active. Do what you can, but get things checked out and see what treatment options you have. Don't push yourself to the breaking point where you eventually may break for good. Just my 2 cents worth.