I thought I'd checked that it was a free one. Sorry!

I really struggled tonight. I was supposed to do my speed intervals on the treadmill...well, I DID do them, but it was truly horrible. I struggled to do 2 miles, though I wanted to do 3, and now my ankle is really hurting. I'm beginning to worry about my ankle. Taking tomorrow off, and I'm hoping I'll be ok on the 5-mile group run Saturday. It would be truly awful to do all this training and preparing and then not be able to do the race because of an injured ankle!

I ran 6.2 miles tonight, and it was almost warm outside! Supposed to get up to 50 degrees this weekend in Chicago, I might drop from heat exhaustion.

Glad to hear it's warm somewhere! It got all the way to 12F here today. I did my second session of C25K, week 2 tonight and managed to run all 6 of the 90 second segments - of course, not outdoors. Brrrrr.

I was inside on the treadmill today, but it's definitely warming up. I did a 30 minute fast run (8 minute miles). Tomorrow I've got a 14.3 mile race (odd distance!), but I'm going to take it fairly easy and not race it I think, I'll just use it as a longish training run.

I had one of those near-perfect runs today, the reason why we're all out there. It was 55F, I started about 45 min before sunrise, and had beautiful dark skys to start with a bright moon to start, a bright planet (I'll have to look up which one), lots of stars, and then the dawn started to come up and the mountains and cactus had a beautiful sillouette against the sky. I saw bats and rabbits only today, a few quail maybe. The javelinas had been through because there were many overturned trash cans, but I didn't have an encounter today. Lots of people out walking dogs. Oh and the run was a completely comfortable 3.6 mile loop with two short walk breaks just because I wanted to enjoy it. I actually added a half mile to go a little longer. I had a good 10 minute stretch when I got home to the porch and watched the sun come up. I'm eating a small banana, one piece of light whole wheat toast with natural peanut butter and a small glass of OJ as I write this, and I feel fantastic. This is why I run!!

Anyway, the near perfect run nearly came to a tragic end, as some jerk felt it would be a good idea to drive about 50mph on a sleepy rural road heavily used by pedestrians. I met him flying out of a blind dip and he clearly didn't see me, and I didn't see him until the last second. If I hadn't heard him and dove for the bushes it would have been bad, and he REALLY would have been late to work. All you IPODers out there be careful, and we should all be mindful to drive responsibly. Easy to forget.

Anne

PS: Pat, way to go on the C25K stuff. That plan was WAY too hard for me when I started. 90s! No way I could do that.

Helen, do you have another half coming soon, or did I miss something in the last two glorious weeks that have been my life.

Anne

Hello everyone! I would love to join you guys!

I started the Couch to 5K program at the beginning of August and am up to running around 3.5-4 miles. I have my first 5K on March 31 and am really excited. I am still really slow (around 12 minute mile pace), so my goal is to finish the race in less than 38 minutes.

It is finally warm here (in Indiana), so I have been able to wear short sleeves for the last week or two! Today is a beautiful day, so I can't wait for my run (even though I am a little sore).

I look forward to talking with you all!

Charity

Charity

4.4 today

Anne, I've got a half in two weeks time. Today I have a 14.3 miler and next week is a 20 miler, then the half. Although the first two are races I'm not planning to actually race them, just using them as measured training runs.

Got up this morning and ran 5 miles along Lakeshore Drive. The weather was nice (a little chilly at the beginning, but I warmed up within 0.5 miles into the run). The trail was a little icy and muddy in some parts though. It felt good to run outside, it was my first time doing that since October.

Well!!! I found my running shoes. I have been in a bit of a funk the last 8 weeks....running would have helped, but alas!!
So, the last time I ran was the end of December. I shall do two easy miles today if I am lucky!

I just started running.. actually, today was my very first day starting C25k. And I was very, very nervous that I would not like it (I tried running when I started losing wieght, but I was pushing myself too hard too fast and it made me sick and I hated it). Suprisingly I loved it (well suprising to me anyway), although I can see how when it gets even warmer running in pants will be a pain... darn my absolute refusal to wear shorts. =x. And the weather was beautiful too... it looks and feels more like summer than the earliest hints of springtime. I think nature aligned in order to make my first running experience as enjoyable as possible .

Anyway, I'm oddly excited about the fact that I ran and enjoyed it for the first time in my life, and I just had to share .

Anne, that run sounds lovely!

Welcome, Charity!

I did the group training run this morning, and we did 5.5 miles. I felt good for most of it -- I walked most of the hills, but not all of them. Felt really good at the end.

Do you guys have any books on running? I bought one yesterday -- it's the Runner's World Complete Book of Running. It seems to have a lot of good, basic information, along with some training advice and inspiration from various coaches and runners. A few years back I bought two books written by John "The Penguin" Bingham, who writes a column for Runner's World. I remember reading them (they're very much targeted toward beginners) and thinking...there's no way I'll ever do this. And now, years later....I am!