Virtual Running Buddies - Week of April 18

[Kathy B]

I'll kick things off this week. 45 min on the TM plus weights yesterday. Yoga today, and I have plans for the CC again tomorrow. Had to go buy my own headphones yesterday so I can watch ER or whatever while I run.

Seathyme, I sent you a PM regarding the dog medication. In the meantime, hope you aren't having stormy weather!

Hi, Robyn! Good for you for getting something in, even if it wasn't "great". At least it was SOMETHING! Has Colorado reached bike riding weather yet?
DD and I went to Crested Butte to ski again back in March, and the amount of snow was amazing. One woman told me she had been skiing there for 30 years and had never seen anything like it before!

Good job on the stadiums, Carrie, and I hope your beautiful weather sticks around for your long run this weekend.

Gotta get moving...I am supposed to go hear DS's jazz group from school at a contest this afternoon. It is down in the KC jazz area (18th & Vine), and I should get to hear some other groups as well. Looking forward to it!

Hi to everyone else, and wishing you all a good weekend!

[Robyn1007]

We are reaching cycling weather. Actually, the hard core people have been doing it for months. I'm a fair weather cycler but plan to get out tomorrow as it's supposed to be mid-70s.

So, I have a question for you guys. The couch to 5k program says never to run on consecutive days. My problem is right now weather is so unpredictable and my motivation is about the same. Is it terrible if I'm not hurting (knee feels great since I have a new brace and LOVE it, muscles aren't sore) for me to go out again today? :confused:

[VictoriaL]

Hi guys!

I can report a strong 35 minutes on the EB this morning. I sat upright on the seat and pumped my arms rather than using the moving handlebar, thereby pretending that I was running. The view from my window was so gorgeous (blue skies, flowering trees and shrubs, ...), I had the fan on so there was a "breeze", and it wasn't too hard to make-believe!

The "rehab" is going well. Les, that band exercise is a bit harder than I had anticipated. Then there are the setbacks-- such as when I was pushing a wheelbaroow thru the yard the other day and, with my "bad" foot, stepped in a hole! Saw stars for a bit... :( But all is well enough now.

KathyB, enjoy your jazz concert this afternoon!

Robyn, I asked the question about running on consecutive days when I first started posting regularly on this thread and was told that it's okay. Go out and enjoy that weather! :)

Hope that everyone else has a great weekend. We are packing up to go to the lake house thru Monday, and DH has some sort of birthday surprise in store for me, so I must get moving.

[TKay]

Hi all. I'm still alive and still around. Forgive me for my sudden absence. Work has been crazy busy and something had to give. I chose computer time.

I don't have much working out to report, but I just wanted to pop in and say hello. I hope you are all doing well. I'm still in a work crunch and to tell you the truth, the break from the computer has been good for me. It's amazing how much you can get done when you're not sucked into that "just one more post" thing. :p

Happy weekend! I'll try to lurk and catch up on what everyone's been up to.

[ktg0930]

Hey TKay, good to see you! Hope your work crunch eases soon.

Carrie--I looked at your blog yesterday and the cashew korma looks really good. I'm going to have to try that soon. I'm happy our temps are back in the 60s and 70s--the 30s were not good. This is perfect weather and pretty soon, it will be hot.

Robyn--hope you have a nice bike ride tomorrow.

Vicci--have a nice weekend at the lake and a great birthday. I think you mentioned recently that it is a milestone birthday. I have one of those coming up this year too. I love your virtual outside run!

KathyB--I can't believe all the activities you wrote about with your kids before the end of the school year. I don't know how you have time for it all, plus work and exercise. The jazz concert sounds like it will be a lot of fun.

I just finished a 4 mi run on "my" golf course. It's a perfect day today and I'm a little sore in the shoulders from my power walk yesterday. Passover starts tomorrow night so we are going to a seder tomorrow evening. I have to do some more shopping for matzo because both stores I went to last night were out, except for the giant packages and there are only 2 of us.

Have a great weekend everyone!

[Leslie Ferguson]

The "rehab" is going well. Les, that band exercise is a bit harder than I had anticipated. Then there are the setbacks-- such as when I was pushing a wheelbaroow thru the yard the other day and, with my "bad" foot, stepped in a hole! Saw stars for a bit... :( But all is well enough now.
Good news that you're doing well with your rehab. Yep, the band is harder than one might expect. I know that it is always hard to get back to it when I've laid off. I chuckle about your setback - only because I've been there and can sympathize with your plight. Hopefully it isn't too much of a setback (it sounds like it wasn't) and you're back at it again with vigor soon.
Hope that everyone else has a great weekend. We are packing up to go to the lake house thru Monday, and DH has some sort of birthday surprise in store for me, so I must get moving.
I hope you have a great weekend and a neat Birthday surprise.

I'm between classes (25 minutes until the 3 hour class starts) then we're off to Richmond for tomorrow. Think of me and I hope that I come out unscathed.

Happy trails and a great weekend to all.
Les

[Natasha]

Hi,

Kathy, thanks for starting us off this week. Enjoy the concert!

ktg, nice work on your latest run. Have a wonderful Seder dinner!

Vicci, have a FABULOUS birthday weekend at your lake house!!! :D

Okay, I have to check out Carrie's blog. Cashew korma... getting hungry... ;)

Robyn, did you get in your run today?

Les, hope all goes well at Richmond!! Good luck!

I was actually craving a bike ride this morning - probably the first time since 2002 that I've actually *craved* a ride. ;) I don't think I'll get out today, though, as I have a scheduled day off (have trained 8 days in a row), and we are heading out for dinner tonight. Very excited about that!!!

Best to all for the weekend.

[Robyn1007]

Robyn, did you get in your run today?


I did! :D It felt better than yesterday and I did a bit more running than yesterday by adding a couple of run/walk cycles although the total workout time was the same. But, really I'm good with total time out being 20-25 minutes until I get up to all running and then I'll start working on increasing total time.

Vicci, happy birthday!

Les, enjoy Richmond.

Natasha, hope you had a good night out.

Kathy, hope the jazz contest went well.

[SusanMac]

Hi gang! I've been a bit MIA this week due to busy work. Next week will be worse, as I hit the road for San Francisco. I used to live there & look forward to visiting again, even though I'm not tacking on any extra vacation time (just one evening) Definitely taking my running shoes!

Robyn - Absolutely you can run back to back days. Run 5 days in a row if it feels good. I think the C25K program just says that to prevent injury, burnout, soreness, etc. As long as you're safe & listen to your body, there's no problem running consecutive days.

Vicci - Happy bday!

Les - Good luck at the tournament this weekend! (I think I have the correct weekend now)

TKay - Good to hear from you. Glad that work and the PC-hiatus are treating you well.

Seathyme - We expect a full spectator report for both the Olympic Trials & Boston Marathon!

Meg - Are you still around?? Good luck this Monday.

I'm planning on a run today and a bike ride Sun.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

[Natasha]

Hi everyone,

Robyn, nice job on the run!!

Susan, enjoy SF.

It was a *gorgeous* day out so we went for a hike this morning and a trail ride in the afternoon. It had been quite a while since I'd gone trail riding. Good fun. My favourite part was riding through a swampy section :D (I won't be doing that in a couple of weeks when mosquito season starts in earnest, believe me!! Right now it wasn't gross - it was just hard-packed sand, mud, and lots of water.)

Later we did yardwork. Now for dinner and a beer!

Oh, forgot to mention. When we drove to the hike spot and to the trailhead, I'd say the traffic on the country roads was about 85% bike, 15% car. We probably saw 60-70 riders, total - solo, couples, small groups, larger groups. It was great to see all the fellow riders out enjoying the day!

Oh yes - I can't do beer with exercise or right afterwards, either. I couldn't believe it when at mile 20 of the Philly marathon there was a beer table, and people were drinking it. And quite a bit before noon, too :eek: If it works for 'em, cool, but I won't be imbibing on a race course anytime soon (read: ever).

Take care, all!

[Robyn1007]

Wow, drinking in the middle of a race? Yeah, no way I could do that. Your ride sounds fantastic Natasha!

Susan, I hope everything going on at work goes well.

I had planned to ride my bike today but a stressfull situation last night has sent pain screaming into my neck so I'm going to rest today and try to ride or run tomorrow morning.

[seathyme]

Susan, Sunday morning Olympic trials are not well-timed for parish ministers.;) But it will be fun thinking of those speedy women zipping around downtown Boston for 2(!) hours. Have a great time in SF. As you know, I love to run there. Where will you be staying?

Vicci, happy milestone birthday!!!

Robyn, great to see you back. Like probably everyone here, I totally empathize with setbacks. In some ways I think figuring out how to handle them is the most important/challenging part of becoming a runner.

Hi to Les, Nat, KathyB, Kathy/ktg, TKay (great to "see" you!), Carrie and everyone else.

I can report more power-walking than running in the last few days, but am keeping the mileage up, and I had a chance to walk with a friend yesterday which was great. So no complaints. Happy weekend, all.

[aggie94]

Hey all,

Sorry (again) for the prolonged absence. Seems I pop in for a week or two only to get crazy busy with work again. I sound like a broken record. :rolleyes:

It sounds like most people are finally getting nice weather to be able to get outdoors! Unfortunately for us, we are heating up quickly and will soon have to move indoors or start getting up way early to run. I took advantage of a break in the heat today to get out for a 6-mile run this morning, and I didn't even have to get up early to do it. At 10:00 a.m., when I was finishing up my run, it was barely cracking 70°. Nice! Too bad that won't be the case for much longer.

This morning was my first run in a long time (at least 2 weeks, probably closer to 3) and was my attempt to jump-start my fitness regimen again, which has taken a backseat lately to other priorities. Of course, DH & I both submitted our lottery applications for the NYC marathon last week, and should we get in, knowing that's on the horizon should be jump start enough!

Susan, I thought of you last weekend when Ironman Arizona was going on here. It's always so motivating and inspiring, and last year I had said I would start training in 2008 for IM AZ in 2009. Well, here we are a year out from the 2009 race, and once again, I'm thinking "Am I crazy? No way!" We'll see. If my work life would ever calm down, it might be a possibility.

Eva

[Leslie Ferguson]

Susan - You are right - today was the day that we played Ultimate in Richmond and it was a blast! (More info at the end.) I hope you have a safe trip to SF and like you, I've always loved that city and my favorite places there are Giradelli Square, Coit Tower, China Town, and Little Italy. I hope the weather supports your running when you're there.
Robyn - Good work on your running - we've all been there and you'll be fine, getting into the swing and bouncing back from setbacks it one of the hardest things for runners to do.
Natasha - It sounds like you and DH weren't the only ones out and that sounds like a traffic jam of bikers. ;) I hope you had a good dinner last night.
Seathyme - One of the steadfast VRB making her walks and keeping her mileage up. Good going!
Hey Aggie it's good to see you back in the running thick and whenever you're here that's great. I hope that you get into NYC - friends who have done that race said it was an experience (40,000-50,000 runners in a marathon :eek: ).

Today was a lot of fun and mostly successful for me (didn't get too terribly beat up and didnt' get significantly injured). My team had a perfect record - 0 and 3. :eek: But in our defense, we played against two powerhouse teams who play at least 2-3 hours a week and probably more than that (Princeton and Union - Richmond). We were somewhat hampered because by our 3rd game (when it was ~85 out) we only had one sub and I'd say that of the 8 people who were there maybe 3 were in decent or better condition. We ended up losing our first game in the last 2 minutes - went from leading by 1 to tied to behind before we knew it and ended up losing in the last 45-60 seconds of the game. I did well and actually threw a goal against the team that should have won the tournament (we left before the Championship game so I don't know if they won). I got a little sun burned and some of my arthritis is talking none too politely to me. The minor injury is an aggrivation of my ankle - nothing terrible and probably hasn't swollen so I bet I'm in the clear (I tried to occupy the same area in the time-space continum with a good sized guy in our second game and I lost and came down a little funny on my right ankle). Still doing a little damage control with ice and aspirin but should be in the clear.

Time for bed - this puppy is a little beat and definitely needs some sleep after sleeping on an air matress last night.

See you tomorrow and have a great weekend,
Les

[SusanMac]

I'm watching the women's Oly trials right now. Anyone else? Too bad it's not on TV, but the web coverage is great. I mainly have it on b/c I'm at my desk working - oi. It looks like a really beautiful day. Cool to see Joan Benoit Samuelson out there, too.

Seathyme - Oops -- forgot about the church thing. Couldn't you claim a day off for the whole congregation? ;-)

Les - So glad you guys had fun! Nice job on the 'perfect' record.

Aggie - I was wondering if you went out to watch IM AZ. Keeping our fingers crossed for your NY lottery.

Yesterday's run felt great. I hadn't worked out since Tues. We're headed out for a ride in a few hours (after I get my work done). It will only be my 2nd time riding outdoors. Read: sore saddle, sore quads!!

Sounds like we have a few injuries out there. Everyone take care of yourselves!

[Natasha]

Hi Eva! Good luck getting into NYC.

Seathyme, sounds like the power walks have been fun. :)

Robyn, hope the neck strain abates - isn't neck pain hideous? - and that you're able to ride today.

Les, sorry about the "perfect" record ;) and ankle pain but it sounds like you've got it well in hand (or should that be "in ankle")?

Hi to Susan, Vicci, Kathy, ktg, and everyone else!

I got in a fantastic run today. The first 5 minutes or so were sort of meh, and then I really got in the groove. I did about an hour. Soon we're off for social coffee.

This coming week looks nutty, and next week I'm on vacation, so my posting may be anywhere between sporadic to non-existent between now and the beginning of May sometime. Best to all for the next little while!

[Robyn1007]

Robyn, hope the neck strain abates - isn't neck pain hideous? - and that you're able to ride today.

It would be more hideous if you knew the cause. :rolleyes: I got out for my inaugural ride of the season this morning. It hurt to start with and then I realized I needed to do a brake adjustment so I pulled over to the side of the road and pulled out my handy dandy tool dad gave me and got those take care of and the rest felt much better. 28 minutes which is far better than I did starting last season so hopefully my few runs and 34 days of skiing have helped that. And, surprisingly, the saddle only hurt for the first minute or so.

Natasha, where are you going on vacation?

Susan, hope your ride was great!

Les, is the ankle feeling any better this morning?

[Leslie Ferguson]

Susan - Hope you aren't as sore as I imagine you will be. :rolleyes: Too bad you're inside today if it's so nice out there - not like here (we're looking at almost 4 inches of rain today).
Robyn - I hope you can figure out at some time what causes your neck pain. It sounds like a good ride yesterday and good to have your nifty tool to tweak your bike. I really should keep mine in my saddle bag (small one). Thanks for asking about my ankle, it's pretty much normal and not any sorer than a "normal" day (I have chronic pain from many years of abuse, 11+ sprains, and arthritis that is exacerbated by sports that require stopping and starting).
Nat - Have a good vacation when you get it and we'll look forward to hearing from you whenever that might be.

Lots of water floating around out there and a couple projects to do -- done procrastinating (right) and back to work.

Happy trails,
Les

[Kathy B]

3 miles OUTSIDE today, Woo Hoo! (Beautiful day, there was just no excuse to use the TM.) DS and I went to the CC yesterday, where I did 40 min on the TM and a round of weights. Can you believe I really LIKE doing the weights? I truly look forward to it. Hope that lasts.....:p

Good job on your bike ride Robyn! Glad to hear the neck issue cleared up quickly. 34 days of skiing? Lucky dog!! :)

Natasha, Good job on your hour run "in the groove". Social coffee sounds fun. I have decided that as busy as the rest of the year is, April and May win hands down for the weekends and evenings filling up fast and also for conflicting activities. Hope you get it all in (at least the important stuff)! Have a great vacation, too.

Les, your Ultimate day sounds really fun. Glad there was no major damage. Hope you had a good rest in your own bed!

Kathy, way to go getting in a 4 miler! Sounds like you are having a lot of nice days, lately. Hope you had a nice Passover weekend. DH and I do a lot of tag-teaming getting to all of the kids' activities, and of course it is a huge help that DS can drive. It also helps that I don't work full-time (although lately it feels close!).

Vicci, you are doing great working your way back into exercising after your injury. I hope you had a great weekend at the lake.

Hi to everyone else. Here's to a great week ahead!

[newsomz]

Hi everyone!

I've enjoyed reading about all of your activities!!! Actually, I read what everyone was up to before my run today and it really got me motivated to get off my bum. I had to work a bit this weekend so not too much time. However, I did get in an hour run today. Right when I got home DBF tells me he's about to ride his bike to the bakery so I joined him for an hour ride. It felt nice to finally get out and do something as I slacked a little last week. I'm hoping to get moving again in the coming week.

Anyhow, I'm short on time so I can't respond to everyone. But thanks again for posting all your activities :)

[aggie94]

Hey Aggie it's good to see you back in the running thick and whenever you're here that's great. I hope that you get into NYC - friends who have done that race said it was an experience (40,000-50,000 runners in a marathon :eek: )

Logistically, NYC sounds like everything I hate about a race. HUGE crowd, being bussed to the starting line hours before the race starts to avoid road closures, standing around in the cold for hours shivering until the start, etc. But I loooooove NYC and just thought it would be such an experience to run this race. ONCE. :o

[Mimeea]

I'll just write a quick note before going to bed...

I've had quite the prolonged absence from the bb, myself. I've been running, but I've been sidelined with a series of leg issues for the past month, so I've been cross-training. Nevertheless, even though I've had a very extended tapering, I am planning to run tomorrow in the marathon.

My mother and grandmother are here to watch the race, and we've had a nice weekend going to the expo and driving the entire course today (although the finish line was still set up from the Women's trials of course!)

I have everything out and ready to go, my purple Team in Training jersey and a pair of bright orange shorts I picked up last week at Marathon Sports, because my family and my friends at Wellesley were afraid they wouldn't see me! (Hopefully not a ton of runners have picked up on this idea...)

I'll report back soon!

[Robyn1007]

Good luck Mimeea!

[Leslie Ferguson]

I'll just write a quick note before going to bed...

I've had quite the prolonged absence from the bb, myself. I've been running, but I've been sidelined with a series of leg issues for the past month, so I've been cross-training. Nevertheless, even though I've had a very extended tapering, I am planning to run tomorrow in the marathon.

My mother and grandmother are here to watch the race, and we've had a nice weekend going to the expo and driving the entire course today (although the finish line was still set up from the Women's trials of course!)

I have everything out and ready to go, my purple Team in Training jersey and a pair of bright orange shorts I picked up last week at Marathon Sports, because my family and my friends at Wellesley were afraid they wouldn't see me! (Hopefully not a ton of runners have picked up on this idea...)

I'll report back soon!
Go Meg! I love the color combination and I bet you'll stand out just fine. I bet you won't see this before you run but I'll say it anyway -- have a great time and I hope you pick up a banana from the lady in Wellesley on the way down the hill.

Happy trails,
Les

[aggie94]

Good luck, Meg! Can't wait to read your race report.

[ktg0930]

Meg--hope the marathon went really well for you! I'm looking forward to your race report.

Aggie--good luck on the NYC lottery. If you run it, at least you know you'll have crowd support the whole way. I hope you and DH get a spot.

KathyB--isn't it lovely to run outside?!

Les--I heard from my coworkers that your area had a ton of rain over the weekend. Hope you are staying dry.

Carrie--great job on the double workouts.

Robyn--glad your neck is feeling better and you had a nice inaugural ride.

Natasha--a run in the groove is always great. Sometimes I don't feel like I have enough of those.

Susan--have a good trip to SF.

Seathyme--did you see any of the marathon today?

Today, I spent the entire day in my office chair. I'm headed to San Diego later in the week, then Maryland next week (Les, it's a short trip so I hope I can catch you next time), followed by vacation in Paris. That's the only thing keeping me going right now. I did yard work yesterday and planned to run today, but I just don't think that's going to happen. Tomorrow.

Have a great evening everyone.

[SusanMac]

Mimea -- *so* glad you check in with us!! I'm sure you had a fabulous day. Can't wait to read the RR.

My bike ride Sun was soooooo fabulous. It felt much better than I expected. i was so excited, I really pushed the whole way. Neither the saddle nor the quads hurt as much as I had expected (which was part of my excitement). Plus, the day was so perfect, it was a great reminder of how much I enjoy it. This is part of what I really love about having 4 seasons -- I think you appreciate each one more b/c it only lasts for a while.

I'm in SF now. Work is going well so far. But, today was travel & prep stuff. My conference starts tomorrow. Headed out for Italian tonight :-)

[Natasha]

Hey Meg!! Hope you had a great time yesterday. Yay for Team-in-Training! :)

Susan, hope the conf in SF is good! Surprised you had a chance to post from there - never a lack of things to do in SF, as you know :)

Kathy, wow, vacation in PARIS! Yes, just hold that thought -- you will get through the next little while. I've not been to Paris for way too long and keep telling DH we need to go.

Planned day off yesterday. As it happened, it wasn't quite as hectic a day as it might have been, which was good. Today I plan to run, and tomorrow maybe will get in a road ride.

Carrie, a run and a ride - good stuff!

Take care, all.

Smiles,
Nat

[newsomz]

Meg - Welcome back! I hope the marathon went well. I'm anxious to hear how it went as I recently decided to run the Atlanta Marathon this Thanksgiving instead of the half marathon. We'll see how my training goes :)

Kathy - Vacation in Paris. Oh how nice! I would be so excited right now.. and full of anticipation. Hope you have better luck working runs into your day in the next week.

Susan - Wow! The bike ride sounds fantastic. I hope you are enjoying SF.

Aggie - Forgot to say it before but good luck with the NYC lottery. I'll have to check out what the route is.. I imagine that race would be a ton of fun.

Judging from the board traffic this week (or lack of traffic) I am guessing everyone is just as busy as I am this week! Anyhow, just popped in to report a 8km run this evening. I ran for the first time with a friend of mine. We had a great time chatting the whole run - really makes time fly!

[Leslie Ferguson]

Drive by confirming that I've been busy and away from workouts. I'm looking forward to hearing from Meg but I can tell that it was a nice day yesterday because my coach came in at 4:23 and my ex-running partner came in at 4:19 so they were on pace. As for me... I've been keeping up with classes this week was really busy because I have two significant papers due on Monday (5 pages double spaced and 4 pages single spaced) that are exegetical works (delving into scriptural texts in detail). I have one in the bag (single spaced paper) and one that's 80% done (double spaced paper). I should be able to complete the second tomorrow and focus on the two one page papers that are hanging out for the week (both due on Friday). I'm still spinning (figuratively) on a little reading and then time for bed. I've missed working out today and might miss tomorrow but on the plus side I'm headed to the massage therapist in the morning - it will be nice after the abuse of the weekend.

TTFN and Happy trails,
Les

[Robyn1007]

Hi everyone!

Just a quick post tonight as I'm wiped out from events this weekend that have fallout that has continued for 4 days. But, the good news is I got out for another run. And I upped my run time to 90 seconds continually with 90 second rests between. At least I'm feeling improvement there.

[VictoriaL]

Hi all! Just a quick pop-in since it's late and I can feel my brain slooooowing down... :rolleyes:

Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes. 50 years old. Yeesh.

It was a rather quiet weekend at the lake house. My parents drove down to surprise me (arranged by DH). Mom made a fantastic chocolate-raspberry cake and placed only 5 candles on top. I'm forever grateful! :D

After a great dinner at an Italian restaurant, a brunch buffet, and lunch at an Indian restaurant, I did 40 minutes on the EB the following morning (yes, we have one of those in our lake house, too!). Had to! And I can FINALLY keep all of my weight on my left foot while up on my tiptoes. I can't get my foot up to that position but if I rise up on both feet then shift my weight, it can be done. :)

On our way home today, we stopped to vote at the local high school and I scoped out the track. It's huge! But it looks in excellent condition. Maybe this week...

Hope that you all are doing well and I'll be back to check in later this week.

[Kathy B]

Happy Birthday Vicci! Sounds like a great celebration (both the dinner AND the weight-bearing on your foot!). Keep going girl! :)

Mimeea, hope to hear all about your marathon soon. Was your family able to pick you out of the crowd? ;)

Kathy, have safe travels to all of your destinations. Will you have time for fun in San Diego and Maryland, or are those trips all about work? I love having a great trip to look forward to.....Paris certainly ought to help you hang in there!

Worked 12 hours yesterday and leaving for work again in a minute so no workouts to report. CC tomorrow for weights and some cardio.

[seathyme]

Quick hello here, too. Finally got out yesterday for 5.5 miles. This morning power-walked with le chien as the legs did not want a second consecutive run. But the dog is now getting in quite a run in his dreams, legs twitching, etc. Does that count?:p

Meg, hope your Marathon experience was great! The weather was so nice on Mon. I did see the women's finish on TV; imagine running 26.2 miles and losing by 2 seconds... Joan Benoit Samuelson was even more impressive in my book: ran a sub-3 hour marathon at age 50. How's that for a goal, Vicci?;)

Hello to everyone, and happy running.

[TKay]

Just poking my head in here to wish Vicci a happy belated birthday! Sounds like you're on the road to recovery. I can't believe you're up to 40 minutes on the EB. That's fantastic.

Hello to everyone else. I've been popping in to read updates when I can. Looking forward to a marathon report from Meg. And Susan, did I see a Mini post a while back?

Take care all, and keep running. Put in some miles for me. I hope to be back at it soon.

[Leslie Ferguson]

Catching up a little. Greetings to all.

Happy Birthday (again) to Vicci. That's too cool that your DH got your parents to drop in on the B'Day event. Good call on 5 candles too - maybe I'll do that for LW this fall when she hits "that number." That's progress on your foot too - slowly goes the strengthening but in good time you'll be prepped to go one footed. :D

Kathy - whenever we might get the chance to get together will be just fine. I'm not going anywhere. (except for maybe out of my mind ;) )

To catch up on the past couple days: I spun on Monday evening - not as long as I wanted but it was good and taxing. Today I'll probably spin again even though it's gorgeous outside (I can't read when I run or ride out of doors and I need to read more than anything else).

See you all later and I'll be in touch.

Les

[TKay]

Les, sounds like you're busy as ever. Hang in there. There's a man on my block who walks the neighborhood while reading a book. I see him doing this nearly every day. He's new to the area, and I don't know him other than to say hello. I always want to ask him how he manages to do both at the same time. His garage is lined with jam-packed book cases. I guess he has a lot to catch up on.

Anyway, just saying hello. Take care.

[seathyme]

I've seen a woman near here walk on the bike path while reading. Me, I'd be flat on my face. Good luck with all the studies, Les!

[Robyn1007]

I've seen a woman near here walk on the bike path while reading. Me, I'd be flat on my face. Good luck with all the studies, Les!

Oh, yeah, me too!

Happy Birthday Vicci!

I'm hoping to get out again tonight but we'll see, it's clouding up even though I didn't expect any weather today. :rolleyes:

[Leslie Ferguson]

Thanks all, I'm not too bad reading and walking but I read terribly slow and around her you kind of take your life in your hands if you don't pay attention to the sidewalks and cars. As for my fun time today, I spun but I'm going to have to figure something out pretty soon. The basement isn't too warm but by the end of 20 minutes (and I'm not ready to stop then) I'm pretty sweaty. I'll have to see if I can set up a fan to keep me cooled down. But good news, I spun for 45 minutes and read most of the time (the last 10 minutes was difficult because of the damp hands).

Back to the stone - a couple small projects due in the next day or so thus I'm off.

Happy trails,
Les

[Robyn1007]

Okay, today was my first run that really felt pretty good. Ironically, I almost talked myself out of it. My max and average heart rate went WAY down and I was able to do a lot more running total.

Les, when I ride my trainer on all but the coldest days inside I have a fan set up for that very reason. Oh, and a towel handy to wipe forehead, hands etc.

[newsomz]

Yay Robyn! I am glad you got in a nice run!!

Just popping back in to say Happy Birthday to Vicci! How did I miss that? I am glad to hear you had a good time.. it is always nice to have surprises :)

[newsomz]

Back to report a 4mi run this morning (sorry Natasha, I had to reset my ipod and haven't reset it to km yet!). It is getting too warm for afternoon runs so I am switching my runs to either morning or late evening. Anyhow, it was a nice run though traffic got a little busy towards the end.

I hope everyone is doing great! Happy trails.

[Mimeea]

Thank you all so, so much for your support!!

Monday was a tough day, but I can now say I have completed the Boston Marathon! :D I've had a busy past two days, with my Team in Training victory party and trying to rest and recover, but I hope that I can give you a thorough race report:

First off, I've had a problem with my left hip for the past month, so I'd been taking training easy and mostly cross-training. Other than an two short runs in that time period, Monday arrived with uncertainty on how it would react, and although it did flare, I did finish.

Monday morning started out cloudy and cool, but the cloud cover disappeared right as the marathon started. I started in the second wave, with two of my TNT teammates. We started at a consistent 11/mile pace, having ample warning about rushing the first four miles, which are downhill. In Ashland (mile 4 of 5) I saw my TNT honoree, a woman who I work with at the College who has been in remission for two years. Around Natick (mile 9 or so) I went on ahead of my TNT friends even the hip started hurting. In another mile or two it started feeling like it was going to go under, but after that point I didn't feel it anymore!

One big highlight then was running past Wellesley College (mile 12) (ps- I did see the bananas right beforehand!). I had the cheers of many of my classmates, and right after the half point, my mother and grandmother (who had flown out from California) and two of my good friends were there for me. At about mile 15 there was a large TNT cheering contingent. At this point though, my legs were starting to ache pretty badly and so, throughout miles 15 to 20 I did a mixture of running and walking. A bb friend of mine, ktnunes, walked up Heartbreak Hill with me, which was so great of her! I finally ran the majority of the last five miles and finished in 5:09... longer than desired, but, heck, I finished!

Recovering has been slow but my muscles are getting less sore, finally! I actually put my family through quite a scare when I fainted on the T (subway) about a half-hour after finishing, when we were on our way back to Wellesley, luckily I was okay after getting more food. But anyways, the TNT victory party was great and I'm looking forward to write my race report for my sponsors soon. All in all, the day was a success. I finished-- as my coach said- in relative comfort.

[TKay]

Mimeea - Wahoo! Congratulations. That's fantastic news. All in all it sounds like a smooth, successful run. Good for you. Glad the hip let you finish in one piece. :) Thanks for the race report. You're inspiring me to get back at it. Here's to your recovery continuing to go well.

[Robyn1007]

Mimeea, congratulations on your finish!

Today is a planned off day for me. While I felt great yesterday I don't want to push too hard and do 3 days in a row so I'll just do pilates tonight and take it easy. Tomorrow will be a run then skiing on Saturday and a ride on Sunday.

[Robyn1007]

I also wanted to add that I picked up a new piece of gear today from a friend that works for The North Face. It's a convertible jacket with zip off sleeves and a back stow pocket that is wind and water resistant but stretchy with mesh ventilation panels. I got it for a ridiculously cheap price but its decently priced as is. It will serve me well with cycling, running and some spring skiing I believe!

http://media.rei.com/media/d/1545485.jpg

[seathyme]

Meg -- what a great report!! Congratulations! Your honoree must be so, well, honored, that you ran for her. You are really brave to run through that hip pain. And how cool that Katie walked up Heartbreak Hill with you.:) Scary about the fainting, though. I'm glad a little food was enough to take care of that. Enjoy the after-glow, if not the after-pain.;)

Robyn, great looking jacket. Mmm. So glad you had a good run. Hopefully those will become more frequent, too.

Hey Carrie, I ran 4 mi this morning too. It was a spectacular day here -- spring just exploding all over.

Hi Tkay, hope all is well out your way.

Les, I'm impressed you can continue to focus on your reading after a certain amount of riding. I think I would become endorphin impaired...

Hi to everyone else!

[Leslie Ferguson]

Congratulations Meg, sorry that you had the bad ride on the T. I'm proud of you and getting through the race and Wellesley was always a high poinot for me (with the exception of seeing one of the bb folks at the firehouse on Heartbreak Hill). Neat recall of your race and it will be something you cherish for the rest of your life. I'm glad that you were fine after you got some food too - that must have been scary for everyone involved. Enjoy your recovery and I bet your medal has a spot on your wall doesn't it?

Robyn - Neat jacket - it sounds so functional too.
Carrie - great job on your run.
seathyme - Thank you, I have developed my reading skills while working out indoors. I remember years ago when I was last in school that I would read when I was on the elliptical or the stationary bike. It's definitely a learned habit and you're right, it gets hard in the last 15-20 minutes.

Speaking of which, I rode tonight (I got off a little early from class today) and made 65 minutes on the trainer. I set up a fan and was pretty comfortable for most of the ride. Got all my reading done for my first class in the morning so that's a bonus.

I'd love to chat but more work to do before bed tonight. Happy trails and CONGRATULATIONS Meg,
Les

[Robyn1007]

Well, I had to really push for today's run. We went to happy hour for work and I had 2 beers but I still managed to come home and get a run in. It wasn't great but I'll take anything I can get after 2 beers.

Les, good job on getting your reading done on the bike!