SR and Ev - The two funny men of the forum. Keep it up guys! Arla - Congratulations, again. So do we see a sub 4-hours for your next marathon?? Ran fartleks this a.m, which means I had to drive to a flat running spot over by the zoo. Just a big ole square. Run straight, turn, run straight, turn, run straight, turn - over and over and over. Bleck! But I did better than I thought. 5 miles w/5 x 3 min intervals (3 min running about 80%, 3 min rest) after a good 15-min warm up: 3-min intervals: Average/Best/Av. HR 1. 8:23/7:05/165 1. 11:31/9:24/151 (rest) 2. 9:02/6:05/167 2. 11:19/8:18/157 (rest) 3. 8:12/7:31/169 (messed up lap counter) 4. 8:24/5:20/167 4. 10:13/8:35/155 (rest) 5. 8:32/6:52/175 5. 12:23/8:40/160 (rest) The AT area of my right ankle just would not loosen up this a.m., which is why I did a 15 min warm up run. I was actually have to limp along until it finally loosened up. What's up with that?? Also, with the Garmin 301, there must to be a way of starting it for a regular run, switching it to intervals when ready, then switching back to a regular run, all the while having it keep track of total time and miles. I ended up having to turn the dang thang off and back on 3 times, then calculate all the times/mileage. Howdy to everyone else and those lurking. Jewels, good luck with the new crunches. I really like them.

O.K., so I had to read SR's helmet comment 3 times before I got it. Heck, ya may as well go whack some balls yourself while you're out there! Jewels

SR - ha! I got it right away, which means we think alike...um...I think that scares me! Leslie - I need to start training more like you! That sounds intense! For now I'm adding tempo runs per Jack Daniels suggestion for distance training. Ev - scared is a pretty good description. You hear all the horror stories, about the "death march", how the last 10 K is the "second half" etc etc. And sure enough, I saw a lot of folks who were suffering, during those last 4 or 5 miles it looked to me as though about 2/3s of the folks were having a pretty tough time - there sure was a lot of walking and down heads. As in motorcycling, I think fear can be a good thing! I needed to blow off some steam today, 7.6 mi tempo run at around 9:15 pace (felt SOOO GOOD to pick it up!) + 0.4 mi barefoot. Arla

No, THAT one is too easy. Besides it was said by someone dubbed "Jewels". Is ok. It's all in the family.

Leslie, I thought you just got the 301? Which is the one that seems to track better through the trees? Super run for you this morning! Nice pace..... Jewels

The 305, which I've been waiting for. Ordered it early last week. So now I have 3 Garmins: 201, 301 (w/HR monitor), and 305. I think I need to have a garage sale. At least if I problems with one, I have sufficient back up! Thanks for the comment re the run. MTA: Arla - I hate speed work with every fiber of my being, but I understand it's necessity. It's definitely because of the speed work that my pace has picked up.

That's a terrible place for a marathon unless you wear a helmet.

Now that's funny!

Leslie I didn't stay in a Holiday Inn Exress last night but just kind of wondering if your new shoes are making your ankle and AT tender. Those Alchemies are a couple notches up the stability chart (same as the Brooks Adrenalines that set my AT off) higher than the Ascends. Just something to think about and it may be completely coincidence.

The whole ankle (front and back) was bothering me before I started wearing the new shoes, and I had chalked it up to too many miles on the old shoes. I've only run twice in the new ones, so I don't know if they could be adding to the problem. Something to think about. I was also running late this morning (no pun intended) and didn't get to put the heating pad on my AT area before I went out. I think I need to be more consistent with the heat/ice treatment and warming things up in the morning to see if that brings about improvement. But boy howdy was it tight this morning! To quote Carol: Whooshemamma!

Jim - it's me or the dog? Where'd that come from - did I miss something while I was gone? SR - I hear you're doing RNR San Diego in May. I may have to stalk you. Arla