I saw the movie with some of my running friends. Two grandmas in their 50's and a 45 year old mother of 11 and me. (32) I thought it was quite fitting that all of us are in different stages of life and yet we are bonded by a simple thing called running. We had to drive to the next town over to find a screening and I thought it was amazing. All the old footage was fun to see and I wish I was "too lazy to stretch because of running 140 miles a week"

I ran an easy but hilly 7.5 miles and then did some lower body exercises just using my exercise ball and my weight for resistance. 15 degrees when I left, 5 when I got home. funny little twinge on the inside of left arch. left heel a bit tight too.

I need to be more proactive and preventionary. I find that I only stretch well when I'm hurting. Last winter I had plantar faciitis for several months but once I started icing after runs, massaging and stretching more it seemed to alleviate the symptoms. I wonder if I need just a teeny bit more arch support on that foot. Do you think that would help or would it create more stress for that fibrous tissue?

The closest store like that is 4 hours away. So far, I think, I've done pretty well finding my own shoes. No real problems. When the problem started I had jumped from no more than 35 miles a week to almost 60. (My brother signed me up for the portland full and bought me a plane ticket, so I only had five weeks to train.) So I dramatically increased my mileage and then I ran in racing flats. I'm pretty sure it's an overtraining issue because it gets irritated even when I focus on an upward-pull bike ride where there shouldn't be any pressure on my arch at all. A lifelong runner told me that he thinks it can be related to hill running and tight calves, which I definately do and have both of them. What do you think? I think I'll try some more area-related stretching and ice. It's not painful enough to stop me or slow me down but I'd like it to stay that way.

I don't know why I didn't think of this before but around the time I started having the foot issues is also when we moved into our new house. I have lots of hard wood and tile. So, it's not my running shoes. It's the lack of shoes on those hard floors while I cook and clean. I can't stop feeding my family so what would you suggest I purchase for a supportive indoor shoe?

Thank you for saying I'm fast. It's all relative, I guess. I'm fast for the average mother of four but man, those elite women can move, can't they? That's impressive. I certainly have alot more meat on my bones than Deana Kastor does. I've probably eaten steaks that wieigh more than she does!

Earlier this afternoon I ran about 5.5 miles and 4 strides. It's a one day taper for a very low-key 10 mile race I'm planning to run tomorrow morning. My schedule calls for a long run of 16 miles this week and I figure I can hit that if I put in a few miles of warm up and a few more for the cool down. I'm mainly trying to get a current 10 mile race time so I can get a updated marathon prediction for pacing purposes. Today's run went fine, but the strides did not feel comfortable.

Jay, I saw your other post on the 10 miler. Are the runners allowed to wear a timing device? I could see this being interesting if they are not allowed. Being able to predict your time and running your pace on feel, like the old days when we didn't have GPS's.