Thanks Bike Chick for your encouragement. Good luck to you on your runs. We might be some of the "new beginners" here.

Well after all of the posts that I have posted so far on running questions and trail advise, I actually went out for a run on a local trail. This is how I am starting my new year.

I used a combonation of a stopwatch and my pedometer. I figured that would cover all of the bases electronically.

So here is my report...
I went 2.64 miles in just over an hour. I was covering rolling hills in this area so it was definately difficult. So I started with 5 min runs ans 1 min walks to see how that felt. After doing it twice, I knew that was to much. Mind you, this is going uphill with rollers, doging mtn bikes too. Anyhow, I switched to running 4 minutes and walking 2. This was more doable. Thank god for stopwatches. This allowed me to go out there and run but not over extend myself which I have done in the past MANY times. So my net running times were 2 sets of 5 and 1 and then another 2 sets of 4 and 2. So that was about 18 min of running which was enough.

After my first 2 sets and going uphill, I took a long walk to get my heart rate down, relax and try and figure all of this out. After walking for a while, that was when I decided to turn around and head back. It was at this point that I switched to the 4 and 2 combonation.

Clothing was good. I dressed as if I was going skiing. I had thermals on, then a cycling jersey, running tights, wool socks and knit gloves. I had my smaller hydration pack with me too.

Depending on how I feel tomarrow, I was going to try and go for a ride. I run by "feel" and ride by "feel" to. It makes it easier to not think about time and distances so much.

I just know I need to get back into shape again. It will take work but thankfully I have not gained a whole lot so far.

Red Rock