Hit the TM last night before bed and again tonight after work. 5 milers. Last night 37:20 with no incline (manual said to break in the TM with little or no incline for the first 20 hours). Tonight, set incline at .5%, and ran a 36:09 5 miles. Really felt great in the second half, cranking it up to 8.7 and 8.9 on the final mile.

DebM.... Congrats on your Half!!!! Sounds great, complete with llamas.        Best sign I saw was at the Maine Marathon this fall. A kid was holding one up that said "Chafe Today, Brag Forever."

MaryK.... Great work on your 5k!!! Not sure what you meant by lungs on fire, but if I'm correct reading your PRs, you knocked 1:19 off your previous best!!! Maybe that has something to do with it.

Coyote.... Those are some fast little buggers there.

Francessmom..... I have some knee pain occasionally behind my right knee. I take a heating pad (we like the re-heatable, microwaveable cloth ones) and lay it under my knee when I sit in the recliner, or use it under my knee when I go to bed. I feel a lot better when I get up.

JustrunDan..... 6 miles is a pretty good first run back. Listen to that teenage body of yours.

Keep it up, runners!!

Congratulations, Deb!!! 2:35:33 on hills? Awesome time!! Yummy chicken soup AND bling? You definitely picked a great race!!  You are a half marathoner. Enjoy!!

JM, lungs on fire? At first I thought it was a good thing bc I had run so fast but I spent the rest of the day hurting and coughing so I guess it meant breathing cold air burns my chest. IDK whether its illness or allergies or asthma. I'm better today, just short of breath, but tempted to get antibiotics from doc. Anyway, staying in tonight. What do you do on the TM to keep from getting bored?

Bright light in a dark time.

http://newmarathon.tumblr.com/

and more pix:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/samrosen/this-is-what-thousands-of-marathon-runners-look-li-7xce

Gosh, I've missed so much in just a few days. I did get out in the cold and ran a few decent 4 mile runs. I can certainly tell that the cold affects my run. I warm up slowly and sometimes my muscles just don't want to co-operate. But, I loved it

MaryK Great job, girl! You never cease to amaze me. I used to get "Seasonal Bronchitis" from running in the cold until I learned that by keeping my face and moth covered (I use a wool balaclava) those issues are gone. Just a thought. Oh, I was diagnosed with mild asthma during that time as well.

Ogr44 Good to hear that you fared well during Sandy and nice to work in some cross training.

jmsab23 I agree regarding the heart wrenching losses for some. Very hard to see. Good job cross training and enjoy that new treadmill!

OshCat Love your Jingle Bell challenge. Good for you!

Old Coyote Funny story about your race number and welcome home to your beloved trails! Very cool, re: the brother sister team of speed demons!

dilljeffreyyahoo Welcome! You'll love it here. I run in the snow here in Mass. I find that as long as the road is plowed it's not a problem. Ice is a different story though. I use YakTrax for ice.

NHLA Thanks and enjoy those new kicks!

justrundan Being patient with yourself is wise.

Francessmom It sounds like you are on the right track with healing up your knee.

Debm2011 SO proud of you!!! That is an outstanding time too. Really, good for you, girl!

God Lord, I'll never catch up on all these posts. Great job, everybody. Is that acceptable? LOL

I haven't run since last week. I went to Savannah this weekend to cheer on friends running the RNR half and full marathon. I had never been to Savannah, but have wanted to go for years. It's such a cute town. This was my first time around an RNR race and from everything I observed, they did a great job. They had 24 start corrals though, which seemed a bit much to me and their medal ribbons were just plain. Considering how expensive their races are, I expected a bit more, but it's not like I ran the race. lol It was weird to be at a big race as a spectator, but I loved cheering on my friends, so many of whom were running their first full marathon. It was such a beautiful weekend.

So, I just registered for the Bermuda challenge, which will be in Jan. I'll run 1 mile on Fri, a 10k Sat and a full on Sunday. Yikes! It sounds quite challenging though, so I'm looking forward to it. My next race will be the Atlanta Thanksgiving Day Half Marathon. Looking forward to that as well.

I'll be back to read your posts and hopefully post about ME actually running. haha Until then, run happy, run strong.

Wow. Lots of posts!

Dan - nice 6 miler. NHLA - I may have the time to put in those kind of miles. See if I can. DebM - Great race! - Tony - I couldn't rest that long, maybe I should have. jmsab - Grats on the TM purchase.  oshcat - I practiced fueling seriously this summer, and advise eating as much as you can on long runs. MelodyLea - Fall is about to turn cold here, too. Ogr44 - It's good to know your body's best times. NRDGirl - good to hear from you.

Linuscatch - I don't know about the TT. I'll see how my legs are feeling. My 5K PR is at Wash Park; it's a fast course and I might try to PR again. Meanwhile I'm running Saturday at Hildebrand Ranch Park in Deer Creek Canyon at the Colorado Masters monthly race. It's a 7 mile trail race. Rocky Mountain Road Runners has a Wash Park 4.5 miler on December 2nd. Getting back into club racing now that I don't have every run planned 18 weeks in advance

4 miles at 5:30 am, 38 degrees. Half moon was not enough to illuminate the trail, glad I have a headlamp! Warmup, 2 miles at 8:20-8:30, then cooldown.

At the thrift store the other day I was looking for a light jacket. Didn't find one, but found a pair of NB running pants, never worn, 8 bucks. Score!

Run free!

Speaking of voting, this morning I told my husband, "I'm going to go run and vote!" I meant literally. Grabbed my running shoes and my sample ballot and ran out the door. The polling place is barely over 1/2 mile from home, so it's not too far to run with a booklet in one hand. Then after I voted, I found a recycling bin so I didn't have to carry it the rest of the run.

I don't have time to catch up on all the posts, but great job to those who completed races, PR'd, etc. I don't know if I'll be able to PR on the Thanksgiving Turkey Trot, but I signed up for the 5K this year to run with my hubby (he won't do a 10K).

Never know what time workday will end, so I voted absentee a couple weeks ago. Glad I did. When I drove home past the Town Hall tonight, it was PACKED.

Did some core work last night, and then some speed work tonight. Total tonight with 2 1/2 mile warmup and 1 mile cooldown was 6.6 miles, 55:37.

NRDGirl.... Bermuda Challenge: so much for tapering before the marathon. Sounds like a combination of the Bermuda Triangle and an Ironman Challenge.

Francessmom.... You always run into some wind, because you are displacing the air in front of you as you run. So, a light headwind breeze is magnified into a stiff wind. On the other hand, wind at your back doesn't help you in a comparable way when you are displacing the air directly in front of you, as your body is blocking that air. However, a tailwind definitely does help.

Linus.... Glad you got to run with your son, even if he couldn't keep up with the patriarch.

Ogr44..... Wow!!! Great time on the 10k, beating previous best by 11 min.!!!

Marykay... Boredom on TM: I use my MP3s, or play the CD player, mute the TV and watch news/sports, etc. to kill time on the TM. Also, I'm a math/numbers nut, so I watch the TM screen and try to figure out what the time will be on my next lap, or mile mark, etc.

NHLA.... 2 1/2 mile hill ends at cemetery. You got that right!!!!! That's where I'd end up.

Whoever you voted for, here's hoping whoever wins does well for you and for all of us.

And for those who lost while running for their office, they should have just asked us how to run!