Virtual Running Buddies - Week of Dec. 10

[MaryH]

OK, I'll start.

I DID run this morning (after the ever present mind body discussion about just crawling back into bed and doing it "later." As I was running it ocurred to me that it was a good thing because our friends' annual Christas party is tomorrow night and that means lots of food, wine & song (not necessarily in that order.)

For anyone interested, there is a "happy" ending to the lost purse story. Yesterday afternoon I received a call from the CHP asking me if I had had anything stolen recently. Turns out they were trying to pull over a guy (who was in a stolen car I think) and he decided he did not want to. As the officer said, "I'm at (one of the local hospitals) and it may be a long night." In any event, they recovered both checkbooks as well as my driver's license. Apparently this guy (and his girlfriend) had a number of credit cards in different names. I have to talk with the officer today and go over what they have. I am currently dealing with collection agencies on the checks that WERE written and had to have a whole new driver's license issued (new number, the whole works), but I'm glad that the stuff was recovered and can't be used.

[Leslie Ferguson]

That's great news Mary. A run, finding out information about your stolen purse etc. Sorry that you've got to fiddle around with the collection agencies but hopefully (doubt) they will be understanding.

No run in my sights today - resting for tomorrow morning's extravaganza at the beach. Who knows - LW has actually talked about coming out and walking with us (trying to get back into her workout routine -- YEAH). Oh yeah, and then there's the torrential downpours that are going on right now. I think something like 1-1.5 inches since midnight last night is predicted... feeling like a fish this morning. ;)

Check you all later.

Les

[TLee4]

Hi all! That's great news Mary!

Well, I didn't want to ruin my new average of one run/week, so I ran today too. 5 miles on the treadmill. And I just found out that my audition is postponed again...this time by her. Oh well, maybe next week!

Happy Friday.
Terri

[TLee4]

p.s. Les, your dinner last night sounds great!! :)

[scout1222]

I'm happy to report that I ran 3 miles last night. And I did it 20 seconds faster than the night before. So this means in the past 7 days I've run 4 times. Woah.

Of course, at some point I'm going to have to run more than 3 miles. But hey, one thing at a time, right?

Have a great weekend, all!

[seathyme]

Terri and Mary and Scout ran, yeah! Congrats. So glad some of your stuff was recovered, Mary. You've had enough to deal with already, not knowing what check would be written next.:mad:

Natasha, I meant to say the other day that your run in 40-60k wind sounded quite wild. That's the kind of wind that should always be at your back, but probably wasn't!

Les, I agree that dinner sounded good. Combined with a good workout and positive feedback at work, sounds like a pretty agreeable day yesterday. Hope your swelling will subside soon.

So Kathy, did you go out between 6 and 7? We did (le chien et moi), starting around 6:30, and I swear when we left it wasn't raining. Within 15 minutes it started back up. I considered bagging the rest of the run but then thought hey, you're going to be wet either way; if you continue at least you'll be wet and happy. The other way you'd be wet and regretful. So we splashed along in the cold drizzle. Got home after an hour and peeled off all the wet stuff. Warm sweats and a cup of coffee later, I was a happy camper. Dog is still damp more than four hours later! But relaxed and calm, just the way we like him.:D

Hey Rebecca, it's virus day.:eek: Hope you'll celebrate tonight, if you're not crashed out in a stupor. Good luck!

Hi to everyone else.:)

[SusanMac]

Happy Friday Runners !!

Well, the good news is that I DID go out and run yesterday. It felt so good. Glad I didn't bail & just sit on the sofa. Today, I very much want to run, but I've been watching it rain all morning. It's not a windy, stormy rain, so I might go for it. Unfortunately, Ki won't get a walk, though. He has zero tolerance for rain. It gets in his ears & he just hates it. Definitely not a water dog.

MaryH - Great news about the purse. Must have been weird to get a phone call from the police.

Les - that would be awesome if LW started walking with you guys!

TLee - are you frustrated about the delayed audition? Oh well, just more time to prepare, I guess.

Scout - way to go on the running streak. Since you're a marathoner, we're all confident you'll have no problem breaking through that 3-mile barrier. It is Dec, afterall, so don't sweat it.

I head out tomorrow for San Francisco. Definitely taking my running stuff & looking forward to some fun, city runs with great views. No one else I'm meeting for work runs, so I'll be going solo & trying to squeeze it in here & there. My goal is to get 2 runs in. I'll be back on Thurs. Not sure if I'll have a chance to check in again before then.

Have a great weekend, everyone

[seathyme]

Have a good trip, Susan! We're headed to SF for a week of vacation later in January ourselves (instead of the possible Mexico thing that didn't materialize). Let me know where you like to run -- and Mary, feel free to chime in on that too. I think we'll be staying pretty near the Presidio.:D

[MaryH]

If you're near the Presidio then THAT is THE place to run. It's gorgeous and has slightly rolling hills. You can also run across the Golden Gate bridge. (Just try not to run over all those gawking tourists taking pictures. :cool: )

[Leslie Ferguson]

That's what we like to hear scout, 4 runs in 7 days is a good start coming back (even if they are "only" 3 mile runs). I hope that's the sign of things to come. :) Have a good weekend in SD.
Susan - I love going to SF. The last time we spent any real time there LW and I celebrated our anniversary staying in a nifty B&B below Coit Tower. Did a bunch of walking stuff and hit Chinatown. A highlight of the trip was a cablecar ride to Gheradeli (SP?) Square - had to get some chocolate and on the way back stopped for an Irish Coffee at Buena Vista's (right at the terminus of the cable car on the bay side). There's lots of great places to run in SF - especially if you're staying on the western side of town (the eastern side is a little rough).
seathyme - Yesterday was very rewarding. It's neat that all kinds of things come together like that. And the edema is subsiding as well as the ache. That will present an interesting dilemma tomorrow on the trail. If I was relatively swollen I wouldn't run at all but considering I've made such good progress I may give it a shot. Of course I'm leading solo (my coach is in South Carolina for the Kiowa Marathon) so I've got a few people to keep track of. Decisions, decisions.

I hope Rebecca came through the test with flying colors. I'm sure she did well... now all we need is a good report to confirm it.

Take care all and I'll check back tomorrow after the day's extravaganza.

Happy trails,
Les

[Natasha]

Hi gang!

Mary, good going on the run and have fun at the party tonight. Glad your stuff was found too.

Les, how did it go today? I have to ask - how many marathons does your coach do a year? He sounds incredible.

Seathyme, yay on the wet run, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! What are you going to do for it?

Susan, have fun in SF :)

Rebecca, how was virology??

Terri, since that audition doesn't seem meant to happen, I think they should just give you the job! :D ;)

Scout, good to hear about the 4 runs in 7 days.

Today's exercise was a 9 km run in wet snow. It was a blast. I was going to treadmill it but then went outside and am glad I did. I really do prefer to run outside most of the time, and I often seem to thrive on this kind of weather. It felt easy and my further reward was that, when I passed by one of the ponds, I saw probably about 75 Canada geese, just relaxing. It was beautiful. About 1/3 of them then flew off, and that was eyecatching too. I know it's nothing extraordinary, but I never tire of seeing things like that. :)

Hi Bethany, Elizabeth, Kathy, Eva, Julie, and the rest of the VRBs.

[seathyme]

Hi all!

Been having a lovely birthday here. Thanks for the good wishes. It started with a 6-mile run, followed by holiday baking and trimming our Christmas tree, several calls from friends and family and a really good sushi meal. Squeezed in some necessary work as well, but it didn't dominate the day which was just what the doctor ordered. DH is always very sweet about these occasions too, so we've been enjoying each other.

Glad to hear about your snowy run, Natasha, complete with geese. If we didn't get out and move our butts we wouldn't see such things, so here's to running!

Les, hope your training morning went well today and various body parts behaved themselves.;)

Greetings to everyone else -- happy weekend.

[Leslie Ferguson]

Natasha - A good 9 k in the wet snow - you're teasing me. ;) :D I don't think I'd trade running in shorts and a t-shirt this morning but I'm tempted with the thought of a run in the wet snow. Charlie averaged running a marathon every other month this year (6 so far by my count) excluding the 50 miler. His goal is to do one a month next year. It should be caveated that he runs most in the 5-6 hour range (give or take a 4:30 once in a very rare while). I think his goal is to join the "50 states" club. He seems to think that you have to run in at least 10 different states to qualify. And yes, he's pretty amazing when you consider he runs a lot of marathons just to run with someone else (did Shamrock Va. Beach, Chicago, Marine Corps, and Kiowa because of that). He's very dedicated to "his" runners/walkers. One of the reasons that I like to work with him.
seathyme - Happy Birthday. It sounds like you had a good day. Did you have sushi at our favorite place? We may have to partake in a little sushi from there come Boston Marathon time (there should be 4 runners from our group and LW there this year). I'm glad DH is so good about your Birthday - I love lavishing neat things on LW for her Birthday too. :)

As you can imagine this morning was a success. I did 8 miles at a decent pace (except for a little dash in the middle because of... ahem...). A little tight calf and quad but these things can be worked out. But the best thing was I came through with a status quo ankle (a little achy but I've just come to expect that) and a real itch to get back into the saddle. I think next week may be my first 10 miler since the half-marathon in October (??? that long???). I also rode about 10 miles bringing the rest of the group home. I hope today is the last day shepherding with my bike - it's probably going to be too cool to do that very effectively - especially in the swamp. To top it off I think my edema is pretty much gone, maybe just a little residual but gone by morning. WHEW!

Hope everyone else is well and that one person's virology test really went well yesterday.

Until the morning be good and careful,
Les

[TLee4]

Happy Belated Birthday Seathyme!

Congrats on all of the good runs!

My only exercise yesterday was 7 hours of power-Christmas shopping! Annual trip with a girlfriend, and it was very productive. Followed by a lovely dinner out with Dan last night...life is good!

Have a good weekend, everyone.
Terri

p.s. I'm not worried about the audition...I suppose it will happen one of these days! :)

[Leslie Ferguson]

Originally posted by TLee4
My only exercise yesterday was 7 hours of power-Christmas shopping! Annual trip with a girlfriend, and it was very productive. Followed by a lovely dinner out with Dan last night...life is good!

You're a better person than I. I don't think I could do 7 hours of shopping any time but especially at Christmas. I may be able to people watch around the mall for a lot of that but I don't think I could do 7 hours shopping.

I think my edema/fluid retention is finally gone - LW actually mentioned that my ankles looked skinny again, so I must be better. ;) I had a decent lifting session except that my coach was still out of town. But that didn't matter - I just lifted by myself (which I'm okay doing too). Now the least favorite part of my rehab - getting flexible and stretching again.

I hope this week proves to be sane for everyone and I'll be in touch. Happy trails and pleasant dreams.

Les

[SusanMac]

Greeting from San Francisco!

Haven't run yet :-( and feeling very anxious for it (got a bit of energy to burn off). But, my objective is really relationship building and bonding with my client, and that's been wonderful so far, so I can't complain too much. Just got back from an absolutely wonderful Mexican tapas dinner. I was in heaven with chipotle this, mole that, corn spoonbread and nuveau tamales!

Les - LW certainly is romantic.....admiring your skinny ankles! That made me giggle.

Seathyme - Happy bday. It sounds like a fun, lowkey, wonderful day, which is just my speed.

On the plane out here I wrote a poem about DH's Ironman experience to use as our annual Christmas card. I'll have to share it w/you guys once it's complete. You'd like it.

[badunnin]

Susan - when I first saw the time of your post, I thought it was a little odd that you would be posting at 1:20am on a Sunday. But your greetings from San Fran explain it! ;)

Not much to report here. Went out yesterday in the snow for a run that ended up being more of a brisk walk, taking in the snow-covered houses and trees. :) I've been swamped lately, with lots of extra tutoring (I have a homebound student that I tutor 3 days a week at his house - I'm actually heading out shortly to visit him), haircut appointments before the holidays, staff Christmas parties, people visiting from England, etc etc, I don't feel much like running at the end of the day! But I am hoping to get out this evening for a walk at the very least. :)

Hope this holiday season is finding you all well, or at the very least, sane, with all hairs firmly attached to your heads. ;)

[seathyme]

Hi all,

Bethany, thanks for the wishes for attached hairs.;)

Susan, hope the rest of your trip goes well.

Terri, 7 hours of shopping.:eek: You are one strong woman.

Les, very glad your edema is gone and shapely ankles have returned.

After a two-year run with hardly a sniffle, I've managed to contract a December cold. It's hanging around my chest at the moment, so no runs for this chickie. And it made public speaking a real pleasure yesterday, as you can imagine.:rolleyes: But I am trying not to complain, as I have been incredibly lucky in this dept lately. Trying, but not always succeeding. whine whine

Have a good day, with or without runs, all.

[TLee4]

Hi Runners!

Susan, hope you get in a good run in SF!

Seathyme, I'm getting over a stinkin' cold too. It's the pits!

Les, glad you've got skinny ankles! :D

Just wanted to tell you guys that we did take a quick lunch break in the shopping trip! But you're right...that's a LOT of shopping. I was tired. My two friends are better shoppers than I am. I think it's because they have kids, so when they are actually shopping kid-less, they want to make the most of it!

No running to report, but hope everyone is having a happy Monday.

Terri

[Natasha]

Hi guys,

I'm here but got food poisoning yesterday (I think for the first time in my life!) so no running for me today. Oh, well. Just wanted to stop by and say hi and happy running/training/holiday prep to all.

Natasha

[badunnin]

24 degrees actual temp, 10 degrees with wind chill, light snow. Yeah, I ran. :D Rock on.

And Les got rid of his cankles. Way to go Les! ;)


Oh! Gear glitch. I noticed two spots of what I thought were normal winter eczema dry spots. Nope. One, on my lower back, is apparently from a tag in my shirt (the one from MEC, Nat) and the other, on my upper neck/lower chin, I think is from wearing the mock-turtle neck type shirts that are so common. Drat. One more thing to worry about.

[Leslie Ferguson]

Natasha - YUCK! :( Food poisoning is always a downer and I'd concur that no running (on your feet) is a given. Take care of yourself.
Originally posted by badunnin
24 degrees actual temp, 10 degrees with wind chill, light snow. Yeah, I ran. :D Rock on.
Actually sounds like pretty decent running conditions all things considered - maybe a tad windy but as long as it isn't raining... I'm in! :)
And Les got rid of his cankles. Way to go Les! ;)
It's been a while coming and I'm thrilled about it. :D
Gear glitch... I noticed two spots of what I thought were normal winter eczema dry spots. Nope. One, on my lower back, is apparently from a tag in my shirt (the one from MEC, Nat) and the other, on my upper neck/lower chin, I think is from wearing the mock-turtle neck type shirts that are so common. Drat. One more thing to worry about.
I feel for you. I've got one item in my cold weather gear that chafes right at my waist and I can't do much about it - I've trimmed the tag and the extra threads with no avail. About the only thing that even helps is a little Aquaphor on the tag before running - and even then it's still about 60/40 that I won't get a chafed spot. :( Oh well - the travesties of winter running ;) but it could be worse.
Susan - LW is certainly the romantic and even after all 21 of these years. ;) That must be love. I'd like to hear your poem about DH triathalon experience. It's nice to be in the midst of creative writers.
seathyme - Sorry about your cold but like you said it's been a couple years so you can probably count yourself blessed. I hope you bounce back quickly.

Today I thought about going out for a road run (mid-week!) but when I started out the temp was only 51 -- with 16-20 mph winds giving a nice wind chill of 38 degrees. It wouldn't have been bad if I had something more than shorts and a t-shirt. But I didn't have any warm weather gear in my bag so... I went to the elliptical for 60 minutes tonight after work (really wipes me out - it really does). Felt good and even worked in my PT exercises for good measure.

Need to hit the hay but thought I'd wish you all a great evening. Until morning happy trails,

Les

[seathyme]

Food poisoning! What a drag, Natasha.:( I hope you will recover quickly.

Bethany, snow at night is so beautiful. Must have been a great setting for a run.

Les, glad to hear about the elliptical. Only bringing shorts for the possibility of an outdoor run is pretty amusing to us "northahnahs" at this time of year.;)

Actually the temp here is headed way down this week. I figure by the time this cold moves through enough for me to run again it'll be seriously frigid out there. Good planning, dontcha think?:rolleyes:

Susan, we'd love to hear your poem!

Hey Rebecca, time to check in. How's post-exam life? Has it been possible to switch right back to runs and good eating and all that stuff that usually gets tossed in those times? I know for me it sometimes takes awhile to refocus, even though my head knows it's what I need... anyway, here's greetings from VRB-land.

Hi Terri. Sorry you've had a cold too. Hard to live a 100% life on 50% energy. Bleh. Hope we'll both be back to full-speed soon.

[seathyme]

Forgot my most important running-related news: I made it through the lottery into the Canyonlands Half! So Utah in March, here we come.:D

[Leslie Ferguson]

Originally posted by seathyme
Les, glad to hear about the elliptical. Only bringing shorts for the possibility of an outdoor run is pretty amusing to us "northahnahs" at this time of year.;)
Yes but... it really was in the middle 50s, which without the wind would have been just perfect for shorts and a t-shirt. Having been short-stopped yesterday though I've gone back to my FULL gym bag for a day's workout. I've got long tights, long sleeve shirt, short sleeve shirt, shorts, singlet (just in case I go on the treadmill - it's way too warm in the gym to run in anything else), and various other cold weather gear/layers.

Glad you got won the lottery and got into Badlands in March. Sounds like a fun race.

Natasha - Looking back at your quesiton from last week I found that my coach has run 8 marathons and 1 50-miler this year. I'd love to be able to run like that (but then he does personal training for a living so he's in good shape anyway).

Happy Tuesday runnahs and here's to a pleasant running day.

Les

[beckms]

I'm here! I'm alive!

Well, I made it through exams. Let's focus on the positive: I got an A in Pharmacology. Woohoo! I loved that class. We'll just pretend the other classes never happened and move on.

Suffice it to say, Virology was--ahem--bad. Nuff said.

I spent most of the weekend sleeping on the couch. I was totally exhausted. But yesterday I decided I had to get back on the horse, so I went to the gym and nearly broke myself. I thought I'd loosen up a little today by going for a 3 mile run...nearly broke myself again.

Turns out, exercising after a month off does a body NO good. Sigh. But by the end of the week I hope to be back on track!

I missed all the excitement around here...the birthdays, the chubby ankles, the pants falling down...:p

Now I'm going to sit on the couch and watch hours of TV, and hopefully by toomrrow I'll be able to walk without groaning!

Happy running all!:cool:

[MaryH]

Don't know what it is about Porterville, but I'm traveling again and

You know you're a runner when.....

you remember to pack all the running gear (cold weather stuff and all, including head gear and gloves) and leave some of the work clothes hanging on the hanger in your closet. (Necesitating of course a trip to Mervyn's/Target to find some clothes to wear for one of the days.)

And then as only a true runner can....

you bail on the next morning's run.

OK, I promise to go tomorrow morning (this time I'm in Bakersfield, so I KNOW where the path is and that I won't get stranded on the wrong side of the Tule River.)

[Leslie Ferguson]

Rebecca - Thanks for your feedback on your tests. You're right too - they're done and there's nothing you can do about them any more so live and learn and as I did quite often when I was in Newport a couple years ago - move on. Sorry you aren't feeling yourself and that the gym wiped you out so much. My question is - why are you on the couch? Don't answer - I probably don't want to know.
Mary - I love your "you know you're a runner..." stories. The thing I like most about them is I've been in quite a few of them. I hope your run in Fresno tomorrow is without issue.

seathyme - Checkyour PM.

Not much else for me after the good elliptical this afternoon. Nice to get home and not have to scramble around for dinner at 8 pm.

But for now... off to bed so happy trails to all.

Les

[ktg0930]

Seathyme - Happy belated birthday and congrats on winning the marathon lottery!

Rebecca - yay, you're done!

Last week was not a good running week. I only ended up running one day. But I did run last night and did some intervals at the track. It was cold and the track (and my shoes) were not as springy as usual.

That's it for now...work is busy right now but I wanted to pop in and say hi to everyone.

Kathy

[seathyme]

Hi Rebecca! Congrats on the A in Pharmacology.:) As far as returning to workouts after a hiatus -- isn't it galling how hard you work to build up conditioning and how quickly it can get knocked down?:rolleyes: But you'll bounce back quickly too -- soon's you can walk down the stairs.;)

Hi Kathy - glad you checked in. I take it Suzy homemaker is still toiling away there.:p It's really hard to have work be busy and get anything else at all done, eesh. Good job on the intervals last night.

Mary you are too funny. We expect a running report from Bakersfield!

Les, thanks for the PM.

I started feeling better during the day yesterday, so ventured out for a run this morning. 5.5 in the dark and COLD. As in windchill around 5F. I borrowed DH's black fleece hood thing that you can tighten around your face and even over your face if you want. I looked like a thug, but it was dark so no one saw! Rocheux was delighted we were finally out running again. No such thing as too cold for him. He bounced around like a puppy. I too was relieved to get out there again. It's a great feeling when you get your energy back after being sick -- I still sound a little congested, but feel like myself. Phew.

Natasha, speaking of illness, how are you?? Is the nastiness out of your system yet?

Greetings to all runnahs. Enjoy the day, wherever you may be.

[kima]

Oh Natasha!!!:( :(

I have had food poisoning three times in my life (NOT from my own cooking!;) )

I hope you are feeling better- it really saps your energy for a while so take it easy! I hope it wasn't from Timmy's either!!

I just keep plugging along fitness wise...between aerobic classes, some weights and my walk/jog program I am doing okay.:) I am just happy to be moving my body and being able to do it all the beautiful streets and byways of my little city!
Take care everyone- I do find you all so inspiring!:)

[AvrilH]

I'm sticking my nose to post a question (hope that is OK)

I have been running on and off for 2 years, but steadily (minimum 4 runs/per week, 20 miles or so per week, since July). I ran on fresh snowy trails on Sunday, which forced my feet to lift higher, and my legs flailed about a couple of times. Now I think I have my first mild injury. My calf muscle feels like it is compressed into a tight knot. Heels aggravate it, it has to be my lead foot going down stairs, and stretching does not seem to help at all.

It is looser today (day 3) but I still skipped my run. ANy thoughts? Heat? Ice? Run? Don't run?

[Leslie Ferguson]

Avril H - Greetings - it's always ok to post questions, comments, and/or running experiences here.

On task - does it hurt more going up or down stairs or is it pretty much the same? Is there pain in your foot too? Other parts of your legs/hips? You'd be surprised that a hip issue can manifest itself in knees and calves. Is the pain sharp or fairly dull and persistent?

I'll have to think about your issue a little bit because it's not a common occurance for me. Two schools for muscle tightness (1) rest completely or (2) do something as cross training (elliptical, swim, bike) that doesn't aggrevate the injury until you can run comfortably. But as for running... tough call. Can you get warmed up with easy exercise (like walking) until you can get enough blood flowing to get a decent stretch then run easily?

I'll try to let you know a little later what my recommendation is but I hope whatever you do your issues pass quicky.

Happy trails,
Les

[Leslie Ferguson]

True confessions - tonight's workout was a bust. I really didn't feel up to it. I got to the gym and sat down to dress and just didn't have any "pop" - absolutely no energy. So I bagged the workout, sat in the sauna for 20-25 minutes, came home and baked 3 mini-loaves of pumpkin bread for some of the shut ins from church and now I'm headed to sleep. I think I need some more sleep and a lot less stress in my life.

Best of luck and warm thoughts to everyone - it's supposed to be down-right cold tonight (28 degrees in Norfolk :rolleyes: ).

Until morning... Happy trails,
Les

[aggie94]

Hey guys,

Sorry I've been AWOL. Between being busy at work, trying to close on our new house, and desperately trying to get in the last of my training runs before tapering starts, I haven't found the time to post much these days.

Mary, glad to hear they found your purse, although sorry you still have to deal with the banks and collection agencies. I hope it works out smoothly.

Les, happy belated birthday, and glad to hear you can get back into the swing of things without worrying about causing more damage to your ankle.

Terri, good luck with your audition, whenever it happens! Glad to hear you're getting back on the "road" (treadmill, whatever ;)).

Seathyme, happy belated birthday to you as well, and another congrats on getting into the half!

Rebecca, congratulations on finishing the semester - you must be so relieved to be done! Great job on the A in Pharmacology. :)

Hi to Kathy, Bethany, Susan, Natasha, and all the other runners, and welcome to Avril!


As for me, the training is burning me out, and it's been weeks since I even got in all four runs in the week in. I've mostly been sticking to three. Two weekends ago was supposed to be my longest pre-race run (18 miles), to be repeated last weekend before starting to taper. Unfortunately, I felt like crap two weekends ago (I thought I was getting sick - luckily, it just turned out to be bad allergies) and spent most of the day in bed instead. So I adjusted my schedule to do 18 last weekend and again this weekend, starting the taper a little late.

But I just couldn't get to 18 on Saturday. I got to 15 instead and my legs and feet just ACHED. The muscles behind my right knee started to get very tight and uncomfortable, so I just called it quits. I did head to the running store that night, though, to pick up new shoes, socks, and a few other things that I will need for the race. Since I've been running on a treadmill, I can lay all my stuff out right in front of me, but obviously I will need a place to carry things like my MP3 player and my inhaler for the real run. This will give me a chance to try out all my new gear on my last shot at 18 miles this weekend. Oh, and the owner also threw in some Sharkies (http://www.sharkiesinc.com/index2.cfm) for me to try out for free. They're apparently all the rage now, for folks who can't stomach the gels and GU.

I got my race number in the mail this week. :eek: It's starting to feel real, and I'm starting to get nervous and intimidated. It's also been VERY warm here, so I'm worried about the heat too. I've gotten spoiled, running in my climate-controlled environment, but it'll be fine, I'm sure. Again, since my only goal is to finish, I don't really care even if I end up walking the whole thing. :)

Hope everyone is having a great week.

[kima]

Wow Eva!!! I am in awe of you-running 15 miles is a hell of an accomplishment! That's what I do in a week!!!:eek:

Walk, run or crawl ;) you are a winner!:) :)

[seathyme]

Welcome Avril! Hope you'll stick around here -- this is a friendly and knowledgable bunch.:) Having said that, I have no idea what to tell you about your calf.:o What Les said makes sense. I would probably try plenty of stretching and a slow jog. If that goes well, then ramp back up, but back off at any sign it's getting worse. It's a terrible feeling to aggravate a minor injury and realize you've just made it worse. Been there done that.:rolleyes: Good luck.

Hi Eva! I like your attitude about your race. I can picture you crossing that finish line with a huge grin on your face, whether it takes 4 hours or 7. No matter -- it will be a huge accomplishment. And congrats on covering so many miles with so much else going on in your life.

Maureen, good to hear from you! Glad you're getting those runs in -- we need some success stories around here these days!

Sounds like most of us are busy with work or under the weather or just overwhelmed with December stuff right now. No exception here. I worked a ridiculously long day yesterday and woke up this morning with a sore throat all over again. Bagged the workout, and luckily the pain receded. But apparently pretending all was well so soon was not such a bright idea. Ah well, tomorrow's another day, and I can always overdo it again then.

Natasha, how are you??

Greetings to everyone else -- if we hang on by our toenails, calmer and healthier days surely lie ahead..... rock on runnahs.

[AvrilH]

My calf seems to be OK. I applied heat on and off yesterday, and stretched it and massaged the knot. Today it felt fine, and I took my regular lunch time run of 10K, and it was fine and so far, so good.

And Les - what a particular question you asked about the stairs! Going DOWN was the tricky part. But my run involves (at the start) going down many flights of steps to get into a river valley trail system - and I just led with my sore leg each step, and survived.

Now let's see what it is like later tonight.

Thanks again! I'll have to check in more often with you. Nice group you have going here!

[Leslie Ferguson]

Originally posted by AvrilH
My calf seems to be OK. I applied heat on and off yesterday, and stretched it and massaged the knot. Today it felt fine, and I took my regular lunch time run of 10K, and it was fine and so far, so good.

And Les - what a particular question you asked about the stairs! Going DOWN was the tricky part. But my run involves (at the start) going down many flights of steps to get into a river valley trail system - and I just led with my sore leg each step, and survived.

Now let's see what it is like later tonight.

Thanks again! I'll have to check in more often with you. Nice group you have going here!
I'm glad that you're feeling a little better today and still feeling better after your run. When you calf hurts (going up or down or both) will help identify what you may have done. In my experience, if my calf hurts going down steps then I've over-used or run "funny" (my worst day was after my first marathon - I couldn't go down steps correctly for about a week). When my calf hurt only going up steps it was a little more complex to recover because it seemed that I'd injured a couple different things in my leg.

Rest is definitely the best way to get through musculature issues. But if the muscle doesn't get better in a couple days then it may be something more bothersome.

For me -- today was a good rebound day. I worked out at lunch (Christmas party for work tonight) doing 60 minutes of elliptical (still trying to take care of my ankle a little and limit the pounding). I feel good and think I'll be fine for my first foray back into the 10 mile realm on Saturday.

Until tonight,
Les

[beckms]

Originally posted by Leslie Ferguson
So I bagged the workout, sat in the sauna for 20-25 minutes, came home and baked 3 mini-loaves of pumpkin bread for some of the shut ins from church...

Sounds to me like you had quite a productive evening, even if you didn't get to work out. I'm sure those pumpkin loaves will be much appreciated. :)

I had a day-long back-and-forth in my head about whether or not to run outside. The forecast was for 40s and sunny, so I felt guilty not taking Wrigley given the chance, so we eked out a run before the sun went down at about 3:30 (sad that I have to worry about sunset with a 3:30 run!). Got 4 miles in, felt pretty good, although both my knees immediately stiffened up as soon as I sat down. It was mighty nippy out there, I blame it on that.

Welcome, Avril! I hope you stick around, this is a friendly bunch!

Aggie, nice to hear from you. I am totally in awe that you can run 15 miles. Didn't 4 used to be your "long" distance? And on a treadmill, no less! Good for you.

Seathyme, hope you feel 100% again soon.

Hi to everyone else! Happy running!

[MaryH]

Finally got a minute to post.

I did actually run in Bakersfield. I just went out that morning and ended up running for about an hour, which was nice and longer than I usually do. This morning I was to meet my running partner but she called and wasn't feeling well. So I bagged the run but I did get in a gym workout later in the day. We'll try again tomorrow morning.

Avril, when I had a calf "issue" I was asked if I had been doing "hill" work. I also read that incline changes can result in pulled calf (or soleus) muscles. If you stretched and it felt better today, that's good. FWIW, I had it massaged by someone at an office that specialized in sports injuries and it felt 100% better after that (albeit still sore). Just take it easy and work back into it.

[Leslie Ferguson]

Maureen - I'm with seathyme - it's good to hear someone in the group is having a good series of runs. Not that I'm superstitious but it hasn't been the best of falls for us. I hope we get through whatever we had going around so we can get back to the "important" stuff - running of course. :D ;)
Rebecca - I do remember from my year in Newport the issue of trying to run in the daylight - especially in November and December. Good for you to get 4 miles in and I'm sure Wrigley is happy for it too.
seathyme - I hope you get over the Boston portion of the crud quickly - we all need to be healthy together soon.
Natasha - ???Are you out there??? I hope you're food poisoning bout passed without any more issues.

FWIW - Les has a new toy. :D I went to my Office Christmas party and won an MP3 player that can store up to 2 hours of music. I'll be set for some of those longer runs when I'm on my own. Way too cool!

Hope everyone has a great Thursday and... who starts in the morning?

Happy trails,
Les

[kima]

I wouldn't call what I do a "series " of runs but thanks all the same. My philosophy (and it took years for this compeitive athlete to get here) is that I am here for a long time not a good time-or whatever!!! I want to be exercising in my 90's and so I listen to my body and do what I can on a day to day basis. If I walk, I walk (that use to be a real sign of weakness to me!).

I am around alot of ex-athletes who are so battered and bruised from overdoing it that I have learned my lesson. My poor DH can not run a step anymore due to severe knee injuries (basketball not track) and yet he is uncomplaining and grateful that he can do alternative exercise. He is my role model and I dare not complain around him!:o :)

Keep up the great work everyone- we are all blessed to be able to move our bodies any old way we can.:) :)