Hi guys!! MK, I could easily put on 13 in a week too. Glad you are getting back down quickly to where you are comfortable! Going for time is good... sounds like you are getting back to the point where you are falling in love with running again. :)

Thanks for asking about the 5k - I PR'ed today!!! It was the biggest race I've run in -2,000 people so a slow start but Garmin time was 34:59 *BARELY eeked out a sub-35 according to the holy Garmin* and gun time was 35:31... see what I mean about a lot of people? lol. Took us awhile to get through the starting gate! Ah well, the weather was FANTASTIC and I had such a good time. Happy to kick off the race season with a PR. Now it's back to logging those long run miles. 2 months until HM...ACK!!!

Pam - goood luck tomorrow!! hopefully the weather holds out long enough for a good race! i know what you mean about different treadmills. i've figured out different ones at the gym that seem harder and try to avoid those..haha.

FP - WOW! Congrats on the new PR. Great job! Glad you had fantastic weather and a positive race experience to kick off the season.

Pam - break a leg tomorrow!

Sorry I've been away again from the thread. Super busy at work...and I think I had some food poisoning last week that left me yucky and in bed for 2 and a half days. But bounced back and had two great treadmill work outs this week (it's been raining for the last five days) and a good strength workout. I love the assisted pull-up machine at the gym - it allows you to assume some of your body weight with your legs so you aren't pulling up your full weight. Very cool - anyone else tried this? One of my dreams is to do an unassisted pull up so I hope I can just gradually, slowly, decrease the amount of assist...

My first race is a month away! Aargh! Can't believe it - it felt so far off in the distance and now it's almost here. I need to get out and actually run the route to figure out where the hills are and how to navigate them - hoping to do that tomorrow afternoon, weather permitting, maybe even in the drizzle if the weather doesn't clear up. I want to be familiar with the route before race morning. But I'm registered so it's official - I'm already getting butterflies. Any advice for what I should or shouldn't do in the next month to prep?

MK: Congrats on losing more weight already. Have you every checked out Lyle McDonald's Body Recomposition website. He has lots of interesting information about weight loss and exercise. I have spent hours and hours on that site.

Fat: Congrats on your PR. Great time! I know what you mean about crowds. The Lucky 7K was super crowded. I don't know how many people ran but I'm guessing 4-5 thousand. The race results aren't posted yet and I forgot to hit stop on my Garmin when I crossed the finish line (I have done that every single race this year, ugh!). It was slow to get moving and there were lots of hills going over the bridges. I think I was probably at about 41 minutes. MY goal was sub 40 so I'm a bit disappointed but I guess running in the wind and cold and up and down hills is harder than running on a treadmill like I usually do. My hubby and kids (19 & 25) came so that was the best part. They were so supportive and proud of me. My sis-in-law did the race too so my brother was there so that was cool, too. The weather held until just after the race and then it started to snow. Brrrr...

BlueRidge: Glad you are feeling better. I love the assisted pull-up machine. It is probably my favorite piece of stength training equipment in the gym. In fact, my lats are sore today from using it yesterday. Once a week I fit in what I call a pull up/push up challenge into my workout where I do as many pull ups and standard push ups as I can (usually about 50 each with short rests in between). I don't do any other strength training on these days, only running or cross training. It's fun and I always feel it the next day. I think push ups are helping my core, too, because I can hold a plank a lot longer than I used to be able to.

Later gators.

Pam

I'm still here! I've been having a rough few weeks, trying not to get discouraged about my hip and what not but I'm doing better. I had my first physical therapy appointment today and I am feeling *so* hopeful! It is such a relief to have a doctor who is going to help me get back to running instead of trying to get me to give it up. He watched me run on the treadmill and gave me some stretches to do 4x a day for 2 weeks and then I have a follow up appointment. He actually said that I could do some running! :carrot: I just have to stop before it starts to hurt. The half marathon training that I signed up (and paid) for starts on the 27th and I've emailed the trainers about my hip issue and they too are going to work with me and help me to train without pain. (hehe that rhymed) So I am really excited, but am going to be patient and start back SLOWLY. I am going to do my stretches religiously and get through this! I will cross that finish line on June 19th even if I have to walk the entire thing! :jig:

MK- I am so glad that your recharge plan is working for you! I am also glad that you are running again. I am on a low carb thing right now, and it does seem to make me grumpy some days.

FP- Congrats on your PR! What a great way to start off the running season. :D

todays run- 5.5 miles~ 44 minutes.... not TOO slow ;) Actually, i thought i was running lots slower than that, so im pleased that i can belt out the 8 min miles with minimal effort... I think i can be back where i need to be by May or so, if not sooner --- of course, its all contingent on how long it takes me to lose these 5 pounds! I give myself about a month. See where that lands me...... i dont WANT to be eating in a deficit anymore! I want to TRAIN :)

COngrats on the PR Fat!
Whats next up?

Milehigh-- sunday SUCKED weather-wise... Sorry about the crappy conditions......Hey! Was that your first race?

hey everyone. I've been hitting the gym most nights now although instead of working at speed, I've been going longer while upping the intensity. Obviously, I have to slow down, but I've been able to go longer (with visible reductions in my legs!) since I'm targeting fat rather than doing just cardio. Otherwise, I've been dieting and staying pretty much on track. It really amazes me how quickly my body sheds excess pounds the moment I start watching what I eat even if I'm not working out...

Congrats on the 8min mile mkroyer! eve, i'm amazed by your determination! fatpants, good luck and congrats on your weight loss!

MK: I gotta say it: I told you so, I told you so! I knew you would be running well in not too long. Congrats. You must be feeling great, and those 5 pounds will come off in a hurry, I'm sure of that, too.

The Lucky 7K was my fourth race. I did the Winter Distance Series at Chatfield. They were awesome races. Not too crowded. Fairly nice weather. I plan to do them again next year. My hubby and I own a gym in Roxborough so we were sponsors of the event so it was good all the way around as many of our members raced in the series too.

EveL: Glad you found a doctor who supports your running. That is wonderful news. I'm sure it will feel get to get moving, however slowly, again.

Locquacious: I know exactly what you mean about how the weight comes off when you watch what you eat even if you're not working out. For me, it's all about diet. Running and working out help a little, but that's it, just a little. Unfortunately.

Pam

I'm still here too .... just busy! It's funny that most of you are ramping up for race season and mine is pretty much done! I'm just focusing on keeping my base right now and increasing cross training for a couple of months to build strength and lose the 5 pounds that I put on during race season. It gets me every time ... I run less (for taper and recovery) and eat more (for fueling and re-fueling) so (duh) I gain weight. I said I wasn't going to do that this year, but of course I did anyway. :rolleyes:

I actually had a really great season, running nearly every race faster than last year and setting new PRs in 5K, 10K and half marathon. It's nice to know that I'm still improving, even if I am old. :D Keeping my base mileage up last summer helped enormously. I just hope I can continue to put in the 25-30 miles per week and stay healthy.

I have a 14 mile long run on the schedule for this weekend, enjoying our cool weather before the summer-switch gets flipped and it turns hot again. Which can happen any time now....

Hi everyone!

Still doing my physical therapy stretches RELIGIOUSLY and am actually feeling an improvement. :D First day of training starts on Saturday! I have a follow up orthopedics appointment the day before and I'm going to try not to get another cortisone shot. But we'll see what this guy thinks. He was telling me last time that people really benefit from the SECOND shot more than the first so idk. I'm pretty sure I won't be going back to him after this appointment though, just because of his condemning my running career. :rolleyes:

Hope everyone is enjoying nice weather. It's actually raining here today.

I am still here too. And still prepping for my half marathon relay on May 2nd.

I ran my first ever 6+ mile run on Saturday and it was great! What a fantastic way to welcome Spring. According to my Garmin I ran 6.24 miles. Woohoo! Nike+ put my 10K new PR at 71.01 mins. Hooray!

For the first time, I was actually a bit sore after my run but it wasn't my legs, it was my (oblique?) abs. Why would that be? I joked to my husband that it was from fighting the wind (boy, was it ever windy that day!!) but now I am wondering if that could be true? Or why would that be?

Now, I have come down with a cold so I am hoping that doesn't derail my week too much. As long as I'm not coughing, I'll keep running I suppose. I am "scheduled" (according to Hal Higdon :) ) to do another "long run" until the weekend anyway so I should be able to get in a few 2-3 mile runs in the meantime.

Happy Spring everyone!!

The secret to fat loss
 

todays run
6 miles
no garmin
approx 50 to 52 minutes
had to stop to pee twice! Hoping that means im about to have a WHOOSH of weight loss :)
It was 40 degrees this am! Absolutely beautiful outside!


Did a refeed this weekend. I havent weighed myself but im uber bloaty. Im sure itll be off within the next couple of days though

Fighting the urge to run more. I need to stay focused on fat loss, although i already am starting to worry that i am overdoing it. If i dont see a loss by the end of the week ( was hovering around 136 for over a week, before TOM/refeed bloating hit) of at least down to 135 than i am going to have to re-evaluate what im doing. 135 would put me at still less than 1 pound of fat a week, but thats OK. its still LOSING. the thing is, after coming off that Metabolic Repair program, i SHOULD be losing fat easily (and i MIGHT BE--just masked by the bloaty stuff right now). If im NOT losing than i am doing something wrong-- OR my body is freaked out and reverting right back to where i was before. SO, if i dont have a loss by the end of the week, i am either going to :
A) Cut the training-- as in STOP training and just eat in a deficit
or
B) INCREASE my cals and keep training the same.
right now im eating 1550 a day.
Id be willing to increase up to like 1800.
or i could not train while trying to lose.
I might just be one of those people who cant train AND handle eating in a deficit. It might need to be one or the other.

Hi everyone! I haven't been posting here too often since I've been focusing on dieting more. Regardless, I'm signing up for a 5K run in honor of a friend who died. I have three weeks until it is...and I'm totally getting into gear. 9:50 mile from September (last 5K), get ready to be defeated! ;)

EveL - so happy to hear you have gotten the green light to run again! You must be thrilled! Way to go on your discipline of keeping up with your PT stretches.

LJ - glad to hear you signed up for a race, and one that is meaningful to you.

Mkroyer - I hear you about the bloating...with it being TOM I am retaining water like it's going out of style and can't find a sports bra that flattens me down enough to be totally comfortable. Sounds like you have a good strategy though on experimenting with calorie deficit and training.

So here's my funny story about running the route of my first 5k race which is April 17. This Tuesday I headed out with my ipod and a map of the route in my pocket - I wanted to get a sense of where the hills were, how the route felt, etc. It went really well, the hills were doable, and though I'm not used to running on asphalt and sidewalk, my joints survived it. However, right at the end I made a wrong turn and didn't realize it. I ended up running (okay, walking) up a big hill, then realized I made a mistake and turned around, but a big scary off-the-leash dog was out in the yard barking, so I didn't want to go past him, so I went BACK up the hill, didn't know where I was, made a big old loop and probably added an extra two miles to my route! So I figure if I can do that my 5k will be a breeze. :)

It's TOM so the scale is wonky so I'm still not in onederland, but am seeing progress in other ways. I went to get a massage and my therapist said, "wow! Your calves have never felt like this before!" which was very cool to hear. With the nicer weather I've been doing more outdoor running which necessarily means hills here in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Have a great weekend, everybody!