Pleasant 30-minute jog yesterday morning, the cherry blossoms were in full bloom and it was a wonderful start to the day. Noticed that warm weather makes breathing harder. I actually prefer running in cold (35-45 F)!

I'm a bit sore today (Monday lunchtime); I did a mini mountain hike in Puma street sneakers (it was totally spontaneous and unplanned; in retrospect I was an idiot for not bringing snacks because I got lightheaded-hungry on the descent) on Saturday.

Big (6 hour, chains and steep stairs) hike coming up on Sunday. Wondering how I should work running into the mix? I'm thinking it would be wise to take Saturday off and take hillier routes during the week.

In good news my Achilles pain seems to have scampered off, leaving me with just a little residual pain on the top of my right foot that is exacerbated by wearing bad street/dress shoes but not by running or wearing trainers/sneakers.

Aimeebell:THIS^^ was ME exactly! Now sometimes I still shake my head in disbelief that I'm running over 20 miles a week at more than 5 miles a run. crazy the human body...amazing actually!

Krampus - Love your new avi...very pretty. Glad to read your getting back into your groove.

hello, all...I do run but mostly haven't been posting in this forum. I think it might be good for me to do so. I also bike and swim, though, and not sure I should post those in this thread.

4/6 2 mi 22 min
4/8 3 mi 35 mins
4/10 3.2 mi 37.5 mins (in the snow, as the back half of a brick workout)

Total last week: 8.2 mi, 1hr 34.5 mins

This week

Last week I upped my running to 25 minutes (4 K/2.5 miles). Yesterday I did the same routine and plan to do it once more on Wednesday, increasing my time to 30 minutes at the same speed on Friday. Rule of thumb is 10% mileage increases a week, right, so it would be reasonable to increase to 30 mins after three 25 min workouts with one day rest spaced in between?

I'm kind of new to this whole 'run responsibly to avoid re-injury thing

Rare but beautiful run outdoors this morning...5 miles! Aaaahhh how I love the fresh air, bird chirping and being the skinny chick passing everybody on the track (for a change..haha!)

Indiblue - I just go by how I feel. Seriously. If I feel I can do more one week...I go as far as my body will take me...If I feel I can't do more...or I need to do LESS...I do LESS. Listen to YOUR BODY is my best advice. Remember...it's not how much you do at one time, it's how long you do it for...consistency is key...JUST DO IT!

Usually this would make so much sense to me- just let the body be the guide. That's how my eating is right now. But I tend to push myself because I don't have any pain and then end up irritating my hip. I'm trying to take it slow before I start getting cues of a reinjury... I'm just not sure how slow or fast that means.

Your run this morning sounds wonderful by the way!

Indiblue - rule of thumb is 10% increase week over week, whether that's time or distance. Being a ridiculous Type A person, I have a spreadsheet with my planned workouts, the total planned distance, and the maximum distance I should run based on the previous week. Yeah, it's anal but it works for me!

I did my "speed" workout yesterday, which was really great then really hard... the last interval sapped me and I was heaving for air, but it was all good. 2.8 miles, no clue of my speed or time, but I did two more speed intervals than I had planned so it was good overall. Today was upper body weights and stretching, tomorrow will be an easy run. The mornings are getting lighter, earlier, now so I can get up at 5:30am and be out at 5:45 and it be just light enough to see, which is perfect. Now all I need is the weather to warm up so I don't have to layer up, only to strip off, and all will be right in my world!

Dragged myself out of bed early and went on a pleasant 30 minute jog through the rice paddies before work. I don't know how fast I'm going or how far, but I'm guessing I went somewhere around 3 miles. It feels so great to have running back as part of my normal life!

I got an injury on Sunday, I haven't run since, rested it and feel like I'm back to normal now and want to get on with things. Run tomorrow for sure! Ironically, the injury is just some sore tendons on the outside of my foot, and they became sore after a hike, not a run.

Today my vibram five finger shoes showed up and I promptly threw them on and jumped on the treadmill. Banged out an easy mile and everything felt great!! I love them and didn't feel any pain or discomfort. I'm not a big heel striker now so it didn't feel like my stride was foreign. It did feel a little different, in that I was leaning further over my feet, but not a huge change for me. The run was short, so I don't feel anything at all in my calves.

Another GREAT morning...another GREAT 5 Mile RUN at the park!

Still not really running, only in 1-minute spurts when on the treadmill, but have been loving my walks outside! krampus, thanks for giving me the motivation to start walking to/from work!

River - ouch! Sore tendons are nasty, but hopefully you're healing fast. I have yet to run in my Vibrams but I keep wearing them around the house - they're so comfy for such odd looking shoes. I think I may go to the indoor track at one of our city rec centers and give it a go there - the track is cushioned so I think it would be the safest way to start out.

Joyful - aren't morning runs a great way to start the day?

Slowrunner - it sounds like you're doing things just right, by slowly building up your running. Best way to progress and avoid injuries!

As for me, I ran 3 miles this morning and it was wonderful. I mapped a route that was mostly flat, apart from the gentle hill in the first 0.7 miles and a gentle hill at the end. I felt a bit rough on the flat part, like my legs were heavy, but then I found my rhythm and just got into it. Days like that - when I get into a mental zone and my physical body can keep up - are so great.

Then one of the women I work with, who's a runner, forced me - against my will, of course - to register for the random drawing for the Nike Women's Half Marathon in San Francisco in October. She and a group of her friends from college have registered and apparently if you have a group ID, if one of the group members gets picked in the drawing, everyone in the group gets in. Registration is open til April 22, if anyone is interested, and the confirmed spots should be known by late April. I sort of registered without thinking it through, but if I were to get a spot, I would make it a long weekend in San Francisco with my hubby, run the race on Sunday, then I have to fly from there to LA to teach new hires for my company. Oy. I may have been a bit impetuous with this one! But the entries are way oversubscribed so the odds are not too high that I'll get in. I guess we'll just wait and see.

I feel great today and just jumped back into my program like I hadn't taken a few extra days off. Ran on the treadmill in my new vibrams. It was great, went a little slower than normal but still did 3 miles in 30 minutes. My calves feel worked but not in a bad way.

4/6 2 mi 22 min
4/8 3 mi 35 mins
4/10 3.2 mi 37.5 mins (in the snow, as the back half of a brick workout)
4/13 2.5 mi 30 mins

Total: 10.7 mi, 2 hr 4.5 mins

Yesterday was a good day, although the run was sort of wonky. Tried taking Pyr #1, the puppy, for first mile and it worked fine. Pyr #2 wasn't about to run if there wasn't something to chase, so I took him home - that was the extra half mile. Second full mile was just me and my pace was better, but I really didn't find a groove yesterday.

That's awesome that you were able to jump right into it! Maybe I was more of a heel striker and that's why it took me a little longer to acclimate.

I just got back from a phenomenal run along the river here in Boston. I love spring!! It was actually nice to have to dodge the geese on the running trail- so much nicer than dodging slush puddles.

With the Boston Marathon coming up in a few days, there were a lot of really serious runners out there, which made me feel like I was just plodding along My friend went running this morning and she said she saw some of the elite African runners out there this morning. I'm excited for the race on Monday, but mostly because everyone here gets the day off for it, lol. It really snarls up traffic, so I think it would be really tough for many people to commute.