Phyllis, I continue to be in awe of you and your accomplishments. You are such an inspiration! I repeat....I wanna be like you when I grow up! Oh wait.....you are still a kid too! I love it!!!! You looked strong coming across that finish line in an awesome time!

Jim, welcome back! Like Kathy (Mimi) said, there are several of orignial thread members still around running and posting.

MaryKay, l love the pics from your color run. Tks for sharing.

Debra, what a great quote!

Dan.....countdown to the big day! You will do awesome! We're all pulling for you.

Kathyruns....welcome! Glad to have you join our group. Sounds like you are doing great. Ck the McMillian running site for their calculator. You can plug in your 5k times and it will give you a comparable 10K time and then spit out suggested training paces for various runs. That site also has good info re tempo runs and why to train at a slower pace than racing pace.

Good running to everyone this weekend. Looks like it should be ideal temps!

Phyllis, add my congratulations to everyone else’s – way to go, half-marathoner!

I’m feeling quite accomplished today as I got out and ran 8.3 miles this morning around sunrise, with considerably fewer rest breaks than I’ve gotten into the habit of taking.  The temp was perfect too, now that our overnight lows are dipping into the 60s.  Since I last logged in I got my doctor to refer me to a physical therapist, and I’ve been going in twice a week for massage, exercise, electric stimulation (ooh baby!) and ice.  Turns out that in addition to my QL problems, my lumbar curvature was almost completely gone – my thought is probably due to some things I was doing to “correct” my posture after the original injury. 

So anyway, I’m feeling better day by day with the occasional backslide.  I’m limiting my BodyCombat classes to every other week, since the muay thai moves seem to aggravate my symptoms even when I take them easy.  I did wind up taking the Bikram Yoga classes – Mary Kay, they make us put towels over our mats so we don’t slip!  Bu I don’t  know if I’ll be continuing; the heat makes it pretty intense, especially now that my body has flipped over into “winter” mode!

I finally wrote up my 5K from way back on Labor Day:  http://runningupthat.wordpress.com/2012/10/14/louis-tewanima-footrace-5k-9212

What does everyone have coming up over the next few weekends?  I’m doing my first Warrior Dash in Las Vegas this Saturday – wear myself out during the day, then dinner & a show, sounds like a vacation to me!

Run safe everyone!

-Nan

Wow Nan! That's an aMazing collection of races!! Past and planned. Arctic???

Just ran a 5k for the second year. Shaved 5+ min of my miserable performance last year but could have done better. Slowed down to run with a friend who I coached this summer. It was her first race in three years and she looked winded. Registered for another in two weeks so I can get that new PR. Next weekend's HM should also be a good time, if nothing major goes wrong. Have been trying to contact Rob but no luck so Rob, if you are reading this, email me your cell # so we can chat or txt?

8.3 on TM in 2 hr to follow McMillan's LSR time for me.

Run strong and fearless out there!

Dan, Good luck on your upcoming marathon.  Looking forward to the report.

Nancy, nice racer report and congrats on AG finish.  Hope you're healing well.

PKar, nice race!  You are a Half Marathoner now!  Hope to see you soon,  maybe Marsh Madness in a couple weeks in Palo Alto?

Sue, You made it!  So, cool.  Loved the report.

Tony, Congrats to you too!  Nice pic.

Marie, good to hear your foot is better.  Hoping the training is going well.  Thanks for the thoughts on the 10K.

MaryK, Pics were funny.  Sorry about your Reds, oops - no, I'm not  Go Giants! (probably just jinxed them)

Ran my 5K this weekend.  My son wasn't feeling that well so decided to drop down from a half to the 5K.  We saw my wife off on her half and then waited.  We weren't willing to move from our sunny spot into the shaded start area and decided to let the wait for everyone to clear out before we started (thank god for chips).  Morning was cool but very sunny and we were shivering as we walked up to the start line and as the end seemed to clear the first turn we took off.  I had a bit of pent up energy and took off a good clip that I kept going for a 1/4 of a mile, at which I felt I settled into my pace.  The course starts out with a right turn and then 3/4 mile straight before twisting thru an industrial area and crossing over the highway. As we're going over the overpass we see the leaders and my son decides to take off.  I hit the turnaround signalling 1/2 way point.  We had passed up most of the people by this point and I'm focusing just on catching the next person in front of me.  This is working well as I making my way through the reverse twists and turns.  As we get back to the long straight away I get passed by younger guy and notice one that I passed trying to catch back up.  That's ok, I'm just focusing on the kids infront now and starting to feel like I'm working.  The one guy that I'd passed drops back and I lose sight of the one that passed me.  We're getting close to the finish and I've been gaining on a couple of 12/13 y/o but when they see the finish they hit the after burners.  I try, but mine don't work (at least not as well).  I finish and my lungs start to burn.  I look at my watch and think it says 23:14.  Son come up to me and says he finished in ~21 and I tell him I got 23:14 and he says closer to 22.  Look back at my watch and it does say 22:14!  New PR for me.  Checked our finishes later we both got 5th in our age groups, he was 11th overall and I finished 25th.  There were 600 finishers in the 5K, so we must have passed close to 550 of them.  Dropped my son back at home so he could get to his class and then headed back to see my wife finish (2nd in age group for the half).  Pretty nice day.

Run strong.

Ray

Sorry for the prolonged absence from the group.  I have not done much running in the last two weeks due to my allergies which make it very hard to breathe after only two or three miles.  I've been doing treadmill hill work at the health club.  The congestion is gradually subsiding, but I have to be sure I have lots of tissues with me this weekend at the Des Moines Marathon.  It will be our second visit with our granddaughter (first was when she was 10 days old), so we'll get new pictures.

Phyllis, let me add my congratulations to the others.  You have done what only an infinitesimally small number of people have done.  Wear that medal proudly.  I want to be like you.

Tony, I'm glad you enjoyed your Chicago experience.  Come back next year.

Nan, good luck at the Warrior Dash.  Get a picture of yourself after you finish so we can see you caked in mud and dirt.

Good luck to all who are racing this weekend.  This is a great time of year to be a runner in the Midwest.

DAN IT ALL ABOUT YOU THIS WEEK. YOUR READY AND RUNNING FOR A REASON.

Be safe and enjoy every minute. Looking forward to your report.

Steve Looking forward to your race report along with an update on the grand baby. ENJOY

Ray That is a great race you had.............

Mkay Don't do anything crazy this weekend. Just run your plan. Can't wait to hear ALL about it.

Nan I have a warrior dash on my to do list for 2013. Need to hear all the details. Good Luck

Debra & Mkay. thanks about the pic. Thats what an old guy looks like after running for 5 hours and five seconds later has a mylar blanket wrapped around him, a medal put on his neck, and a picture taken all before a bottle of water LOL

I must have had a midlife crisis; went to nursing school in my late 40s. Nothing like spending time in a hospital to convince you to really take care of yourself. For my 50th birthday last year did my first Olympic triathlon, and I am running a first ever half marathon in Dec. on my 51st birthday. Am starting to get a little iffy in my left knee.Was doing ok til I set a PR in a 5K last weekend. Have been doing knee strengthening exercises, ice baths after long/hard runs, take glucosamine, keep in good shoes, etc. Any other helpful tips to stay sound ? If I like the half I may want to attempt a full marathon next spring, but I guess it depends on staying free of injury and relatively pain free.