Good Afternoon!

I just got back from a 9K run on my lunch hour. It felt amazing! My time was 59 min which is still slow but getting closer to my goal which is about 58 min for 10K. That goal is for the distant future though, when I'm actually fit!

I'm running in a 5K fun run - The Santa Shuffle this weekend which is my first 'race'. Although I'm not going into it with any kind of competitive spirit, it will be my first official 'time'. I'd like it to be 30 min or so. That would be a personal best for me. I have been running it in 33 min quite comfortably.

By the time the 10K Resolution Run rolls around I'd like to be able to do it in 55 min. I've got a couple of months and at this rate it should make it.

I'm slightly off my goal of losing 2 lbs a week. Which is surprising to me. I would have thought with all this running it would be more... Oh well it's funny how efficient our bodies are.

TTFN

Anne

Hi all,

my blister is giving me tons of trouble. I did 5K yesterday though and am doing 6Kms tonight. I hate blisters.

Anne: my BF will be doing the Santa Shuffle on Saturday! I hope the weather is nice.

Ilene: It's funny I was buying supplies for my work's xmas brunch on Monday at the Innes Costco.. I hadn't been there before, it's the reverse of the Merivale one basically. But too funny, we could have passed each other and never known. Enjoy your Christmas stuff. I plan on running early Christmas morning (we don't do the presents thing until later on in the day anyway) so I can relax.

Cheers!

Ali

Hi guys, can I join in? I have just started a marathon training program....JUST STARTED. I am mostly walking right now becausee I'm recently over some wierd sort of foot pain thing. I want to make sure I build all the right supporting muscles. I use to run in another life. I was training for my black belt and had to run 5 7 minute miles. I really enjoyed it but stopped somewhere along the way.

I don't have a running or walking buddy. Can't seem to get the BF to understand that walking IS exercise. Right now I was 4 days a week. 2 15 minute, hilly miles. I'm enojoying it a lot!

Reading all of your posts has given me extra motivation!! I'm looking forward to being able to say I'm running/walking Oh - the marathon training is at least 6 months long so if I complete it I'm sure I'll be trying 5ks first Right now a 5k sounds like a marathon to me!! I know I'll get there though.

Hi all,

I took a few days off from running and my knees are feeling much better. I am doing a 5K tonight and 12K on Saturday and I might do 4K on my lunch on Friday and 4-5K on Sunday morning.

I hope everyone is doing well!

Cheers!

Ali

I registered for our local resolution run today. It'll be my first race. It's only 5km though, which shouldn't be too painful. It will be a bit weird running later in the day (11am) rather than 6:30-7am though. I'll have to try it over Christmas when dh isn't working during the day.

hey everyone. i have been away for a while but still runnning regualrly. how is everyone's winter running going? its 60 degrees here, so my winter running clothes have been neglected this season thus far. i have to say its not upsetting. my new shoes are working reat, they are kind of heavy though. my pace has inproved considerably which is something i was really struggling with. hope everyone else is doing well.

I am doing the resolution run this evening... It's suppose to be 7C tonight which is almost unheard of this time of year....

Happy new Year!

Alison

Alison, I'm thinking of you as I go out the door here for my personal "resolution run" ... Great way to start the new year... TTFN ... I be back later to report....

With our topsy turvy life right now, I don't get to exercise as regularly as possible. Then it actually "did" snow at the beach, even though hubby assured me it never snows here. LOL It was just too icy and mushy to run for a few days. And I hadn't had the chance a few days before that. So I went about a week without actually getting out to run, but I managed to get in 2 1/2 miles yesterday and am planning on running shortly.

Hello everybody! Happy New Year!

I am 33 years old, 5'8", 196 pounds, and very out of shape. But I want to get in shape quickly and get down to my goal of 140 by June 1st. I love the idea of running, and have done it in the past when, ahem, much lighter.

Are there any women out there like me who started a running/walking program at a similiar weight? (about 60 pounds overweight?)

I was looking at the Couch to 5K website - looks like a lot of great advice there - but I am concerned about busting a knee or a hip hehehe! (I am also going to start weight-training to build some muscle, which I desperately need!)

How did you do starting out, how did you progress, and what other advice do you have for a portly wannabe runner?

Thanks!

Hi Sarah,

I started running when I was about 220lbs... It can be done. Basically get rid of the notion that you have to run fast... slow and steady is probably best for starting (and continuing)... So basically run slow, be able to talk and you'll be fine. Yes you may have people who can walk past you (it's happened to me before I got serious about running at about my goal weight), but you should work on building your cardio base (heck I am still working on mine).

You may also want to invest in a heart rate monitor (Polar's ones are fabulous) and try to keep around the 65%-70% mark of you maximum heart rate.

I love running, it has gotten me into shape (still working on it).

Build slowly, rest if you're in pain and you should be fine!

Ilene: They closed off Colonel By drive yesterday so it was just wet pavement so that was awesome. What sucked was I was getting a cold and now I am super sniffly today Still I did 10K and had fun!

Cheers!

Ali

Sarah, I started walking at about 215 pounds. I would try to run short stints but would get out of breath before I'd even get a quarter mile. I'd alternate walking/running for a mile each morning. As the weather started getting bad and I found myself making excuses, I decided to utilize our apartment clubhouse membership and the indoor treadmills. I was 210 when I first started on the treadmill in June 2003. By July, I was running a full mile. By the end of the year, I was down to 170 pounds and running between 2 and 3 miles and just working on my speed. By Spring, I was doing 10 minute miles. But I've found if I slow my pace, I can do more miles, and if I speed up, I can't go as far, but I can get a good speed.

Alison -- Good for you for doing 10K!! How long does it take you to do 10K? This morning I did 6.7K in 50 minutes... I have to go out and measure a 10K loop and do it some morning... It's gorgeous out here this afternoon I'm sure it's pretty much the same in Ottawa...

Sarah -- When I started I would run 1 minute, walk 1 minute... gradually the minutes for walking decreased and the runs got longer...

Ilene, do a search for your area and "GIS". Your Dept. of Environmental Services would generally have one. You can map out routes and get mileage right online.

Thank you everyone for the running advice!

It's funny but I actually have dreamed at night about running! Like bounding through the woods like Bambi

A heart rate monitor is a great idea. I know I have a tendency to go beyond my 65-70% recommended max a lot of the time, because I'm impatient, heh! But not surprisingly, I tend to burn out after 2 weeks or so of super-tough exercise.

I am due to get a nice chunk of money, about $225, in a couple weeks, from my health insurance. Blue Cross Blue Shield has this awesome benefit where they will reimburse you $150 towards a gym membership and $150 towards a Weight Watcher membership per year. So, in January, I file for the past year, and soon, a nice check shows up in my mailbox. Very nice!

So I think I will spend part of that on a heart rate monitor! And maybe new sneakers too. I have had the ones I am wearing now since June 2003. They're the Saucony Grid Stabil. But I think I might have pounded them too much? I dunno. Probably wouldn't hurt to get a new pair!

Sweater, I'm encouraged by your "start slow" advice! And that you started at 220 pounds!

Almostheaven, that's great that in a month, you were running a full mile! Right now, I don't think I could run a quarter heh! But in 6 months, you lost 40 pounds and were up to 2-3 miles! Very, very cool.

I'm excited to get going... I would love to be able to run and not feel like I'm dying