Yo snarks, just saying hola.

Hi Heather. :wave:

Jo - Glad that is done and over with until next year.

Me - food all vegan yesterday. :) So far so good for today. I've been reading The Food Revolution and I am trying hard. The only problem I have with the running is the rocks. What I wouldn't give for a nicely paved trail at my house right now. Nearest one is about 15 miles and I'm to cheap to drive that far just to run.

Morning :D

It's been an interesting week workout wise. I think I've pushed my body to run so much in 1 week that it finally gave in. More than a month long hiatus from exercise was not a good idea and I believe it affected my performance at the 5K yesterday. I was a tad disappointed that I was having a hard time running despite having done better before. I also, was not expecting an uphill course...that just about made it worse. Oh well, live and learn. Unlike last time, I am not going to stop working out after my 5k. I do plan to focus on exercising regularly. And, please, feel free to kick my butt if I don't workout :kickbutt:. As for eating well and OP, that goes without saying.

I might do a September 5k. I'm not sure yet. I'll see how I feel by end of August and decide after that. I'm getting addicted here.

Jo, I completely agree with you. It was so much fun watching all these people run yesterday...800+ :o. And, there were random people on the sidewalk cheering us. One elderly couple was there and the guy was high fiving us when we passed him. It was very encouraging. I do believe time will come eventually once I build endurance. And, endurance has been my focus all along (except when I see people finish a 5k in 15 mins then I feel I'm running at a snail's speed :lol:). I remember, when I first started running I could barely run 1 mile without stopping several times now I can do 3.25 mi without stopping. Granted, I am very slow, but hey I am running. What I'm thinking of doing is at the end of each week or two add one more lap to my track run. Slowly, build up to 4 mi. Eventually, I would like to run 4 to 5 miles without feeling I am dying :D. For now, I run at a constant pace but I would like to incorporate HIIT in there as well. But, I feel, if I do it now I'll be tired sooner than later. What are your thoughts?

Billie, sorry about the gravel getting in your shoes. I honestly, have no clue how to avoid it besides finding a different place to run. Have you tried calf length socks? Also, I mentioned in the exercise thread (don't know if you saw it or not), a runner's loop for laces. The place I bought my shoes from did it for me. I still get little stones and stuff in my shoes despite how tight my laces are.

The rocks are getting between my skin and the socks. They are getting between the sock and the shoe along the side of my foot. I came up with a weird idea last night to try cutting the end off a sock and pulling it on like normal but then pulling it down over top the outside of my shoe. Kinda hard to explain but we'll see if it works tonight.

I also need to work on endurance. My longest nonstop run is about 1.5 miles on a good day. I would love to get that up to 6k before my race day on August 8th. I don't think it is practical to expect that much gain though in 26 days but I'm going to try. I just need to keep focusing on the mental blocks.

Hi Snarkies. I've not been in here in a while. I've loved reading your posts and catching up.

I got on the scales yesterday. Not pretty. I've gained quite a bit and my fat percentage has gone up. Yesterday, I picked up The Beck Solution. I'm hoping to learn how to change my thinking. In the meantime, I need a sugar purge.

Anjuli - sorry to hear about your elbow.
Billie - great job on the running.

BTW - I love makeup! I'm such a girl. My one advice, don't try to match your clothing to your makeup. Just find what enhances your features and run with it. Also, play up one feature and go neutral on everything else. Have fun. Experiment.

Rhonda, glad to see you here. :hug: Sorry to hear about the gain. Remember you are in control. The longer you stall the harder it gets. Don't wait for tomorrow but start now. It's the only way. Cuz, from experience, I know every time I put something to "tomorrow" that tomorrow never comes. I'm reading the Beck Solution book too right now. I'm just at the beginning. Let me know what you think?

Getting it through my thick skull that I can run. I don't need to stop running. My lungs will not explode.

Rhonda - Glad to see you back.

I had a run planned for tonight but got caught up in a phone call until it was nearly dark. I'll just go a little longer tomorrow to make up for it.

Welcome back, Rhonda!

Anj -- I wouldn't worry about HIIT/Speed Intervals or any kind of speed work right now if your real goal is to build the endurance to run 5 or 6 miles. Most running experts (that I've read) tell people running in their first year not to do speed work. You need to build up a solid "Base" in terms of endurance, mileage, and physical ability.

I can look back at my running log and see 17/18 minute miles (and I was THRILLED to run them, as I should have been, I'd never run that fast before!). You will get faster as you continue to train even without doing speed work. Once you have a reallysolid base, that's when you should work speed.

Even with my walk intervals I'm currently averaging just under 15 min miles. My fastest running portion every has been 10:58. I think my running portions are between 12-13. I would be happy to just be running a solid 5k with no more walking than a few minutes for a warm up

I learned one thing last night.

I ran the other direction down the highway for my 4 miler last night. There were a couple of spots where the pavement is actually level so I was running down the white line instead of in the gravel. It was a pleasure to not be picking up pebbles. I probably only ran a mile or so on the pavement but I learned I need to start sneaking more of it in whenever possible. My body aches from the jarring. I know it will get better if I keep it up and slowly increase. Both of my races are paved paths/roads and I think I would die if I had to do that much pavement right now. So now every run I will try to get some pavement under my feet. It certainly makes me appreciate how soft the gravel is. ;)

I'm back to counting my calories as of yesterday. I don't remember if I mentioned that or not. I had a week long break and it was nice to not track anything other than my exercise. My weight didn't really do anything major that I can't attribute to TOM so I am pleased overall.

I'd hug you right back! You will improve by leaps and bounds your first year of running -- so enjoy it. As I mentioned I went from 18 minute miles (and barely making it through that mile) at the beginning to running 9:30s over a 13 mile distance. I will *never* again experience those kinds of massive gains in speed and endurance, these kinds of improvements are unique to beginners, so *ENJOY* this time and don't feel rushed to reach arbitrary goals. When you are a beginner in a sport, there is a good chance that every time you go out the door to engage in your chosen activity you will have a breakthrough in some aspect of it -- like hitting a new distance, running for longer a longer interval than every before, running slightly faster than you ever have before, feeling better than ever in previous run, etc. It really is an amazing time. Just look at Billie's running plurks and the amazing spurts of progress, it is SO cool! :carrot:

The fact that you are shorter will not be a disadvantage to you in the long run. Lots of different factors affect speed (stride length, stride rate, flexibility, natural cornering ability [on a track], efficiency, personal bio-mechanics, V02 max, blah blah blah etc.). The bottom line is that there are advantages and disadvantages to being both tall OR short when it comes to running. So it is nothing to worry about, really.

Good job on your four miler! Yeah, running on pavement is definitely different. It is good to mix it up.

I'm glad your break from counting worked out well and was mentally relaxing!