TC -woohoo on a great race - WTG!

sgeranium - I hear you on the TM boredom threshold thing - I have to have multiple forms of entertainment to make me stick with it when I'm traveling and have to use the hotel gyms - tv with closed captioning and my ipod. Craziness! Let me know if you discover any good tricks to make you keep going!

Back with the official time..56:41!!! I wrote a long recap but for some reason it got deleted and now I'm too tired to rewrite it

Basically, it was an awesome race! The course was WAY hillier than I'm used to, considering I don't run hills at all, so it was tough but it was fun to push myself and fight the pain! Somehow, I managed to keep a pretty good pace (around 9 - 9:30) the whole time, slowing down a little on the uphills and speeding up on the downhills, and I felt pretty good for most of the race, except for a small mental hurdle (or was it that steep hill??) around mile 3. Overall, it was a really great day and it felt wonderful to get up early, support a worthy cause (pancreatic cancer research) and challenge myself. It was really touching to see family members and big groups of people honoring their friends and family who had passed away from pancreatic cancer and I'm so happy I was able to be a part of that. It really makes you appreciate your health and your loved ones.

Well, I'm officially pooped...but I hope you all had great weekends and can't wait to hear about all your runs!

Ugh what do you want to hear? It wasn't pretty LOL

I think my offical time was 38:02. HRM time was a little shorter but not much. I wanted to get comfortable with racing becuase I tend to get very nervous and overwhelmed running with so many people. I did accomplish that. And I didn't die, nor did I finish LAST so hey maybe it was sucessful after all

The course, however, SUCKED. Very poor planning on their part. The first 2 miles were fine, I think I was around 11:30 pace which is what I wanted. But they were having a Halloween festival in town and didn't close the street down for the race. Said we coculd run in the bike lane but everyone was parked in the bike lane! So, had to run on the sidewalk and dodge people. I must have stopped at least 5 or 6 times to yell/wait for people to get out of the way. Honestly think I would have had a decent race if it wasn't for that. ALSO - I came into the finish area and the clock said 37:30 and they announced my name as I finished... I'm looking around for a finish banner or something... NOTHING! So I just stop.. I have no clue if I have actually crossed the finish line or not. And then I hear people yelling fo rme to keep running and I look and there is ONE guy standing there at what is supposedly the actual finish line? It was strange. And stupid. Manitou Springs is the Boulder of Colorado Springs.

You know, I was bummed yesterday but I'm over it today. I have no other choice but to keep practicing.

Hey ladies Im new to the forum!! I would like to join the running chat. Quick history. I ran track in HS could of went somewhere for college but was burnt out by my senior year so I cheered competivitely in college. I cheered for 4yrs and would run every once in awhile. I was never a distance runner...would cry when they made me do the 400...lol!!! But once I was done with cheerleading running was the only thing I knew that would get my body back into shape. I started running in 05-06 daily running up to 7miles a day w/o fail. Then I decided to run a mini just to push myself. So I completed my first and only mini in April 06 with a time of 2:09 with a rolled ankle by the 7th mile....lol! My goal was to be under 2hr but my time was fine for me (someone who never liked distances). I havent ran one since it killed my knees (yrs of pounding from sports/tumbling). I would like to try just have mental blocks when I go to sign up. I am back to running due to some wt gain from stress the last yr. I am up to 6miles 2-3x a week with 4-5 on other days. I just got my 6miles down to 57:11. Im trying not to run for time but I get real competitive and push myself to beat my last.
Ive been reading thru this thread for quite some time and you all rock I would like to get some encouragement and advice from u all in hopes to motivate myself to run the mini in St. Louis this April. I also plan to do the Chalean to keep my muscle tone while I run. I dont want to bulk up as running keeps me really lean but I need something else to do to burn more calories.
Sorry this was long!!!

welcome, bablou!

Finished a long 16 miler on Sunday morning with the gang. It was the longest run I had done since I was full-marathon training back in 2002; I think the longest I did last year was one 15 miler. It felt good, but now I remember why I like to stick with halfs -- runs approaching 3 hours long (or more) are for the birds! It just starts becoming too much like work!

MK/TakingCharge -- I also have this little nagging urge to do a tri. But, my swimming skills are dismal and the idea of open ocean swims en masse pretty much freak me out. I wish my gym coached multi-sport, or at least offered swim lessons. If I could get more proficient, then I think I'd feel more comfortable trying out a sprint tri. We have them down here all of the time. Maybe some day. For now, I'm sticking with lots of running, kayaking, hiking and gym classes ....

ugh - my knee pain issue appears to have returned so I may end up doing the strengthening exercises and sticking to the elliptical only this week. With the snow they're expecting tonight, it may be a good plan anyway.

Hope all your runs are great ones!

FatPants - Sorry to hear about the crappy 5K! It sounds like it was a total organizational mess...what a bummer! You did the best you could under those circumstances and now you have another 5K under your belt, so that's what really matters. Hope you've had a few good runs since then!

Bablou - Welcome! It sounds like you already have a really solid running base, so it's just about getting back into it and slowly increasing mileage/speed and getting more comfortable. You should totally do another half marathon if you're not feeling any pain or anything like that. I'm doing my first in February and am super excited! We're all definitely here to cheer you on!

MBN - 16 miles...you're a rockstar!

Daner - Sorry to hear about your knee issue! That totally sucks! Hopefully if you take care of yourself this week, you'll be back at running in no time.

I'm doing pretty well this week. I've been sooooo tired though, not sure why. I had to come home from school this afternoon so I could take a nap! And my run this morning was sluggish, at best. Maybe it's left over tiredness from the 10K? I know it's not a long distance, but waking up early, all that excitement...I don't know. Anyone experience intense post-race fatigue? Happy almost humpday!

Yes! Running races take more out of you than you think. You are running much harder than normal due to all of the race adrenaline. You may not be sore, but your muscles are still recovering. Give it a few days, don't stop running, but make them easy runs, and you will bounce right back.

Last January, I ran the best 10K of my life - PR and 2nd in my age group. I was thrilled that I broke into sub-9 miles (55:42 time, and I may never do that well again!) I didn't allow for recovery time -- kept training hard. I ran a half marathon the next weekend and boy, did I bonk! It didn't help that I went out for 3 hours of kayaking the day before the half, either. I felt fine, but those muscles can only handle so much before they just get too tired to perform. So, moral of the story, do allow for at least some level of recovery after a hard race!

And you'd think I'd lose weight when I'm training at that level but noooooo, I tend to gain!

Thanks TC, I'm actually not too bummed about the race - well, I was on Saturday but by Monday I was over it and ran a GREAT 3 miles. On the treadmill, no less! Today is 5 miles on the TM since we're currently having a blizzard so I hope it goes just as well. My 10k is in 2.5 weeks!! I need to get two more 5 milers in to feel confident, I think.

MBN you are so right about putting your body through a lot with races. After my first race I was surprised at how SORE and tired I was... I'd run that 5k route plenty of times but running it with 7,000 people is something entirely different!

Hey running gals been MIA, came down with "flu like symptoms" ... Woke up Sunday with a scratchy throat, did my usual 5k run... Then the rest of the day was down hill... I've taken 3 days off work, but I am scheduled to go back tomorrow, I feel 100% better today although weak...

I think I'll pass on the running for this week and start over on Sunday again... Have a great rest of the week gals...

Hi all,
I'm back as well. I've been in all out war with a miserable cold (pretty sure it's just a cold) this past week so I haven't been out running, but I did a short run yesterday and this morning so I think I'm back.

Congratulations to all the fabulous racers. You guys are such an inspiration.

Hey all!!
Went back to the Doc yesterday...had a bone scan done on my footsies...turns out, THIS time, it is NOT broken, HOWEVER the doctor found FIVE, count em---FIVE old stress fractures in my foot that have healed, that i didnt even KNOW ABOUT!! How crazy is that?? So, ive been told no running for 3 more weeks (turns out it is just a really BAD sprain in my Post Tib tendon, which is REALLY WEIRD because i didnt DO anything to sprain it).

No running for three weeks----uh, ya right. So, ive recently been getting educated on the school of thought known as BAREFOOT DISTANCE RUNNING....... What do you guys know about this?? I just started trying it, on the treadmill for now, as soon as the blizzard is gone i will start trying it outside......just WOW. It is amazing. SO DIFFERENT. And it causes me/you/humans to strike and land with a COMPLETELY different part of the foot, so it doesnt bother my sprain at all!! i LOVE IT. Muscles i didnt even know i had in my foot and back of my calves are SORE. If you guys are interested in this,i can give you more info about the why, how, what, etc....



FAT and Dancer----whatcha thinkin bout this weather?!?! Jeffco school are CLOSED today, if you can beleve that!

I've heard of barefoot running but I've never tried it. Interesting that our shoes (which are supposed to best represent our feet!) make how we strike the ground so different. I'm interested to hear how it goes for you!

Bleh - this weather. All the schools are closed here but it's hardly snowing and we're only supposed to get 2-4 inches. Back when I was a child, we had to have a foot of snow before school would close!