A quick post, I just about managed a new PB - 3:50:35, the race was pretty much identical to Edinburgh - stuck with the 3:45 pacers until about 22 miles then couldn't keep it up to the finish. I'm in an internet cafe in Amsterdam, so won't fill you in on all the gory details until I get home, at the moment I'm wondering what state my legs will be in for New York. They're not too bad, but they don't feel like running another marathon just yet!

Congrats Helen!!!! Great job!

cakses – So glad you’re back and doing better!

LeedaRenee – Was your 5k this last weekend? If so, how did it go?

Shay – Thanks for the link. Looks like I can jump in to week 5 of the OHR program, it’s perfect because I usually plan just one longer run a week and this plan has nothing longer that 40 min for the shorter runs.

Rachel – That virtual half sounds cool. I wish I had one of those iPod kits. I hear you don’t necessarily have to use the Nike shoes with the special place for the device, it that right?

Helen – Congrats on your new PB! You’re amazing.

I have a new PB to report, my first sub-30 5k! I posted about it in mini goals. I really wish I had an official chip time, I even forgot my stopwatch so all I had to go by was the clock at the finish line. When I rounded that corner saw the clock at 28:30 I couldn’t believe it! Found a little extra energy to make it over the line by 29:00. :D

Woot, Helen!! That is terrific!

Rachael, my best friend has something like that that came with her Nikes, I didnt know they had events like that to go with it. How neat is that? I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Shay, thanks for the link, after my 5k, I think I will start that program.

Cakses, your ticker is just amovin' (sorry, been hanging out in the country)! You are so right about the weight loss maknig it easier. I can't wait to feel the difference 40 more lbs would make! I'm glad you're back and without injury.

Shananigans -My 5k is this saturday. I am super excited and a little nervous. Thanks for thinking of me though! Grats on the 29 minutes, I know that must have felt amazing! I will be happy if I make sub 40 hehe. That sucks about your chip, but at least you know you did do it!

I ran 2.3 miles yesterday and it took me 31 minutes, though I did stop once to tie my shoe. This was without the stroller. My next few runs before the 5k will be with the stroller. It's supposed to be terrible weather here this week, so I'm going to go and look for a stroller cover and a poncho for myself.

Helen---Yay! Happy for you.

Come run with me, ladies!
http://www.geisthalf.com/

Any of you Midwesterners who are looking for a half this spring, I am going to train for this one. I am realistic and suspect that I will have to walk part of it, but I plan to do this one.

Congratulations, Helen!! :cheer2:

I ran only one mile tonight and my pulled hamstring started hurting pretty bad. Seriously worried about Saturday's 5k....

Look at those leg muscles...

Oh my gosh, I can only dream of having legs like that one day! Looking great, Helen!!

Those muscles represent a lot more work than I am willing to do. Hats off to you, Madame!!


(not worthy, not worthy, not worthy) :)

Right, I've written the full race report on my blog, it's a bit long to paste onto here, so you can click here if you want to read it.

I'm trying to decide when to get my legs ticking over again before New York. I'm going to do a short-ish, gentle-ish swim tomorrow morning. In the evening it's running club, and I'd like to go to have a chat with everyone but suspect that they might be running further than I'd like to go - my "two weeks between marathons" training plan (isn't the internet a wonderful thing...) suggests 2 miles, and the shortest run I'll get away with them is about 4, so I might just run on the treadmill on my own if I feel like it, it will be more cushioned too. Or if I don't feel like it, I might not run at all - I think that recovery is more important than training!

Oh my, I dind't know that was a 40k! Wow! I enjoyed reading your account, thanks for sharing it.

I ran almost 2 miles today. It was freezing here (yes, low 50s is 'freezing' in Mississippi lol) and I decided to go the course nearest my house. I've been avoiding it just because it's VERY hilly and I also tend to encounter a very rude woman there, but she only comes in the morning, so I thought I would be safe from her hehe.
I wore jogging pants and a tshirt and was sooo cold at first, but then once I got moving, I of course warmed up. Those hills always get me, sigh... Luckily the 5k route is relatively flat. The wind was also hammering me and pushing me back, so it was a difficult run, especially on a stroller day.
DS enjoyed his ride though!

Edited to add: I also had the biggest, ugliest red hat on while I was running. People were doing double takes at the sight of me. I dont know why I felt the need to include that last bit.

:lol: I like the ugly red hat detail, LeedaRenee!!

I did a quick 2-mile trail run tonight with the cross country team. My leg felt better today, so that's good...

Congratulations Helen, sounds like you had a great race, and could still do even better. 3:50 is amazing to me, you rock! Loved reading your report on your blog too - I felt like I was right there running it with you.

Shenanigans, to answer your question about the Nike iPod kit - you do not need to run in Nike shoes to use it. I have a little pouch that I bought which holds the chip on top of my shoelaces and it works just fine.

Lisa, glad to hear your hamstring is feeling better. Sounds like you've been battling the injury demons lately...here's hoping that you continue on the mend.

Wooohoo Helen - that is awesome

We are still trying to figure out what is wrong with my foot. I ran up to 3 miles on treadmill last week so tried to run on pavement and made it 1/4 mile before the pain came back.

I had an MRI yesterday so hopefully today or tomorrow I should know if it is a stress fracture or not. Meanwhile I am not doing any weight bearing exercise, just recumbent bike:yawn: boring boring boring.

Hi guys,

Does anyone know if there's a product similar to the Nike Ipod thing that doesn't require an ipod? I have a non-ipod mp3 player so the gadget wouldn't work for me. I'd love a little device that can tell me my speeds--I find it very difficult to gauge how fast or slow I'm running when I run outdoors.

oh baffled there are MANY

There are many brands of pod style data collection systems which link to watches, I think nike's is currently the only one that links to an MP3. Google Footpod. Sumpto (sp?) and polar are well respected.

There is also the GPS option (Garmin and a few others)

GPS needs no calibration but does not work well in heavily wooded areas, also if you run in the city with tall buildings, it is less reliable. I have a 305, I have heard good things about the next generation but any GPS needs to be able to recieve a sattelite signal. Elevation is less accurate so hilly runs may measure short. I find typically on an open (suburbs and country) run that the accuracy is within 1-2% - certainly better than my car odometer!

Footpods need calibration and some people find that their stride length changes significantly with pace and have a more difficult time calibrating one than others. But if you run on trails with tree cover they are really the only way to go

I am intrigued because when I googled footpod apparently I can get one to talk to my garmin and have data when I cant get a signal, although I think I would have to choose one or the other for the run.

I have a polar RS200SD footpod, there's a thing you put on your shoe, a heart rate strap and a watch unit. The shoe thing looks quite bulky but I don't really notice the weight (you can see it on my foot in the photo on the previous page). It's not 100% accurate, but it gives a decent enough idea.

Did I say very short and very slow earlier? Oops. My legs feel surprisingly good, so even though I was wondering whether to go to running club at all, once I got there and started to run I decided to go a bit further and faster than I was intending. I was quite prepared to bail out early if my legs felt tired, but they didn't, so I carried on. We'll see how they react tomorrow morning. I ended up doing nearly 6.5 miles, had been aiming for 3...

Hi everyone,
Congrats to Helen & Shananigans on new PBs.

Well tomorrow is the day I will be going to get fitted for running shoes. I will let you know how that goes.

I've already decided on my first 5K even though I haven't started running yet. I plan to do it in March. My friend's dd's school is doing it as a fundraiser. We plan to do it together. I think my supervisor plans to do it too. All of our paces are different but it will still be something we do together.

I did 2 miles today. It has been raining off and on all day and I waited until it cleared up a bit. It started really coming down after I hit my 2 mile mark and since I don't have a stroller cover, I cut it a bit short...not that I would've gone much further anyway. Tomorrow is rest day and then 5k. Maybe do some yoga tomorrow.

I did just over 5 miles today. I didn't use my HRM/footpod and strangely ended up running the route faster than I ever have before. Admittedly I don't run it too often, but still... that wasn't meant to happen!

This time next week I'll be getting very excited in New York...

I'm already excited for you about New York, Helen! :carrot:

Cross country practice was cancelled both yesterday and today (for a school problem that had us released early yesterday and for heavy rain today), so I just did a quick 2 miles on the treadmill today. My hamstring hurt, so I'm still worried about tomorrow. I worry that I'll just manage to get through it without running the race well. Ah well -- I have plenty of races in my future anyway!

I'm back from my 5K and I have something to celebrate! I didn't get a little trophy, but I did hit one of my fitness goals. I wanted to finish under 30 minutes, and I finished in 28:26!! Woohoo!! :carrot:

It turned out that the age groups were just the following: women under 40 and women over 40. Well, two teenagers and a 33 year old came in before I did. Oh, and a woman over 40 was the first woman overall! So I was 5th in the race and 4th under 40, but the top 3 got trophies. That was ok, though, because one of my cross country runners was 2nd place under 40, and I was so happy for her! She ran a much better time than she's been running at our meets, and we were there to congratulate her so that was fun! It was so great for her to get a trophy, too, because she's not one of our top runners so she doesn't get that much praise from her teammates.

It was cold and drizzly and my hamstring hurt pretty bad, but I'm quite pleased with my time. The race was relatively flat, just out and back, but on the way back most of it was a gradual incline. So I ran much faster in the first half than the 2nd, and my goal is always to push it at the end. I pushed too hard in the first mile, because when I checked my time at that point it was 8:28, which is a considerably faster mile time than I usually do. I struggled, but it was fun!

Oh, and my husband won the whole thing again this year! :dizzy:

Congrats, Lisa!! What a great time!

I just finished my first 5k.
It was blast, very fun! There were tons of door prizes given out and I got a free 2 week pass the to Y, along with a t-shirt, and some clinique stuff. What I didn't like was the hot wings, pizza, and sausage biscuits they had waiting afterwards. Talk about temptation. I came in at 37 minutes and some change, I will know the exact time tomorrow. I'd never done 3 miles before, so this was the first time. My time was MUCH better than I'd thought it would be. I'm pretty happy with it.

Congrats Lisa and LeedaRenee! Love reading those race reports, it sounds like you both had a great day.

I ran 8 miles today, finally feel like all the marathon aches are gone, so it felt really good. The only problem is that I've realized my fall running wardrobe needs serious updating - my tights from last spring are literally falling off me!

You all have different stories and achievements...but you are all..

AWESOME!

Congrats on the great races Lisa and Leeda Renee!

I forgot to come over here and report I did get fitted for my shoes on Thursday. I got NB 766 8 Wide. He told me I overpronate and that I had probably been wearing my shoes too tight for years. I've been wearing a 7.5 wide. I lucked into a sale. Normally the shoes would be $90 but I got them for $75.60 including taxes. Well my starting date is almost here. I'm scared and excited at the same time.

This time next week... (I'm not sure on the time difference, what time the race starts, or how long it will take us) ...I'll either be running, or just have finished, the New York marathon! I think it's officially time to start getting excited.

I did about 8.5 miles this morning, that's actually longer than I normally do the week before a mara, but I wanted a bit of confidence that my legs have recovered from Amsterdam. luckily it started pouring with rain after about 6 miles which removed any desire to push it by going further, which might have tired me out too much. I'm setting off on Tuesday morning - I'm travelling down to London and "working" from there on Tuesday (not sure how much work will be done) then meeting up with the rest of the team in a hotel before flying out on Wednesday, then a couple of days to prepare, mara on Sunday and a bit of time to relax and enjoy New York before flying back on Wednesday evening. I can't describe how much I'm looking forward to it!

Helen, I am officially excited about your NY marathon too! Can't wait to read all about it - and I'm glad you have a little time to enjoy the city, it's a great place to visit (even if I wouldn't want to live there - at least not unless I inherited a boat load of money).

I had one of those difficult run days - some sort of tummy upset, but it's my long run day, so I plowed through and managed to grind out 10 miles, but felt pretty much awful the whole way.

LeedaRenee, that's a weird post-race feast! I'm used to bagels and bananas! I'm so glad you enjoyed your first race -- you'll be hooked now like the rest of us!

Rachel, I know what you mean about needing new fall running clothes. I have NOTHING. In fact, I don't even have a fall jacket or winter coat that I can wear this year. I think most of my coaching check will go to winter clothes, both running and everyday clothes! On my run today, I wore a Brooks running shirt I bought in the summer and it felt really good but it was an XL and it basically swamped me. It was $30, though, so I'm going to keep wearing it!

I ran 8 miles today. I ran the first 3 with my sis-in-law and we had to go really really slowly because she hasn't been running. I tried to make up for it a little in the last 5 after she left, but I'm sore from yesterday's race. Felt good to do a slightly longer run, and I wanted to go for 11 miles but I didn't have time.

Lisa, you are correct, I'm totally hooked and have already signed up for my next one lol. Your new 5k time is awesome, I am jealous!

Helen, I know you will do great in your mara...very excited for you!

I did 2 miles today with the stroller on a very hilly course.

Lisa and LeedaRenee - Congrats on your 5k races! Sounds like you both did great.

At my last 5k they were only serving Bratwurst after (Johnsonville sponsored the event) so nothing for me! At least the T-shirt I got at that one was nice. Race for the Cure had the best munchies I've seen at any race, practically a full buffet sponsored by Whole Foods.

Helen – I’m so excited for you! That’s so crazy that you’re doing 2 marathons so close together, I am in double awe. My brother did the NY marathon in 2003, we drove up and had a great time.

ennay – love the new avatar! So cute.

Been churning out my usual 3 to 3.5 miles every other day, mixed in with a few yoga and strength training sessions. Think I'm finally gaining a little speed these days. :D

Hi all - I didn't run for 11 days, but got back to it on Saturday with 2 miles, and today with 4. Felt good to run again; and no achy legs - bizarre! Odd how the body will bounce back from years of abuse.. :lol3:

Heather :D

Yay for getting back to it, Heather!!

Yay for your consistency, shananigans!

Yay for signing up for another race, Leeda!

Ok, after all the yays...:lol: I just ran 1.8 miles with the kids today, but I had pain pain pain in my left leg. The pain is extending from my butt to my calf now, and my husband thinks it's sciatica. Eek! I guess I really do need to see a doctor. I've been reading up on it and that actually sounds like what's going on. So the pulled hamstring thing was probably not what it is. It's pretty painful, though, so I probably should see about it and stop running! It's so hard to do that, though, because I'm seriously into it now. Oh well. At least I don't have a race coming up, now that I can't do that 8k I was scheduled for (it's the same day as our state cross country meet).

Hi guys, sorry I havent been on in awhile

The good news is my foot is not broken, the bad news is my podiatrist says no running for several more weeks. :(

Lisa great race! - You did it right, 5K's are weird, push hard and then slow down, totally backwards.

:woohoo: Leeda!

Thinking of you Helen! when do you fly to the states?

I fly tomorrow! I've just been out for my last run here, I'm travelling down to london this morning, meeting up with everyone (they're doing some media work this afternoon but I have a meeting I need to go to on the way so won't get there in time) and staying in a hotel down there tonight, then flying tomorrow.

Keep an eye out for us - apparentlywe might be featured in the US press. It's been put together by the Christopher Reeve Foundation and a UK charity called XIII Heroes, and the guy I'm running with is called Matt King.

Heather--Glad your were able to get right back into it!

Ennay, I'm glad your foot isn't broken, but that has to be a bummer not being able to run :( I have a friend that's been running for years and she said when she had to stop for a few weeks due to an injury, she started having dreams where she was running. Nothing else would happen, she would just run hehe. They went away when she got better.

Lisa, that does sound like sciatica. I had it really bad when I was pregnant. Let us know what the doc says.

shananigans--there is something so wrong about the thought of brautwurst at a 5k...ok brautwurst period! The whole foods buffet sounds just right.

Don't know if I will go running today or not. I got a free pass the YMCA for 2 weeks during the 5k and I thought about going to use it today. It would be nice to swim in a heated pool and run on a nice indoor track or treadmill without the stroller (they have daycare) however, I'm not sure how baby will act in daycare. Oh well, we will give it a shot.

I forgot that I wanted to ask. I would like to get a garmin and saw a few on ebay that were second hand. Is there any reason that it would be bad to buy a used one?

I know people who have gotten garmins off of ebay. Several of the 201/301's went on ebay when the 205/305's came out as people upgraded. DONT get a 100 series whatever you do.

What's wrong with the 100 series?