Aww Helen, I'm sorry to hear your leg is still giving you trouble. Sending healthy healing vibes your way for the next 2.5 weeks!

7 miles for me today - my muscles were aching from a bad fall on the ski slope Sunday; took three days off and ran again today.

Kara - where are you?

Lisa - how are you feeling these days? How's your bump??

Heather

Leg update - it's feeling a lot better today. It still hurts a bit, but nowhere as bad as it has been doing. I'm going to run to work tomorrow (short run, with the option of the bus if it goes wrong) before deciding what the plan for the weekend is.

In my races I'm still running times that predict a sub 3:45 marathon, so I can still do it, the main problem is that it seems to take me longer to recover from them so I end up racing then resting until the next race, then racing again. No more racing until FLM though, which will hopefully help.

I'd like to jump in here too! I am training for a half-marathon in June, and would like to maintain some accountability. I won't backtrack to when I started training - just post where I am now. I ran 5.3 miles tonight. My goal was four, but am cross-training tomorrow. I was tired after three, and my pace decreased significantly for the 4th and 5th miles, but I kept going because I felt like if I didn't push myself now, then when? The last .3 I chose to do just because when I was doing my cool down, a great song came on, and I did .1 mile sprint, .025 walk, .1 mile sprint, etc. I'm actually sore (which feels great!), but I'm quite happy with my effort.

Laurie, congrats on the mileage, and good luck with your training! I'm still trying to up my miles to possibly do a 7.5 mile run/walk in June, but am feeling beat up and worn out from starting the weight training. I figure I'll feel better once my body gets used to that, and the mileage won't seem as big a deal then. I'm feeling just a bit of a wimp, reading about you training up for a half marathon by June, since I'm not far behind you on the mileage now. I'm still very slow, though, so I'll be lucky to make the shorter run before they close the place down and everyone goes home, lol.

Happy Friday runners!!! I'm so thankful the weekend is here

So today I was distracted by a certain adorable 3 year old while I was on the treadmill...I have been running 2 miles in 24 min each day but today I got a little off track. Here's what I did:

1/2 mile at 6 mph (I think it just about killed me!!!)
30 second break
1/2 mile at 5 mph (my normal speed)
1/4 mile at 6 mph (I tried for 1/2 again...but man, my legs just feel so clumsy
at that speed!!)
1/4 mile at 3 mph as a cool down

Anyways...I'm sure that wasn't as effective as running a straight 2 miles (no 30 sec break) at a consitent speed, right??? Oh well...at least I ran!!!

You ladies are such an inspiration...I read all of your posts about your running and it makes me excited to get to that point...so thank you!!!

Hello all

not sure if any of you remember me. I used to post on this thread about a year or two ago...

Ran my last half marathon in Nov. 06 and took most of 07 off because DH and I just had our first born (see avatar) in January of this year.

I have recently started running again (I ran a little during my pregnancy, but mostly walked) and have completed 4 miles in my longest stretch without walking...

I'm trying to get my endurance up again but my pace is much slower than it was before (10:30 vs. 9:00) but that's ok.

Once I stop nursing our son it will be a little easier also since the "girls" won't be as big - right now I have to use two sports bras to make through a run!

Take care - I will enjoy getting to know all of you!

I think I do remember you (which makes me wonder how long I've been lurking round these parts!) It's good to see you back here.

I'm feeling a LOT more positive today. I ran just over 6 miles yesterday (which was my longest run in a week) and just over 18 today, which is my last long run before London. 18 is what was on my schedule, and I wondered whether it was a bit far for 2 weeks out, but I haven't run as much recently as I have been doing so went for it on the basis that my legs should hopefully be relatively fresh. I did give myself the option of getting to 15 and deciding whether to do the last 3, particularly if my injury started playing up, as it was it felt good so I carried on and felt like I could have done more than 18 - but knew it wouldn't be a good idea!

Now I have a bit more confidence that my leg will stand up to the marathon I can concentrate on resting up for it. I wanted to get a decent run done so that I knew my leg would cope and wouldn't spend the next two weeks worrying about it. Relief all round!

Hello Helen!

I think when I left the boards you had just finished your second marathon - It's great to see you continuing towards your goals - wow - under 4 hours in a marathon is fantastic!! Congratulations to you!

Yo, I knew there had to be a running thread on here somewhere! I'm marathon training for a race in the fall (it will be my first 26.2, longest race I've done so far is a half marathon) so I'd like to hang with you guys!

Today's run was a 5 miler.

Thanks, at the moment I'm shooting for either sub 3:45 (London qualifying time) or sub 3:40 (Boston). I was well on track for that (and have done 3:50 and 3:52 so it's realistic), but then got a bit of a niggle in my leg that seems to have knocked me back a bit. Fingers crossed I've got it sorted out in time and haven't lost too much speed in the process...

Having said that, I'm sure that doing the training for a fast marathon takes a mere fraction of the time that looking after babies does!

Got 3 miles done on the treadmill last night. not too bad considering i was pretty tired...maybe by the end of the week I'll get up to 4.5 mi.

It hasn't been too difficult trying to run while taking care of a baby. He's a pretty good sleeper and is asleep by 8:30 or 9:00 pm so i can usually squeeze in a run (as long as I make myself do it - lol) and DH keeps an eye on the little guy in case he wakes up so I don't have to interrupt my run.

Good luck training on your first marathon Tyler!

Hey guys! Sorry I've been so bad about posting. Tom came home for a couple days from Korea and I didn't visit the boards much and then I have been so busy since he left that I haven't made it down this way. I've kept up with my running, though, so don't fret!

I did nine miles today and it felt GREAT! I finished in just over 84 minutes! I would have been happy with anything under 90, but I was kind of hoping it would be closer to 81. This gives me something to shoot for.

I do have a question, though. I seem to have developed a blister on my right foot, on the inside of the ball of my foot, if that makes any sense. Like, where the big toe base joint hits the side of my shoe. Tomorrow's a rest day, so I won't be running, but what should I do about it? It's not big, not even the size of a dime, but it seems deep. I don't like to pop blisters...nature's band-aids and all...so I was wondering if there was some kind of cushioning or something I should apply.

Thanks!

Kara

Kara! Good to have you back...everybody has been missing you here! On the blister, I'd check your shoe for a rough seam or something, in case that's the cause of your blister. If there's an imperfection in the shoe, you might be able to tape over it to smooth it out, using athletic tape or stretchy bandaging tape. Other possibilities are a sock that's too loose/rubbing, which you can prevent by wearing a hosiery type sock under your athletic sock, or just making sure you have a sock that fits snug without being too tight and give it a good tug after putting your shoes on, to get out any wrinkles.

For the blister itself, I'd put a little antibiotic ointment over it, just in case it pops on its own, then a nice big stretchy band-aid type bandage (one of the good brands...some of the brands seem to lose their sticking power pretty fast). I'm not sure if all this applies to running, just my experience with skating blisters. Skaters sometimes use a blister pad or corn pad to cover a blister (as you'd get when breaking in a new pair or skates), so if you feel you need a little extra padding, you might peruse the drug store aisle for some stick-on foam padding, then you'd normally need a little stretch bandage tape to hold that in place. Gauze and tape might work, but then it might be too scratchy and aggravate the problem.

Helen, glad to hear you're feeling better. I hope this means you'll get a PB in your upcoming marathon!

Lucky, welcome back! I'm new to running, but always glad for another runner to look up to, as it keeps me inspired!

Tyler, welcome, and good luck with your marathon training! That kind of distance still seems so far from my abilities, but I might get there in time!

Fingers crossed on the PB! I'm feeling a lot more positive now, which is good.

I don't tend to get blisters too often (touching every piece of wood I can find - I don't want to curse myself now!), but I do like compeed plasters - not sure whether you have them over there (or if you do whether they have a different name). The only thing I sometimes find is that if you try to put a plaster or something over the blister, it moves mid run and then you get a blister somewhere else instead.

If I haven't got a blister, but have somewhere blister-prone I want to protect on a long run I sometimes use zinc oxide tape, wrapped round my toe/foot a couple of times to give it less chance of moving. Although having said that, the last time I suffered with blisters I treated them by switching to a different type of shoes and I've never had a problem with them since.

Only 3 miles yesterday. My 12YO son said he wanted to train with me, and I brought him. He's actually in really good shape, but sometimes doesn't have the attention span. So, he kept bugging me, and I finally agreed that I would leave after 3 miles, though I swam for a mile after that. Still within my training schedule, but I had wanted to bump it up to four. Monday!

Sorry to hear about the blister, Kara. Hope it feels better.