I really don't like the sound of those temperatures! I thought it was cold enough here during the week, but I suppose ti depends what you're used to.

Lisa, it's surprising how quickly you can build up. It's not quick quick, but a couple of years ago I remember celebrating the first time I ran 5k and feeling like it was a huge achievement. Which it was, of course, but I'd never have dreamed what else I'd end up doing.

Lisa --great job...Helen is right. I remember how long it took me to build up to a 5K nonstop..seemed like forever, and now it is my "minimum"

It doesnt matter if I havent run in months, psychologically I know I can do 3 miles, so that is usually where I start. The brain is an amazing thing.

Oh I totally forgot, yesterday was a major milestone...when I was finishing up my run yesterday morning it was light enough to see a whole block! Thats the first time I've noticed any light at all this year! what a boost.

I did cross country in the end. Between 4 and 5 miles I think, although they're not officially measured so I don't know. I managed to get a scoring place for the club again, which I was pretty pleased about considering I did a 15 miler yesterday and don't have any trail shoes to run in. I did think I was mad though when I dragged myself out of bed to stand on a cold, windy exposed hillside, today was so NOT a nice day for running compared to yesterday

Do you ever think you're just slightly mad paying for the privilege of putting yourself through that on a cold winters morning?

I won the club time trial tonight!

It's a handicap, so I wasn't necessarily fastest round, but because I took a minute off my time from last time I did it I was fast enough to catch the people in front of me, and not be caught by the people behind. I suspect I'll be set off later next time though. I was quite surprised by my speed after two fairly hard runs over the past two days. I promise I won't run tomorrow, I think my legs have earned a rest!

(It was about 2.9 miles, and I got round in 23:27)

That's fantastic, Helen!! You're my running role model, you know!

I planned to run a bit yesterday, then Tues, then Thurs, but my schedule was thrown off because I got VERY sick. Horrible cold, congestion, sore throat, etc -- no workout of any kind today or yesterday. Ugh!! I'm quite worried that I won't be ready for the 3-mile group run on Saturday.

How do you guys feel about running when you're sick? Do you do it when you're just coming off a cold, or do you wait until you're completely better?

lisa, it depends how sick I was. If you were REALLY sick (something that lasts more than 3-4 days, or had a high fever or severe cough), wait or you can get sick over and over and over.

general rule I have always read is if all the symptoms are above the neck--go for it as long as it doesnt wear you out, if they involve lungs, fever, excessive fatigue rest. Personally I err on the side of rest.

At this point you still have plenty of time before Saturday. If you can get out there once or twice this week for a gentle jog, go for it, but be ready to walk more or work with a slower group than normal. If you still feel like crud all week and havent been back out there, skip the group run, do a shorter one on your own and jump back in next week. Missing one group run will not derail your training nearly as much as pushing tooo hard when sick.

Great job Helen, and yes,every morning when my alarm goes off and I see the dark sky and the frosty street, I wonder why I do this "for" myself.

10.1 yesterday, 4.3 or so today.

Well, I took a rest the last two days because of my sickness, but today I trudged back into the gym and got on the treadmill. 3.2 miles overall, but 2 were running. I couldn't run the 2 miles straight because I was still rather weak (and I have trouble with doing that on a treadmill anyway because of the consistent pace, I suppose). I did a mile, took a short walk break, did another half mile, took a short walk break, then did the last half mile. A bit worried about Saturday's 3-mile group run, but somehow I'll manage. I always seem to!

My husband coaches the intermediate runners, so he wasn't with my pack last Saturday, but he noticed that I was one of the runners in the front of my pack. Yay! I know he's proud of me for doing this at all, but I really want him to be proud of me not just as my husband but as a fellow runner and as a running coach. I'd respect him for his dedication to running even if I weren't madly in love with him, after all!

Good on you for making him proud!

I ran just over 7 miles with running club tonight. It felt much harder than normal, I think my monster effort over the weekend took it out of me more than I realised. I want to do another long one this weekend, but I haven't decided quite how far I want to go yet. I'll see how I feel and what the weather's like on Saturday.

I kind of committed to doing Amsterdam in October earlier. I haven't registered yet, but I booked some flights over there for marathon weekend. It would be a shame to be there and not do it... They accept registrations right up until the day (or they did this year) so I have plenty of time to decide whether I'm doing the full or the half because it won't sell out. It will probably be the full, it's a while after Edinburgh so plenty of time to recover and train up again.