It took careful strategy on my part Dutchie. When I was newly pg I sent out an email to my moms club seeing if anyone wanted to run with me. They didnt know I was pg yet. I just said I was slow and willing to coach new runners up to running. I eventually got 3 women who ran with me pretty regularly through my pg and beyond. They were all brand new runners. Once I started picking the pace back up, one of them stuck with me and the other 2 ran/walked together. The one who stuck with me got really in to running and even managed to get up by herself when I was injured and now she is training for a 30K in March and a marathon in October. Oh and ZERO today...it is rest day thank goodness

Aaron: I waved. Guess you didn't see me when I whizzed past you

I'm pretty excited to finally put the beach week from hell behind me. I did a pain free easy mile and am not feeling any ill effects for an hour now. So, I'm going to stick with the plan an do the 8K tomorrow. But I'm going to do it easy with no pushing. The cool think is that since this is my first 8K, no matter what I do tomorrow, as long as I finish, I'll PR!

good luck runner!! Have a great 8K

Today was an almost 6K doggie fun run, lower body strength and upper body incl. abs. Beautiful morning: blue skies and sun on the horizon. Pinks and purples. Gorguous (sp.?). Spike's first time out since he hurt his paw a while back. He was off leash for the whole run and loved it. Was on his best behaviour too. Didn't have to stop once for him. Spooky was on leash for the first 1500 meter. She too was very happy to be running with me. But she always is. My legs were sore and stiff. So I was expecting a tough run. Surprise: it was a very smooth effortless run! Since Spike wasn't doing his usual sniffing and digging which I was hoping for cause that gives me a break from running, I decided on easy running. Keep my HR at HR150 or lower. I was one smooth, but slow, running machine. I could go on forever. It was Spike's first run in 10 days. I didn't want to overdo it for him. After almost 6K it was time to stop and go home. ETA: after watering/feeding the dogs I did lower and upper body endurance strength incl. abs and a nice stretch

Thanks for the kind words all - I did well enough. I finished in what I think was 51:32...official times not posted. But more importantly, the knee and ankle gave me NO problems... I'm more excited about that. So right before the 8:30 AM start this morning, I got that funny feeling deep in my lower stomach with just a touch of discomfort and pressure. Thinking it was gas, I ventured to the back of the pack to, well, expell the unwanted flatulence, only this wasn't a simple case of the vapors. I knew there was NO way I was going to make it 5 miles before having an embarrassing situation on my hands so I darted for the restrooms (thankfully, was a real restroom at the University football stadium)...but it was a few hundred yards from the start. Needless to say, the field got a 3-1/2 minute lead on me before I even cross the line. I made up some ground, caught the end of the pack, and then backed off to enjoy a conversation with an 81 year old running this event for the 30th time! One of the benfits of not wearing my ipod (which I love by the way) in a race. Peace, cheers, and have a great weekend! Aaron - welcome back bro!

28.22km's today! I ran more than I intended. Last 2KM were really really hard. Especially since there were a lot of people about (with dogs and kids). So had to stop regularly to give Spooky a chance to "play". She gets scared and runs towards me at high speed, preferably a full on collission which my legs/knees did not appreciate. She wants to play with the other dogs, but gets scared. Spike was only along for the first 8.5K. Dropped him off at home and continued with Spooky only. Beautiful day! 12C, sunny, hardly any wind. We ran for the longest time along the dike. Mental toughness needed here! It was beautiful though: blue water, lots of ducks, two boats (no sails), pink sky where the water and the sky met at the horizon. Gorgeous! Spooky was on leash for the first 15K. It wasn't untill we left the dike that I could let her run free. I stopped a few times to let her explore. I'm sore! Partly from running on concrete for a bit, partly cause I ran more than I planned. But on a day like today, who can stop running ETA: Oh yes, here's a stupid thing I did. Had had no breakfast, just mu usual shake and a gel. Next time I'll fuel up first before taking on 3hrs and 48 minutes of running. Funny enough, I wasn't hungry at all. But I did notice I was running on empty in the end.

Trey: congrats on the run. Great bathroom story for your kids