unna-- on my cross days, i've been dancing (my second love) but taking it easy on my knee. I've also incorporated some small lunges and side squats to try to strengthen the area.

i also hate it when i find out i'm wearing too much! its especially tough when it's cold outside and your normal good sense is telling you to wear a little more.

jayohwhy: There are tons of specialized exercises to build up the muscle around the knee - I'd look it up at runners world (to avoid future knee problems).

Also, one time I was starting to develop a knee problem and went to have my gate tested. Apparently I was wearing the wrong type of shoe (despite the fact that I had bought it from a specialty runners store); The shoe was built up on the outside, completely unnecessary and therefore messing up my gate.

The problem healed itself after a few weeks of jogging in the neutral padded shoes. So, it was definitely worth looking into the problem further!

Today, it was raining pretty hard, but I wanted to put in my 4 miles anyway - so I put on my boyfriend's super expensive Gore-Tex rain jacket for jogging. At first it was good, but the weather is still just a bit too warm.

After mile 3, I shed the jacket, my arms were beet red! It felt SO good, I could scream.

I'm not doing so well with this transition in weather....... :(

:) Enjoyed reading this thread! I'm finally getting back into running again-- I started running for the first time in my life back in the Fall of 2005, and did several 5Ks, two 15Ks and a 1/2 Marathon over the next couple of years. I was "overweight" the whole time, but feeling pretty great overall. Then after I had emergency gall bladder surgery shortly after the 1/2, I lost the motivation and essentially quit running altogether :( That was in 2008. Well, I did manage to complete one of the 15Ks in the early Spring of 2009, but that was really when the spark fizzled. I ran a 5K last Fall, but it wasn't anything special.

When I say "run," it's really jog...and also includes walking breaks. So, really, now I'm trying to start from scratch. I want to be able to run without feeling like I HAVE to take walking breaks. I don't want to feel like I HAVE to start at the back of the pack with the walkers. There's nothing wrong with walking--- that's just not part of my goal! :)

I've just started week 1 of the 5K "podrunner intervals" training plan and really hope to start seeing some improvements in my endurance.

***********

Unna-- Glad to see some of your comments re: stride length, etc.. My husband is always trying to tell me I can easily be faster if I'd just lengthen my stride. I know it's not as simple as that!

Cherry-- Good job on your improvements!! I really need to work on my core. I have a stability ball here that hasn't been used in ages... must change that! Any advice on what I should start with?

Ncuneo-- Hi! Glad you started this thread :)

murfcat: Nice to have you! I used to think I needed a longer stride, but found I needed to quicken my normal stride to gain speed. I also tired out really quickly with the longer stride and was more prone to injury.

Since you have SO much jogging experience, do you think it is a mind over body thing? I mean, do you feel like, if you really buckled down, that you could make it through the entire jog without stopping? Or are you out of air/energy? Just curious.

If I run 4 miles straight through, I do like to reward myself with a little walking.... I think most people do. I think of it as somehow extending my super high calorie burn :)

Anyway, another 4 miles today. It is finally cold here, so jogging in a light long sleeve shirt was pleasant. I'm not doing a lot of jogging mileage right now because I've been doing tons of walking on top of jogging these past couple days (I don't have a car and my bike is broke) and my legs are just tired.

One more thing, I found a natural-ish protein powder that I have been drinking at breakfast and after running. It has really been keeping the intense hunger pangs at bay and makes 1400 - 1600 cal. a day pretty manageable.

Hi murfcat!

unna jealous of your cold weather! It's upper 80s here... boo. I hate running in the heat.

Sooooo I did a 45 minute DREADMILL run today. UGH. First time in months.

And... my knee started hurting about 20 minutes into it. THe same one that had been bothering me May-June and prompted a break from running. I took some ibuprofen and it feels fine now.

I was really cognizant of my stride and it felt a bit unnatural. Like I was always having to reach, my knees being too far out in front of body.

Does anyone else feel unnatural/in bad form running on a treadmill? I wonder if I need to only run outside, if I can get better form that way.

indiblue hahah-- dreadmill! :D

For the most part, all of my running is done on my treadmill. I now have a new (to me) treadmill that is so much nicer than my old one. It doesn't shake and rattle when I run and I can hook my mp3 up to it, etc. It has a nice wide belt and long platform. So much more "roomy" feeling. I live out in the middle of nowhere and don't feel comfortable running alone out on the roads here. I could always run in town-- plenty of good roads and sidewalks there, but that would require more preparation and planning beforehand-- and driving to get there ;) I like the ease of getting on my treadmill at any time-- especially in the middle of summer when I can't take the heat anymore.

Unna Hmmm-- I think it's both, mind over matter is part of it, but I'm also very much in need of a walk break whenever I stop running. Well, when I'm really running and not plodding, err, jogging. I'd say I have a lot of plodding experience ;) At this point I can't -run- a mile. Plod a mile, sure. heheh

indiblue: I can't help much - I've never ran on a treadmill. It supposed helps your foot rotate, so maybe you are exerting too much energy into your stride?

I would *guess* that a treadmill would be better than jogging on hard ground outside. It is a bit more flexible.

I had knee pain once- it really makes every run a terrible experience. I would try to figure out the culprit, even if it meant going to a physical therapist, before I continued running.

Although, if my boyfriend were to give you advice, he'd say power through it because your body will eventually adapt.

I never really listen to him.

murfcat:Plodding becomes running and sometimes running even becomes plodding (esp. at the end of a long run). If you aren't experiencing pain and do have some sort of breath, you should try powering through. Your body is not new to running, I think you are somehow underestimating what you can really do.

Regardless, running and walking is also a good combination - I'm just saying that if you want to run straight through, I don't think you'd die. :)

Cold running is amazing - but I had a slight weezing problem again today. I hope it is either the cold or a mild allergy. Lately I keep running across people who have large cancerous masses in their lungs (while reading or surfing). I am totally a hypochondriac and have anxiety that I too have a mass in my lungs, which is what is causing the slight weezing.

Ahhhhhhh.

But, it is not hurting my running, it just bothers me psychologically - b/c when I start weezing I start thinking about the cigarettes I used to sometimes smoke while I drank alcohol and how those bad choices must have caused the weezing.....

Anyway! Happy Running!

Unna :) yes, I'm now powering through in short bursts. My training program that I'm on has you walk or jog for a few minutes and then go fast(er) for a couple minutes and back and forth for a certain amount of time, 3 times a week.... and then adds more running time and cuts down on the slower time each week progressively for, I think, 12 weeks. I'm pretty confident about it right now.

I'm looking forward to cooler weather to make its way here :)

murfcat: I love the "plodding" description - it describes pretty perfectly what I have been doing on the treadmill. :)

But, today I "plodded" through 4 miles without stopping, and so was pretty darn happy with myself. The only way I can run that far right now is to jog quite slowly, so jogging it is. I feel like once I get more used to enduring the distance, I can work on increasing the speed a bit. Next weekend my sister and I will be running a 5K together. It will be the first time I've ever run a race, and considering I will have only been running for 4 weeks at that point, my goal is just to finish it without stopping to walk!

The one little issue I've been having with the running is that my left hip has been sore after each run (through the rest of the day). Are there any stretches (or anything else) that anyone can recommend that might help this?

Hiya Chickadee! Oh, I'm so bad about stretching and I really need to tackle that! Sorry I'm not one to help out much there in that regard!

Good for you, though, going 4 miles, nonstop, plodding or not! I'm afraid I can't do the same at the moment. Back when I completed my one and only 1/2 marathon, I ran (slowly...oh, so slowly) and walked. It was a great time, though--- really loved it. I cried at the end of it :D Never in a million years would've thought I'd do even that... But now I know I need to challenge myself to push towards only taking a minute walking break every once in awhile, but not to use it as a crutch. I'm missing out on a lot, I think, by doing that.

My new training plan is going well so far and I'm highly motivated this time around.

That's great that you're doing your first 5K next weekend!! Hope we hear about it! :)

Hi everyone! I've been very MIA in this thread lately! :o

I've felt like my running training and progress has really taken a step backwards in the last month because I've just had so little time between work, family and grad school. I hate this!!

The hubby and I ran a 5k this morning and I sure didn't get a personal best (35 minutes-ish, it wasn't chip timed), but the hubby finished it in about 26 minutes, and it was his first race in like 10 years. Not fair. :p

We are running a 3k family fun run on Saturday, and that's it until New Years Eve. I really wish I had more time to devote to training, but I just don't right now. I need to get in some strength training to bust through this stupid plateau. :(

chickadee32: Your body is adjusting and adapting. The first year of running is generally a painful one. Make sure you take 1-2 rest days between each run and do another form of exercise on those days (that's what I'd do anyway).

murfcat: jogging very slowly is underrated - your heart rate is still high and you avoid injury. I wouldn't think of walking as a crutch, you are still covering the same distance - I'd think of it as an extension of the calorie burn from the faster heart rate!

fozentusic: do you run in between the planned events? I think those events look like fun- I wish I had more opportunities to do that here.

My boyfriend and I did an extra long run on Sunday, 12km. It was a beautiful day, a bit cold but sunny. I was certainly plodding at the end! The stupid part was with the unplanned long run: we didn't have anything to drink. That wouldn't of been so bad except that the sun really takes away your energy, even if it is cold.

The good news: NO pain! That makes every long run SO much better.

Unna Thanks for the encouragement! I know the walking is technically fine and nothing wrong with doing that at all-- I just want to know if I can do without out it, you know? Just to know if I can do it! I'm challenging myself--- finally! :D Don't worry-- I'm being careful and following what so far seems to be a sensible plan :) Thanks for your concern!

fozentusic hi! Your husband did what I fear mine would do if he ever decided to run with me in a race ;) I hope you get over your slump soon! I know what that's like, for sure!

Unna - Yep, I still run between races!

Hey ladies...well my IT issues are getting WAY better with the use of my foam roller and stretching...but now I'm starting to have symptoms of runners knee, which when combo'd with my general exhaustion and a myriad of other symptoms I think I'm coming to the conclusion that I'm experiencing over training. I have never actually cut my milage by anything significant in between my two half marathon training cycles and I think my body has finally had enough. SO...I've decided to adjust my marathon training program, fortunately I have plenty of time, do the program as written instead of my modified version and take the next 4 weeks and drastically cut my milage, pretty much cutting it half. Then I'll been doing the more conservative training program, because my goal at this point is to finish the marathon in one piece. If I'm not feeling improvements in the next 4-6 wks I'll re-evaluate.

I'm a little frustrated because it took a lot for me to decide to run a marathon and now I really want to do it and my body is telling me otherwise. I'm notorious for not listening to my body and running through aches and pains and sprains and I think it's finally catching up to me...you live you learn. I think I'm learning that I need listen to my body more and it's ok to run less than 20-25 miles per week when I'm not in a training cycle.

I'm really hoping my plan works. Yesterday I ran 7, probably 3 more than I should have given how I was feeling. Today I stuck to the plan and did a measly 2 miles...it was kinda a rough run, but it was the first day in a while I wasn't exhausted and sore or otherwise in pain all day. We'll see how the rest of the week goes, but my plan is only to run 11-16 miles this week. So I'm sticking to that.

Have a great week everyone! Happy running!

Upping my mileage slowly, so today I ran 3.5 miles. I had a terrible time with motivation today - just DID NOT want to get out there and run. But as soon as I started I really got in the groove. I keep waiting for the day that I can't wait to run and dash out the door but it hasn't come yet.

Getting cold here. My body warmed up pretty quickly, but my hands were still cold and stiff until about a mile in. Does anyone here wear gloves to run in the cold?

hi ladies! i've had quite a good running week so far. i upped my mileage from 5 to 6 miles on monday (my long run day) and experienced NO stress pain since i made a point to be sensitive to my form and strike midfoot. it's amazing!

tuesday was supposed to be my ez day of going 1 mile barefoot, but instead i got up the courage to join a running group that i had been eyeing-- i wanted to wait until i could do at least 3 miles easily before i ran with other people.
i did 4.6 miles with them, and it was great except for the hillwork- it was my first time with hills and i was a little bit wtf. however, hills are good for me and the hollywood half marathon will definitely have hills so i'm glad that i will have a chance to get started with them early.

today is my rest day and i think i will play with my xbox kinect to stay loose before setting off for 4 miles tomorrow.

my 10k is in two weeks and i'm nearing the end of the training schedule for that. i looked up a half marathon training schedule and scheduled in all the runs on google calendar so my phone will remind me to get out and do it!

Tip of the Day!

Do not eat pot roast 1.5 hrs before running.

:tape:

What was I thinking??

Decent 3 miler today. Did some yoga and strength training yesterday. I'm thinking about giving a spinning class a try tomorrow.

8 easy miles today, then 5 tomorrow and Friday is a rest day.

I have another half marathon, the 13.1 series on Saturday and then a 25K at White Rock on Sunday. The mileage is really starting to build and I feel incredibly lucky to have not suffered any injuries as of yet.

Best wishes to all of you runners. Running is terrific.

spinning is great and a great workout. i thought it was going to be quite scary after what i've heard about it, but i think that after having to discipline yourself with running, spinning feels a little easier because it's in a class with people around/an instructor.

Did spin yesterday - loved it!!! I'm hooked! I felt it working muscles in my legs that running just doesn't. Which is great because I think I'm un-balanced and need to kick up my cross training and hopefully that will help my knees.

4.5 miles of intervals this morning and feeling pretty good. Knees still aren't 100%, but I've still got about 5 weeks till training kicks into high gear so just trying to hang back and recover, but I want to run! LOL!

Happy running!

CherryPie99: I have a winter jogging shirt that has sleeves you can pull over your fingers, completely covering them like mittens. I like it better than actually wearing gloves because it is super easy to pull the sleeves back after you get warm.

murfcat:Love the tip!! I was LOL!

Well, I am making a killing this week doing a last-minute job for the Biological Ethics Institute here - but the project has eaten every last minute of exercise time. Of course I'm still active - always walking fast around the city, but no jogging this week. :(

Anyway - it is a good week-break, I realize how much I miss it!

i had a great run with my friend this morning and it's reminded me that i should be doing more running because i really enjoy it!

I've hardly done any for the last couple of weeks as i've been more of a gym visitor recently (spin classes, step classes, weights classes etc) as it's an easy routine just to drop in on the way back from work.

The weather's already heating up down here though with temps in the high 80's this weekend so i'm going to have to start my summertime early morning running routine soon!

40-50 mile bike-ride planned for tomorrow's activities though as hubby and i have booked in to do a 56 mile bike race in two weeks time and haven't really done any training. eeekk!!

Run yesterday with a friend- about 4.5 km. Again this morning with another friend- 30 minutes.

10K coming up at the end of November. I've never run a 10K but I'm definitely doing it. Pumped!!

Still keeping up with it even though it's my 3rd day of TOM. Ugh. I've got it up to run 1 minute/walk 1 minute until I hit 6 minutes of running. Woot. I hope to build it to 7 altogether before Christmas, but I'm taking it slow, because my stamina is lacking.

My goal at this moment is to get to 10 minutes of running altogether, and then slowly take the walking minutes in between away a couple seconds at a time. That would be pretty amazing for me. :)

Just did 45 minutes in the hot sun (no autumn here in India!).

Ugh. I KNEW I shouldn't have run. I ran TWICE in the last 3 days, this makes it THREE times in 4 days. Some of you guys are champs who can do that, but I know my joints can't handle it.

My right knee started hurting partway through- the one that I injured back in May.

I have eaten crap the last 3 days, ate a ton of food last night (not willingly. I was full, went to a local Diwali party, and turning down what is offered is highly offensive. I did well in eating things slowly so the hosts wouldn't rush over and refill me, but they literally were putting food in my hands. Oh Indiaa..............)

Anyway so I really really felt like I needed a hard run today to offset a fraction of the awful food I've put into my body the last few days.

Hope my knee doesn't hate me :(

indiblue: Are you the only jogger in India?? Where do you jog? Btw, I might come visit!

I finally had a bit of time to jog on Sunday - 6 miles. It was really nice, yet terribly difficult!

I also just want to make clear to other newer joggers here - I generally give it my all 25 - 30 minutes, then I take a 2-5 minute breather walking, then give it my all again.

I don't run 60 minutes straight - I mean, I suppose I could (I wouldn't literally die), but I also look forward to a little break in there. In fact, I'd say the breathing break in the middle improves the overall quality of my run, as well as my stamina.

Sometimes it feels like it! There are actually a few marathons and halves throughout the country, including the city I'm in (a second-tier city in terms of size and international recognition, after Delhi/Mumbai) with some very good local runners. There's a running club here so it's not unheard of.

However, running is pretty uncommon among the vast majority of people, and definitely among women. So is fitness in general. I run in a park near my apartment and I am almost always the only runner. Everyone else is walking- men in polo shirts and track pants and women in their saris and tennis shoes (not kidding). At the gym women NEVER touch the dumbells, opting only for the elliptical or recumbent bike, and men only use the light weights.

There isn't a fitness or exercise culture here. It's hard to find hard yoga classes like we are used to in the US. Women do yoga in their salwar kameezes and it mostly consists of light stretching.

Breaking out in a sweat is quite unseemly for women, and walking is considered a sign of ultimate fitness for men. Most people don't really see a need in going further.

(My guy friends here joke about how cricket- which of course is the national sport- is just about as much work as sunbathing. That's a little mean but my fiance played cricket a bit here and agrees.)

The funniest thing about exercise in Asia- sorry if I sound a bit judgmental here- is the focus on calisthetics. In every park I go to, be it in India, Thailand, Cambodia, etc- men are breathing out loudly and doing alternate toe-touches, walking backwards, walking with their arms swinging wildly.

I stare at them doing it and usually crack a smile (it's pretty funny to watch), but hey, they see a white girl jogging, they're staring at me with equal bewilderment ^_^

Sorry for going off quite a bit from what you asked. The exercise culture here is just really different and I enjoy observing and talking about it. You should come visit- PM me if you have any questions about traveling here.

i'd love to visit India too - it's very high on my must-do list and hopefully will happen next year some time. we were supposed to be going there with friends this christmas but it fell through and friends ended up going on their own last month instead. Humph!

Well done to you for getting out there and not caring about being an oddity!!!

4 miles straight for the first time today. Finished in 42:38 - not too shabby. I am a total wuss, though - it was 51 degrees out and I was too cold. Soon I'll be relegated full time to the dreadmill :((

AHHHH I AM SO HAPPY!!!

My knee was bothering me yesterday, even though I have taken a full 6 days off of any impact activity. It felt twingy and a little weak just walking around and doing some yoga.

I really should not have run this morning, but had a running date with two friends at a park at 630 AM that I set and did NOT want to break.

So I ran, did 5.6 miles in 1 hour, with NO PAIN!!!!

I really was expecting to have significant pain just a few minutes into the run and have to turn back.

WHeee!!!

I love my knee brace!! I wore it for the first time during my run today in a while. I MUST remember to wear it EVERY time I run. There is no reason not to.

So, so happy... sorry for the exuberance. I'm just thrilled that the 10K in a month is looking very possible!!

Time to go ice and rest my knee and pop a bit of ibuprofen :) :)

indiblue - is this ITB you've got or something else? I've not heard of a knee brace for ITB though. What is it - just bandaging, or do you have a 'contraption' of some sort?! Great that it's worked for you anyway!

indiblue: I LOVED reading your description of the exercise culture in India! I've known a few Indian men and they were radically different from American men when it came to exercise AND yes, they all valued walking very much!!

In the German city I am in, it is quite wealthy with tons of academics and students. The joggers here are overflowing. But, when I go to, for example, an east German city that is poorer, I don't see a single jogger. I really think jogging is somehow highly connected to wealth.

I mean jogging is free - but for the population who has spent the entire day in a hard manual labor job, they obviously don't feel compelled to spend more of their day devoted to physical activity.

In addition, the bollywood stars are not super thin and fit like american celebs. They sort of just look regular - maybe a bit on the thin side. So, I don't think they feel the same media pressure to have an out-of-this-world body.

If anything the women there feel a media pressure to be paler and have long beautiful hair - the paler part obviously being quite difficult, especially if you are from the south.

I'm just guessing - I've never been. I will definitely PM you if I decide to go!

Also Indiblue - what is your post-jogging food there? We typically turn to protein powders or peanut butter and toast here - what do you buy there??

Anyway, my jogging has really been sporadic, unfortunately. I am still active, I walk everyday a lot - but finding time for jogging has been rough. I'm going to try to come up with a better plan for next week to ensure I job at least 4 times during the week.

ange I do have ITB issues and was in PT for it last year. The root of my problem is a hip issue called femoroacetabular impingement (FAI). I have a tight ITB that is either a result of the FAI or compounded by it. I have a foam roller that I LOVE that helps with the ITB. The only thing that will help the FAI is surgery, which I'll have at some point.

The knee pain is in the lower inside of my right knee. I don't know if it's related to the ITB or hip or what. A friend also mentioned today that it could be just related to walking barefoot a lot at home (I work from home, don't wear shoes a lot :)). So I'm not sure. I'm going to continue running carefully- only 1x a week- and ice/compress/ibuprofen it every day. I just want to run a 10K a month from now and then will rest it COMPLETELY for a few months (which unfortunately is the coolest and nicest part of the year!)

The brace is just a closed-knee sleeve/bandage thing from Oppo- I think a British band. But it works wonders!

Unna I definitely agree with you on the wealth-tied-to-exercise. The only people who exercise in India (as in, structured "I want to get fit" exercise- not laborers, maids, etc) are wealthy. The women walking around in Keds and saris or the men going to the gym and lifting lighter weights than I do are absurdly wealthy. Fitness in the Western sense just hasn't caught on, even though Indians are getting wealthier and, unfortunately, fatter, as middle-class fast food sedentary lifestyles catch on. Diabetes here is through the roof (if you ever have a doubt as to why, taste an Indian sweet... they're almost unbearable to eat, and I have a crazy sweet tooth!).

You are absolutely right about the pressure to be pale and have long beautiful hair. "Fairness cream" is as big here as tanning creams and salons are in the US- possibly even bigger.

There is no pressure to be thin here, but fear of bulking up prevents most women from doing more than walking and stretching. While that is absolutely a good thing- that there is more an acceptance of a variety of body types- there is certainly a lackadaisical attitude about weight gain due to overeating. Overeating is still seen as a blessing and being very heavy a sign of wealth. At a Diwali party I went to last week, where the entire host family was overweight-to-obese, all family members at one point or another independently joked about how fat they were and how much their family loved food. This coincided with literally putting food into hands/laps/onto plates no matter how much I and other guests protested.

Ok I'm going on so I'll stop. All this to say it's quite interesting living here and trying to be healthy...

^facinating stuff!

Indi-I actually like the stick a bit better than the roller, but I think the roller might work better. The stick is nice cause you can just kinda lay on the couch and work the area.

Sorry I haven't been around much this month, now that it's almost over! Been crazy busy and been running less miles to allow my own injuries to heal. I've been doing tons of stretching, foal rolling and sticking and feeling a lot of improvement. So I'm excited. Unfortunately, I could probably use a few more weeks of really low milage, but I'm at a point where I have to start building if I'm going to run a marathon in March. I think I'll just have to keep my head on straight and listen to my body and know they'll always be marathons and limping to the start line is no fun. So we'll see how it goes. I'm really encouraged by my pain improvement so I'll keep it all up and hope for the best.

I ran 2, 3, 2, 3 and tomorrow I'm thinking 7. I had a really good 7 last weekend and even threw in a couple miles on the trails. That was pretty fun. Requires a lot of concentration on the feet. I'm surprised I did sprain something though.

Keep up the great work everyone and I'll see you all in November!

So, my week wasn't so bad as far as jogging is concerned:

Thursday: 5.5 miles
Saturday: 5.5 miles
Sunday: 5.5. miles

But that's it - Mon - Wed I was extremely busy with an important project. It totally stressed me out, even have a cold sore to prove it! I need to somehow make time to jog, even if it is a short midnight jog, when I have stressful projects. It really helps bring me down and sleep better.

In general, I've been super happy with my new Mizuno's. They haven't let me down yet - they make jogging more comfortable than my other shoes. I bought them spontaneously, on sale, while I was in America - buying jogging shoes in Germany is SUPER expensive. You will spend at least $200. I'm pleasantly surprised.

Another story someone told me this week: The woman who recently ran a full marathon in her final term of pregnancy - she had a healthy baby 7 hours later!! Apparently her husband was there as well.

I want to be supportive of running - but have we NO moderation in our culture? The thing is, she didn't know if it would hurt the baby or not - it is not as if we have many documented cases of full-term pregnant women running marathons.

Indiblue: The sweets are sweet and while I love the Indian kitchen (it is one of my faves!), they often cook with an insane amount of ghee. Also, are Indians more susceptible to getting diabetes? Just curious.

So what do the contents of your fridge look like? I would always be on a sugar high if I were there - with fresh mango and banana!

Who, weird. Double post. Didn't know that was possible on 3FC. Sorry!

looks like you deleted both of them?! Halloween magic?
can you write it again?!

Right, i'm off out for a run.

I haven't been doing much running recently, but i went out for one yesterday and enjoyed it more than i thought i would.

The trouble is i'm away from home at the moment and the landscape is desert and flat as a pancake around here, so not very inspiring really!

ange82much: that sounds really hot! I'm not much of a jogger when it is too warm. I do like jogging on flatter routes though (I'm lazy).

I did 10.5km yesterday along the water canal. It was nice - I started to feel a twinge of arch pain after 55 min., but persisted and it magically went away. In the past it would kill me to run with the arch pain. I guess my body is adapting.

I think the adaptation of the body to jogging is not talked about enough. I mean, at least in my experience, I had tons of adapting the first year. I remember experiencing severe knee pain, pinkie toe problems (sounds little, but was very painful), terrible side pain, and then bad arch pain in my right foot.

I always read online where people jump into a half marathon the first year of jogging and am amazed. Now, after two years, I could do a half marathon, but pushing myself in the beginning, before my body had adapted, would just have resulted in a serious injury. I'm not sure what our hurry is - why do we need to push ourselves so hard and so soon?

I suppose that is the only thing that bothers me about jogging - it does not seem to be a sport of moderation. Sort of like cycling - it really isn't respected unless you travel hundreds of miles.