Been out of town for a week, but still ran every other day. In fact, I had the pleasure of running in 68 degree temp in the mornings! It was a very pleasant change of pace. This is in contrast to the 80+ degree mornings I'm used to here in AR. We're home now and it has been in the 100's during the day, so NO RUNNING except during the early hours of the day.

I finally am signed up for my first 5-K race on Aug. 21, so wish me luck! I am not going to be too worried about speed, just want to make sure I finish the race. Once I have one race under my belt, I'll work on increasing speed. I have been running it around 35-36 minutes, just pushing a little more. It may depend a lot on whether there are any hills on the course. But, at any rate, I'm excited to be signed up and looking forward to race day.

Week 6 Day 1 this morning.  At 5:30ish it was 80 degrees and 80% humidity.  The whole morning seemed to be out of sync.  But I got through it although at 11:00, as I type this, I'm still recovering.  Weather forecasts don't look promising for Wednesday morning either.  Oh well, I'll do what I can do...

68 degree weather!!  Oh boy would I love to feel a little of that right now.  They are forecasting a high of 105 today with a heat index of 115.  Now that's hot...

Someone please tell me it's gonna get better!?!?!?!? 

I am 51 and have never been a runner until I started this program.  I started in June, but am still only trying to finish week 5.  That 20 minute run is killing me!  But I'm determined to stick with it, and run a 5K with my 16 year old daughter at the end of August!  The heat has been a problem this summer, but I do have access to an indoor track which has helped.  My biggest issue has been a persistent injury to my calf or maybe it's my achilles, not sure.  I'm ok on the walk, then about 3-5 minutes into my first run it starts stiffening up and becomes painful.  It doesn't seem to get worse the longer I run, so I'm trying to work through it.  Interestingly, I ran on a treadmill one day and didn't have any problems with it.  Any thoughts/tips are greatly appreciated!

allgirlsdad - that's way too hot. All I can say is stay hydrated.  The heat will pass and then we will complain that it's too cold.

pgburt - if you are used to the hills, no worries.  And your are right, usually "fast course" means flattish.  It's sounds really strange, but I find that by wearing sun glasses, I feel a little cooler, maybe because the sun isn't beating in my eyes.  Don't know if you are wearing sunglasses at 6:30 a.m. when you run, so if you plan to wear them for the race, run in them a few times to make sure they don't slide down your nose when you get sweaty.  I find that occasionally, my sunglasses fog up a little because my face gets really warm when I run.  If I just pull them off and put them back on, they unfog quickly.

coloradokathy - are you doing some gentle stretches  after you run?  You might find some calf stretches helpful.  I have some kind of persistent calf pain also, but it is up high, closer to the back of my knee.  Be careful with that, especially if it is achillies tendon.  That can be kind of tricky to get rid of and unfortunately, rest, is the recommendation.

fitphyl - congrats on W1D1 and many people do find running outdoors harder than running on the TM.  Don't be discouraged.  There are advantages and disadvantages to both.  If your ultimate goal is to run outside, I would recommend doing at least some of your running outdoors.  It makes the transition easier.

Good running.

I'm on the high side of 60 and resumed running three years ago after a pacemaker implant.  I should have done a training program before my first 5K, but I did well enough on my own that I've continued.  I recommend you join a running club and make some new friends.  They will have scheduled group runs that you can make a part of your regular plans.  Don't worry, you won't be the slowest one there.  I also endorse the comment about going to a running store and being properly fitted for your shoes.  I found that changing them every 400 miles is another good way to reduce your chance of injury.

The key to all of this is to stay with the plan.  You will have times that you think "I can't do this"; don't let that defeat you.  You'll be amazed at how quickly your endurance will improve if you stay with it and those negative feelings will be long gone.  Then you'll be the one doing the encouraging. 

Yay! I completed W5D3 yesterday with no pain!  However, I did it on the treadmill instead of outside or on the track. I'm wondering why that makes a difference in my calf pain?  Is my stride different/shorter?  It does seem a bit easier to run on the treadmill, but I don't feel like that's really preparing me to run a 5K outside! 

Thanks for the stretching tips, I have been stretching before and after, but perhaps not enough!

Wow, I love your post Oz. Good for you! I feel excited for you. I think your enthusiasm to start again is exhilarating. I would enjoy keeping up with you and your progress. I am nervous to do this. I've run 2 10K's and a few 5K's in one year; starting running last year on June 23rd. I can't believe it sometimes and yet I feel like 'there is no way I can run this marathon'. If we encourage eachother on this blog, we can all do it. H

HF:  I'm going to temper my encouragement with a word of caution.  Are you sure you want to jump from a 10K to a full marathon without doing one or two 20Ks or half marathons first?  I'm not speaking from experience as I have done some HMs but have no desire to do a full marathon.  Regardless of the distance, 13.1 or 26.2, your body will be stressed far more than in a 10K and you must train it over a period of several months with small incremental increases in distance (hence my suggestion to do some HMs first).  If you don't ramp up slowly and include ample rest days, you can almost guarantee yourself some sort of injury.  Jeff Galloway has a monthly column in Runners World magazine for beginners.  He stresses the run/walk approach and I strongly urge you to follow it.

At 15 miles average per week, you would get new shoes at 26-27 weeks, so your timetable seems right to me.  Ask your running store to be sure.