Emily - No reason to feel like your 5K was a shorter race. You have to start somewhere, and 5K's are an excellent way to start. I did my very first race in May of 2006 at Disney - the 5K in conjunction with the Minnie, and I was immediately hooked. Now I've come full circle... keep reading!
Terri - I do NOT envy you. Sometimes we complain about never getting snow. But we got 5 inches last week, and what little is left on the ground is getting on my nerves. The weekend storm missed us, except for a few flurries, and I'm very grateful. I cannot begin to imagine consecutive 2 foot snowfalls. We had 20 inches in 2000, and that was the first time ever!
Deleckideisgn -

It is not easy to train in cold weather, but I agree with
Carrie. I'd rather run outside than on the TM most days. DH, DD19 and I are all running the Indy half too. It will be DD's first half. There's a planned WISH dinner on Friday night, so if you can plan on joining us!
Carissa -

You're absolutely in the right place. 5K's are a great way to stay motivated while waiting for next January. I have a hard time continuing to train all year if I don't have something more immediate on the horizon.
Elaine - I second what
Carrie said about the shoes. If you have any problems at all with your feet and/or legs, go on and go to a running store. Nothing is more important than a good pair of running shoes, or two. Then keep up with how many miles you're putting on them so you'll know roughly when to replace them.
Carrie - It's amazing how quickly the mileage changes. I did 7 three weeks ago, skipped two weeks ago due to snow, and it felt like a huge deal to finally run 10 this weekend. I had to keep saying "you just ran 39," when in reality it's been a month now. And the 5K thing, well... keep reading for my opinion on that!
Maura - I'm still trying to figure out what all my different paces are. I'm trying a new plan, but can't decide exactly where to start since I have a half marathon every month. But I'm REALLY confused when it tells me to run at my 5K pace, or my 10K pace, versus my goal pace. I have NO idea what they are!
As for me - After running 10 miles (on hills) on Saturday, I woke up Sunday and decided to run a 5K with DH. Have no idea what possessed me to do such a thing, other than it's been a couple of years since I'd done one and it was a pretty day, although still cold. All of my previous 5K's have been done as a run/walk, and one of my goals for this year is to RUN a 5K with no walk breaks. I'd planned to train for this, but decided to give it a try yesterday and see what happened. I actually made it 2 miles without stopping, but then someone threw a bunch of hills into the course. I switched to R3/W1 for the last mile, and shaved 1:36 off my previous 5K time. Today I feel like I just started running. I'm not sure I was this sore after Goofy! Something about 10 miles on hills followed by a 5K... So for
Emily, 5K's after you've gotten used to marathons take an entirely different mindset and training regimen if you're going to do them well. And
Carrie, I'm with you. I'm not fast. I'm a very slow 5K runner. And trying to run fast uses an entirely different set of muscles. I sprinted to the end trying to pass the woman in front of me. But I'm thrilled with my results, and I had fun, and I got a rose and t-shirt for my efforts!
Jackie