I agree - listen to Mary Kay and Mike!  Good advice.

I just wish I could find more time in the week.  My biggest problem is running out of time - no pun intended.  I can't wait until we get more morning daylight and then I can alternate morning and evening runs during the week with my long run on Sundays and try to consistently get 4 runs in a week. 

Monday was an easy 5 miles (can you believe 5 miles can be easy?), Weds was 2.25 as I didn't get home from work until at least 6:00 and I still had to cook dinner and get right to my night job as homework monitor.  Tonight was 3 miles in the drizzle.  I'm experimenting with compression socks to see if they help my poor tight calves. 

10k is just a week away . . . .

Run strong my friends

Deb, you are so fierce, running in rain and headwinds! I am so impressed with your progress!! It makes my TM evenings look wimpy but that's just fine. You go! I run in compression socks and I don't know if they help. Had a calf pull before the race and still have it but it could have been worse so they may have helped. Saw a lot of folks wearing them so thinking we will find out soon enough.

Kathy, we were wondering about milage increases, also. You should be ok if your additional distance doesn't exceed 10% more each week; so if you are running 3 mi. 3x a wk, you are running 9 mi. a wk and should be able to increase 1 mile a week safely by either adding one mile to one run or increasing two by 0.5 mi or adding a little to all three. I used to plan to split it between two runs but when I was out and felt strong, I just pushed for an extra mile and then did that every week until I had enough mileage (around 12 mi.) to add a fourth run. I have both the B210k and HH HM apps. I can copy the schedules for you if you want. You can probably Goggle them, also. Have fun with it! Sounds like you are ready for a little more.

Well race has come and gone and I finished. Slowly. I struggled with breathing and my HR showed it. Going to focus on conditioning or endurance, whichever it is that teaches your body to use O2 more efficiently. TIRED of being so slow and afraid to push HR too high. Wish I knew what too high was. Posted a race report on Taking the leap- Training for Spring 1/2 or full?  Stumbled on a great album while grabbing some tunes so I'll be putting together a new playlist while watching Bball this afternoon. Poor house; it's owner is so neglectful. So tunes will mostly be hard rock. I've enjoyed getting lost in guitar riffs. If anyone is interested, let me know.

Run strong and have fun!!

Morning daylight will be back soon and then we can get more done - I hope.

Kathy - don't be afraid to bump up your mileage within the 10% rule.  If it feels good, do it! 

Thanks Mary Kay!  I have to admit, I had ordered the compression socks from Running Warehouse (fyi I was satisfied with their service and will buy from them again and no I don't work there lol).  I kept wondering if it was crazy to be that excited about socks?  So when they arrived on Friday and it started raining after work I didn't care .  I had been planning on trying them out Fri night and a little rain/drizzle was not going to get in my way! 

Good job on your race MaryKay!

Miles, you are right.  it's all about how you feel.  I run by perceived effort as well and some days I can run faster at the same effort as others. 

Today I was aiming for 7  miles but stopped at 6.75.  That's the point I ended up back at  the foot of my street and it was getting late for church so I decided to cut it a little short.  The good thing is I ran the whole 6.75 miles with nary a walk break.  The weather was great clear and upper 40s -  I could have been in shorts.  Then we went for a 1.5 hour hike with the dog this afternoon - 75 degrees and oh so summerlike.  I even grilled a steak for dinner.

Run strong my friends!

Hi guys...

  Sorry, it has been a hectic week.  I was unable to run this weekend due to sickness running through my daughters.  My oldest was out for the count Friday - Sunday so I did what I could, but was unable to make it to class on Friday.  Saturday and Sunday was in a flux.

  However, today - much better.  I made it to class - this lady actually includes sprints in her aerobic.  Since the class consists of about 20-25 women and myself (sometimes an older guy is there as well) and most of them are a little overweight, I feel like I am flying around the gym.  There are 2 that push me some, but for the most part it is against myself.  The final sprint down and back in the gym I put it all out there

  Tomorrow, I hope to get a full run outside.  It is absolutely perfect running weather.

Mary Kay - I noticed your comment on the Moto.  I use an IPod Touch just for running and the tunes so I still "cling" to my Forerunner.  As for music, I personally listen to Third Day.  Love the words and they have some great tunes to get lost in while running.  The real test will be when I do the 1/2 and Full in the fall.  I was using an inferior MP3 Player and it usually died with an hr left to run - just when I needed it most!  Hopefully this will be better (or, I should just run faster )

Anyway, I love reading up on the race reports - I know they should be coming up as people get closer to their races

I do love Bondi Bands but I probably have enough for now - or at least after spending $47 on compression socks (I did what?!!) and buying a new printer when mine died I should probably tone down my spending.  I think they run those promo codes a lot as I got those last summer too. 

Runningn soooo mental.  I totally get that.  Good job putting yourself in your place. 

There are several men in my water aerobics class - in the minority but startingn to catch up I must say.  Mary Kay's right:  "Kudos to you Eric for sticking with aerobics despite the overwhelming female presence! "

I was explaining some of my running philosophies to my son.  I told him my goal for my 10k was to have fun and finish in the upright position - and that I was really only running against myself.  His answer to that:  "well, then you always come in first."  I like that!   Kids come up with the best stuff.

Mary Kay have you had the shortness of breath issues checked with your doctor?  couldn't hurt. 

Well, my half-marathon Sunday didn't go exactly as planned.  It started out fine, the weather was perfect and I felt pretty good.  I knew that I needed to run 9:10 miles in order to make 2 hours and I was so confident that I decide to actually target 8:50 and try to beat my target by a wide margin.  Unfortunately, I was a bit too excited and actually started out even faster.  I did the first mile in 8:28 and realized I was screwing up.  I managed to drop my pace down to my target range and was clicking along comfortably, running 8:42, 8:54, 8:54, 8:51 and 8:54 for the next several miles.  I hit the halfway point at 57:31 and felt really confident about hitting my two hour target.  I was having a flare up of my recurring knee problem, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle -- just sort of a dull ache.  I took stock of how I was feeling and decided to back down my pace just a bit.  I did 9:05, 9:02 and 9:04 for my next three miles.  Somewhere past the 9 mile marker, there was a water stop with open porta-potties.  I had consumed far too much coffee in the morning and figured that since there was no line and I was well ahead of pace, I would go ahead and stop.  I figured that it could go really badly if I really need to stop later and there were lines.

This turned out to be a mistake.  Standing still for a few minutes tightened up my muscles and when I stepped down the small step to the ground, I felt something bad happen to my knee.  It was a very sharp intense pain that I hadn't ever felt before.  When I got to the road and tried to run again, my knee would scarely bend and the pain when my foot hit was more than I could handle.  I limped along for a while, hoping it would improve.  I tried again to run a few minutes later, but still was unable to stand it.  I was starting to panic a bit.  Finally right near the 10 mile marker, the 2 hour pace group passed me.  This caused an instant reaction and I decided I was going to run with them or die trying.  It really hurt and I had a very hard time getting back into a "normal" running stride.  I eventually did manage to run and although it really hurt, it wasn't quite as bad once I got going as the first few steps were.  The group pulled away a bit while I was trying to get started, but I managed to catch up to them.  I held on pretty well to the group and hit the 11 mile marker in 9:15.  I was experimenting and discovered that if I ran all the way on the right side of the road where the road was banked the most steeply and kept my good leg uphill, it didn't hurt nearly as much.  Unfortunately, the pain was making me run funny.  I was kind of hopping and I could feel that my hips were rocking a lot and my shadow was bouncing up and down in an exaggerated fashion.  I was struggling to hold on to the pace group.  They would pull ahead of me and I would grit my teeth and push really hard and catch back up to them, over and over.  I made it with the group to the 13 mile marker (9:09) but I was nearly exhausted.  They pulled ahead of me again right after the mile marker and although I attempted to bear down and reel them in again, my body wouldn't obey.  The gap continued to widen and I just wasn't able to do anything about it.

To make matters worse, we had been herded over to the left side of the road and my bad leg was now on the uphill side of the steeply cambered road and I just felt like I was being stabbed in the knee with each step.  Once the pace group dropped me, I couldn't figure out why I was forcing myself to run and the combination of dissapointment, pain and weariness took over and I decided to walk again.  Well, technically, I guess I really decided to limp.  I must have looked pretty bad, because two different race people asked me if I needed help, but I told them I was going to make it.  I ended up hobbling over the line in 2:09, which not only failed to meet my 2 hour goal, but was actually 4 minutes slower than my time in November, even though I KNOW I'm in much better shape now (well, except for the crappy knee).

On the plus side, my lovely wife was also running this race for her first ever half.  I managed to get back to the finish line and see her come in.  She did it in 2:49, which was MUCH faster than she expected -- so my dissapointment with my result was tempered with pride in hers.

\ I love that confidence MaryKay "At this point, I know I'll complete the HM"

Mike - sorry to hear about your knee.  Way to perserver, finish and celebrate with your wife.  I hope a couple of days RICE will solve the problem. 

I am officially back into my training for my first half.  Last time I made it to week 5.  Hopefully I came make it to week 12 and show up healthy at the finish line. I'm in the "easy" portion of the training with my long run at 5 miles this weekend/    Looking forward to tackling those longer runs and breaking down those mental barriers.

Stephanie

Hello,

I know I have sporadically posted, but I feel I know everyone, and have many of the same struggles.

Deb, I also lost most of my weght before starting C2K5, and have been unable to lose that last 5-10 pounds since.  I feel I eat right (W W) 80+ percent of the time, recentally I have started asking myself "Whats wrong with this weight"? I look good, some people actually call me skinny as in "skinny *itch, (a term if affection I am sure), but most importantly I feel good.  So I think I am going to try to resist the #'s on the scale, and use the scale as a tool, to stay where I am. If I can eat decentally enough most of the time, and the other part of the time feel free to go out with my family and have that occasional margarita, or dessert, that is just going to be how I live my life.

I am also slowly coming to the realization that this half tomorrow might not be the peice of cake I thought.  When you are running in a unfamilair place, they have obstacles you are not prepared for.  Now my goal is to finish, I am not worrying about the time, I wanted to finish in 2:30, but now I am asking my daughter, if the have a 3 hr cut off.  I have flown here, I had to be very careful what I packed in  my carry on.  I brough my running shoes, a pair of sandles, and I wore my boots.  The sandles have made my toe raw, and the bottom of my foot sore, I don't want to put the extra miles of my running shoes, and boots with capri's ewwwh,  So I will put a bandaid on my toe, and put the extra miles on my shoes, and I will finish this race!!

Good luck to everyone, all those dealing with injurys, I will be mostly reading, rarely posting, and running.......