Thanks, guys! I have added in some speedwork, so maybe someday I'll be faster! But for now slow and steady burns my fat, strengthens my bones, and makes my heart stronger. I'll take it! :-)

midwife, you'll eventually get faster, especially if you start doing a little bit of speedwork. I thought I would NEVER get faster but I'm suddenly able to go a lot faster than I did before. I did a 2-mile tempo run today in 17:19, which is far faster than I ever imagined I could do (average pace of 8:40/mile). I doubt I could keep up that pace very long, though.

Regardless, speed shmeed. It's all about just getting out there and doing it!!

If she thought you were speed walking, then I guarantee you she would think I was just taking a stroll. I am slow...I dont' care :)...much...:)

Well, per my trainer's request I am stopping running until I am 185-190 pounds and will pick it up again. My hip's killing me and she's got me doing a quick walk at a very high inclince (9 is very high, at least for me!) and she wants me to stay with that to get rid of my injuries until I lose a little bit more. Since I already have a treadmill at home, it made the decision easier. So here's to a quick 10-15 pound loss so I can try again! The uphill walking is kicking my butt and burns (almost) the same amount of calories that my running did, so if I stay on track I should be able to run in Januray, yay!

When I bust it I go about 11:30 minute miles. 8 minute miles are impressive Lisa!! Maybe someday.....but for now slow and steady gets me there....

Early this summer I was running daily and increasing my distance and trying my hardest to get faster - even doing "speed laps" at the track to try to train myself to run at a faster pace. Nothing worked. I ran the same pace whether I did 3 miles or 10 miles (like, to the second NO MATTER WHAT). It was really frustrating.

Then I took a break for 2 months (moved to Manhattan and started working), and I thought I'd be worse. But I started running on a once every 3 days schedule, did the elliptical one of the other two days, and swam the other day. I was running much shorter distances than I ever had (usually 3 miles max, where I used to run 6-8 daily), but I signed up for a 5 mile race figuring it would be a good challenge and still doable. To my surprise, I beat my old 5 mile race times by 5 minutes, or a full minute off my pace! I was thrilled, and when I mentioned it to someone, they said cross-training was amazing, and also that the breathing in swimming helps with running.

Good luck!

I just started doing Couch to 5K and have found that I think (MUCH TO MY SURPRISE!!) that I actually might like running???? I'm only on the second workout, and the first one was WAY difficult to get trhough becaues I just kept thinking "I HAAAAAAAATE RUNNINGGGGGGG!!!!!!" but the second one today was more enjoyable. It's still difficult, but hey, what isn't????

And I was ALWAYS one of those people who would avoid running at all costs. Weird, huh?

I was always one of those people too, and now I've completed a half marathon and am preparing to do a full one next year. Plus, I'm a running coach! I guess I never actually gave running a chance before because I assumed I would hate it. I wish I'd started a long time ago! I'm glad you're here -- welcome!!

I ran 11 miles yesterday and took it nice and slow. I ran the first 4 with my sister-in-law, then she left and I finished the other 7. Felt nice, though my legs were a bit tired. These long Sunday runs are nice but they do take a big chunk of time out of my day!

Aaarrrggghhh.

We did a 4.5 mile hill session at running club tonight. It was haaard. I'm sure it will be good for me, but by the 12th rep I was really wishing they'd go easy on us!

I've made an amazing discovery! Well, probably everyone else has known it since the beginning of time, but it's a new discovery to me. :)

Since I stepped off the treadmill and started doing my 3.25 mile runs outside with my dog, I've been unable to run the entire distance without stopping to walk. (It's my lungs, not my legs: I'm a really heavy smoker). Anyway, it occurred to me the other day that I should force myself to run SLOWER. Today I did my run as slowly as I possibly could (more like trudging, re the other discussion) and I was able to run for much longer without stopping to walk. Hooray! I feel like I've had a kind of revelation. :) If I keep up this slow running, I should be able to run the whole distance without a break very soon, and then I really would be pleased. The slowest runner on earth, of course, but at least able to run for a full 30 minutes.

I also need to quit smoking or I'm never going to improve at this running lark. I need actual working lungs.

I ran 3.2 miles today. It felt really good. I'm totally off my training schedule for my 10k in February and I just found out that I have to work a 12 hour shift on the day I planned to do my "long run" so, I will have to rearrange my schedule a bit.

Baffled, good for you for slowing down! I've foudn it does wonders for me. I have to make myself slow down the first half mile because I usually start out almost sprinting. I have to tell myself that I won't last the entire time if I keep that up. Good luck with the quitting smoking. It's tough, but I know you can do it...you lost quite a bit of weight and that takes the same determination. :)

Baffled, that's a wonderful discovery I wish everyone would make! I think a lot of people who think they HATE running could realize that it's fun if they would just s l o w d o w n. The ironic thing is that when you slow down and build up some mileage, you get faster without even trying to.

Speaking of that, I ran 4 miles tonight and didn't intend to go under 10-minute miles, but ended up running an average pace of 9:17. My shorter runs (under 10) are much faster than they used to be, but my long runs are usually sloooooow.

Hello everyone,
I just realized I have been posting my time in Run/Walk Challenge thread but not really talking about how I've been doing with C25K in this thread. Well I am on Week 3 currently. I just completed Week 3, Day 1. I was really worried about running 3 minutes straight. But everyone was right, the 3 minutes was definitely doable. I like the progression each week. Each week is a little bit more challenging but not so much so that you want to quit. I'm saying that now but lets see what I say Week 5 when you have to run for 20 minutes straight on Day 3. Well I will be able to complete this week and move on to Week 4 based on today. I was worried about doing C25K in general. We all know what you want to do and what you can do are two different things. I am really happy with where I am currently.

Me again

Leeda, Baffled, Midwife--Slow is definitely the way for me. A few years back when I was running with my trainer outdoors she took me out to see how long I could run. I ran the whole way, 3 miles, at a very slow pace. My goal is finishing first and maybe I will worry about the speed later. I'm doing the C25K on the treadmill and I've been upping my speed .1 each week. That has worked for me. I will adjust it along the way as I need to.

Slow chicks rock!!! That's what I'll be telling myself during my 5 K tomorrow. I'm running it with DD, who averages 6-7 minute miles. I guess I'll see the back of her for about 5 seconds! :-) My goal is to finish, and I know I can do that. I would like to not be last, but if I am, oh well! Someone has to be!

My legs felt like molasses on my run this morning. I hope they have more perk and energy tomorrow.

Hey, running ladies!

I have not been around for a while. 3FC was taking up large chunks of my life, especially since I am doing the TBL challenge. I have checked on you now and then, but resisted posting and did not get email notifications for this thread.

But I have news. I am doing my my first race. I am so excited. I am going to run the short course because I am not ready for 4.5 miles, and I really want success in my first outing. 2.6 is no problem.

That is not to say that there will not be problems.....parking is going to be a nightmare. Packet pick up today was insane. I will probably have to walk a mile to and from my car. Good warm-up, right?? Nice cool down? It is only supposed to be about 37 degrees with snow at the starting line.

The shirts we got?? Extra awesome. Very nice.

I will be thinking of all the help and inspiration that I have gotten here as I trek through the course.

Now....for all you speed demons.....

Going from treadmill, and my nice 5.4 MPH to the outside world....I did the same thing. I had some really bad runs and realized that I was setting records (personal, not world ;) )at the first half mile. The biggest issue was my playlist. When I was listening to a book or news show on the iPod, I did well. When I listened to some rockin' tunes, I was exhausting myself.

Once I remember that I am an old woman who has no need to prove anything to anyone but me. And my only goal is to finish any outing without vomiting. Better living through lowered expectations.

Shay, I'm glad you're enjoying the C25K program -- keep it up! :cheer2:

midwife, how was your 5K?

onthetee, good luck in your first race! How exciting!!

I had a nice 3.1 mile run with my brother today. It was so cool to be able to run with him. He's not the most athletic person in the world, but he's always been FAR more athletic than I am, and today I even had to slow my pace a little to stay with him (he pretty much always runs at a 10:00 pace no matter what). It was a gorgeous run on a flat, wide trail in the woods and we got to run around a beautiful lake. My husband was with us but of course he had to run ahead because he couldn't go that slow! But yeah, running with my brother is not something I ever would've imagined I could do, so it was pretty exciting. Now my secret goal is to beat him in the 10k we'll run together in April!! :devil: I don't think I've ever beat him at ANYthing!

Good luck onthetee!

I'm meant to be doing a 10k on sunday, but I'm not very inspired. I can still feel the marathons in my legs, and I've put on a bit of weight so feel a bit sluggish. I know it won't be near a PB, but it's the first proper 10k I did (can you believe it will be my 3rd time doing it?!) so I'd quite like to do it for that reason. I might see how I feel on Sunday, and what the weather's like before I decide. I've registered, but if I really don't feel like it it could do more harm psychologically to make myself run it and run badly, than it would to stay in bed.

I've had some mixed runs this week. I did a really good short speedwork session on the treadmill on Tuesday, trudged round the club run last night then did about 10 minutes on the treadmill this morning before the fire alarm went off! I then went for a run outside as I figured it would be better to keep moving than to stand outside in my shorts and t-shirt, but it wasn't really what I was planning to do. I'm running into work tomorrow, then taking Saturday off before the race. At the moment I seem to be running more often, but shorter runs, to keep my legs ticking over without doing too much on any one run.

OnTheTee, hope your race went well!! Give us a report tomorrow after all the festivities die down.

I did a 10K Turkey Trot this morning that went fantastically well - 52:04! That is a far better pace than any race I've ever done, even a 5K, and I'm especially thrilled because I had a few problems (lost my headband that covers my ears, about 10 mins before the race; felt a little queasy at the start; and my iPod case/strap broke about 1/2 mile in, leading to me fumbling around for a while to figure out what to do with my iPod). I'm SO proud of myself, and I definitely want to make this an annual tradition.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

Onthetee, love the thought about just not vomitting!

Lisa, thanks for asking! The women were supposed to have a separate race than the men, but there were a lot of men running in the women's race, which bugged me a little, but whatever!

Anyway, I settled DD at the front (she came in 3rd for her age group) and then schlepped toward the back for the start. Even starting toward the back, I was still passed a LOT for the first mile. The first half of the race was uphill and when I got to the first mile marker my time was 12:40!! I had a slow start and got stuck behind some folks who were walking, but still! That is slow, even for this slow chick.

After the halfway mark it was downhill and I really kicked it into gear. I felt very strong and finished in about 36 minutes. My mile average was 11:30-something so I did make up some time on the downhill.

I then chowed one and a half bagels which was probably not a great choice with the afternoon ahead of me! But I am proud that my average pace was less than 12 minute miles, cause that was my goal. I felt strong and springy toward the end of the race, so I felt fast, which was fun! Got my butt totally kicked by some 8 year-olds, but that's ok!

Hope you all have lovely runs today! That is great you can run with your brother, Lisa. I have been running with my sil and it's nice to have that time together.

Happy Thanksgiving! I am thankful I can run!

onthetee, I hope your race went well :)

Well I completed W3 of the C25K yesterday. So far things are going well. As each week passes I worry about the longer running intervals. All I can do is take it one day at a time. I have surprised myself so here's hoping I continue to do so.

I did my 10k this morning in the end, I wasn't too keen on the thought but actually ran a lot better than I was expecting, it was my 2nd fastest 10k of the year (3rd fastest ever), and only about a minute off my PB which wasn't bad because it was a much more crowded race than the one I did my PB in. I'm pleased I've kept up my record of not going over 50 minutes in a 10k this year (although I did push it close twice at 49:55 and 49:50!), and I've kept up my record of running this race for three consecutive years which is nice too.

I even had a cheering squad just before and after half way (I went past them twice) which was really nice.

Hello runners! I've been away for the holiday and so I am very happy to come back and read about all this race activity! Onthetee, anxiously awaiting your report on how things went for your first race - I love the goal of not vomiting...I almost managed to miss the mark on that one in my marathon experience :)

Anyway, I had a nice long weekend at my parents house - they live in an area that actually has a few rolling hills, I remember last thanksgiving how I was struggling to get up a few of them, this year, I was positively enjoying the opportunity to run a little elevation. what a difference a year makes. Ran 10, 10, 15 and 8 miles Thursday through Sunday, I was enjoying it so much (and truth told, was hoping not to loose too much ground on the weight front to my mother's good cooking too).

Hope the rest of you U.S. folks had a great holiday!:turkey:

The running mojo is back - wahey! I was actually looking forward to running club tonight, and seemed to pick the pace up a bit. Looks like I'm recovered from the maras now, just need to make sure I keep things ticking over during the party season.

Oh, and as I posted on the walk-run challenge thread - I've hit my mileage target for the year!

1504.9/1500

1500 miles -- woohoo!!! That's fantastic, Helen! :)

I ran 3 miles with some students tonight. I'm running into a bit of a dilemma because they want to work out and run with me EVERY day now, and I don't want to say no, but it also interferes with my running schedule. They can't exactly do six or seven miles at this point, so I have to cut some of my runs short in order to supervise them. This was only the second day, so we'll see how it goes. I may just tell them we can only do it two or three times a week. The GOOD part is that it's making me do strength training. If I didn't do it with them, I'd just run and do nothing else (like I've been doing for ages now).

I had a great 8-mile run in my hometown Saturday, which I forgot to report. I had to loop around this park over and over, but they have a bigger loop that's more like a trail, with hills and such, so I incorporated that this time and it was lots of fun.

It's getting cold out there on the jogging path! Ran 6.5 miles today, the hardest part is getting out of a warm bed and out the door - it feels good once I get going, but that first half mile is tough. Guess I still need to develop my winter mental toughness...I just keep telling myself how much better it is to run in the cold than in the heat of August.

Whew Week 4 of C25K. I really didn't think I was going to make it through that 2nd 5 minute interval. I'm thinking of doing Day 2 and 3 back to back just because of my schedule. We'll see how that works out.

still lurking..
 

So, I've still been lurking around this part of the forums, reading everyone's runs and being inspired, but too afraid to post any. I am back to running again, not much yet, but the first real running I've done since I hurt my foot. I ran/jogged a mile tonight in around a 12-13 min pace... I'm hoping to get back to 5k by the end of the month, there is a 5k plus a free kids run that I'm hoping the kids and I can do. Everyone keep up the great job, and thanks for motivating me to get off my duff and back out there.

Dee

reading this thread makes me feel lazy if I skip a day! Thanks for the motivation everyone, good luck with the running!

I hear ya, Erica. I didn't run yesterday and now today I feel pukey and it's $*#& cold outside! I'm telling myself it won't kill me to skip two days in a row. I'll run tomorrow with my running partners and I'll do a long run on Saturday.

DH is convinced I shouldn't run everyday, but I feel guilty if I don't. What kind of cross-training or weights do all of ya'll do?

When I was running every day, I got into a running rhythm that I couldn't improve no matter what I did. I even tried choosing faster music in case it was that I was running to the beat! No dice. Then I took a lot of time off running, and I run every other day or every third day... and I am SO much faster! I dropped more than a minute off my pace. I still exercise the other days, but it's usually weights, or swimming, or the rowing machine, or the elliptical... or a zillion other things that just aren't pounding the pavement. So if I don't run for a few days now, I look at it as a good thing :)

Thanks, Laura. I do remember you credited some rest days for making you a faster runner. :-)

Hi guys!

I was wondering if you care that I join you! Im a runner, spin instructor, compete in Tri's, Du's and road races. I'm 41 married with three young daughters. Nice to meet all of you!!

I don't run every day, but I don't skip days when I plan to run, if that makes sense. I schedule rest days, and I don't run then, but if I plan to run then I run.

I ran into work this morning, a long-ish route that was about 8.5 miles. Tomorrow I'm planning on cycling in, and then doing some speedwork on the treadmill. Although I might give it a miss as I'm planning on heading down to a time trial on Saturday. It's just started here, they run a 5k every week and it's completely free! You just register, turn up, run and get all sorts of fun stats. The problem is that Saturday is usually my long run day, rather than short and fast, but until I start mara training again I might give it ago. We'll see.

Helen, a free 5k every week sounds fantastic! I wish we had something like that here! I'm not even scheduled for another race until my 10k in April. I think I'll get antsy before then and have to find some kind of 5k, even if I have to travel a little.

midwife, I usually take Wednesday and Saturday off, but sometimes my schedule forces me to take other days off as well. My husband (a longtime runner and running coach) swears by running only every other day unless you're doing some kind of specific training for a race, and even then he says you should just do 4 runs per week. I like to do 5, though, including one long run, one medium long run, one speedwork session, and the rest easy miles. That's a perfect week, but it doesn't always work out that way. I honestly SHOULD do more crosstraining but it's hard to force myself to do something besides running now. I've started strength training again, however, and I'm hoping to get back into yoga.

Gymgurl - :welcome3:

I wanted to do 6 or 7 miles tonight but after school commitments made me get home too late. I don't run in the dark (I live in the boonies). So I ended up doing 4, but I kept an average pace of 9:30 the whole time, so it was a decent run. I'm trying to get used to that pace or faster so I can meet my goal of running my April 10k in less than an hour.

It's great to hear about other people's schedules! I admit I was asking because yesterday I was not feeling well and I was trying to talk myself either into or out of running and wasn't sure if I was making up feeling yucky. Since I was up all night with a barfing boy, I guess my symptoms were real. The downside is that said barfing boy will stay home from school today, so I can't run today either! But I can (and will!) do the elliptical.

Another tough one for WK4 of C25K. I made it through though. I may have to repeat this week. Day 3 is tomorrow. I will have to see how I feel.

Go, Shay, go!