Stephie -- I am not that much of a serious runner and I would NEVER laugh at anyone starting, because we ALL started at the very same point where you are now...

It's very hot here, so I jogged the dreadmill at the gym, 5k...

My knee felt a lot better today, so I did 30 minutes on the treadmill (5.7k). It felt a bit funny at the end, but nowhere near as bad as yesterday. I wasn't intending to run after today anyway, so I'll leave it til Sunday now.

I woke up early this morning to pouring rain, rolled over and went back to sleep. The rain cleared up and I managed to get out this morning for 12k before the evil sun/heat/humidity combo hit this afternoon. I also registered myself for the full marathon at the end of August. I must be insane.

greenrunner, I'm sure I averaged less than 20 miles/week when training for my first half.

stephie, great job on your first outdoor mile. I'm hardly going to laugh since it's less than 2 years ago that I started the couch to 5k program myself!

Ilene, so does this mean you might consider a half, maybe in the fall in cooler weather?

Helen, good luck with your half this weekend!

I truly cannot see myself running for 2 straight hours, after about an hour I have it up to my eye balls with running , but one will never say never... I MAY do a try-a-tri in August, I haven't decided yet... I almost did one today, in reverse order though I ran 5k on the dreadmill, did some weights, then biked 20k, and tonight I swim... Kinda, sorta, lika triathlon

Iowasteph- I thought the same thing on my first 5k in April, I brought a friend from work with me too, it was SO great when we actually PASSED 2 people! If we can do it, so can you! We didnt come in last, but you know, I didnt even notice who DID come in last, so they probably wouldnt have noticed if we did come in last. Just doing it is an achievment in itself! And you will be SO proud of yourself when its over! I say go for it!

Green Runner: That's pretty much the plan I have decided on. Two or three 3 to 4 mile runs, plus a long one, starting at 5 and going up about a half mile each week up to 10 miles for the long run. Wish me luck!

Sounds like a good plan, midwife! It worked for me (even if I did run with shin splints - I perservered!!). If you're new to running, you may even want to consider cross training a few of those short runs. When I biked, I would just double my mileage to make sure I met my weekly mileage goals (so, I would bike 6 miles, to equal 4 running miles). This was actually a tip from a marathon-runner friend of mine that worked well to keep up my endurance.

You may also want to think about doing some speedwork and/or hills during the week to vary your routine - particularly if you run on the treadmill. This helps add variety. I know it helped me tremendously when I was training in the winter and forced to run inside!