Running into the New Year! Week of New Year's.

[kacie tri-ing]

12 miles today....but my Disney Marathon is a week from today! AHHHHH! I am super nervous! Think good and tapering type thoughts for me this week. It is hard to imagine a week of 3 mile runs AND going back to work. I might have to get a stress ball :-)

[spindizzy]

Yellow - I'm with you - I too love winter ! Have had an easy month training-wise. Time to get back at it. Had a beautiful short run yesterday - 6.1k in 30 min. Works out to 4:52/km pace...hope I can keep it there. (and maybe improve some....)

[Deborajen]

Did three miles of easy running today. Since the last two days were beautiful (in the 50's) we played golf and walked the course Friday and Saturday, then I used today for running since I get hot no matter what the air temp is.

Kacie - good luck on the marathon next week. And hang in there with the taper. Sounds like you're well prepared - it'll be a fun race!

Deb

[michelem]

Oh! I just love reading everyone's reports.

Syndirelah, Let us know how the new shoes + Superfeet work for you. I had New Balance 767's (a couple models/years down from yours). Without the Superfeet, there was not enough arch posting. With the Superfeet, too much. So, I had to switch out to neutral shoes (rather than motion control) with the Superfeet -- perfect! We're all different though. So, I'm just curious to hear how they work for you.

jesvetmed, I'm sorry to hear of your injury. Try not to be too hard on yourself. If you end up having to do a 1/2 at a later date, remember the training you've already done for this one won't go to waste. And, you'll have more fun if you're not fighting aches and pains. I'm TRYING to respect my body where it's at each day (rather than where I want it to be), but I understand it's still disappointing/maddening when it doesn't perform to expectation.

OakLeaf, Sounds like you've had a lovely week, with yoga to boot! I need to get back into that . . . I always feel better when I practice, and I need to remember that! Thanks for the reminder.

alpinerabbit, I've not heard of Thai massage. Can you give a description? Any kind of massage sounds like a great gift to yourself!

yellow, Wow! You've certainly been active! I tried downhill skiing once years and years ago and hated it. However, I got a chance to try x-country skiing several years later and like that much more. Do you live in an area where you can ski this much all the time, or were you in a vacation spot this past week?

kacie tri-ing, Oh! Taper week! I worked all that week as well. It actually helped me keep my mind off my marathon worries as we were very busy that week. Remember that nutrition and sleep are super important this week. Just because you aren't expending as much energy doesn't mean you should skimp on your carbs, water, and sleep. I promise you that you will not be able to sleep well the night before the race (and will probably be getting up super-duper early), so getting plenty of solid sleep in the days leading up to the race is extra important. I'm very excited for you and can't wait to hear your race report!

spindizzy and Deborajen, Thanks for sharing your reports as well. Isn't it great to have beautiful run days?

Although the morning started out super cold in the mid 20's, it warmed to a high of about 50 by mid-afternoon. So, I went for a 7 mile-ish run on the neighborhood trail again. The sky was clear and barely a breeze. Beautiful. Lots of people, dogs, and children on the trail, so I tried to stay to the side on the gravel as much as possible. I had to poop the whole way, but I think that made me run faster so I could get back home!

If anyone uses podrunner podcasts (www.podrunner.com), I heard on my latest download that the site may be coming down. DJ Steveboy says that if ever there was a time where you were thinking of downloading some of the free tunes, you better do it now. I love that all of the mixes are set by bpm's. I use the ones between 176 and 180 bpm's, but there are slower ones as well.

Here's to a great week everyone!

[Crankin]

I snuck in another treadmill run/walk as a warm up for yoga. After 3 days of x country skiing I am pretty sore, but I was able to do 3 intervals of 3 minutes of running at 5.5 to 5.7 mph. I know that's incredibly slow for most of you, but my only goal is to be able to run a ten minute mile for 5k right now. I only had 20 minutes to run/walk, so the rest of the time I walked at a 3-5% incline at 4 mph.
Cycling seems to be taking a backseat now because I am trying to take advantage of winter for the short time it's here.

[Jolt]

I snuck in another treadmill run/walk as a warm up for yoga. After 3 days of x country skiing I am pretty sore, but I was able to do 3 intervals of 3 minutes of running at 5.5 to 5.7 mph. I know that's incredibly slow for most of you, but my only goal is to be able to run a ten minute mile for 5k right now. I only had 20 minutes to run/walk, so the rest of the time I walked at a 3-5% incline at 4 mph.
Cycling seems to be taking a backseat now because I am trying to take advantage of winter for the short time it's here.

Hey, if you get to be able to run ten minute miles for 5k you'll be at about the level I am, and I've been running a lot longer! Goes to show I'm just not built for speed (you've seen me ride...). I went for the usual half-hour neighborhood run this evening, and there were a couple of stretches where the snow wasn't cleared. At least there wasn't a bunch of black ice though (except along the sidewalk on my street). I just picked up a book, Conditioning for Outdoor Fitness, that I am planning to use to design some strength training workouts that will help with the things I like to do and therefore be something I will be more likely to stick with (I just don't really like lifting weights so it's hard to get me motivated to do it) and help prevent injuries.

[Urlea]

Last week was a flop for me. Didn't get a single run in. It was snowing, then it was cold and then I was out of town where the conditions were pretty much the same only difference being that it was about 10mph more windy. But I did go snowboarding on Saturday & the Saturday before last. It was -8 and probably -20 with the windchill, but still a lot of fun!

Started off this week strong (it took a lot of coaxing just to get me out the door though, busy day at work) anywho, went 7.4 miles. Was only planning to go 5, but it felt good & I ended up having to take a different route home to avoid a one block section that was too busy with rush hour traffic to run on the road. I'm still trying to figure out their plowing strategy here with the sidewalks, it makes no sense so far. Big long stretches of clear sidewalk and then a block or so that isn't cleared at all along the same road. *shrug*

Next week I'll be in Japan visiting family and plan to run there. My only concern is getting lost & not being able to read road-signs. Any suggestions? I wonder if www.Mapmyrun.com works in other countries?

From the looks of it all of you are still getting out there. Good Job!!

*Hugs* to those struggling with injuries. That can be so frustrating. Here's a to a quick recovery!