Helen, what a great story. I bet it felt better than a PB time, to be able to help and support Matt to the finish line. I love stories like these, you guys contsantly amaze me!

Congrats on the pregnancy, Anne!! Hope you're feeling well.

I, too, am in awe of Paula Radcliffe. I thought the way the articles phrased her triumph was interesting.....she is such an elite athlete that they might have mentioned that in the headlines. Might have saved countless women from a moment of woeful inadequacy!

I've been so inspired by our marathoners around here that I am planning a half in January and a full in October. Should be fun! :-)

I can't wait to read your race report, Helen! it's blocked on my computer at work. >boo hoo<

Good luck with ya'll's mileage this week!

Helen, what a wonderful story! I'm so glad you had that fantastic experience. I can't get the video to work on my stupid computer, though, which is annoying me. :(

midwife, you and I can share the experience of training for our first marathon! I plan to do one next November, as long as scheduling problems don't knock me out of it. It's the Richmond Marathon, which happened just yesterday. I'd planned to run the 8k that was happening at the same time but couldn't go because I had to go with my cross country team to the state meet.

Speaking of which -- our boys finished FIFTH in the state!! I can't remember if I posted anything about it here because I've been bragging about them all over the place! :lol: Six of the seven boys had a PR yesterday -- they were AMAZING. I'm sooooo proud of them I just can't stand it! :cheer2:

I had a fantastic run today -- my long 10-mile run. I felt so good -- I kept up an average 10:00 mile pace the whole time (well, I finished the first 5 miles in 52 min and the last 5 in 48 min, so it evened out that way). I must just be a distance runner kind of girl, because I always feel really good between miles 5 and 7, and I almost always run the last half faster than the first. The difference in my long run pace just a few months ago and the pace I'm at now is huge, and I believe it's partly because of all those short, faster runs I've been doing with my XC team. I'm kind of sad that XC is over, but some of the kids are going to keep running with me and my husband after school in a very loosely structured kind of schedule. A few girls have asked me to start sort of a "fitness club" where we can lift weights and run and I can help them get in shape. Can you imagine? ME?? My life is sooooo different these days...

Hello runners! Been busy all week, so haven't had much of a chance to post here, but I've been logging my miles. Helen, I loved reading your New York report, it sounds like it was a really amazing experience, so thanks for sharing it.

Lisa, congrats on so many things - the success of your boys team, your improving long run times, the fitness club, it all sounds wonderful! And I am soooo excited that you and midwife are in marathon planning mode now, I am going to enjoy reading all about your training.

Rachel, thanks for all the congrats! I feel great about all those things! :) And you're one of the biggest reasons I've decided to do a marathon, by the way -- you've inspired me to believe that I can do it!

I did 4 fairly speedy miles yesterday and a 1.8 mile trail run today with some students. I'll be off tomorrow because of an after-school commitment, but I'm planning a 6 or 7 mile run Thursday (again, with students. I guess even though the season is over I'm still going to run with them).

I'm baaaack...

Since I got back to the UK on Thursday I've just done a couple of 3 - 4 mile runs, but tonight I managed 8 with running club. It wasn't easy, but it felt good to get some miles into my legs again. I'm running into work in the morning, but haven't decided which way I'm going yet - I have the choice of anything from a 5 mile mainly downhill run to about 12 miles with hills in the way. I don't think I'll go for the long version, but there's a 9 mile route which isn't too bad - no uphills after about the 3rd mile But as I'm still recovering I might just go the short way. I'll see how I feel.

Is it really worrying that I've started plotting my next marathon already. Although what's really worrying is that I've found one on my 30th birthday which is really tempting me. It's the next one Matt might do (Stockholm) and I agreed to do it if he did without checking the date. When I checked the date and realised I could make a holiday out of it I started to get tempted to do it anyway, even if he doesn't...

Helen, a marathon on your 30th birthday would be a VERY cool thing to do!

My run tonight was kind of icky. I didn't have my iPod with me, which would normally be ok but sometimes you just NEED music and tonight was one of those times. Plus, I was freezing and just couldn't warm up. I was very tired and even though parts of the run felt ok it ended up being slow and sluggish and a little unpleasant in general. The only good thing is that I went ahead and pushed myself to do 7.2 miles instead of the 6 I'd planned. Oh well, bad runs happen. I've been having a string of good ones, so I was due a bad one!

4 miles yesterday and 5 miles today. I really need to program my iPod, cause right now it plays random songs and I definitely slow down to some of them. Tomorrow will be 6.8 miles and then Sunday will be a no run day. I'm starting to build my long runs to prepare for the half marathon in January.

I've been struggling a bit with negative self talk. I am the slowest runner I know and all my running partners are much faster. Usually I can shake it off, but a friend told me she saw me "speed-walking" yesterday. Noooo....that's my running. And then sometimes I consider the mileage I have planned and my instinct is to say "I can't do that." But I can and I have done it and I don't know where that voice of negativity comes from.

So I'll just ignore that negative voice and drown it out with action and positive thoughts. It's just annoying.

Originally Posted by midwife:
a friend told me she saw me "speed-walking" yesterday. Noooo....that's my running.

A woman I know saw me running and called it "trudging." :) Yup, shake it off, and just do what you can do. You're getting lots of good benefits from it no matter how fast or slow you are.

I do the negative thing when I'm cycling. I swear I run faster than I cycle sometimes (OK, so I'm comparing flat, short races with uphill cycles in traffic, but it took me 45 minutes to do 5 miles yesterday - my 10k PB is 47 minutes!). I just try to remind myself that at least I'm doing it, even if I'm doing it incredibly slowly, and if I want to improve there's no option other than practising.

I ended up doing about 6 miles to work yesterday and fell over about half way there, putting a big hole in the knee of the running tights I bought the day before. Luckily they were only cheap ones, and I'll still wear them for cycling and running when no-one is likely to spot me, but it was a bit annoying. Today I tried to get back into my treadmill speed sessions. I find that it does help my speed when I get into the habit of doing them, but I tend to drop them in the later stages of mara training. Today's session was relatively gentle - 1 minute fast, 4 minutes recovery for 30 minutes, but at least it's getting me back into the habit of doing the fast bits even if it's only for a minute at a time. Next time I'll try to make it a bit harder to get my speed back up again.

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....