Hey All- no run today. Was supposed to be 50? Wasnt feeling it I guess. I will put in miles tomorrow. OC - 1200 mile year! Congrats, you'll do it. I am only at 354 miles for this year. 7 months I put in less than 23 miles, so I think it will be great to (?double) my milage next year. My TM is out of commish at the moment. It fell victim to the wife's Christmas gift storage / wrapping. But shes clearing out. I told her I need the room empty if she wants me to put in a new floor. Brilliant!

OldCoyote -Yes, I believe you were running in the dark in July! I work a lot of evening / night shifts. Thats why I end up running few times past 5pm and few times before 11am. Maybe when I retire I'll do early runs.

jmsab - yes. it does look a bit like a ghost. Boston terriers have that as a standard marking, they usually use the term Badge, I think.

NHLA & MelodyLea  ...and everyone else. Thank you for the well wishes with the pup. She is on her transport now. I get to call a phone number for updates all night (I stay up late). We have decided that Santa will drop off the puppy tomorrow to the kids. I liked the idea of a challenge, so hiding a puppy for 6 days would have been that, but this will be better for everyone. I am hoping she is a nice enough size to get some runs in with me. I never would have considered it with my old Boston Terrier. Legs were just too short. Im hoping to be able to train this girl right off the bat.

8 miles 55 min. 35th anniversary.

another slow day on the treadmill, maybe it's time to get used to it.  Were scheduled for 8-12" Wed night into Thursday.  DW hoping for a snow day from school!

Oshcat- thanks for the encouragement.  Your HM is 2 weeks before mine; what training plan are you going to use?  I haven't gotten serious about that yet, just trying to decide between 8 and 12 week  plans that I had seen last fall.  Our 10K and HM times are close, I'd be interested in what you use and how it goes, we could compare notes.  Good luck with the back.

OC- had to laugh at your 50K goal; my goal would be not to die!!   You will more than 'not suck', you will rock it!

Debm- I think you are right about the motivation.  Once I get serious about starting training for the Door County HM I think it will pick back up again.

Be safe this week, all those in the path of the coming storm.

Oc- congrats on 1200 miles this year!! (I set my goal to run 1,000 next year!)

NHLA- happy anniversary!

Dan- ugh that's no fun.  we haven't gotten any snow here yet.  I'm hoping for snow soon. I'd love to take my first run in the snow!

Jerry- way to get out there after an injury! take it slow.

Today marks my 1 year anniversary of running.  My first logged mile was 19:30. So today I wanted to run for 19:30.  I was so close to rounding off 2 miles I just kept going. I finished it in 20:26.  I logged into nike and discovered my first mile was even worse 20:40. So I'm happy to report that I've cut my time in half in a year.  It was such a happy moment for me.  I can't wait to see what I can accomplish over the next year.  I've completed 5 races this year and I already have 6 (2-5k's, 1-7k, 1-10k, a half and full marathon) schedule for the next year plus the goal to log 1000 miles in 2013.  I'm so excited for 2013 and everything that I'll accomplish. 

NHLA:  HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!

Well, running friends, another event finished.

10 miler event re-cap:  It rained quite heavily on Saturday in Phoenix but Sunday morning was a bit cloudy, cool and wet when I arrived at the site.  I thought it was a road course event but it turned out to be a full TRAIL run.  I did not have time to get my trail shoes which I left at the hotel, bummer!!   And, due to some drainage problems which left pretty big muddy deep water spots, the announcer informed us that the 10 miler was shortened to 7.5 miles!  Never ran this trail before but was told there were 3 water only stations so I left my water belt with hammer gel in the car:  "it's only 7.5 miles" I thought. 

Feeling much better than the last 3 days, I changed my strategy to run a faster pace.  Had my garmin, and after 3 pretty good, short inclines, my garmin read almost 7 miles but the start/finish line was not any closer!!  The trail was mostly gravel, some dirt packed areas here and there, mostly flat along a canal.  I was losing energy so I slowed down, decided to just pace the guy in front of me.  We kept passing each other along the course and encouraging each other but I learned from running trail races to keep someone in sight in front of you so not to get lost ........ or end up lost by yourself.  I also did not want to have others pass me who I passed (just pride, haha!).  The guy I was following and I stopped about 2 or 3 times to make sure we were on the right trail.  We knew it was more than 7.5 miles by then but we kept going.  We upped the pace the last 1/4 mile and found out after crossing the finish line that it was 10.1 miles after all

The event benefitted a children's home and I didn't mind the confusion and poorly marked trail. The event was small but energetic in the end.  Runners donated new unwrapped clothing and I bought some raffle tickets.  Ended up winning a nice small flashlight, hot chocolate with mugs, $50 and $25 gift cards!!  All for the registration fee of only $40!!!

oh, my official time:  1:31:41, 2nd in age group, not sure what place in overall in women, maybe 4th, 5th or 6th.

Not bad for a 52 yr old!!

My PR for 10 miler from about 2 yrs ago: 1:22:20.  

Happy with my effort and time!!

Hello All!

I am new to this thread.  I was part of a newbie thread of people who just started running this fall and it was (and still is) a wonderful thread.  Its still going but many of the people on the thread have either moved on or stopped running.  I have not stopped.  I want to keep going and I get alot from these posts/threads on this site so....here's my tale...

I am overweight. In September I was obese.  So I'm making progress.  I have another 25 pounds or so to go and I plan to reach that goal by Spring!  I am 49 years old and I'll be 50 in January.  I live in Ohio - Cleveland to be exact.  Well a suburb of Cleveland.  I am a slow runner but I don't care.  Its not about time for me right now, its about getting out there and doing it.  I think I fell in love with running right away.  I used the C25K app to get started and when I saw that I could actually run without passing out, I was very encouraged.  I spent a small fortune on good shoes and outer wear.  Mostly because I know good shoes are very important but also because the guy that sold them to me was cute! LOL! 

I worked the app diligently, 3 times a week and developed really bad bilateral knee pain.  I tried taping them, I took ibuprofen and I even tried some stretching exercises to no avail.  I went to get x-rays and they were fine.  I found out it was mostly my ligaments and the fact that my poor knees weren't strong enough to support my heavier than normal body weight.  I started using an elliptical and taking cycling classes at the gym on non running days and a really good foam roller every day.  Within a week, the pain was gone and I've been great ever since.  I ran my first 5K on November 18th.  I ran my second 5K on Thanksgiving Day in Detroit and it was an absolute blast!  I ran my third 5K on December 1st with my best time to date.  I haven't run a 5K since and I'm not signed up for one at this point.  There are several in the area on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve but I have to work on those days.  Oh well.  I am running 2 to 3 times a week either outside or at the gym.  We don't have snow yet here but they are claiming we will get 2-3 inches on Friday. They say this all the time and we get nothing about 95% of the time.  I can't wait for my first run in the snow.

So thats my story. I'm thrilled to be making a big change in my health and well being and I feel great.  I think I am addicted!  I am going to work on improving my pace and possibly sign up for a 10K for the spring. 

Another great 4 mile run! It was cold with a strong North wind (in the very low 20s) but I enjoyed feeling good and strong even on the big hills. I'm aiming for 3 days running back to back (although bad weather is coming on Friday) so we shall see.

degregorius That is a nice long run at a great time!!

Old Coyote Glad those legs woke up and stay warm, dry and safe in that big storm!

OshCat Oh oh...hope that back twinge clears up. Easy does it with the snow blower.

JEFF CT Smart man, re: clearing the room and getting your TM back. The pup sounds so wonderful! I've been running with my dog/angel for almost 10 years now. I call her my "Coach"

NHLA Happy 35th!

justrundan Stay warm and safe in that storm and good job on the ol' TM.

JerryRunner78 Welcome back!

chell730 Big congrats on the one year running anniversary!

az2mn Really fantastic race! Sounds pretty tough but fun. **High Fives**

Snerb Yay, another Primal! I've been eating Primal for almost a year and love seeing the inches slip away. I like that I no longer watch the numbers on a scale, (since muscle weighs more than fat). I measure myself with a tape measure...my goal is to dip below 20% body fat. Almost there!

maureen0131 Big warm welcome!! You are in the right place for great support and valuable information. Keep it up, girl!

4 miles 31 min.