Happy Monday!

warm up / cool down .. Usually not that much for me either. I typically start and end my runs with a minute or two of brisk walking, but that's about it. I also stretch when I'm done, so I guess that counts too!

how much do I run ... At present, I run 4 days/week. 3 of the runs are about 5-5.5 miles long and the 4th run is my weekly long run. That varies depending on where I am in my training cycle. Off season it may just be 6-8 miles, during half-marathon training I'll go up to 14-15 miles. I cross-train the other 3 days -- strength & core training, mostly.

I'm in awe of you guys and your swimming ability ... I'm just not that strong of a swimmer. I can save myself from drowning, that's about it. There's a ton of sprint triathalon opportunities here and I have friends that do them, and it sounds like such fun. I can handle the biking and running, but the swim part just psyches me out. If I had access to a pool regularly, it would be fun to work on it, but right now there's no time, and no ready pool access, so I just do other things. Maybe some day!!

I had a great long run yesterday -- 14 miles, the longest yet this season. Even though it was still HOT, I finished strong and felt surprisingly good, completing it in under 2.5 hours, a good "long run" pace for me. I'm feelin' good about the upcoming race season, I think I'll be ready!! Now I need to find at least one Saturday 5K, to work a bit more on speed. For some reason, most of the races are on Sundays this year ?? That just doesn't fit my schedule very well.

Anyway -- wishing you all a great week of running!

Warm up? I just hit the road. Cool down? I walk for a bit and stretch---I should do more for both but I don't.

Good work on the 14 miler, MBN.

Hi, Everyone,

thanks for your compliments, Tyler. Yes, I have a strong swim background; I was an AAU age group swimmer a really long time ago (we did not have school related swimming in my area). My team was really good, with Olympic team and National team members and medalists. Although I was not at this level, I worked out with these people for a lot of years and got a lot of good coaching and instruction. Swimming is a very technical sport and it has paid off in my later life, as it's been pretty easy for me to do a lot of work in the pool (I mean as far as knowing the strokes, etc.) I have to pay attention to my yardage due to shoulder issues, so I try to get the most out of the time I spend in the pool, and do a lot of interval training now. More interesting and more effective. Swimming was what I turned to when I decided to get into shape and it's never let me down. Plus I just really like being in the water!

People have mentioned the triathlon angle and for now I don't consider it, as I have poor balance and eyesight (swimming is obviously meant to be my sport!) but I don't rule it out someday. (I really wonder what I'd be like on a bike these days???) Running is so new to me now that I hope to feel out its possibilities. I do like the trail running and x-country a lot (I don't know what possesses me to do this given my situation but somehow I've managed to survive. Possibly fools rushing in where angels fear to tread, but...) I know there are Xterra events here, I have been checking them out. Thanks for mentioning it. I do feel I need to get into better shape in order to cope with the challenges and distances, but it sounds like fun.

I appreciate all your encouragement and knowledge, it's very helpful to me and makes me feel like an athlete again. That is definitely a role I thought was over in my life! Who knew?

Hi running chicks,

I am often surprised when I feel like my runs are equally hard as when I started out. Every now and then I'll have a magical run but for the most part I am aware of plodding along. It's ok, just a bit surprising to me. Today I ran 3.4 miles from one work site to the next while wearing a back pack loaded with a moderate amount of stuff. True, I was up most of the night with this incredibly annoying cough that I couldn't find relief from. Perhaps sleep deprivation was a factor. But really it should have been an easy peasy run for me.

And I KNOW I am a better runner than I used to be. Sometimes I just don't feel that way. I'm not at risk for giving up, just a little bummed I guess. Boy, I must be tired .

Do you find yourself easily depressed or upset when sleep deprived?

Pink G - I also have poor balance! Which is why the bike scared me at first but I'm warming up to it.

Yes, very. I get extremely moody when I've had broken sleep. And it will also effect my running/biking performance.


This morning I did a 9.02 mile run that came soooo easy I couldn't believe it. It was good stuff, I wish I could bottle it and drink on those days when the run is feeling hard. Today I just felt comfortable the whole way and was "in the groove". That feels so good!

Ummm. YEAH!!!! That is pretty much my life today. Lack of sleep is wearing on me. Tomorrow will be better. I have learned that when I am sleep deprived I do NOT make any decisions, I do not yell, I do not allow myself to get upset. I am very mellow. My kid could come home with a blue mohawk and I would not even raise an eyebrow. Cause I know that when I am tired, my emotions are not to be trusted, my temper does not match the situation, and I am not a clear thinker.

So I'm very chill now. But it has taken years of practice and I am not perfect with it. But I am not my usual self, so I try to stay as evenkeel as I can as to not disrupt anyone else negatively based on my mood.

Hi,

To Nelie, I'll be interested to hear how biking goes for you, what you do to train and get over the feeling that you are always on the verge of falling off?

And to Kittycat40, your mention of how you are surprised that runs don't seem to get easier even if you know you are getting better? I have felt this way myself. Once in a while it all goes along just right, but mostly it seems I really have to be working. What I have noticed is, that as I get stronger, I do get more out of each run - distance, faster times, etc. So my improvement is there, just not in how it feels. As I get better, I up my effort, that's what I think is happening, without really knowing it. So it can seem just as hard as in the beginning.

I remind myself that I have about a million years of swimming experience and the same thing has been happening to me just about as long - many days I get in the pool and feel stiff, each lap is effortful, etc. I accept that as normal, in fact I don't usually even think about it at this point, just do my work, so I try to remember it is the same for my running.

Easier to do all this, and just about everything else, when I'm not tired, same as you, I certainly agree with that.

I'm so excited to run tomorrow morning, it is supposed to be 65 degrees out!

I may have to do a few run days all in a row at the end of this week if we get a more cool mornings like that. It is too exciting to pass up!

Pink G - The way to get better and more confident at biking is to bike. I went from horrible to less horrible. And I can even have moments where I forget fear when being on a bike but it will take time and lots of practice.

Warm up/cool down - my warmup usually consists of walking to my running partners house as she's generally ready to go when I get there or I walk/slow jog to her house even when I'm running by myself since it's an easy landmark to remember. My cool down is walking about a tenth mile (although sometimes less after the run. I do try to stretch, but do much better about stretching when running with someone else - not sure why - I guess because they're better about it than I am!

I never think that runs get easier - just that there are some good ones and bad ones. I think you have to have the bad ones sometimes to make you appreciate the good ones and on the plus side, even when it's over, you know you've done something good for yourself.

Hi girls, can I join in? I'm not a "proper" runner like you yet, but I'm up to week 2 of the C25K, and I've been lurking here all month.

I'm so inspired by what you have achieved. My plan is to do the C25K, then work up to a 10k, and there's a rather large 10k here in June every year that I want to run. It's organised by my local running club, so that's what my aim is at the moment.

Cheers girls!

thx cool running chicks.

had a nice 6 mile run this am.... almost got hit by a car who stopped at a sign but didn't look my way. I usually don't proceed a car b/c I generally am not in a major rush. But this time I was literally on top of the car/sign and was movin' along. Ughhh! I had my hand on the car as she was driving *almost* into me!! And this am I though to place an id in my sports bras just in case I got splattered. huh. (it's my very good fortune that was not the case)

She, with great annoyance and anger yelled "SORRY" but I know she didn't mean it

and hi Ruth!! glad to have ya here!

Even after all this time ... runs are almost ALWAYS hard at the start for me. In reality, I know that I am actually running faster and more efficiently, but the perceived effort is the same. It seems to take a mile or so to get into the groove. I usually gauge the "success" of my runs at the end, rather than the beginning. But, yes, most of the time it still feels a lot like work. There is the occasional "magic" run, where it feels almost effortless, where everything feels right with the world and it all "clicks" ... but that is still the exception rather than the rule. It always seems easier after that first mile or two, and I usually feel great after the run, but it certainly isn't "easy".

I will be out of town visiting the mountains this weekend and am looking forward to some great hiking and a run or two in much cooler weather -- and on hills!!