Cash--Im really sorry about your dog. Very Sad. Anyone can feel free to start the weekly thread. Ran my 9 on Saturday morning. It was good having someone to run with. We did good pushing each other. Was a nice crisp morning. My knee is much better. Giving it a day off was good. No problems after running Friday night and then Sat morning. Actually cross trained today- 1/2 hour on the eliptical. Good run, bugs! Glad it went well.

Cash, Very sad news. Sounds like you guys went through a lot. Great job on the weight loss, I had no idea. Erika, I was 5th out of 17 woman. A fast majority of the runners ran the 6K this year. I was happy to see that I would not have received any more awards if I had ran my time from last year. There is a HM in St. Paul next week. It is always so cold, but would like to try it next year. No doubt if you lived here you'd be running it. Didn't get a run it, started doing aerobics, but pooped out. Tomorrows another day. I did make cabbage soup to help with the weight loss issue. I run faster at 118lbs. I've been reading Jack Daniels Running formula book. Formula is right, too many dam tables, abbreviations, etc.. But still I'd like to try it. I know I tend to go right from base building to quality work. A schedule like this might be good for me.

Cash, sorry to hear that news. They really are part of the family. MrI, sounds like an IT band issue. There are some very specific stretches that will help if you search a bit. Better to rest it a bit then really aggravate it. I ignored a sore hamstring and did 9 yesterday at a nice moderate pace. Did a new route that went around the outside of a large shopping mall not too far from my house. About halfway around (on the access road that encircles) a security guy in a pickup truck yelled at me that there was "NO RUNNING". Guess he wanted me in the mall as a typical fat consumer. At least he didn't say "NO JOGGING" I kept going and turned off as soon as I could. Will probably go 5 today. Easy miles to all...

I'm modeling my training after Pfitz's 18/55 plan. I'm going to try to max out at 60, but will be ok if that doesn't happen. Daniels has a lot of great info on LT training and I've got some of his workouts mixed in with Pfitz's.

Bugs--read your race report. Sounds like you did fantastic. And I think focussing more on running is a great idea. Maybe its just me, but I think most of your injuries were hapening while doing a lot of other activities as well. Mr I be careful--but nice work on the recent runs.. DGB-Funny about the security dude. I wonder if he would have let you walk. I know when travelling Ive run around shopping plazas around the back where they take deliveries. Never had a problem. Shan--WOOOT! Good job pushing through. Be careful, you dont want to be all bruised for the big day! Ran 3 tonight on the bike trail. About 30 degrees with dustings of snow throughout the day today. There were a couple slick patches, but I managed about a 10:45 pace. Felt real good. I remembered the cold isnt that bad. Just need something to cover my face while running. Will probably break out my Advanced Marathoning book just for the heck of it. But Im gonna stick to my schedule. But I remember lots of good info in there last time I read it as far as form, diet, etc. Oh, and I passed the 1000 mile pace bunny today..I expect to put some distance between us as training picks up.

23 miles biking then 5 miles running today. Mr I. If the pain is at the little bump on the outside of your knee, it is probably IT band pain. Icing will reduce the inflamation, and reduce the pain. Bad news is, if that is all you do the pain will come back. And the more you run, the more likely it is to go from a minor annoyance, to feeling like someone is stabbing you with a red hot ice pick in the side of the knee. And if you bend the knee it will collapse on you. If you walk stiff legged the pain subsides a lot and you can at least walk to where you want to get. The IT band is not muscle, ligament or tendon. It is fascia. Just like the bottom of your foot. Since it is not muscle it doesnt get much blood supply, therefore it doesnt heal very quickly. The pain comes from the band getting tight, and therefore becoming shorter, and then it rubs over that bump on the outside of the knee and becomes painful. You need to lengthen the band to cure the problem. ART massage or deep tissue massage can help. So can a 15 dollar foam roller. No a pool noodle wont work, its not solid enough. Sometimes but not always stretches will work. Google Walt's stretch. Walt Reynolds has a good stretch to help the problem. For most people, the root problem is a weak core muscle in your butt/hip called the gluteus medius. When you run, one leg is in the air, the other is on the ground. If you have a strong glute medius, your hips will stay level with one foot on the ground one in the air. If it weak, then gravity will pull the hip down on the side where the leg is in the air. When the glute medius is weak, then the IT band on the leg that is on the ground will try to pull on your hips to make them level again. That is normally the glute medius' job, but when it fails, the task falls to the IT band. This also happens when roads are tilted ( cambered) for rain run off. One hip is a little lower than the other because of the tilt of the road, and the glute medius and IT band try to adjust the hips to level. You can do side leg lifts and clam shells to strengthen the glute medius. A website called EXRX.net is great for figuring out what muscles are where in the body and what exercises you can do to strengthen them. There is a picture of the human body, just click on the part that hurts and it will show you what muscles are there and what exercises to do. Hope that helps. Cash

I wasn't able to pull away from work for my run today and took advantage to make it a rest day. Did cross training (more crossfit) for about 30 minutes so it wasn't entirely wasted. The hamstring was actually not a running injury. Just left over soreness from the cross training last week. Fortunately today was not as difficult. Will try and get in 6 tomorrow to keep ahead of the 1500 mile bunny. I had built up a 15 mile lead but it doesn't take long for her to catch up.

Great tempo run today. I always surprise myself when I can run under a 6:00/k pace (it's a mental thing. Coming from having weighed 375 lbs to the 230 I am now, I see under 6 and panic thinking there's no way I should be able to sustain this and psych myself out.) Ran a solid 5:35 pace today with 10:1 walk breaks so was very content (and happy I was at the front of the pack.) Cash - Very sorry to hear about your puppy. They really are a part of your family. I have my own Jack Daniels running plan. Run 1 mile, take a shot. Run 1 mile, take a shot. Run 1 mile, puke. Take a shot. Run 1 mile. Pass out until tomorrow. It's rather effective.