Who all is here and what are you doing? (Read 16874 times)

    okay, my turn. My names Ben, im 16, and i live in chapel hill. I think im the only high school XC-er here, but thats cool. i've run one half marathon, and i did pretty well, esp. considering i missed the start by five minutes, but after it, i couldn't walk for about a week. so, i think imma stick w/ my 5k's, and let you crazy ppl do the marathons and stuff. they sound pretty funl, but then again, so does walking. maybe when im older, i'll get more into them. so yeah, i wanna get into triathlons too, and that'll prolly hurt even worse than marathons and stuff. oh well, i get better stories from xc anyway than races. i don't have any super-cool running stories (yet!) but hopefully, ill manage to round up a few this track season. and if not, i'll be able to do it for sure at running camp. later Ben ps - the only better way to start a story than "one time at band camp" is by saying "one time at running camp..." you get the audience hooked right from then, if only becuase paying to go run seems amazingly crazy SIK i'm #1. on this page anyway
      Hi, I'm Helen, I'm 27 and I live in England. I started running just under a year ago mainly to lose weight. (A lot of weight, I've lost 92lb and I'm not done yet). Somewhere along the way I realised that I actually enjoyed running, that it wasn't just a chore, and that my distances and times were getting more important to me than my weight. Once I realised that I started revising my goals. I ran a few races last year - 5 and 10ks, not particularly fast (28 minute 5k and 59 minute 10k), but without feeling I'd reached my limit, so I decided to push myself harder this year and see how far I can go. I'm going a half marathon next month, and I'm doing the Berlin marathon in September (which gves me 8 months to train). My goal is going to be to finish rather than aiming for a particular time, but even finishing would be unthinkable from where I was this time last year. I don't think I'm ever going to be a speed demon, but that doesn't bother me. My running is about beating my previous self not about beating other people.
      BigBones


        Hi, I'm Helen, I'm 27 and I live in England. I started running just under a year ago mainly to lose weight. (A lot of weight, I've lost 92lb and I'm not done yet). Somewhere along the way I realised that I actually enjoyed running, that it wasn't just a chore, and that my distances and times were getting more important to me than my weight. Once I realised that I started revising my goals. I ran a few races last year - 5 and 10ks, not particularly fast (28 minute 5k and 59 minute 10k), but without feeling I'd reached my limit, so I decided to push myself harder this year and see how far I can go. I'm going a half marathon next month, and I'm doing the Berlin marathon in September (which gves me 8 months to train). My goal is going to be to finish rather than aiming for a particular time, but even finishing would be unthinkable from where I was this time last year. I don't think I'm ever going to be a speed demon, but that doesn't bother me. My running is about beating my previous self not about beating other people. Helen, Ok. I read this took your name and age out, put in mine and pretty much got my story to the letter. I lost 75lbs last year (some think to much) but I love what I see now. Welcome to the family and hope you the best of luck in your adventures on the road. Eric has a great site here and is always open for suggestions, and pretty quick about getting things put in. Glad I found this site. It will prove useful to see how you progress this year. John


        You'll ruin your knees!

          Wow, Helen and John...you guys are great! John, thanks for your service to our country! Keep it up, you both have amazing stories! Thanks for sharing... Lynn B

          ""...the truth that someday, you will go for your last run. But not today—today you got to run." - Matt Crownover (after Western States)

            Hi All, First of all, thank you Eric, this is a great site! I am 37 yo (almost 38 ) male with a wife and 2 boys 4 and 8. I have just started running for the first time in my life. I have also lost a little over 30 lbs over the last 6 months. I am reading Galloways book on running, because I did not know where to start and I questioned how I was running. I am glad I did, because so far I am really enjoying running. I plan to run my first marathon at the end of this year (The Las Vegas Marathon). I don't plan on any speedy times, but would like to finish. I look forward to sharing my running experience with all of you. Charles
              My name is Gary & I live in The Midlands, UK. In the mid eighties, early nineties I was an active member of my local running club, taking part in road races & the winter cross country league runs. I used to run between 45 & 60 miles a week & absolutely loved it. I know that the more you do, the easier it feels. That running can save you & can help you deal with all the other stuff in life that has to be tolerated. I'm 42 now, married with kids & work shifts at a big company that produces car interiors. I'm no longer a member of a club & although I have never actually stopped running, my weekly mileage for the past 5 years is down to around 10 miles. I still think it's great but getting out of the door IS harder. This web site is great. A real inspiration. Since Christmas, 1 month ago my mileage is up to about 15- 18 miles per week & hopefully I can keep it going up to around the 30 mark. I've gotta do something to ward off a mid life crisis! Smile

              "Grasshopper-notice that the supple bamboo yields to the wind, yet does not break."

               

               

                Hi everyone, I am new to this site too. Thanks to Doughboy who introduced me to it. Smile Well, this will make the 5th place where I track all of my runs, but the ONLY one that can easily be accessed by my sister who lives in California. I have a garmin that tracks all of my info but I can't easily share it with my sister so this website is great to have! So, I see I am one of the few women on the forum so far. I am a 31 year old mom of 2 and wife of 1. I am going to pharmacy school in a city 2 hours away and though I would love to run only outside, I just purchased a treadmill because my increasingly busy schedule. I have run 4 marathons so far (two in the last two months) and will be running my 5th one on Sunday - woo hoo! I never thought I would be able to run more than 4 miles and now I want to run an ultramarathon (perhaps a 50 miler to start)...thanks to the inspiring post about a 100 miler by jlynnbob! It was awesome to read your story jlynnbob! Smile Anyway, I love reading all of your posts and checking out all of your logs. They are awesome and I hope they will inspire me to keep up my goal miles despite my crazy schedule.
                jason2450


                  Hi all, Great site Eric!!!! I migrated from the excellent RunningLog.com and I must say this site has helped re-kindle my interest in running and being a stat geek!!! i used to have excel workbooks everywhere but now no need - yay! My name is Jason and I am from Manchester, UK. I am 32 years old and have been running off-and-on for about 6 years. The running really started as my job involves sitting in front of a computer all day so decided I needed to be more active or risk ending up like the other slobs in the office Smile I entered the Great North Run in my first year of running as a goal and haven't looked back since. I only run 10k and half's as time is pretty sparse as it is. I took a year off due to injury and my wife having our first child but am right back into the groove now... I hope in the future to break the 1hr 30m milestones for the half which I never quite achieved a couple of years back when I was a member of a running club. Hope to speak to some of you again soon... Jason
                    Lynn B, Thanks for the info on getting some new running shoes. I work at the Mall of America and went to the sports store there and got some good advice, but they didnt check my gait or look at my arch or anything. I just told them about the shin splints and they said its most likely that I have a high arch. I think I will stop at a few other sporting good stores around the area and see if I can get a few more opinions. I just landed a new job that I start on Monday where I will be making double what I was making, so the price range shouldn't be a problem. The shoe I currently have is the Addidas A3 Gigaride. I bought them 10 months ago. They have about 300 miles on them. Thanks again, Robian


                    You'll ruin your knees!

                      Hi Robian, I think pretty much any of the stores in the Mall will not suit you if you are looking to get more miles on your feet. I think there is a store in Minneapolis called Running Room. They should be pretty good, you need to focus on a specialty store, not a mass merchant or a discounter. The prices are a bit higher, but usually, you get your money's worth. 300 miles sounds doable in a good pair of shoes, but it all depends on lots of variables. I have some shoes that I have ditched with less mileage than that because they felt worn out and I could feel "issues" developing. I have others that I have logged 500+ in that still feel good. Good luck, Lynn

                      ""...the truth that someday, you will go for your last run. But not today—today you got to run." - Matt Crownover (after Western States)

                      Mile Collector


                      Abs of Flabs

                        Robian, Lynn beat me to it. I was going to say that the stores in Mall of America are not geared toward a runner's needs. I stopped going to them because they're more for selling to the latest fashion trends instead of what's best for my feet and legs. Specialty running stores is definitely the way to go, since they offer gait analysis, decent shoe recommendation, and most importantly, a refund period should your new shoes don't fit right. Check out the store Lynn suggested, and good luck! eric Smile
                          Lynn and Eric, Thanks a lot for the info. I bought some shoes today at Sports Authority for $85. They're the Mizuno "Wave Elixir." I tried on about 10 different pairs of shoes, and they felt the most comfortable out of all of them. I run again on Monday on a treadmill. If they don't feel good, I'm taking them back. I'll check out Running Room on the internet and go there sometime this next week and have them look at my analyze my gait and foot to see which shoe they think would be best for me. Right now I could care less how appalling or awesome the shoe looks, just as long as I don't get any more shin splints. Once again, thanks a ton for the help. -Robian
                          Bike99


                          Do I look important?

                            Hey hey! On with the intro's here to keep the ball rolling. I'm Corey, I'm 28 and living in Sapporo, Japan. I was introduced to this site by Jaysee, and being a bit of a tech-nerd I started fiddling away far too much free time within this site, all for a good cause though right? I've been running now for about 4 years, and began running to knock down my bacon-induced waistline a few notches and keep my heart pumping past 30. Wood (also a new member here) and a few other good friends kept me motivated and rolling for the first few years. Since I've been in Japan now for about 2 1/2 years, a small posse of runners have come together in training and racing, knocking down all race distances at least once a year. I finished my 4th marathon this past October, though after a KM32 meltdown I ended up with a slower time. This year I will continue the quest to break 4hrs. This year is also all about redemption. This current winter has seen my motivation levels drop to unheard levels, as well as my mileage unfortunately. I realized that Ii NEED ACCOUNTABILITY. This site is awesome Eric! It gives the boys spread out here in Japan a chance to see how everyone's training is coming along, and keeps my running buddies in Canada on my a$$ to keep moving. Good luck in 06 everyone!

                            Nobody cares what you didn't do.


                            You'll ruin your knees!

                              Stayne, WELCOME! Big grin Glad you're here! Now go run and come back and write about it! Tongue How's that for accountability? Cool Enjoy, Lynn B

                              ""...the truth that someday, you will go for your last run. But not today—today you got to run." - Matt Crownover (after Western States)

                                I'm a 35 year-old husband and father of 3 sons. I started running again in 2000 to regain the energy it takes to keep up with the kids. I've run 2 marathons and several shorter races. I've recently started running on some trails here in Central Kentucky as I would like to build up to a 50 mile ultra, but my main goal this year is to eat better and drop the 25 to 30 lbs I've gained in the past 15 years. Thanks Eric for this great resource. I used to use an Excel spreadsheet until a job change left me without Excel and I refused to pay to install it on my home computer. This is much better than my prior logs.