MBN- Wow, that is way fewer calories than I was hoping to maintain on!! I'm in my late 20s, so hopefully my metabolism will allow for a bit more, I'm also ok with maintaining at a higher weight than you're at. I figure 120-125 would be fine with me. Still sobering information. Thanks

I totally sympathize with shin splints. Icing them and taking an NSAID work the best for me. Midwife's exercises sound smart, too. (They should naturally go away eventually, when your body gets used to the new beat-up it's getting from running.)

I'm up in the mountains for the week (like 6-7000mi above sea level) and I'm going to hope that that explains how out of breath I felt on my run on Monday. I'm going out again today, so we'll see. On the plus side, it's beautiful!!

[QUOTE=midwife;2354982]Hi Kitty, I'm pretty lucky that shin splints have not been a problem for me. They have plagued DD for about 7 months now. Icing, stretching, and exercises can help. Take one of your 4 year olds and have him stand on your feet. Raise your toes off the ground and lower them (kid riding on your feet) 10 times, 3 sets. Try to do them every other day to strengthen your anterior tibialis muscles. That is the exercise my PT recommended for my DD, but we use a 5 year old boy for it. Use what you got laying around the house.
/QUOTE]

That just cracked me up. I'm glad I'm the mother of 3. I have a variety of sizes to choose from in case I get shin splints.

That sounds like a good plan.. thanks!

I finished my first 5K today! It was 90 degrees with high humidity. I was a little bummed I had to walk some of it. Running in the sun and in the heat was something my body was not used to. The only thing that gave me comfort was there were so many runners who walked in parts. I couldn't believe it, I mean a lot of runners. Maybe that heat bothers even experienced runners? My final time was 33 min and 33 seconds, which isn't great but all things considered I'm okay with it. Ironically, it is supposed to be back in the 70's tomorrow and the rest of the week. I told my dh I'm going back to run the same course again this week when it's cooler, just so I can feel better about it. I am keeping my race number. I know it's a little hokey but it was exciting to wear it.

Thanks for listening. I have no friends in real life who run, it"s nice to share a story with others who understand.

HI!

Ok I have to say that I never thought I'd post in this thread because I never had any plans of running but I want to do a triathlon so... Anyway, went to a running store yesterday and got fitted for shoes and bra (Oh my god, its like body armor).

Yesterday, I did my first run/walk workout and it went pretty well, did a lot better than I thought I would. Today, I did water running instead of swimming (although I did sneak some swimming in).

Anyway, I think I already need an attitude adjustment. When we were at the running store, the person that helped us said the store was starting up a beginners 5k program which I'm going to sign up for. On the sheet describing the program, it says the culmination is a 5k race in december. I kind of felt bummed about the idea of a 5k race as it would be fairly quick, start, run, over less than an hour. I think the reason I feel this way is I was thinking about hiking which I like and I go for 3 things there - speed (not running but shouldn't be crawling), distance (6 miles is a pretty decent hike), elevation change (a decent amount, at least 500 ft change). With something like a 5k, you are going for speed over a fairly short distance. I guess I crave something that takes at least an hour. I'm hoping this feeling changes and it may be part of me that doesn't understand running.

Congrats Lene!! Nelie, sounds very exciting-- I agree about the body armor, I think it's good stuff (holdin' in your stuff for comfortable fast moving, that is )

I had a lovely country run today. There is rumor of a town garage coming to the road I was on. Would be a pity-- the most panoramic country hills and meadows. Real eye candy.

Yes, yes, absolutely!! Heat and humidity kicks your butt! Especially if you aren't used to it, but even if you are, it still slows you down. Congrats on your 5K -- that's a GOOD time, especially in the heat!

I did an easy 5 miler on Saturday, a hot and sweaty 12 miler on Sunday and 5 miles on the treadmill this morning. I was happy that this morning's run felt fine ... a few months ago I would have had "dead legs" the day after a 12 mile long run. That tells me that my endurance is improving. It's almost time for race season!! Now, if the weather would just cool down a little bit ... in South Florida, it's still HOT and sticky ....

Happy Monday everyone ...

Congrats Lene! Heat and humidity definitely negatively affect runners of all abilities, so don't be bummed! I keep all my race numbers and shirts!

Nellie -- 5ks are fun, but you can look for longer races like 10k, 15k and eventually half marys and fulls, etc. You'll probably enjoy them all for different reasons. Perhaps you'll find that endurance running will be your THING and the next thing you know you'll be registering for the Western States 100 mile Endurance run (http://www.ws100.com/). Whatever your taste, there are races out there to suit you.

Tyler - OH MY, 100 miles sounds insane. I do realize we all have to start somewhere and who knows, maybe I'll really like 5k over longer races.

Congrats, Lene! I loved that excitement of my first race so am always trying to get others to sign up for their first 5K! And I agree with everyone else, heat and humidity will definitely slow down your times!

Nelie - Once you get started you might look into longer distances or different types of races. I agree with Josephine that there are races of all kinds out there - not just distances, but types of runs too - road races, trail races, cross country races, etc. Have you ever read Slow, Fat Triathlete? I read it awhile back and really enjoyed it, even though the title is goofy! It made me intrigued about triathlons, but I don't know that I'm intrigued enough to start training for one any time soon. Good luck with all your training!

MBN - that's great that your endurance is improving. I'm continually amazed at what my body really can do when it comes to running.

Kittycat - I hope your country run doesn't get ruined!

Congrats Lene! Looking forward to the day I can do the same!

Hi Kitty! I used to have terrible problems with shin splints. My understanding is that they are somehow caused be a weakness/imbalance and thus from overtraining (or in your case, pushing that weakness by sprinting). The thing that changed this for me, is that I chose to run on soft surfaces a lot more, so that I could build up distance and let whatever was happening in my shins get stronger...then I started moving to part soft and part roads..and eventually all roads. I haven't had any problems with them for over 4 years.

Hello to everyone else, I have posted here maybe twice in the past year, but I am going to try to be a regular. I run alone mostly and though I would love to join a group,haven't had success yet finding one to run with. Alot to do with living in a smaller town and running more slowly than the groups that I know about.

I am training for my second half-marathon. I have definitely been a long slow runner, though at this point, I have become really interested in improving my speed. I'll probably start working on it after my race in october.

Ran 9 miles last weekend, and it was great. My run today is five, and i am going to incorporate some hills.

How is everyone else's runs?

Cheers,
Heather

Heather - How exciting that you're getting ready for your second half-marathon! I just did my second one last month after doing my first one six years ago, and I love the challenge that the training gives me.

I've had a couple of blah runs this week. I did a trail run on Sunday and then a road run with DH last night and I had no oomph for either. I think I've lost some of my conditioning in the past month and I'm having to work harder because of that.

I'm trying to decide my runs for the rest of the week as I have a 16K trail race on Saturday. Tonight I do an easy run with the 10K clinic group so I might also do some hills on Thursday. Hopefully my butt will stop dragging behind me!

Hey chickies!

So today I decided to do 30 minutes of biking, followed by a 2 mile run (actually 2.3 miles according to google). I wasn't entirely sure about doing the 2 mile run followed by the bike because it was around a lake and if I pooped out, I had no choice but to keep going. Anyway, I headed out with my heart rate monitor on and felt really good. My heart rate shot up to 170, at which point I walked until it got down to 135, then I kept this as my determining factor for running/walking. The route was a bit hilly with a very steep hill at one point which almost took my heart rate up to 170 by just walking up it. The entire run was 35 minutes. I calculated that to be a little over 15 minute mile and approximately 4 mph. Not great but hey I'm just starting.

I felt really good overall although my feet got really hot. My legs ached. My HRM said I burned nearly 600 calories overall (bike + run) which made me feel really good

Heather, I must have a weakness b/c I am quite prone to those shin splint buggers. Last night I tried lifting my toes upward w/o extra weight on them. That felt like it was helping for a stretch at the very least. According to midwife's daughter's PT that exercise with a small person on top of your toes can help strengthen the anterior tibialis which has the weakness.

onward and forward, right?