Hello everyone.  I have been without a computer for a couple of days so I haven't been able to check in.  I ran 3 on Saturday, 3 Monday and 2.25 today.  Rest day tomorrow.  Next week will be my last of holding steady at this mileage.  I officially begin the Hal Higdon Novice 1/2 training program on Dec. 1st.  I have lots of time before my 1/2 in May, so I wil be repeating weeks starting with week 7, then adding on until the race.  I am ready to get going.

Chuck- Great picture!  You'd better hustle up there soon. Great 2 hr run!

Runjur- You are wearing me out, running so many miles! Definitely don't want to appear out of breath at the end of a marathon! lol

Spicegeek- what exactly is the foot wheel?  Sounds interesting.  Reat 4 mile race!

Cara- I LOVE my foam roller.  It can feel pretty intense, but it is usually my first line of attack for any headache, back, neck or shoulder issues, or tight/sore muscles.  I have one at home and two at my studio for the dancers.

Joe- congrats on the race!  Your picture is great!

Carmen- there are places I won't run now because of loose dogs.  I live in a small country town so lots of people leave their dogs loose.  I had to pick up some rocks today because of some dogs who charge my dog river everytime we come around the corner.  I can't avoid them because they live right at the entrance to our neighborhood.  They haven't made it all the way to us,yet.  But they get closer each time.  I am thinking I will have to go speak with the owners or call someone.  Very frustrating.  River is such a baby, he doesn't know what their beef is.  Maybe I need pepperspray,too.

Misswendy-glad your foot is coming along.

Massgirl- I love Pilates class.  I wish I were closer to a Pilates center.  The class at my gym isn't quite up to par.

Autumn- great 4.5 miles.  You are accomplished!

Glbryan- so glad you are on the mend.  Be careful!

I know I have missed some.  I'm way behind now.  I'll check back in later.  Have a great Wednesday runners!

Erin

good morning all.  Did a tempo run last night and felt good.  My left knee has been a touch sore at times since the marathon.   I will be at the gym tonight, time to work on the quads a bit more.

cara - I like to eat too much so I have to workout.  I have been at my goal weight since summer and I don't want to lose my endurance as well.  I know you can run a full.  The most difficult thing is the time to train.  Spending 3+ hours on a weekend running takes a ton of time.  Your race pictures always look like you are running well and having fun.  I need to concentrate more on where the photographers are. lol

joe - glad your ankle is better.  I am going to taper down for a while.  I am a touch too old for that many miles.

mary - good running! Hope DS is doing well!

misswendy - poor ds, no matter how he is feeling mama needs to run.  lol.  My wearing shorts is done until spring.

spicegeek - vacation for two weeks?  Wow, that will be wonderful. 

erin - following a plan is actually quite challenging in itself.  Is River following the plan as well?  I would love to have a dog to run with. 

macd - speeder run today?  It is getting cold quick again this winter.  I hope we don't get 100" of snow like last year.  As for DD, DW runs with her on Wednesday's.  I haven't run with her for a while.  I did get to take her out to lunch yesterday.  How is DD#2 doing?   Is DD#1 planning her next race? I hope they are home over the holidays.

take care all.

runjr- I think River's training plan is to eat as much as possible and be with his people at all times.  I don't know how long a run he can do.  We will see I guess.  He ran 5.4 last week just fine. I do like to leave him home once in a while so I can see how I run without having to manage him.  He is good 90% of the time while we run.  But the other 10% can be interesting.  If he could just run with me without the leash it would be great, but we have already covered the topic of off leash dogs, haven't we?  I'll le thim go if we are on the trail and there is no one to be seen, or on the beach in the summer.

Hey everyone!

Finally back and settled from San Antonio. The race was great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have to say that I was pretty nervous even though I had done it once before but maybe b/c this time I knew what it entailed. But I no longer have goal of just finishing - which mind you is a perfectly fine goal. I was hoping to come in under 3 hours - last time I did just a few minutes over for my first ever. And I did it!!! My time was 2:43 which was super ok with me and even better I think I really can aim for a few less minutes next time also. Turns out I ended up pretty sick which was not fun at all - turned into a terrible cold and the race start of 34 degrees did not help! :_| Thank goodness for those throw-away gloves donated by Verizon and the throw-away shirts we had. Also my girlfriend ended up catching  a nasty cramp early on that really killed her for the better part of the race. So there were a few times that we stopped along the side and I tried to help her stretch it out. Point being is with all that I still managed to finish under my goal and really felt like I could do better. But in a good way b/c most importantly it really was fun. Never thought I'd say "fun" and "13 miles" in the same sentence, ha. The race was definitely a good time though and I'm now signed up for Seattle although that's not until June.  Thanks to everyone for their good luck wishes before-hand.

So I was way behind on shout outs before and definitely am but will try my best to catch up a bit. Whoever I miss - will definitely check in more later this week.

Chuck - your granddaughter is soooo  - I bet you can't wait to see her!

Runjr - 2200 for the year?? Yikes! Maybe you should take up something sedentary....kidding! You were so right about the patience part by the way - you and MissWendy actually. I totally felt like  my pace picked up during the race. What do they call that? Pack something right? Anyway, even though I hadn't logged in huge mileage before this half, I was pretty consistent in getting out there and I think it paid off.

Joe - congrats on the race - you did great!!! I agree with you though, there weren't as many bands as they said, unless of course they were all on the remaining part of the marathon trail. I definitely could have used a little more music, especially after now having done the VA beach one which is pretty great music -wise. Hope your ankle gets better.           

Macd -wind chill of 20 is wayyyyyyy too cold for me! We were FREEZING waiting for the shuttles in SA. Looks like I'm going to have to hit the TM if I want to keep this running up over the winter - ugh

Spicegeek - have a great vacation! I'm sure I missed out on some of the older threads while I was in work **** - where are you off to? I think I saw something about scuba gear so sounds like somewhere good!

Carmen - did you end up doing the half? Hope your back turned out ok. Crazy dog story!

MissWendy - glad your foot is better - sounds like you're getting back into the swing of things. And your mileage is right up there with Runjr.

Gayle - welcome back! Glad you're feeling better.

Erin/Cara - what is this foam roller all about? Do tell! For kicks at the expo in SA I went to one of those booths were they measure the tension in your back, neck, etc. Seems I have a LOT - oh well - can we say WORK everyone

Ok well no running for me yet this week - definitely in recovery mode and still fighting this cold. But hope to get out there this weekend.

Hope everyone is having a good week !

Ciao for now - JC

Hi, Another day cold here in the 20s. Ran 3 miles on the tm today. 

Erin- I'm going to start Hal Higdons novice1/2 marathon training next week. I will have 12 weeks till my first hm. I might start at week 3 so I can add on more at the end.

Spicegeek- What is kettle bell class??

Chuck- great 5 miles on tues I hope to do that pace at my 5 mile race on Sunday.Thats about the time I did last year at that race.

macd019-18dergees wc!!! your crazy lol

Carmen- Glad to hear your back isfeeling  better!

jc34360- Great Job on your race!!!!!!!!

Lorie

Hi guys,

Work was manic yesterday so didn't get a chance to post. Today is a lot calmer which is just as well seeing as I have tomorrow off!!! Yipee! Didn't really have enough time to enjoy my rest day - it was really more of a work day than a rest When I eventually got home all stressed DH had cooked me dinner and had a bottle of wine chilled and ready! I just about got up for my run this morning although I was really tired and enjoying my bed. Got in 4 miles, but it was a tough one. Tomorrow I can run in my own time whenever I happen to wake!

Dan - I need to set myself a goal for running too... however I do think it's nice to have a little down time after a race. I don't want to get bored of running so I am trying to allow myself a few easier weeks. It doesn't happen that easily for me though as I end up worrying about my mileage so i'm sure i'll be back up to 30 miles a week by next week

Joe - is it warm enough for you to run yet? It could be a while DW did great! is this her first HM? Hope you are both doing well

Mary - Good job with the running when busy... sometimes I think that is what keeps me sane! How did the surgery go?

Misswendy - one more week??? How you feeling?

Chuck - That 5 mile run was impressive! You're one speedy grandpa!

Spicegeek - hope you have a fab holiday! If you get to post whilst you're away please don't tell us how much you're enjoying the weather and not being at work take pity on those of us in cold rainy england sat at my desk in a big ugly industrial park!

Erin - I think you will do great at that Hal Higdon plan. It's amazing how quickly the mileage goes up too... Maybe you could run a 10k or something before your half to get practice racing? I really like 10k's as they're long enough that you have to think about pace, but not so long that you have to cutback much before and after.

Macd - great job on the speedier run at speediest pace! I run faster when it's colder too - the thought of a hot shower and warm fire after is very appealing Good hill run too I see!

Runjr - Hope that knee is feeling better! You deserve a bit of a rest so don't push it too much! There were actually a couple of good pictures from my race when I checked them... i'll see if I can find them again and post them - please remind me!

Carmen - you will do great on your half! That accident is mad... things like that could happen to anyone and at anytime regardless of whether you are running or not!

JC - Congratulations on your HM! That is an excellent result! Do you have any pictures? I don't have a foam roller so i'll let the others tell you about it... I did find a good you tube video of it once and posted it on here, but all the guys fell in love with the woman on it instantly

Gayle - great to hear your hip is doing well!

Lorie - Good luck with the HH plan. It is perfectly doable if you stick with the plan so only add on to it if you have time and if you are not overstretching yourself! You will do great!

OK - I'm gonna get out of this office before I get dragged into any more work!

Chat later

Cara x