3 miles... not sure i like the inserts - the arch is back too far for my arch's liking... but i'll give it a couple more runs to see if it wears in or something! Erika - You are amazing... and there just isn't any more to say on that!

http://www.stltoday.com/mds/lifestyle/html/1293 Video and commentary on the St. Louis Marathon Course. Watched it and now I am pumped and ready to go! 4-easy miles this morning. Erika: Awesone LR!

Bugs, sorry to hear about your news, thats absoloutely shocking. Thoughts with you all the way from Australia and hope it turns out to be something minor that can be quickly fixed. Certainly makes training pace, heart rates and goal times seem a lot less important! Great long run erika, and by the way the 14.1km race I did on Sunday is not a standard distance for a race down here either, just a novelty distance as it goes through or past a lot of our landmarks in the city here. I get a treadmill delivered today so may very well have my first run on that tonight to test it out. Happy running everyone Hank

Still bored out of mind...hope this is not depressing you guys but I need an outlet. Trying to just stay positive right now. They don't really know anything. They are guessing that me passing out has nothing to do with the irregular rythm. Said I am lucky that they caught it in the ambulance, if I had not been hooked up they would not have caught it. They are sending print out of the rythm to Mayo Clinic. Blood work was all normal, but I sure don't feel good.

Bugs: worst April Fools Joke ever...At least I wished you were joking.. But, if you are going to pass out, its best to do it while with a doctor or paramedics. And this could be a blessing in that they caught the heart rhythm. Hopefully its not as serious as it probably seems to be at the moment. Best wishes are out to you. On to my Heart Mini marathon report: My prep suckked. Not refering to my lack of miles, but I had work stuff come up and I was dealing with that up until the ride to the race. I forgot my watch/Garmin..but they did have clocks at each marker--so it wasnt a big deal. But forgot water for pre-race as well. Had to do a lot of walking from car to packet pick up and back to car. Got to the start line with my training partner about 10 minutes before the gun. And it was like a cannon. One girl literally hit the ground she was so startled. Anyhow, my plan was to get under 1:30:00 which would be a PR for me. It was a bit chilly in the morning but I quickly took off my jacket. I forgot how hilly this course was, Immediately upon turning the corner from the start you see the huge hills in the distance. There are some rolling hills and some steep ones. Ran with my tp for the 1st mile, and then pulled ahead. I was keeping a very even 9:20 to 9:30 pace despite the hills. Was 29:44 at the 5k split and 58:31 at the 10k. At about the 6 mile point theres a ridiculous steep hill they jet you up and down. Made that ok. After mile 7 was pretty beat, but I did my best to get some speed down the hills and relax going up. I really wanted to walk it in though--had nothing left after runing pretty easy for the first 5-6 miles (see lack of training). But I knew Id be close to my goal, so I pressed on. It started to mist, and then rain a bit harder the last mile... And I finished in 1:28:49--whoo hoo PR.. Next up is the Pig 1/2 marathon--yes, Im sticking to my guns. But I have an aggressive goal of 2 hours. So some hard training starts back up tonight.

Murphy - good job!!! Bugs - well the catching of the rythm is good! And nothing showing up in blood work is probably good too. right? I'm sorry you aren't feeling good - that certainly doesn't help! And you should feel comfortable venting here!! I'm just sorry we can't communicate more during the day! (it's 4pm here)

{{{Bugs}}} Take care of yourself, sweetie. I think you push yourself too hard and you eat like crap. There. I said it. You need a mom to come watch over you for awhile! Get some rest and keep us posted on what you find out. The worst thing about something like this is not having answers... Congrats on the treadmill, Hank! Some people just make a real point of hating them, but I credit mine with helping my speed tremendously this spring. Speedwork on the treadmill in the winter is a good thing. And it really helps you get those miles in when the weather is awful or it's just too dark. Murphy... what distance was that race? When you said Mini Marathon I assumed it was a half-marathon. Good race and yes the Pig half is a good one from what I hear. May 5, right?

The race was a 15k=9.3 miles. My race translated to 9:32 mm or some such. So, Im hoping to run the half somewhere between my 10k and 15k pace. I think I'll be very close on either side of 2 hours. Uphill the first half and downhill coming back. I think the date is May 3rd. Its the first Sunday in May.