Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements. (Napoleon Hill) ------------------- Hope your Sunday is going well

Nice lead off Leslie! love N.H....amongst others hanging out on my bookshelf! Having a great Sunday so far!! (I'm ignoring the fact that I'm still lost in registration zone per Cherry Creek Sneak!- but it looks like folks @ Active put my profile back online so, I maybe won't have this issue next wknd... ) DH & I ran the CCS this am...they ran the 5K @ 8am, then a couple of the kids races & elites then the 5M @ 9:15...so, my goal was to "warm up" on the 5K w/DH ~ running easy, then "tempo" the 5 mile (as much as you can in a field of 3,000 run/walkers!) Oops! We got there late, thereby missed hooking up w/RA Denver folks & then got hijacked by another couple we know doing the 5K (new engagement! Yay!)....BIG CROWD!! we needed cell phones to stay "hooked up!" DH (after much joking around about "I'm gonna DIE!") ran an easy 10:09 pc I'm the one that had to take a "breakfast is talking back to me" walk-break!! Then had to figure out how to get outta the cattle gates (w/o giving up my chip) to get water & walk about till time for the 5M....they handed out shopping bags to wander the various booths collecting goodies...which DH then "ran" to the car (@ mm 2) & back to the beer corral (taking the shortcut still gave him a couple more miles!) after I'd grouped up (not much "lining" up in such a crowd ) for the 5M...my only goal is "don't walk!" & to keep it as steady as possible..Oh! & don't get hurt!... damned near yardsaled it in a pothole during the 5K! which led to a plethora of joking from several around me that that could potentially take out thousands in domino effect! lol!.... Mission accomplished! According to Garmin av pc for the 5M~ 10:18 (10:33, 10:05, 10:07, 10:15, 10:32)...av HR 161..good nuf!...got me some more bananas, bagels, water & Propel & headed for the beer corrall! ~ nope! I'm not one of the elites!! (not even close!!) but I feel pretty good getting 8 miles @ what's a really good steady pace for me!! I just gotta watch that I don't let the crowd pace take over what I know I can manage! I'll bet next wknd is flat gonna kick my butt!! Now I'm nursing a beer headache! minor one! tow bere's'll do that to me! good excuse to watch DH install the new dishwasher! stove went in Friday Ciao! Cindy

r2, Cindy and Joe - great runs! Leslie's right, our dreams are within our reach! Joe - when's the race, a couple weeks from now? I have a good feeling... Can't believe it's still so cold in most of the country!! We got a sudden heat wave (already!!) today and I tanked on my long run, had to run/walk the last 1.5 mi, started to feel a liitle woozy...guess I'm just not acclimated yet, and it was already almost 80F when I left. Looks like pre-dawn running season is already here, ugh... Arla

Arla - We must've been posting at the same time last night. 80F - at what time? Ugh! Stay hydrated, my friend. Okay, I have to brag a little bit. Set a PR on my 5-mile run this a.m. Completed in 49:34 with an average 9:50 pace. Woo Hoo! I screwed up my Garmin, but I know it said I had a best pace somwhere around 7:35 at one point. I am tickled to death! Especially since I felt like my legs were tired and heavy, and this included two short walk breaks to down 6 oz of fluids and very brief slow down for a stop light. I then did all 8 of my hill sprints with my Llama Love watching over me. Are we still talking about meeting up somewhere next year for a run? Wasn't one of them at Bryce Canyon (beautiful!)? Carol - are you the one who had the link? If so, can you post it again, and I'll be sure and check it out this time. I think it'd be a hoot to meet you guys after all this time. Okay - Have a great week!

Do any of you train with the Garmin 301 heart monitor? What are the pros and cons? If not and you use a monitor, same question applies? After reading lots of posts on HR training and talking with my friend, Karen, I think I've been convinced to give it a try.

Are you going to start watching your heartrate, Arla

Yes. After reading many posts and talking with my friend, Karen, I've decided to give a try. It seems to work really well for people, and Karen said she saw a significant upturn in her running after training with a monitor over the past year.

... If not and you use a monitor, same question applies? After reading lots of posts on HR training and talking with my friend, Karen, I think I've been convinced to give it a try.

I have been training for a few years with a HRM, using a Polar of one kind or another. There are 2 levels of HRM functionality that make sense to me: 1) Very basic. Displays the HR so you can look at it. Any other features like zone limit alarms or memory are ok but not such a big deal. Mainly, you just look at it to see your HR. Probably < $50. 2) has download-to-computer capability with enough memory to store runs of many hours (10 or more) with data captured every 5 seconds, e.g. sw should provide graphical displays which allow you to really analyze how you're doing. etc, etc... imho, anything more than #1 which isn't at the level of #2 is not worth having. i know a guy who had one without download capability, and getting the data out by hand was too much of a pain... you could do like i did - start out with a simple one, and then if you like using it and want more sell it off cheap to a needy soul and upgrade to a better model. $50.="" 2)="" has="" download-to-computer="" capability="" with="" enough="" memory="" to="" store="" runs="" of="" many="" hours="" (10="" or="" more)="" with="" data="" captured="" every="" 5="" seconds,="" e.g.="" sw="" should="" provide="" graphical="" displays="" which="" allow="" you="" to="" really="" analyze="" how="" you're="" doing.="" etc,="" etc...="" imho,="" anything="" more="" than="" #1="" which="" isn't="" at="" the="" level="" of="" #2="" is="" not="" worth="" having.="" i="" know="" a="" guy="" who="" had="" one="" without="" download="" capability,="" and="" getting="" the="" data="" out="" by="" hand="" was="" too="" much="" of="" a="" pain...="" you="" could="" do="" like="" i="" did="" -="" start="" out="" with="" a="" simple="" one,="" and="" then="" if="" you="" like="" using="" it="" and="" want="" more="" sell="" it="" off="" cheap="" to="" a="" needy="" soul="" and="" upgrade="" to="" a="" better="" model.=""></ $50. 2) has download-to-computer capability with enough memory to store runs of many hours (10 or more) with data captured every 5 seconds, e.g. sw should provide graphical displays which allow you to really analyze how you're doing. etc, etc... imho, anything more than #1 which isn't at the level of #2 is not worth having. i know a guy who had one without download capability, and getting the data out by hand was too much of a pain... you could do like i did - start out with a simple one, and then if you like using it and want more sell it off cheap to a needy soul and upgrade to a better model. >

Ahhhhhhsome shots Leslie! http://www.brycecanyonhalfmarathon.com/ I have a Garmin 305 w/HR monitor....(info geek that I can be! ) @ my present stage of things, it might just be a bit of overkill on the subject BUT! I do love it!! tracking how well I'm doing (or not!) HR, speed, elevation, calories burned, splits, GPS (case I git lost!!) virtual partner, preloaded training plans, etc. lots of stuff I haven't yet used....but it's my toy & I intend to play w/it till it dies!! then git another one! R2: remember that mud come August! nice LR! You too Joe! You Rawk! &{{{{{{{{ Good Luck to you on Sunday!!!}}}}}} Kelly: Do you plan to rest at all?!? or just "re-boot?!" Arla & Jewels: take it easy easing into the heat! I'm actually looking fwd to it being a more "reasonable" temp to run @ 5am!! more reasonable than 2* F!! Laters......