Sorry to hear your marathon didn't turn out like you wanted it too Murphy. CONGRATS on finishing it though! The marathon is a bitch! Dh has ordered me to not run today. Urine still isn't normal so I guess I'll listen to him. Figure I'll sit on the couch and drink as much water as I can to see if that clears it up. If not to the doctors I go. On the leg front they feel fine! Kind of wish they felt horrible. Would make taking the day off much easier. Fortunatly I still have a headache and stomach ache so that will help

Murph. I think that's a good finish under adverse circumstances! Nice work! Pam: I would take day(s) off until that clears up. I think you should probably head to the doc and find out what the heck is up. Blood in your urine just sounds like a bad sign to me, something that might really keep you from running your marathon....

... Perry, Terra Ferma is the left turn at mile 18, and up a big hill. I guess that means it wasn't so bad if you didn't remember it...

Ok, looking at the map I know what you mean. My impression was that the hills started before 17 with that massive one, and then went on continuously through that neighborhood until we got back to the airport. Yes, the Terra Ferma hill was steep; I passed everyone going up that. Only a couple were running, the rest all walking. If I had been racing, all that stuff from mile 17 on would have killed me... I bet you get great hill practice on your runs in that area.

I ran that hill last year... I had leg 3 of the marathon relay, which is miles 13-22... The only thing I could think of was- I'm sure glad that I don't have 12 miles in the tank before having to run these hills. i was pleased to be able to run a 8 something pace on that leg, but again, I was just doing the relay... I felt so bad for people who were running the full... wonder if they'll ever change the course. Pam, I agree with the others... try not to put yourself last... As a mom, I get it... but please take care. Kinda tired of this rain... my running friends wussed out on running this morning- so I will get it in later on my own... Sorry about your shoulder, Pace. Did it hurt you during the relay? Murphy- try not to be too down about your race... you accomplished finishing, which is great. Wonder how Shan did... she had a marathon this weekend, right?

Shan was forced into a DNF. I was a little dehydrated going in and i've been congested since friday. At 4.5 I got dizzy - begged the police officer to let me keep going - he made me carry a bottle of water. I found this great mental space where there were no thoughts only running. Around mile 5 I started to wheeze. At mile 7 i stopped to walk and almost fell over so I sat down. Started running again. At mile 10 I stopped to walk - wobbeled. Some ladies who must have seen me wobble earlier when I stopped to talk told me they were getting a medic and not letting me go further. Police made me sit down and try to get the wheezing under control - the medics put me on a stretcher because i was light headed. I asked if I could keep going - they said no. After about 5/10 minutes of sitting my HR was still 160. I stopped wheezing, but still had blue fingers. I refused to go to the hospital. A police man drove me back to the start. What I learned - flying dehydrates me (and probably everyone) and I really really need to be aware of that on those days. MTA: I might be scarce for a couple of weeks. I just wanted you all to know so you don't worry. I'll chat with you soon.

Take care of yourself, Shan. Might be more than the plane flight that did the dehydration... Pam! You too! Get thee to the dr whether you have insurance or not. Would be better to go on your terms than have to be taken to the ER... Perry, I totally missed your race earlier! Very nice on both. You ran a 5k before the marathon? Day before? I'll have to check your RR when I have more time. My upper back is sore today. Might as well go along with the problems in my lower back. May have overdone the yard work just a teensy bit... But hey, this morning when I backed the car out to go to work, I stopped and looked around and it was so nice! Can't wait till it really greens up now, but this week will be cooler than last week (50's vs. 70's for the high temps) so maybe it'll slow down the greenup process a little. First Physical Therapy session today. I'm interested to see what she's got in mind for me. Everyone I've talked to whose had this (and it seems a LOT of people have dealt with sciatica at one time or another) swears by cortisone shots vs. PT, and some have said acupuncture made a world of difference.

I think speed is pretty relative for all of us non-elites; I mean, all us men not running sub-14 5Ks, or sub-2:10 marathons, and similarly for women not running sub-15 5Ks or sub-2:35 marathons (I'm a little shaky on how fast the elite women run). The rest of us are spread out over a very wide spectrum, so who is fast all depends on whose perspective you pick, but we're all slow from the elite perspective, and we're probably all fast from the perspective of those who can't run a mile non-stop. But I admit that it's nice to feel fast. That is one nice thing about the larger races; the more people that start, the more you get to see behind you on turn-arounds SPRINT TRI: If your goal is to finish comfortably on a sprint tri, I'd say the first thing is to get to where you can comfortably complete all the legs. Can you comfortably run 3mi? Haha, yes, I guess we know. Sprint triathlons aren't standardized on distance like the others (Olympic/International, Half, and Full-Iron), so I can't necessarily ask the right distances, but to approximate based on General Smallwood -- which, hmmm, might not be a bad location for you -- can you comfortably ride 16mi on the bike? Can you comfortably swim 800m? Some other things (a) can you can comfortably swim in open water, if you're doing an openwater swim, and (b) practice running immediately after biking. That is called a brick workout, and it is good to get used to the rubbery leg feeling that gives you at first. Oh, and (c) figure out what you will wear. I use tri shorts, but cycling shorts will work also (but be less comfortable in the water). That's for men. Not sure what your options are for women. Oh, it depends on whether you're wearing a wetsuit! If you're doing a wetsuit, you can dress for just biking and running, which makes it easier -- just use bike shorts. (But I don't use a wetsuit myself.) Disclaimer: I'm not triathlon expert; far from it. I've done sprint club tris in pools, and that's it. There is a forum for triathletes/triathlons here on RA though. If your goal is to be competitive, you need to ask someone else; I'm too much a beginner to give advice for that