With mile repeats run yesterday, today was recovery day. Legs felt fine but tomorrow is tempo day so no reason for any speed at all. 5 slow miles at 10:30 min/mile pace. Avg HR 121. Bill

Morning everyone Thanks for the good start Lou. Yeah, Fall is in the air....47 degrees here this morning. Interesting Marathon training plan you mentioned yesterday Bill. I think it would drive me nuts only running 3 days a week. Is this plan just 5 days? From memory (which is scary) 3 days running - 2 days cross training - what about the 2 other days? Glad your legs feel fine after your SPEEDY mile repeats yesterday...7:34 - 7:12 - and 7:10 is fast Sorry about your stomach issues Mary...that sucks when that happens. Anyways, nice run with the Brinkster this morning and getting it done again 7 easy / recovery miles for me last night at exactly 9:00 pace. I have found lately my overall paces are getting quicker, including my recovery pace. Will try a track workout tonight with 6 - 1000 M repeats, then Ribs has me doing 3 200 M repeats to work on form...42 to 45 seconds each....but will bail at the first sign of heel pain! Should get about 13 miles in, running to and from the track. Well, 45 days and counting till my race When I was In Indianapolis getting my new shoes last Sat, I was a an intersection waiting for the light to turn green. There was this weathered looking woman glaring eye to eye to each driver sitting there. She was holding a sign that read "homeless and hungry" Man, that is a real hard thing to see and makes me want to give this person money, but I guess most people think this perosn only wants money for drugs or booze...but still touches my heart to see such a thing...I obviously, I don't make it to big Cities very often. I'm sure most can relate that you try NOT to make eye contact because it does make us feel somewhat bad not giving of ourselves to a needy person. Don't know really why I brought this up, but as the economy gets worse, we will see more and more of this stuff I suppose. Have a great hump day everyone. Hope Holly has her power back on! Tim

"Interesting Marathon training plan you mentioned yesterday Bill. I think it would drive me nuts only running 3 days a week. Is this plan just 5 days? From memory (which is scary) 3 days running - 2 days cross training - what about the 2 other days?

This is from the F.I.R.S.T program described in the "Run Less, Run Faster" book. Yes, 3 days running and 2 days cross training only. The other 2 days are rest days. It's designed with busy people in mind - or for people who don't run their easy days easy enough and thus don't recover sufficiently. The cross train days "force" you to recover by doing other stuff. I am just toying with the idea of using it in the spring perhaps, in a modified fashion. Bill

9.2 miles at 8:12 pace (1:15)----clear skies and brisk temps at 45F at 6:30 AM. It was the first long sleeve top and gloves run of the season. My legs were barking last night after the workout w/race run, but felt great after a good night’s sleep. I think the cooler temps helped as well—everything was working fine this morning. My guys gave me a massage gift certificate for my b-day and I plan to redeem it soon. I need it. I received a sale notice from http://www.runbargains.com/ it may be useful with all the shoe conversations of late as well as hurting feet. ((((Maraposai and Enke)))))) Happy birthday to your Mom Mary. My grandfather also used to claim it was the Scotch. I am taking Super Granny to the dentist later (yes, she even has most of her own teeth) and I’ll have to check the cabinets for Scotch! It’s margaritas for her I think. Sorry about the stomach. I can’t eat just one Sun Chip so I banned them from the house (for now). ((((((Perch!))))))) Why the air cast? I am so sorry….don’t stay away though. I know it’s tough, but we miss you. Onward with the day…. Karin

POWER! Such a beautiful thing, electricity....after 51 hours, our power came on last night, as we were getting ready to head out to DD’s soccer game. The kids and I raced through the house, shouting war whoops and bouncing on the beds (yes, I am a 43-year-old woman who shouts war whoops and bounces on beds – surely you could have guessed that by now.......). I immediately checked the freezers and was surprised to see that they had not completely defrosted; there were still ice cubes and about 2/3 of our stuff in the garage freezer was still frozen solid, and thankfully the ice cream had not yet melted all over everything. I still threw out most of the contents of the kitchen refrigerator and freezer, but I’m thankful we don’t have a total loss. Today I had the pleasure of fresh coffee and the morning news and a hot, hot shower....ahhhhhh. DickyG – I was not at all offended by your comment yesterday. I thought it was funny. Teresa – what a relief that must be! Mary - happy birthday to your mom! CNYrunner - you've been working so hard - you definitely deserve a massage. 8.05 miles for me this morning in 51 crisp and lovely degrees. Ave HR 135, ave pace 9:56, including WU and the last big uphill mile home (yay!) with mile #3 at 8:31 (yay – first 8-minute-mile since June!), plus 10 x 100m striders. I was trying to concentrate on midfoot strike, using the mental image that SR has posted several times about to keep me from hitting on the heel, but I must say that it felt quite strange, like I was running on tiptoes almost, like a toddler just learning to run. Maybe I just need to get used to it. Although I have very little arch in my feet, I have come to believe that I am a "supinator." Strange, because I'm not at all bow-legged. Really. It would be nice to have someone qualified watch my gait and give me some advice. Maybe I need to drive to Tim's shoe store. Happy Wednesday!

I was trying to concentrate on midfoot strike, using the mental image that SR has posted several times about to keep me from hitting on the heel, but I must say that it felt quite strange, like I was running on tiptoes almost, like a toddler just learning to run. Maybe I just need to get used to it.

Holly, you need to be very careful making the transition to mid foot running. It took me almost a year before I finally got the hang of it...and it made my calf's and Achilles very sore at times. What I did was incorporate mid foot running little bits at a time...like the last 1/4 mile of a run, or shorter. Then just keep adding a little distance every run or so. If you get too sore, back off a few days and then try again. It really is a better way to run, and I believe it is better for preventing injuries...as our barefoot running friends would agree. I also find it best to make this transition in the off season, when not training for any races. Happy you got your power back on Tim

DickyG.....I was highly offended yesterday with your post about the one's who had lost power. Lets see, about $500.00 would make me feel less offended . As Holly said...it was funny. Tim