Fantastic job Momof5k!!

Purple, good job today!!

welcome julesp313 & medinazarley!!

blueridge, I like to do the inclines also good for you!!
Fatpants I would love to have a running group also, I think it would keep me more motivated!

mkroyer!! Wow you are a fast runner!! I have to ask but do you have long legs? I just can't imagine my short stubby legs running that fast!! Wowie!! sorry it has been so frigid for you!! It is wet and rainy here so I am stuck on the treadmill. But good for all of us getting it all in no matter what!! 22 miles you go!! I look forward to having that kind of endurance!!!

Well, saturday I ran 6.2miles in 1hour 11 min exactly! So proud of myself!! I only was able to get 4 miles in this morning so I have to get back out when my husband gets home, I hate his work schedule!! I used yesterday as my high calorie day for the week am recovering from it still my high calorie is 1700 but since i started running I feel so much more hungry!! But I am retaining again today, I am so tired of retaining water!! But I know exactly when and why so I just keep pushing through my thighs have finally gotten a bit smaller can now get my 14s up to my waist and just barley zip them up!! Hoping to run at least 4 more miles tonight we will see!! Have a great day everyone!!

Last week was a bad one for me on the running front... Life and the weather got in the way of getting to the park, and I just didn't make it happen on the treadmill. Did 5.5 miles for the entire week. Have to get back on track...

Have a great day everyone!

MaryAnne-

i actually have the shortest stubbiest legs EVER! :) Speed comes with practice, and weightloss....thats it!!

Momof5k - WOOHOO! Congrats on running the whole thing and getting it done in less than 40 minutes.

Purple - congrats on walking the whole 3.1! I remember how excited I was the first time I hit that distance. Keep up the good work and you will feel yourself getting stronger.

I won a session with a personal trainer at a new gym in town so I went there this morning doing strength and interval stuff. It was fun and I could tell the trainer was surprised I was as strong and flexible as I am. He kept having to give me dumbbells that were heavier and heavier. I may be over 200 pounds still, but am definitely pretty fit, which is exciting. Nice to have a bit of direction since I've just been making it up as go based on what I read here on 3FC and find in magazines, websites, etc. After meeting with the trainer I did an hour Nia class which was great. Cold weather is not going to get in the way of my workouts!

Keep up the great work everybody!

WOW...you are talking about doing a marathon just for fun...do you realize how amazing that is? Inspiring and amazing.

Thanks for the welcomes and the information. I'll definitely check out the online programs and look into books - never hurts to have multiple sources of information. Having just watched the Vegas marathon yesterday, I'm not sure I want to do it now - it was 27 degrees at the start! I live in Vegas and it usually isn't quite that chilly for the marathon weekend, but man - I hope people were prepared for it! I had to fly to San Diego yesterday for work and there were a lot of runners on the flight, all clutching their goodie bags - I was impressed how many people came into town for the event.

I think there is a local half marathon in May but I think that's too soon for me - I'm heading into my busy season at work and I won't be able to train as much as I would think necessary. However, I think that half also has a 10k with it, so that may be my initial goal. I'd really love to do the St. George (Utah) marathon in October but I don't know if I can mentally face the idea of a full one this coming year - that may be a goal for my 40th birthday in two years instead!

As much as I like the idea of the walk/run method, I find it really hard to run once I've walked. I wonder if this is just something I need to get my body used to? It's like my legs feel really heavy and I just don't want to run again. That's even if I run for five minutes and then walk. But I can run for about 40 minutes non-stop before I start to think this wasn't such a good idea! I'm around an 11 minute mile when I do that, and it's always on hills because my neighborhood literally has NO flat streets. I should probably try and find a track so I can do some flat work and see if that helps the walking breaks.

And as a side note - as much as I hate treadmill running, I actually can't run on the treadmills here at the hotel because they are so completely unstable, I nearly fell on my ample butt this morning! Won't be trying that again - I'll stick to incline walking and the elliptical! :)

So today i did day one of the coolrunning couch to 5k program (I had to put off running a couple weeks because i have a history of sports injuries) and it went great! I finished the whole thing in 30 minutes including warm up and cool down, and made it 1.5 miles in that time frame. Not bad for a beginner?? running in the cold gave me the hiccups though. next c25k workout on wednesday.

you guys, i would love to post more, unfortunately the sub-zero temps and ice/snow have prevented me from having anything to post about!! DOWN WITH TREADMILLS
:)

I must live vicariously thru you all!! Please, keep the running updates coming!!!

Purple-- thank you!! it IS Amazing (read: crazy) to consider doing marathons just for fun!!

I worked and trained so long and hard for my october marathon that i dont EVER want to lose the ability to run long!

I had some time over lunch to check out local races in 2010. I'm hoping to do a few 5k's as I know I can run three miles reasonably easily, then at least one 10k but preferably a couple, and hopefully a half marathon. The first 10k I can find is in May, there's another in June, and then nothing til the fall because running in Vegas in the summer is not really a good idea! Though there is a race called "Running with the devil" that's got a 100 miler, 50 miler, marathon, 10k and 5k. I did the 5k last year and man - that was hot, even at 6am. And it's a very hilly course - the entire 5k was rolling hills (short but even so - hills!). They do the same race in January, called Running from an Angel, so I'd be curious to do the 5k in January and see if my time came down much. Probably not as I haven't been running much!

Anyway - stop rambling. So instead of resolutions, I'm making goals - 10k in May, half marathon in October. And at least three 5k's during the year.

Um yeah the -23 degree windchill coupled with the 40mph wind is just a LITTLE ridiculous!!!! I about got frostbite running to the mailbox! :brr:

Jules--I think race goals may actually work out better than weight goals...the weight should come out as you are training and you will stay focused.

So...I have determined the races i want to walk through the year and have decided to try running the last one...it's only a 3.5K and I will have time to do C25K all the way through plus repeat some weeks as needed before then (it is on new years, starting at midnight). It is sounds amazing...running through Christmas lights then they let off fireworks so you see those and all the lights.

Anyway, I keep thinking I can't really do this, but I know I CAN. 1.5 miles today, then kept going because I was enjoying myself :)

so today I found out that running in 20 degree weather is a world of difference than 35 degree weather. I think my lung capacity was reduced by half. I came as close as I've ever come to throwing up after I was done. Weird. My Dh had a similar experience on his run as well. Fortunately sub freezing temps are fairly uncommon . Hats off to you Colorado / Canadian ladies .

My plan just calls for strength training today and I'm glad...I'm a bit sore and achy in that good kinda way ;) at least my body knows I'm doing something different here.

I hear ya. I have found (to my sorrow) that it is MUCH easier to maintain one's base than rebuild it!! My running group stayed at a 12 mile long run base all summer (our off-season) and it has made a huge difference in our fall/winter ramp up. In previous years, we had dropped back to 6-9. It has been much easier to increase from 12, and everyone is PR-ing (or close to it) in our initial races. Keeping the long runs up, I think, has been the major factor.

It boggles my mind that *I* can go out and do a 12 mile long run like it's nuthin'. Just another day. A few years ago, if you had told me that, I'd have thought you were nuts! :D I remember when I couldn't run for 5 minutes straight without thinking I was gonna die. And I'm old, so if I can do it, ANYONE can!

My next HM is Sunday ... I'm hoping for cooler weather! While other areas have been getting hammered with snow and blizzards, we are ... yup ... unseasonably warm! It's forecast to get to 86 today - what is UP with that?! It's freakin' December! Although, seriously, I'll take the heat (even the summer heat) over the frigid stuff some of y'all are getting now. I'll get my taste of the cold when I go Indiana-running over the Christmas holidays!