6 miles at marathon pace this morning. I really need to find a better way of doing paced runs though, the only way I can really track and maintain my speed is on the treadmill at the moment. It's OK in races when there are distance markers, but apart from that I really need the display on the treadmill. The problem is it just gets so boring, and if my paced runs get any longer I'll run out of time to do them because the treadmill only goes up to an hour. Still, I figure it's worth the boredom to do a paced run occasionally so I get to know what my target pace feels like.

5 miles today...At my marathon pace of 12 minute miles! Hahaha!!

YP1, could you get one of those GPS watch thingies to monitor your speed and distance?

I could, but running on the treadmill is cheaper... I can't really justify the financial outlay, no matter how useful it would be.

Oh my!! It's HOT!! I thought jogging at 9:30am would be okay, but boy was I wrong. It was already nearly 90 degrees. It's not so much the heat that bothers me, but the humidity was horrendous!! I'm going to have to start waking up early, early, early, because this weather is going to kill me otherwise!!

Okay, sorry about that rant! My parents are coming to visit me later this afternoon and staying until tomorrow. I'll try to wake up before everyone else is awake tomorrow to get some exercise in. Otherwise it won't get done.

Everyone seems to be doing so well. Keep it up!

Helen, I think it would be difficult to track your pace. The only thing that I can think of besides using gps is maybe determining your own mile markers. Have you seen some of the websites that you can trace your path and it will calculate your mileage? Or...how about a high school track? I don't know. Tough one.

Helen -- Here is a site http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/ that may help, find your country and city/town and you measure your distances on there before going out... worth a try... Let us know how it goes...

I've done horribly running this week... I'm working full time, I'm not used to it, the schedule is all screwed up... I've only run 12k this week... I'm going to try to get up early this week and at least go out for a 5k first thing... I've gotta do something!! Sorry about the rant!

I've just been out for an 11.6 mile run. It wasn't my best, to be honest, I seemed to walk a lot of it and just couldn't get into the right state of mind. Physically I was OK, but mentally I just couldn't be bothered to actually run bits of it. I still managed to get round in just about 2 hours, so I was still doing about 10:20 per mile, but I just know I could have run better. Part of my "excuse" is that it was a new route down footpaths in some countryside just outside the city, so I was constantly checking my map, climbing over stiles etc, but still, I feel a bit disappointed with myself. Ah well, it's still time on my feet, and it's the same distance whether I sprint it or walk it, so it's not all bad.

You are being too hard on yourself YP1. 11.6 miles is still 11.6 miles!!! Walk or run, you covered some distance and saw some new sights. :carrot:

Today was day 2 of C25K week one. I must say, it didn't get any easier from day one to day two. After the 20 minutes was up, I continued another ten minutes of walking to keep me from cramping up.

I only did 7.97K today and I feel pretty good about that, even at 7am the heat kills me!...Helen you did great, you're being too hard on yourself !

Thanks for posting that website, Ilene! I plotted out my long run that I had guessed was 5 miles and it was 4.9 miles. Not too bad! It was great fun for the kids to see a satellite view of our house too...

3.8 miles this am, a lot of it uphill, on a sandy path. I do not like running in sand although I hear it is better for the joints.

Helen, don't be so hard on yourself. We're all entitled to a crappy run once in a while. It's just too bad it happened on your long run day.

Ilene, the heat was killing me this morning too. I drank 2x as much water this morning as I did last weekend, when I ran further.

webweevil, got job on getting out there for day 2. I used to walk for a few minutes after finishing too.

I too had a tough-ish long run this morning. My legs were tired from walking a lot yesterday as well as a short run pushing my 2 dds in the stroller. And it's our first heat wave of the year so far, so I woke up hot and sweaty to start the run. I still managed 20.7km/11.8 miles at a6:26/10:22 pace. Which is amusingly slower than last weekend's 28k run in the rain (it felt tougher too). I took a hillier route this weekend and it was 29C/84F with humidity at 8am (I got home around 8:45) and almost no wind. It's during those tougher days that I realize that running is as much mental as physical.

Finished up Week 1 of the C25K this weekend. Tomorrow starts Week 2 which is 90 sec of run / 120 sec (2min) of walk. Just the extra 30 seconds taunts me. Okay, chant "I love a challenge...I love a challenge..." And then the third week.. okay we will not think about it until later in the week.

I am really enjoying it though. Especially afterwards, I am so pumped. I'm dangling next year's Peachtree Road Race in front of me for motivation and self-discipline. I think taking the advice from a lot of you to hook up with a road race will keep me focused for the long haul.

got in 5 miles on Friday - I haven't run 5 miles in a while so I was pretty happy that I was able to complete it. I didn't run on Saturday but woke up early on Sunday and got in 6 miles (on an empty stomach - man I felt week...) and did my yoga/exercise ball work out. All in all, I felt pretty good about that.

DH and I have a July 4 run (8K) we plan on doing - that should be pretty tough weather-wise - even though it starts at 7:30am...

half-marathons - While I do agree that once you get past mile #3 or 4, it's definitely tough...usually it's the weather that keeps me going (it's usually cold and/or raining when i've done mine) so i know if i stop to walk i'm just going to get even colder!! Plus, you get this certain mentality where you say to yourself - "look, you've trained for how long for this and now you're going to walk? I don't think so...keep your butt moving!"

Ran 3 miles today at a comfortable pace and then raced along the straight parts of the track and walked the curves for about...8 more laps. The speed work was a blast. I felt like a little kid!

I think i have lost my mind but i signed up for the Army 10 miler (for any of you DC people) and i am so nervous. Its in October so i have plenty of time but still, i just ran my first 10K last weekend and it was the farthest i have ever run!! EEK! Going to get some new shoes today and start preparing!

Hey everone. I am with you on the heat. Whew. Today it was so humid I could have been swimming. HaHa. I have a wicking shirt but really need the sport bra for under it instead of regular cotton.

Today was the first official training day for my marathon. I printed out a copy of the course and highlighted the distance equal to what I ran today. I figure this will help motivate me for the long runs. The Detroit Marathon actually crosses into Canada and back over to the US. I am just about to "cross-over" to Canada and looking forward to filling in enough to "cross-back". Kind of silly, but what-ever motivation works!

I officially registered today and sat there grinning about it for a few minutes. I so excited and hoping to ride this as long as possible.

SJ

It's hot and humid here too!! This morning I went out at 5am and jogged 5k took me 40 minutes... Oy, I swear I am getting worse instead of better at running :mad:

Did my Day 1 of Week 2 of the C25K program tonight. One word - whew! Never realized a mere 30 seconds more could be that challenging. For the 90 second runs, it was a body over mind thing to just do it. But afterwards, it felt soooo good. It was very exhilarating to know that I accomplished it. Maybe Day 2 will flow easier and I can enjoy the moment, or maybe not - ;)

The good news is that I just finished week #1 of the C25K program. Yeah! :carrot: I think this run was a little easier as far as the breathing/heart-rate is concerned. The bad news is that I hurt my knees. On the previous run I thought I twisted my left knee slightly, but today both knees hurt. I think maybe I was lifting myself up too high and coming back down too hard on my knees on the first two runs. I put ice on them for about ten minutes. Tomorrow I'll walk for 30 minutes. Hopefully I'll be able to move on to week #2 on Thursday.

I ran 5 miles in 45 minutes last night - woohoo :)

Will have to take tonight off but will get back at it tomorrow

Question for all you running moms
 

So for those of you with kids: when does the cycle of baby colds end? I went to my doctor yesterday, got some steroids for my nose (yay steroids!) and am feeling better after about 4 weeks of nagging illness (and non-existent to crappy running). Not 100% yet, but good enough so the sense of desperation is leaving. BUT I wake up this morning and DD is once again a snot volcano. So here it comes again. I feel like I'm hanging on by my fingernails, reading Helen's and Skinny Jean's (you go girls) marathon plans with envy, and wondering when I'm going to be healthy enough to run more than once a week again? Can anybody tell me what I'm in for? Sigh.

The aquathlon series continues tomorrow, every Wednesday until August, and I'll probably race again, even though my last one was pretty rough and I have done ZERO training since last week. What the heck?

Webweevil, softballmom, great job on the C25K program! You'll be cruising in no time. Good running Ilene, midwife, Only Me (2 DD in a stroller!!), and Lucky13. Sorry if I'm missing anybody! I'll be thinking of you in this heat. We are scheduled for 108 degrees today. And Ilene, runs do slow down considerably in the heat--you are not getting worse!

Anne

Ok so question for you all and esp. any one who has done the c25k program...

I am on week 7 now but thinking maybe I should repeat some weeks. Here is my rationale. The program tells me to walk for 5 mins then run for 25 minutes OR 2.7 miles...up until recently I had been hitting the local track and running for 25 minutes not worrying to much about my distance. Then it got to me...I am signing up to run a certain distance not a certain length of time. Maybe I should be running the distance regardless of how long it takes. SO Sunday I tried to run the 25 minutes like they suggest and see if I can up with the right distance...I was right at 2 mi. So now I am all bummed that my progress may have been superficial...When it makes a suggestion like 25 minutes OR 2.7 mi which should I do as a beginner? Oh and as far doing 2.7 IN 25 minutes - I am laughing already

StephieWilliams: I am going to keep checking back and hopefully someone will have an answer regarding time vs distance. I'm in Week 2 (only by one day) and I've been doing the time thing, but I know starting Wk 3 there is a choice between the two.

wndranne: It's been awhile since I've had "snot volcanoes" :lol: at my house. But, I do know that *this to shall pass*. Do what you can without too much guilt. Little ones are only little for awhile, then they grow up to drive your cars, eat your food, spend your money. :hug:

webweevil: Sorry to hear about your knees! Take care of them. Now that I am beginning to enjoy running that has become my new fear.

To everyone else: Keep on running, but be cautious in this heat!

Stephie and softballmom, I did C25k by time only. Generally, the recommendation is to pick time OR distance and follow it all the way through. If your 30 minutes doesn't equal 5k by the end (not at all unusual) and you want to run 5k, just add 5 minutes per week after the 8 week program until you're running the full distance.

I think I'm getting an extra day off today because of dh's work schedule, needed grocery shopping, and a little end of year party at ds's school.

Anne, I'm sorry I can't help you with your cycle of colds. Ds didn't even get a cold until he was around a year. The girls got sick once or twice as babies, but not one after another. But, none of them were in daycare. I hope it gets better soon.

I'd agree, work on the basis of time at this stage and then if you're not covering 5k add to it when you've got to 30 minutes. If you've always been building up by distance then carry on with that, but don't make a big jump midway through - you should only be increasing your runs by a small amount each time so if you're going to have to run for 10 extra minutes to cover the distance rather than 5 extra to get the right time, that's too much of a jump.

I ran a surprisingly good 4 miles this morning which perked me up a bit. I was meant to be doing intervals on the treadmill but they were all taken so I just went outside and ran at a comfortable pace, and ended up going a fair bit faster than my comfortable runs have been recently. Tomorrow I'm doing 7 miles before work, I've finally sorted myself out with some energy drink powder on the basis my mileage is increasing, so I'm going to try that tomorrow and see whether it makes a difference to my run (I usually run before breakfast so that bit of energy might come in handy!)

Back on Track!
 

I managed to get up early and head out for just over 14km at marathon pace. The oppressive heat of the past few days has broken and I enjoyed running in the cool weather, sun and light wind. I love days with sun, warm temperatures and cool nights.

Helen, let me know how the energy drink works for you. I don't use them in training since they seem to upset my stomach, but I drink gatorade race water stations without any problems. I've been thinking that I should try out gels on a long run or two because a few tiny cups of gatorade might not be enough for the full marathon. The marathon I'm running also has banana and orange stations after the 1/2 way point, but I don't think my stomach would appreciate solid food while running for around 4 hours.

Hmm..I don't think I am quite at the point where I need to worry about fueling myself yet. In fact I am still carrying some extra around on my body for "emergency purposes". Ha Ha. Actually, I know replenishing will be a problem for me at longer distances since Gatorade and energy drinks tend to upset me. I think I am going to try and water them down and work my way up to full concentration.

Stephie- I think the idea of continuing to add time after the C25k is over is the way to go. That is what I did when I completed the program. Lord knows at 30 minutes I wasn't close to finishing a full 5k in distance! Just stick to the 10% rule. Add 10% to your time each week, about 3 minutes, until you reach the full distance. That will help prevent you from overdoing and increasing too fast once the C25K is over.

Miaka- Keep up the good work you will be back in no time!

I was a bit nervous of the energy drink, I had some during my last half marathon from a water station and it seemed to upset my stomach a bit. Plus all I really drink is water and wine, so energy drinks sometimes taste really artificial. I managed to stomach it OK and it seemed to help as I had a really good run (7.6 miles at just over marathon pace) and felt strong til the end. I was only aiming for 7 but didn't see the mile marker for the distance I intended to turn round at. I'm going to try the energy drink again on Sunday when I have 14 miles planned as I'm sure I'll be in the zone where I really need it by then (7 miles is a distance I've done without quite a few times, but I wanted to get used to it on a shorter run).

4.4 miles tomorrow morning probably. I'm finding sticking to the training schedule far easier than I expected, although this will be my most intensive week of running ever and it only gets harder from here!

I can't stomach gatorade on long runs, but I've had good luck with energy gels. For really long runs, 18+ miles or so (ah, memories) I carry a little flask of the stuff, so I can get just a squirt of gel when I need it and distribute it more evenly through the run. I usually have a plan, like one squirt and one drink every mile or so. I'll usually start adding gels if I'm running more than an hour and a half. I've bonked hard without it before, it isn't pretty. Carbs are our friends.

Anne

Did my aquathlon tonight. The car said it was 105 degrees when I left home, monsoon thunderstorm blew through on my way there, and it was 75 when I registered to race. The storm did move out in time to race, and it was so much cooler than last week--almost pleasant. But my times were almost identical to last week, a 16:54 swim, 1:15 transition, and 41 min 5K run.

Anne

I've just been out for my 4.4 miles, and no need to complain about the heat, it's grey, rainy, windy and pretty chilly. Where has summer gone? Still, I managed a half decent run and now I get to rest til Saturday :)

I have a question re: C25K program (coolrunning.com) for you experienced runners and graduates (or near) of the program.

I completed second day into week 2 which is alternating 90 sec run with 2min walk. I am finding this week much more intense than last week. The extra 30sec seems to be playing with my head. I'm doing it completely and only experiencing the good type of muscle throb and morning stiffness, so I think I am physically up to it. My question is should I repeat this week before moving on to next week, which alternates two reps of 90 sec jog/90 sec walk and 3min jog/3min walk, if I am still having trouble getting this week down? Or, should I persevere and work on my body over mind control? Which from reading some of your posts, and from my own humble thinkings, is a part of running longer races.

I appreciate all the advice....

Wndranne, sounds like gorgeous weather to race in! I love Tuscon. It is one of the few other places I would consider living besides my hometown...and maybe New Zealand.

YP1, Summer is here with all of its heat and dryness. I'll try to send some your way, if you send some rain my way. We could use it.

Softballmom, I don't know a lot about the program you are doing, but if you ran 60 sec at a time last week and 90 seconds seems too much, could you run for 75 seconds at a time this week? Or alternate 60 seconds with one run "burst" and then walk and then 90 seconds with the next run "burst"? I may be totally misunderstanding your program. I remember when it was TORTURE to run down the straight side of an oval track...it gets better, I promise! You can do it!!

Got in another 5 miles - this time in 44:15 - woohoo!!! Now if only the needle on the scale would reflect in this :(

Softballmom- Hard call to make. I don't think either way is wrong as long as you are just generally sore and a specific body part is bothering you. I say give it a try. If the 3 min run seems too much maybe you could try making up your own intermediate week with all 90 sec run/90 sec walk intervals? That way you are still moving forward but its not as intense.

Thank you ladies for all the great advice. I have signed up for a 5k but it is not until Aug 6th so I will continue to do the c25k by time and just keep adding to it slowly after I am finished with the actual program. So on to week 7 it is.

miaka - welcome back, great job on getting your run in .

only me - 14km, you go girl :)

skinny jeans - yeah I think that is what I am going to do, just add little bits of time to the end. Was not sure how much to add so thanks for the 10% suggestion.

helen - which energy drink were you trying?

anne - great job on your aquathlon even in light of the storm.

softball mom - I would try it. I almost always remember looking at the next week and being like there is no way I can do that. Mental roadblocks...you can do it. If the 90 seconds is hard then just slow down a bit. You will feel like you are going ridiculously slow but it will allow you to continue on the program.

Ran about 6 miles this am. 73 minutes of running. I may be slow, but I can keep going for a lonnng time.

I'm on Lucozade at the moment, it was on special offer.

Softballmom--I also think that you should go ahead and try the next week. You can do it!!!

I've been taking it easy lately...running two or three miles here and there. I know it's just excuses, but work and the heat have been really getting to me. But...I took a day of vacation tomorrow to enjoy the 80 degree temperatures (whew---10 degrees cooler than what we've had and far less humidity!), and I hope to get a long run in. I'm dogsitting for a co-worker. Shadow loves to run, but she isn't in the best shape. The two of us will go for 20 minutes or so, then I'll drop her off to continue on. It's fun to run with a dog too!!

softballmom, go ahead and give it a try. You can always drop back if you need to. Sometimes we surprise ourselves by what we can do.

Anne