I did three miles!! I have no idea how long it took me. I was running in the cold dark night, but I found a new CD that gets me pumped. Def Leppard's Slang of all things! I am a fan, but I never would have thought to run to it. My iPod puked a few weeks ago, and so I borrowed DH's. It rocked!

Always make sure the boobs are empty before you start out

Thanks ladies. In the Metropolitan DC area I have a few options for specialty running shops. Maybe more than a few I'm sure. I will start researching. Do you have any ideas about price range?

I had forgotten that last year about this time I had been with a different trainer at my gym and he had me alternating walk/run laps on the track. I liked him but then they tried to switch trainers on me to a more experienced trainer (read as more $) so I quit. That really pissed me off because I had a great relationship with my trainer and that's important. So that reminds me that it may not be as hard as I think to run again. But then again what worries me is the treadmill piece. I do better outside or on a track but the thought of running outside on my own...that is not going to happen. Treadmill it is. At some point I may join my local road runner's club but that is way in the future.

LeedaRenee-Congrats on the 28 minutes!
Onthetee--Thumbs up on the 3 miles!
LisaMarie--Great job on your per mile time!

likenoother, I paid 100 dollars for mine, though I saw them ranging from 80-180. Now that I've been properly fitted, I will probably just try to find them online from now on, where they will be cheaper.

Thanks LeedaRenee that would be my plan also. Once fitted and I know what works for my feet I will buy replacements online. I am a big online shopper. I was thinking that would probably be the price range. Everyone has been so helpful here.

Hi everyone, sounds like we have great runs here this week from lots of our coolrunners! Lisa, way to go on your speedy run - we'll have to start calling you speed racer.

Ran 5 miles this morning, beginning to feel back in the saddle again after the pounding from the marathon. Now I have the post-marathon blues...I have to figure out my next goal!

Rachel, I'm jealous of your post-marathon blues! The more I think about it, the more I want to do a marathon within the next year or so...

I didn't run today or yesterday, however, because of the pain in my left hamstring. It's just not going away. My husband is telling me to rest and I really don't want to! I won't be able to run Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, and I'm trying to figure out if I should just take tomorrow off as well. We're doing a tough interval workout on the track, which would definitely stress my leg too much. I could do something else, but it would mean being away from the kids when I won't be at practice Tues or Thurs either, and I really don't like that. Would it be terrible to take off this week? I want to make sure I don't lose the gains I've made in terms of my speed, because my 5K is on Oct. 27. Cursed left thigh!

Hi guys!

I took the weekend off, but ran 3.5 miles today and it was good - sweaty, but good

How ya'll doing?

Heather

Lisa, marathons are fuuunnn. Or that's what I'm trying to persuade myself.

6.5 relatively gentle miles with running club tonight. I'm planning 4 or so on Wednesday, then about 2 on Friday then I'm done.

I believe you! I just don't know when I would ever have time to train for one! I was able to train for the half marathon because I'm a teacher and had the whole summer off. I could do a long run and then just lie around all day and recover. Plus...I had time to do a 2-hour run here and there! I guess I still could on the weekend, but I wouldn't be able to do more than one long run a week while I'm working. I just don't get how people fit it in!

As for this week, I'm benched... I talked to the trainer here at school and she advised me to rest and ice the hamstring until Friday. She said all I've been doing by continuing to run is keep making it worse... She said "I know you won't listen to me, because you're just like your husband, but STOP RUNNING, just for a few days!"

So cool to be known as a person who won't stop running, instead of being known as fat and lazy, as I was for so many years!!

Interesting article on running shoe prices:

http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercis...-dont-pay-more

I did three miles again tonight, which suprised me. It has seemed that with every milestone, I would regress and have to kick and fight to get it back. After I did 20 minutes the first time, it was weeks before I did it again. Back to back 3 milers was shocking.

I swear....it's the music. I was listening to a perfectly lovely podcast and got droopy. I skipped to the music, and off I went. There is one song that I listened to three times because it gets me so pumped.

Lisa, I only normally do one long run a week, although I suppose that depends what you class as long...

Lisa - one of the things to remember is that how much you need to recover after a long run changes. I used to "lie around all day and recover" after a long training run....now I dont need as much recovery. The day I ran 19 I took my kids to the zoo afterwards.

If you have more time in the summer, then pick an early fall marathon to train for next year. You are a fairly new runner, I think it is best for injury prevention to spend a long time ramping up anyway. Train for another half in early spring and another in early summer - then you can do the major ramping in the summer when you have more time.

If last summer was a one time deal, then I still think early fall is the easiest to train for if you have to run before or after work because you get more daylight.

Also, while it isnt ideal those midweek 7-10 milers (which is what I assume you mean by second long run) can also be done split, like a 5 miler in the morning and a 3 miler after work, etc.

Still nursing this foot and getting ticked and lazy.

I've definitely noticed a change in this as well -- I can run 10 miles and still have the energy to actually leave the house now, when before I was pretty much dead the rest of the day! I hope I don't lose that now that I'm not doing long runs as often. And you're right -- it's the medium-long runs I was worried about, and I assumed I'd need to up the mileage on those since I'd be training for twice the distance I trained for last time!

The ideal marathon for me to do would be the Richmond Marathon, which is always in early November. I'm always going to do the VA Beach Rock-n-Roll Half, which is end of August or early September, so I can't really schedule a marathon for that time, though it would be perfect. The Richmond marathon, however, is a mere half-hour drive away and also at a fairly good time of year. The only thing that will be a bit screwed up is that my cross country practice runs may conflict with my training schedule, but that may mean just running longer than the kids do, which would be fine.

This year I'm doing the 8k that they run along with the Richmond marathon (on Nov 10), so I'll get to see some of the action, and I'm sure that will inspire me to prepare for doing it next year. Also, that's a WHOLE YEAR away! Look how much I've changed this past year, after all! Surely I can do a little 'ol marathon in another year's time.

A year is plenty of time to build up, lots of time to build a bit of a base before ramping up the mileage.

I did about 4 and a half miles this evening, I still don't feel like it's a marathon week for some reason. Maybe once I pack tomorrow it will start to feel a bit more imminent.

New York plans seem to be coming together, apparently we might be on US tv as well as having a British tv crew following us round and sending regular bulletins back home