hey all, been a week since last post and lots to catch up on, but out of town and can't reply to everyone but will do later this week.  most of all want to be sure that all of you in the wake of Sandy are OK and safe.  My parents in Philly still without power after 36 hours but much worse conditions it seems for those in NY/NJ.

coyote:  Happy Belated B-day, brother!  For the next 5 months we will be the same age and then I will pass onto the next AG ahead of you!  Love to "run silently" or quietly as you describe.  Amazing how your body will talk back to you when you focus on it.

melodylea:  glad you are back and enjoying the new kicks!

mkayc:  Hope you are felling better.

debm:  good luck this week with your HM.  You have worked hard and will do well.  Looking forward to RR after.

ogr:  way to be disciplined.  Live to "race" another day.

jmsab:  great TM workout...still don't know how you can stand the TM but seems to work for you!

NHLA:  continued good luck with MIL.  Love to read your run reports.

snerb:  Happy hunting!  Running, and our group, will still be here when you get back!

nrdgirl:  nice 8 miles on the rebound!  And great job on the relay!

justrundan and webpro:  hope you are doing well with marathon recovery.

Thanks to all for your positive thoughts and feedbacks about recent HM's.  Really appreciate all the support.

After a week off, I went out for a leisurely 6 mile, or so, run, on Sunday.  Took a familiar route, but opposite direction, and never looked back.  Found a new trail, ran through a pumpkin festival, all the while watching the sun fade over the Rocky Mountains.  Realized at some point that I was mildly lost, asked for directions from some trail walkers only to run another 1/2 mile in the wrong direction.  Finally got turned around and headed for home as sun was setting, and I was running through open fields (remember my recent coyote encounter).

needless to say, I picked up the pace, got back to major roadways and then had a brutal uphill toward home.  Halfway up, I looked at my watch and found out that I had run over 8 miles already so declared defeat and called DW to pick me up.  Not exactly how I planned it, but was great to be back out running.

Took Monday off, went to gym for first time in two weeks this morning, and hope to run a familiar trail here in Austin tomorrow morning.

Have a great week, and stay fearless!

NRDGirl - Reading your post made me examine my excesses that I had so successfully ignored. Ugh. I've gained 7 lbs since 10/21 - 10 days? Two Asian buffets. Several restaurant dinners. Not a drop of alcohol. Three breakfast bashes. Pancakes, waffles and french toast, oh my! Thank you, I think. Congratulations on your Atlanta Marathon Relay run! You are fast!! and glad you're enjoying your runs.  I've been through Asics, Nike and Brooks. Will look at New Balance and Newtons next. I'm having trouble getting enough room for all five of my toes.

NHLA - 2 runs a day because you were sick? I saw the Flying Nun go by ==> hahaha! may have been Crabcake crazy.

Yeah, the sinus trouble is in my head. It may actually clear up while I'm running because it only bothers me afterwards but the skin is starting to peel off the bottom of my nose so I'm thinking I should start paying attention. That was an excellent explanation of race running! I've done that exact thing but would not know how to say it in words. 13 miles in 1 hr 40 min is too fast to even be on my list of goals. So sorry about MIL. It is sad to have to watch.  60 mph winds? Srsly? I get further running on the ground than in the trees. I have to wait to watch "Getting Old" at home but not fond of the title. One of my mottos: You can only be young once but you can be immature forever.

Mel - glad you're back and enjoying yourself and your new shoes!! Thanks for the well wishes. I may be getting better or it may be too cold for allergens - today.

OC - a big belated Happy Birthday to ya!! Actually, Happy Birthmonth!! It's your last year as a forty-something. Enjoy!! Love your new shoes!! it doesn't make you feminine to enjoy them. You're just wearing them to run, right?

Deb - Great job on the 13.2 miles!!!  You will kill that HM next Sunday!  Hope you haven't had too much storm damage. Relax for the race.  Running is optional.

Dan - Whenever you want to feel good about your times, look at mine. When I run any faster, I feel like my chest is going to burst after about 15 min. so I'm pretty much stuck in this spot. I know it's time to start planning but how do you pick races this far in advance? All the ones that seemed so important when I registered didn't seem as important when the time came and the one I enjoyed the most, the Air Force, was an accident.

jmsab - Ahhahahaha!! Congratulations!! With that time, you probably would have been first in your AG anyway. With the wind and rain and cold, I'm starting to love running on the TM so you'll be able to tease me about it soon.

Ogr44 - Jeesh, 13 mm is a great 10k pace for walking!! A friend had trained for the marathon and after pulling his achilles wouldn't even consider run/walking let alone walking. It's hard to walk fast and takes a long time!

OshCat- Congratulations on the great 5k time, particularly with a hill!! lead legs can mean a lot of different things. don't beat yourself up about it. 

Linus - Sounds like your run was a great success. Getting lost is how we find new places? At least that's my approach, not that I have a lot of choice since I'm constantly getting lost. Haven't been back on a trail since my trail race and am in no hurry which of course probably means I should have done it already.

*ran* Sat., Mon. and Tues. at the gym because I just didn't want to be outside in the cold, wet and wind. In spite of being at very easy paces, the first two runs were a slog. Sat was only 2 mi. and Mon. 4 mi. Then last night I don't know what happened but I felt great, ran faster, farther and my heart rate was lower through the whole run. I'm thinking the hr is the key to knowing when you're having a comeback.

I need a training plan for after the Philly marathon on 11/18. Can't decide whether to train for a full in May (the Pig) or try to run faster HAny suggestions from you mighty masters?

Ran with my son's friend this morning. Same route as last week, with the .75 mile hill at the two-mile mark. We did better today than last week, with great weather. 34:12 for the 4.25 miles.

Marykay..... When I run outdoors and try fartleks, I find myself running at normal pace before I wanted to. When I'm on the TM, I have to run as fast as I set it until it slows down or I manually slow it down. I like the TM for that -- making me work harder or longer.

linus.... Always good to have a backup plan (or ride).

igotwings.... Could have been worse ugly -- GI attack or something like that.

Have great days, runners.

7 miles 62 min. Chilly but no wind.

MaryKay try the Hanson's plan. Lots of tempo & speed-work.

Hi everyone!! Huricane Sandy kicked our behinds and we just now got our power, water, phone and internet back. Three very long days! I'm SO behind in responding to you all, so I'll just have to say...great job and keep at it team. Deb, I know your 1/2 is coming up, right? Best of luck I know you will do well. Back to a normal life tomorrow, but thinking of the families in NJ and NY who are still without power and homes.

Marykay... I think if your body rejected anything, you would somehow find a way to convince it to give it a go.

Melody.... We had no power for 8 days during the Ice Storm of '98. As bad as that was, we still had our house and personal belongings. I felt so helpless just watching the film footage on the news of those houses burning in NJ. I cannot imagine a whole community dealing with what some towns/cities deal with after such powerful storms and events -- hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, etc. -- people, houses, whole neighborhoods just gone.

Ogr.... Right. Change of pace.

Got out of work a little late tonight, so skipped the TM and waited to do some cross training at home after dinner. Haven't done any for a few days. Two sets of core/strength exercises, then an average 20 minutes on the bike -- about 7.5 - 8 miles.

Stay safe, runners.

Hi gang, I've been checking in but haven't had much to say so figured I'd save it all up for one post.

Deb - you're going to kick major butt on your HM, enjoy!

Melody - glad you're back, hope your community isn't too hard hit.  Been praying for everyone in the East, such devastation is hard to wrap your mind around.

Ogr - glad your neck of the woods is ok.  Karate = kicking butt in a different manner.

OC - sounds like a really nice night run.

igotwings - crossing traffic sux but is a necessary evil for those of us who run in urban areas.  I do try to map my runs for quieter side streets that parallel the busier roads to try to minimize those crossings.

For me, I ran 2 nights on the treadmill after work, trying to pick up my pace a little on these shorter runs and so far it's going ok.  On the other nights it's been cross training either on weights or going to a class that i enjoy.  Still working on additional core work to make sure I won't have back problems when I ramp up the run training again for the half next April.

This morning a few co-workers and I were sharing running stories which was a lot of fun, most of my close friends don't run so those conversations are few and far between.

I also issued a challenge to some workout friends in an effort to recruit more runners to my team for the Jingle Bell run (for the Arthritis Foundation) this Dec - for every person who joins the team before 11/18 I will run 1 mile Thanksgiving morning (max of 10 miles).  So far it's an easy run, just myself and one other friend on the team so far.  I'll keep you posted as (hopefully) the mile tally goes up!