Wk of Oct 22--2007 WISH Walking/Running Club

[plutosmyfav]

Sunny (or anyone else in the MA/NH area) - Chad & I are signing up for the Santa Fund Run on Sunday, Nov. 5th. Thought maybe you or someone else local might be interested...

My training that day calls for 40 mins. w3/r1 - which fits pretty closely for me with a 5k.

http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/static/santafund/santafundrun.htm

That looks fun! I'll do it if I can get DD or Dx to do it with me.

 

[goingthedistance]

Today was the Duke City Marathon in Albuquerque. I ran the half, and had an excellent time, both on the clock and during the race. My plan for the 1/2 was to average 10:00-10:30 for the first half of the half (the fourth?) and then sub 10's for the second part. I wanted to treat it as a training run with the emphasis on pacing and control. I had my negative splits, and I beat my old PR by a minute!

Conditions were cold at the start, but not too windy. I ran in a throw away long sleeve shirt over my coolmax shirt, a throwaway hat (that I kept with me the whole way), running shorts that have lots of pouches for Gu, and my Air Pegasus that have approx 100 miles on them. The shorts were new. You know the saying "dont try anything new on race day"? Well...its true. Got a bit of chafing that I had to tend to during the race, but I carried some anti-chafing ointment. My shoes gave me blisters for the 2nd time in 2 weeks...trying to figure out what's going on there. Might be time to change, although I always keep coming back to Air Pegasus.

Here are my splits:
10:18
10:15
11:44
9:39 (dont know what happened here with the Garmin. We didnt speed up or slow down, we stayed exactly in the same pack of runners. The 11:44 was also on a small out and back and lost satellite because of trees for a bit, so maybe that was it? )
10:21
10:07
9:55
9:50
9:55
10:01
9:45
10:03
9:01
1:18 for 0.22 on Garmin...5:52 pace at the finish line
Garmin time: 2:12:15, 13.22 miles, 10:00 pace (approx)

Official stats:
Place Overall: 530 out of 959
Men: 310 out of 430
M 30-34: 38 out of 50
FINISH: 2:12:09 pace: 10:05
Chip Time: 2:12:09
Gun Time: 2:13:21

GoofyGuy: Great time for 20! I know what you mean on feeling like you could keep going.

Mel: For me, its all about keeping my mind distracted. Music helps (as other people have said) and visualization helps (as others have said too). I have studied the WDW course so much that I know where I would be at WDW during my run. I am phyiscally in the middle of a bike path somewhere, but I am thinking that I am running down main street with the cheering crowds. Other times I just concentrate on smaller segments. 26.2 miles is a long way to go in one chunk, but if you break it up into smaller portions it is not as bad. I make it a goal to get to a landmark down the road, and then about 1/2 way to that landmark, I begin to focus on another landmark and concentrate on getting to the new landmark. Repeat as needed. Running with a group helps too. It's tough to be on your own, but if you have a running partner the miles just seem to fly on by.

Amy: for the tendonitis. I had Achilles Tendonitis last season, and it knocked me out of training for 2 weeks. The PT wanted me to be out for a month, I wanted 1 week, so we compromised. I went to a PT (doc first for referral) when it was still hurting after 5 days. They did ultrasound therapy and gave me lots of stretches to do. Now I do the stretches even on days that I am not running. You might not need to go to a PT yet, but it is an option if the injury persists.

Here is what you should do (what I did anyway) for the tendonitis:
Take 2 days off from running completely.
Ice the tendon 2X per day. I froze water in small Dixie cups and used those.
Begin to stretch your calf muscles. Remember that there are 2 muscle groups in the calf..the soleus (sp?) and the calf muscle (has technical name...I dont remember). You stretch the calf with a straight leg, and you stretch the soleus with a sightly bent knee. You can Google Achilles Tendonitis for links to the stretches and other treatments. You might use a heating pad before you stretch them if you can. That's something my PT recommended. I hope you beat your injuries and get back out there!

Jody, Cecilia, (and others that I know I missed) good job on your races. Race experience is a valuable tool to help learn the dos and donts for race day.

Happy training all. January will be here before we know it!

Paul

 

[Outonarun]

Wow! So much commitment out there! Fantastic job on your weekend runs!!!

And for those of you who have struggled to make all of your training runs, it sounds like each of you is anxious to do so. Besides, the only workout that really matters is the *next* one on your schedule.

Back-to-back long runners: What is the mileage difference between your shorter and longer runs?

Steve: Are you always doing half of your long run distance the day before (7/14, for example)? I am doing 4 miles less than my long run distance the day before my long run (but never more than 14 miles for my shorter run). Ex: Yesterday I did 9 miles, today I did 13.

Thanks in advance for your responses!!

Stay healthy, all.

Teri ...... still haven't received my packet

 

[akasleepingbeauty]

I have been lurking but not posting as it has been a not-so-impressive month or so. Between getting ready for our cruise, being on the cruise, recovering from the cruise and then getting sick I was completely messed up in terms of training. Thanks to some encouraging words from Cam and a good mental pep talk to myself along with reading the great posts on the weekly threads, I got back on the wagon last week. Unfortunately, with so little recent training under my belt there was no way I could just pick up with the mileage and so I had to lower my mileage for the time being and hope that I can ramp up moderately until race time.

I did 5.2 miles last weekend in 1:13:03 (14:01 avg pace). I felt pretty good especially considering how few steps I had gotten in recently. I walked and ran but didn't do any kind of formal internval.

Then I did my 2 yoga/pilates classes this week along with a treadmill session (3 miles at 4.0 for walk and 5.0 for run).

Today I did 7.0 miles in 1:33:01 (13:17 avg pace). It was a great run - maybe the best I have ever had overall. The biggest reason it was so great was that I ran for 3.5 straight miles - previous to this the most I have ever run in my life was 1 mile so you can see why I was so thrilled I was quite obviously not running fast (thus the still slow pace) but I was running and it was great. I ended up running about 5.25 miles out of the 7 I did today - something I could never ever imagined doing in the past.

So hopefully I can keep up the workouts from here and find a way to increase my mileage enough to be ready in January without causing any injuries.

It is great to read about everyone's training and to see all the wonderful new participants in our group. I can't even fathom being involved in this wonderful new adventure of running/walking/racing if it weren't for the amazing people on this thread!

FYI for those doing the Illuminations Dessert Party, I will be sending out invoices early next month as the final payment will be due at the end of November. I haven't forgotten you all - we are just in a holding pattern since the deposit has been paid and nothing else to do but wait at this point

 

[AmyBeth68]

Paul! Thank you so much for the info on AT. I'm going to use your advice on the heat before stretching. Makes sense to me!!! Believe it or not I'm currently in PT for my post-tib tedonitis in the right leg . Soooo...the only upside to that is that I'm getting PT and they'll work on the AT for me even before I get back in to see the doc. I'm curious to see what they think tomorrow at my appointment. I've been icing pretty good...the dixie cup idea is excellent and I think I read that somewhere a while ago so it makes sense to me! Thanks again for the advice. It's really appreciated!

 

[Mouse Skywalker]

Good Morning TEAM:

OK - I'm back from Niagara Falls. For those of you that don't know, I ran the Niagara Fallsview Casino Half Marathon. Paul and Cecilia, you both beat me, but I'm really happy with my run. I finished in 2:14.10 for a 10:15 mpm pace. I felt pretty good during the run, I kept a steady pace, walked through the water stops, met people along the way and chatted. It was also cold and rainy for our race. We were bussed to the start at 8:00am, but the race didn't start for 2 hours. I was standing around in a Niagara Falls rain pancho which was in our goody bags. There were tents to keep us dry and school buses we could jump in to warm up so it wasn't so bad. Temperature was probably about 45 degrees. I was in my long sleeve tech undershirt, my WISH tank top over top, shorts, and my WISH socks. Before the race I had a polartec fleece on, and we could put it on the bus in the bag with our number and they took it back down to the finish line. When the race started the steady drizzle pretty much stopped. I did start the race in my pancho, but then tossed it around mile 2.

I was planning on sticking to around a 10mpm pace throughout, and for the most part I did that. I ate a GU before the race started and another at mile 6. I think I actually could have used 1 more GU. Maybe having them every 4 miles would help me a little more. I met a fellow runner who was from Pittsburgh. He was a PE teacher and really liked my shirt. He wanted to know the website so he could direct his students to it. The other cool thing was that about a mile from the finish one of my friends from my Rochester Fleet Feet running passed me. I saw the back of her head and thought to myself "hmmm, that looks like Janet". So I sped it up, caught up with her, and we high fived and chatted for a while. That was really cool. OK, I need to get ready for work, but I'll post some pictures whenever they put them on the site.

Here are my splits:
Mile 1: 9:59
Mile 2: 9:36
Mile 3: 10:04
Mile 4: 10:22
Mile 5: 9:45
Mile 6: 10:09
Mile 7: 10:50 (ate a GU)
Mile 8: 10:13
Mile 9: 10:00
Mile 10: 10:32
Mile 11: 10:27
Mile 12: 12:01
Mile 13: 9:03

Jodi- Great job on your Great Pumpkin Run.

 

[Kristi1357]

Dave & Paul - awesome job on your half marathons!

Rhonda - fabulous job getting back on track! Running 3.5 miles?! That's is so awesome! I can only run for a measly minute, even after all this time!

 

[TiffJ]

I got my 8 miles in yesterday My mom was here this weekend, so we were supposed to do it together, but when she got up yesterday morning she hadnt slept good for 2 nights & still had to drive for 6 hrs home so she decided not to do it. I was not mentally prepared for 8 miles by myself. Plus I hadnt done any big mileage since DL.

Well, its basically 4 laps of my neighborhood. I had DS8 do the first & the last lap with me. It worked out great & more importantly it felt great! I actually earned my rest day today

Dave & Cruella- Great job on your races!!!!!

Rhonda-you're getting back into the swing of things! WTG!!!

Steve-Yes, a bunch of us here love Kayanos but you do need to try them on & make sure they work for you. Good luck I know a shoe search can be frustrating.

I have another crazy busy week ahead of me. I dont know how you guys that work full time & have kids do it. Kuddos to you!

 

[AmyBeth68]

GREAT JOB DAVE!!! WTG~and good job not pushing it since technically it is a training run . Really...super effort!

CECELIA! Wow...great pace...great effort! Excellent job on that half!

And one more cheer for you too PAUL! Awesome job on the half!

You guys rocked!!! So proud of everyone!

 

[Cruella de mom]

Good Morning Everyone!

Well, looking ahead at my training schedule I see that I have 2 very long runs that am going to have to do by myself. I am really not looking forward to that. My training partners are probably thrilled to have a break from my constant chatter!

I am so impressed with these people that can run 8,10,12 miles all alone! I guess I get to find out if I have that kind of mental toughness or not. I know I can do 5 by myself but I have always had a partner beyond that.

Dave and Paul! Great job on your races! Looks like I will have plenty of company at Disney!

Oh and Jodi - awesome job on the pumkin run!

Those of you that are doing the run/walk program, I wanted to tell you about this guy in my race yesterday. We basically played tag for the first 10 miles. He would pass me while running, I would pass him when he slowed to a walk. Eventually, I was barely passing him. It wasn't until I really ramped up my speed that I left him behind. Anyway, he finished only 6 minutes behind me.

And for all of you that are struggling, HANG IN THERE! Just do your best to get out there for the next run!

Cecilia

 

[gatorphipps]

Mel - Just remember, we do this for fun!
So are we having fun yet?
Anyway....I make small "run tos" for my LRs....For example, on my 16.5 mile run I said..
I am going to run to the DOWD YMCA to get more drink (5.7 miles)
I am running to freedom park to take a gel (3.6 miles)
I am running around the park 4x then will fill up my H2O bottles again(3.2 miles)
I am running to the bathroom b/c of my gel -
I am running to get my de-lish propel drink at the gas station (2 miles)
I am running to the finish where I have chocolate milk and cold drink(2 miles)
This helps me when I get tired....At WDW, I run to the parks. But races are easier than LRs by myself...I don't use an IPOD or garmin so I cannot give advice on how those will help.....I run to the food.

 

[Honeibee]

Please everyone, send all the PD you can muster. Mist's trial starts again today.

This Saturday was our LR so DH wanted to go to the high school track. My questions was: WHY? Give me the TM any day! The track is total dullsville! I mean really, how many times can you go around and watch some kid kicking a soccer ball? Geez.

Anyway, I did 5 miles. I know MfM calls for 4 but we are adding an extra mile on every LR as a safety net. I walked the first ten minutes then alternated running a lap and walking a lap. I messed up my splits since I stopped twice for biology breaks (The first time the door was locked). But I had three each mile splits at 13 and change. So I'm happy with it.

Speaking of biology breaks....ladies.....got any hints and tips on that one? I almost lost my AmphiPod in the toilet. In my rush to get in and out of their quick I took it off. Dumb idea.

Are we supposed to update the software in our Garmins periodically? I was looking around their website and couldn't figure it out.

Cam - You got your packet!?!?! Ohhh maaaan! Where's mine?!?!? I registered at like 5:00am on the first day you could. Grrrrr.

Oh Susie - for your shins. From what I understand, ice is the way to go.

Amy - Oh no, for you too. That's good advice, to get the right medical attention before little problems become big ones. I should listen to you.

Cecilia - Congratulations!

Jodi - Yay! Excellent!

Steve - Oh Steve! Funny you should ask about ....Kayanos. Please go back to last week's thread and you can read how I am practically having an affair with mine! Seriously, I love them. Very much.

Paul - Congratulations!

Dave - Yay! You did fab-u-lous!

Christa - I knew I liked you for a reason! You run for the food! That's my girl!

 

[aladdinsgirl]

Good morning, Wish team!! I am getting so excited for the marathon! Last night my Mom and Dad came over for a Disney planning night. We watched the cd-rom from the 2006 marathon and finalized some of our ADR's and plans. I was typing out the game plan for the marathon mornings and it just hit me that this is really going to happen. I am really training for a full marathon.

Mel--I honestly think the mental aspect is the hardest part of training, to me it's a lot harder than running or even the distance. I listen to my mp3 player and tune everything out, which is how I fall all the time, I don't pay attention to where I'm going, but anyway. I also run by landmark, I tell myself stuff like "I can't look at my Garmin until I pass the 5th house" or "I can't look at my Garmin until this song is over", so that way I'm not constantly looking at my Garmin and watching the time and distance slowly tick by.

Cecilia--Awesome job on your half marathon! That's a fabulous time. It's funny that you can't imaging running by yourself, I'm the complete opposite, I can't imagine running with people. I'm not a very social runner, I smile at people and nod at them and say hi, but I don't talk to people as I run. I've been running by myself for a year and a half now, so I guess it's just what I'm used to.

Dave--Great job on your half marathon. See, we told you that you could do it! Were you comfortable enough the whole time in shorts and a long sleeved shirt? I thought about you Saturday morning when I started my run at 40 degrees. So this is the big weekend, right? Good luck!!

Paul--I guess this weekend was a big one for half marathons! Awesome job!!

Amy-- for your Achilles tendon. Just reading about your struggle was making my Achilles hurt! I don't have any advice (but it sounds like Paul has you covered), so I'll just sprinkle some your way.

Terri--What in the world happened yesterday?? The Steelers and the Eagles??

Teri--Since Stephen doesn't get on here all the time, I'll take the liberty of answering for him (by the way, he's my husband). He always runs half the distance on Saturday before his Sunday run. For example: 7 on Saturday and 14 on Sunday, 8 on Saturday and 16 on Sunday, etc. He also runs both runs at the same time of the day to try make the conditions as close to the Goofy as possible.

Tiffany--Great job on your 8 miler! I too make loops of the neighborhood, I know my neighbors think I'm crazy. If I run our neighborhood and the neighborhood that's connected to ours, it's a 3.87 mile loop. I ran it 3.5 times on Saturday morning, by my last loop, the construction workers (I live in a new neighborhood that is still being built) were waving to me.

Christa--How is Bree? She's getting close to baby time, right?

 

[lilouisianagal]

Okay I feel so out of it. I've floated in and read a few posts each week, but I invariably catch the end of the week when there are pages and pages of post ahh. Anywho, my training is going well. I decided that I am going to run/walk the half and walk/run the full. Mentally the run/walk long runs were killing me so I dropped down to walk/run so I can stay sane. Friday I had a 12 miler scheduled, but I ended up going 13.1 miles because the distance fit so tidily into my loop and I was feeling GOOD!

Cecilia You are amazing girl! I am like that too, though. I get addicted to passing people when I'm in a race (or not)...*mutters to self*focus on the Garmin focus on the Garmin.

Jen Ahh I hate hate hate running in the dark b/c it's so creepy. It's not so bad in the morning darkness, b/c at least it gets light, but nightruns --ahhh!

Steve I love love love my Kayanos! Except I'm a toe striker and I run through a pair in a very short time (reminds me I need to go to the running store). But I absolutely love how they fit and run (I run through other shoes super quick also).

And wow the race is sooooon!

Happy running to all!

 

[MelRhoads]

Cruella - I feel your pain. My training partner hurt her knee and is out until further notice. I am fine to have someone to talk to for the lr's, but doing them by myself is no fun!! Last year i had to do a 15 and a 20 alone and it was hard!!

Amy - sorry about all of hte injuries!! I hope pt is helpful. I notice when i go faster (for me around 9:00mpm) i have more injuries. Maybe after everything clears up you can try a slower pace just to see how your body handles that.

Dave - Way to go. You should be so proud!! You have worked really hard over these past few months and you just did a huge thing!!!!! I'm impressed w/ your tenacity (i have no idea how to spell that!!)

Jodi - good job this weekend!

Mel - I don't have much to add on the mental toughness issue. I do the same thing as christa. I break it down into smaller segments, and celebrate when i complete one. I do that on the adv. races too. I celebrate when we finish a discipline. I think it is all ebb and flow though. Sometimes, i just don't feel like doing it no matter what i try. i think that is why i do so many different sports (i can switch when i get sick of one!!) Last yr. b/4 disney, i went to get some trail runners, and i told the girl working there that i was never running another mile on the road after i finished goofy. Of course, i did 2 more marathons in the months following goofy and signed up again willingly???????

Christa - i pretty much use the power gel exclusively right now. i save the ones w/ caffiene and only use them to replace a coffee or if i'm really hurting or dragging. i do the plain flavor b/c it is sweet but very plain w/ a hint of salt from the electrolytes. I find i have to use the ones w/ caffiene sparingly as they upset my stomach!!

 

[MelRhoads]

We finished the Raid the Rock urban adventure race this weekend! It was very fun as usual. It started out as the perfect race, but....

We started staging for the start at 4:00am at murray locke and dam. We started out on canoe. The race start was a mass start w/ all of the paddlers being sent up river through the locke (very cool!!! Those big huge doors closing reminded me of lord of the rings) The current in the locke was very interesting as were the big fish swimming up to look at the glow sticks on the front and rear of the canoe!! At the horn, we started paddling hard. We paddled up river and got our first control. We turned around and went back down river, just above the locke and made it to the first transition.. We had the 3rd fastest paddling split!! (and i have spagetti arms) The next section was a treking section where we could get controls in any order. We covered some majorly steep hills, but the coolest and HARDEST part was a control that was through a water drainage tunnel that went from a creek on one side of the freeway to the other. It went slightly uphill as it went up stream and b/c the water had drained through it for so many yrs, the rocks had started to wash into the upstream side and it got shorter and shorter as we went through it. by the end we were crawling, crabwalking and whatever it took to get through. It was very taxing on the muscles. The freeway was off limits, so..... we had to crawl back through it to get back. Did i mention that it was so long and uphill that the light on the other side was not visible and we had to get our headlamps out just to get through it. It was like something willy wonka would have planned. I didn't notice it was getting shorter until i started hitting my head, and then my pack and then my hips...

After getting those trekking pts., we transitioned to bikes, We rode the rivertrails to the big bridge and rappelled off of it. Back to bikes across the ark river to some single track mt. biking trails. We were in 6th place at that point. perfect race.. once we got to the mt. biking trails, we were not to use the map, but follow the red tape to the mandatory routing. we did that. i noticed that the single track was really long for this distance of race. anyway, after forever of single track, (following the red tape) we happend upon one of the race dirs. He asked if we were looking for the mt. biking trails and we told him we were on them. He shook his head!! Appearantly, there had been a trail run out there on thurs and the trails were covered w/ red tape!!!!!! We spent an extra HOUR at least biking trails that were not on the course!! They do that so that home town people can't take shortcuts, but since it is not mapped, there is no way to check to insure we are in the right spot and they did not know about all of the extra marked trails. They gave us the info on where to go to get back on course and then they ran the trails to remove the tape that was not part of their race. The perfect race was OVER!!! We were probably somewhere in the middle of the pack now. So we got back on track and did a couple of cool things. We rode to a submarine and got a control there and then climbed from the river up emerald bluff w/ our bikes. After that we were back in transition and going out on foot again. We had a little trouble w/ one point, but pretty much knocked every thing out quite quickly. I think we finished in just under 11 hours. We covered about 9k on water. 21k on foot (no streets and few trails, mostly just woods, and tunnels ) and I can't remember the bike distance but i think it was just over 20miles (not counting the extra hour or so that we rode)

I'm really sore today. We did really well, but won't really be able to see where we shake out against other teams due to the bike ordeal. The good part was that we did not give up!! We kept our heads in the game and finished fast and strong even though we were totally disappointed. It was also good for me mentally as i always fear the single track section and i rode really well and did a lot of single track. I find that when my worst fears actually happen and then i actually live through it anyway, that i get a little braver. The bronc did not throw me at all. she treated me really well!!

For you arkies, we went under 430 on the lr side, rappelled of the big dam bridge and rode those little gravel roads under 430 on the nlr side then to a quarry and into burns park on the boy scout trails. From there we went down to the quarry below and then back up emerald bluff (can we say booty pain!!!) we went to the submarine and by the new travs. stadium (i'm still sad about ray winder field) then up to burns park where we stayed did nav in the woods. we kept finding golf balls out there, which was really funny!!

 

[Honeibee]

Can anyone tell me a little about the Expo? We are planning on going on Friday. Is that an all day thing? I don't want to spend too much time walking around. DH wanted to get park tickets but I didn't think that was such a good idea. I planned on spending Friday taking it easy. Maybe swimming a little, eating carefully. What is everyone else doing the day before?

 

[aladdinsgirl]

Judy--Definitely stay off your feet as much as you can the day before the marathon. How long you are at the Expo really depends on you, we were there a couple of hours, but only maybe 20 minutes of that was getting our race packet and goody bag. The rest of the time we spent at the Disney merchandise booth, the different vendor booths, and seeing John Bingham speak--he was one of the guest speakers, I don't know if he will be there this marathon or not. Here are some pics of the Expo, to give you an idea.
These were taken on Friday, January 6th around noon.

Marathon Packet Pick-Up (Upstairs)

Merchandise & Vendor Booths (Downstairs)

 

[rKyDeX]

:Are we supposed to update the software in our Garmins periodically? I was looking around their website and couldn't figure it out. :

Honeibee,

Go here: http://www.garmin.com/products/webupdater/howtoinstall.jsp on the Garmin website. Download and install Webupdater. It will tell you if your GPS software is current and if your Training Center software is current.

Chester

 

[keenercam]

Mel – Sorry to hear about DD’s knees, but I am glad she is cleared to run the ½ marathon. You must be so proud of her!
Thanks for asking about the family. Howard is doing a bit better now that midterms are done, though his homework and project loads are huge! Andrew ran his PR 2.17 miles at Saturday’s cross-country meet at 8:05 pace. I was really proud of him for putting it all out there. It’s a shame – he just is not as fast as the boys who are running 5:30-7:00 minute miles and I feel like he misses out on all the praise because he isn’t one of the top 5-7 runners on his team. He sure tries hard, though, and I am so proud of him. Jenn is loving colorguard and the social aspects of college and struggling mightily with the academics. All to be expected, but it has still shook her up. She is working hard, though, and that is all we can ask.

I did my 12 mile LR on Saturday at the gym – mostly walking. I don’t have my times with me, but I think Howard said I was at about a 14:40 overall pace. I was just glad to carve out the time to fit in the miles.

Rhonda – I am so glad you are here, sweetie, and feeling re-energized! I have been so out of touch with everyone and am so glad we can at least gather here.

Susie and Matt – I hope your shins are better! :

Amy – I am keeping you in my prayers, sweetie!

Craig – I really like your strategy of memorizing the course and incorporating it into your training. Maybe if I do that, I won’t be so intimidated by the enormity of it. I’ll start thinking of the training as adding the next part of the route, instead of having to “go 2 miles further”. Thanks, as always, for your invaluable and timely advice.

Cecilia – Congratulations! I am so impressed with your thought processes and your strategy! Kudos! How is your foot?

Great job, Jodi!

Kristi - I am so proud of you for not staying at home when you stopped for the inhaler. Great job on getting out there!

Karen – great pace!

Sunny – you never cease to amaze me!

Paul – congratulations! Your pace blows me away! You must have been psyched.

Dave – I am so proud of you! Look at how far you have come ! What did DW have to say about your amazing finish?
Christa – What a fun way to motivate yourself! I think I need to re-plan a route with food/drink stops! Hard to do on a treadmill, though.

Judy – great job on your LR! Oh, and interestingly, Howard didn’t get his packet yet. : How weird is that? I promised him I won’t open mine until his comes, but if he insists a little harder, I may cave! I hope things go the way they must with Mist’s trial. Sending

Tiffany – Congratulations on getting out there, sweetie! So glad you had company for part of it.

Krista – The planning session sounds fun! It’s starting to sink in, huh?

Melissa – awesome race report! You guys ROCK!!!

Well, I did my 12 miles Saturday on a treadmill and wore my new Brooks Ariels. They felt better than I thought they would, but ultimately, were not a great choice for me. I ended up with blisters on the front end of the second toe on each foot and 2-3 blisters (elongated) along the inside line of the foot starting around the arch and going backwards. I also had some skinned areas on the inside of the left foot right below the big toe. I’d say these shoes are a big no-no. Off to order something else to try now. Judy may have talked me into trying Kayanos

The 12 mile LR wasn’t as hard as I expected it to be (14:40 pace overall), but I am still having breathlessness issues and have a doctor’s appointment tomorrow night. While I am there, I have to talk to him about the irregular heartbeats I am having (again). I am not even willing to consider that the vtach may have re-appeared. The fourth surgery has “held” since 1/6/05. The cardiologists all said the fix might not be permanent. I, of course, never believed that. Feeling vtach last night for the first time in 20 months literally took my breath away. I am just not ready to go through all that again.