New to your group
 

I have to agree with snazzyjazzy about this group being amazing. I've lurked on this group site for a long time and decided today to be brave, suck it up, and join you if you don't mind. Running is one of the things that I do for exercise, but not exclusively. My dream is to do long distance running but I was in a car accident when I was 19 which resulted in a pretty messed up ankle that needed to be pieced together. It's long since healed, thank goodness, but I have only limited range of motion. My doctor is surprised I can run at all, and frankly, I am too. Really, I'm just very grateful.

Up until about a year ago when I moved (small move, in town), and my job became more demanding, I was a really consistent runner and looked forward to each and every run. Since that time, it takes everything I have to get myself out there to do it. But I still run even if it is reluctantly. I joined the October exercise challenge with part of my goal being 12 runs this month.

You ladies are inspiring and I will feed off of that. If any of you have gone through phases of losing passion/love/motivation for running, I'd love to hear your perspectives about how you deal(t) with it and/or overcame it.

Regardless, thanks for being such unwitting motivators and sparks! :hug:

just 3 miles today

I love reading about all of the running going on! Hopefully I'll be able to join in this conversation one day soon! For now I'm on week 2 of couch to 5k and am loving it. Have been on and off with running for years, but now this time, I really want to/plan to stick with it!
Happy running!

Snazzy, curvy, and mandy and all other beginning runners -- keep going! You will be amazed at what you can do.

It's been a long process for me. When I committed to running 4-5 times a week instead of just 3 or so I started to make bigger gains. But I couldn't run all the way through a 5k in March and now I'm able to run at least 11 miles. It was crazy how things changed through the summer. I got to the point where I could pretty easily run 3 miles with 12 minute miles (I'm slow), then I did 6 at that pace, and now I think I might even be able to do the whole half-marathon. I doubled the distance I could do every 3 months or so.

Runs this week have felt pretty good. I'm going to run a 5k on Saturday if I don't deliver a baby the night before (though my best 5k time ever came after no sleep and delivering a baby -- I think it was the caffeine, and the sense that I had nothing to lose). I'm hoping to reach a big goal for me, which is to do a 5k in under 30 minutes. My fastest so far is 32:02, but that was in June and I've been training hard all summer.

My progress could just about mirror defenestrator I started running a year ago the middle of this month at our Breast cancer run {this year Oct 20} I ran walked a 5k with no prior training just egging on from my friends that I am now leaving in my dust .And for the month of my 60th birthday...I ran 10...10ks all of my own we don't have alot of runs here. Lately I have been working up to long runs have gotten to 9miles. But have been running 6 to 8 on my 3 days I do run hoping to do a 10 mile this weekend. KEEP ON TRUCKIN.... if those feet are both commin off the ground we are RUNNERS!

I ran like, 1 mile today? For some reason, I can NEVER work as hard on my days off, which makes little sense to me. I can always work out longer after 8 hours of baking!

I've been a little MIA since getting back from vacation - wanted to update you guys....

A little history - I've had ankle and feet problems my whole life and am barefoot as much as possible. When I started running (less then 2 years ago) it was on the treadmill in my sock feet. That proved too hard on my feet so I bought some classic Vibrams. I knew NOTHING about the "minimalist" shoe movement or anything, I just found something that looked almost like being barefoot. I liked those. but when I moved outside, the sole wasn't thick enough for me.

So I picked up some Fila Skeletoes which I fell in love with. Same feel as the Vibrams but with a thicker sole. I have been running in them since. Let me be clear, I still love these shoes, EXCEPT now that I'm running more (25-30 mpw), they last only about 2 months and then fall apart.

I found myself at a Merrell outlet store on my way back from vacation. I tried on their glove shoes and didn't like them. Then I tried on the Sports Arc and they felt great, so I bought them. Ran 6 last Friday - more arch support then I'm used to and a blister on the pinky toe. Then ran 10 on Sunday. Felt pretty good.

Then I ran 5 on Tuesday. Felt HORRIBLE. My big toe was in AGONY and the nail felt like it was going to pop off. The blister bled all over.

So I had an MD appointment Tuesday in a bigger city 70 miles from us and found a Fleet Feet 15 minutes from the doc's. Tried on both types of Vibram Bikilas (strap and laces) and some KSO'S. Ran their track, my toe hurt SO FREAKING BAD it was hard to tell, but the Bikilas felt good. So I bought them.

Ran for the first time today in the Bikilas and it was love at first run. 6.5 miles. Felt really great. So I HOPE that I've found my new shoes!

Welcome Curvy, Mandy, snazzy and all newbies!! Hope you enjoy this thread!

Ran just over 8 miles tonight - hazy & warm which was not awesome but I got it done.

I always say I don't love hills but I actually run better on them - is that odd?? Three big hills on this run but they felt great!!

Good luck with your new shoes cherry - I'm having similar issues - I have new nike, new balance & under armour but am still having the same issue - pain right where my toes meet my foot pad on my right foot - gets really bad after about 4 miles now [used to be 6]. Went to a foot doc, got x-ray, got cortisone shot - NOTHING is helping. He gave me a foot bad but that caused major blisters...still working on it...

Thanks for the warm welcome and encouragement lm3898 and defenestrator!

Ran a little under 4.5 miles very early (5 a.m.) this morning. Finally, after many days in the 90s it is beginning to feel and look like fall around here. I really wanted to take advantage of the crisp, cool air!

So exhausted today, having sleeping problems again, so only managed a mile run. It's also shark week so I'm planning to spend the night in bed with a good movie and some nuts (I spent 8 hours on my feet today, apparently that's an extra 1000 calories for meeee. Or maybe just a 200cal treat...)

I did make my goal! Hurray! I did my 5k in 29:50.

The course felt long, too. My gps had me finishing 5k about two minutes sooner and measured the course as 3.4 miles. They can sometimes be a little bit off and I was weaving around a lot as I ran, but that seems like too big of a gap to just be attributed to crooked-y running.

My half-marathon is in two weeks. I think I'm going to shoot for 2:30, which is a kind of ambitious goal for me. Most of my training runs are about 12:30-13:30 per mile which would be a lot slower than that. But I have a history of running races much faster than training runs.

congrats defenestrator! great time too... even without considering those extra meters you did there.

And I hope you all find solutions for your shoe-issues... sounds rather nasty.

and YAY: Nice to see so many fellow newbies! I also only started a little while ago and find it impressive how fast I see progress. So really: Keep at it! It's so rewarding when you notice you can go further and faster than a couple weeks back.

And now I need to get my excitement out there: I did it! Reached one of my goals and run 10k in less than 60 minutes (59:20). I actually did 12k (furthest ever for me) in 1:10:46. It was a trail I had never run before and it even included 300m of elevation. Since I dislike hills a lot that's a lot of uphill.

Last week I found a running-buddy, which is nice as well.

I'd like to run more. But with shift-work and family, schedules are pretty tight and I only manage to go out two to three times a week.

Longest distance to date - just over 12 miles in 1:43:04. Was going to go for 13, but had some pain in my hip flexors. Not sure if that's because of the new shoes or just that I did a little different route today and there were a lot of hills. But I think the time is pretty good!

I ran 8 miles today, and I'm 4 weeks away from my first half marathon. I felt like I had wings on this run; it was awesome! The weather was perfect, just the right cool temperature, beautiful fall leaves, a glorious run all around.

I was worried setting out as it's TOM and I was feeling fatigued, but I put all my self-doubt behind me, and just did it.

That's a great 5K time defenestrator! According to Galloway's Race Prediction Chart you should be able to complete the half-marathon in just under 2:23. Just make sure you don't start out too fast. That's what causes so many people to slow way down at the end. :)

I'm getting ready to do 45 minutes of Ashtanga yoga, followed by 4 easy miles on the treadmill. It's raining outside and I'm a wimp today.