I might as well start. The weather forecast last night was bleak: 33°F and rainy. Aside from frigid and windy, that's about as bad as it gets. But the rain had stopped by the time I started running, so it wasn't bad at all. 5.1 miles, 46:58, 9:15/mi, AHR 133 Now you all know what my side of the closet looks like -- I don't think PDR will ever forgive me for sharing that. Have a great day!

How long do you keep shoes? I used to switch every 300 miles but now every 400 miles. Lost in Georgia today starting from the hotel. I had a route planned but missed a turn in the dark in the rain and just ran aimlessly until I couldn't take it anymore .. (including 4 laps around a 1/2 mile square neighborhood at one point in the run)..... 6.4 miles in 52:56 (8:18 pace, AHR 159) ... Found my way back ok. ETA.. BALMY 60F

Good luck to your daughter, Hopeful! We've had two tonsillectomies in our family - mine went fine, but DS6 had delayed bleeding and he ended up in the hospital for a couple of days. RARE case, though - turns out he (and his brother and sister) all have Factor XI Deficiency, a bleeding disorder. Turns out the WORST procedure people with this disorder can have is a tonsillectomy! We had no idea any of the kids had this until that happened. It's from DH's side of the family - his grandfather was an eastern European Jew, and they intermarried so much that the disorder affects a lot of people of that ancestry. A beautiful snow is falling right now. I'm going to wait a couple of hours and then go for my run. I can't wait!

Good Morning! Mary – given that you have a daughter, I suspect there will be many babysitting days ahead of you….for her kids… Tammy - that apple cake recipe calls for Rome apples, but I didn't see any of those at the grocery. Do you have a recommendation for another good apple to use? Shoes – I push mine to about 530 miles. I honestly don’t notice aches and pains as they get older, at least, not any more than I always have anyway. I’ve had some very sproinky runs on shoes over 500 miles, and some very achy runs on shoes with less than 100. Freezing rain here last night left a coat of ice on everything, so the kids’ schools are on a 2-hour delay, which means I can’t leave for work until I put DD on her bus at 10:30. That’d be nice if I hadn’t planned on using those vacation hours to leave early on Friday for her school Christmas program. After yesterday’s intervals, today was supposed to be a short recovery run, but with an extra 2 hours at home, I gave in to temptation and ran 10 miles on the TM, slow and with several breaks to help DD with her computer game, all in the name of calorie burn. I have a weigh-in tomorrow, and it ain’t lookin’ pretty.

Well I've been absent from the forum for the better part of a week now and there is no real break in site for me. We seem to be getting close to the power being restored for most people in our town. However,we have progressively worse snow storms being predicted for today and Friday and then a Nor’easter for Sunday night into Monday…YUK!!! DW and I are supposed to drive to Vermont to pick up our oldest granddaughter for the weekend and take her back on Sunday, we'll see how that goes. I was one of the luckier ones in the area as we only lost power for about 10 hours at home. However, my job was greatly affected as the Town of York was hit pretty hard and I've been working all week long on power and computer related issues as we have had them come and go etc. Three of our kids got their power back fairly quickly ( 1- 2 days) but one daughter still didn’t have power as of 7:30 last night, (I just called her house and got her machine so she finally got it back sometime last night). She and her daughter ended up spending three nights with us (which for the most part was wonderful) but not a lot of visiting since I was working a lot of hours etc. I have managed to get most of my runs in: Thursday - 5.02 miles on the treadmill - 42:38 (8:30) - I was in Portland all day for training and the ice storm started earlier in the day...bad stuff to follow! 8:30 - 8:30 - 8:30 - 8:28 - 8:29 - :09 Friday – I ended up getting called in early as the Ice Storm created havoc everywhere in our community. We were basically without power thorught the whole town, so an unplanned non-running day for me. Saturday - 12 easy miles - 1:42:12 (8:31) – Cloudy and 15 degrees as we headed out into areas of Saco and OOB that were hardest hit and still without power to see the damage....it was a bit weird running through areas we normally do with the early morning peace and quiet broken by the constant drone of generators! Sunday - 10 easy miles - 1:27:00 (8:42) - Cloudy and 14 degrees as we headed out to another hard hit area in the Hills Beach, Biddeford Pool area and once again nothing but the sound of generators humming away as people tried to keep warm and maintain their sanity during this crisis. So I ended up with 46.1 miles for the week even though I had an unintended day off. Monday - 5 miles hard progression run - 8:26 - 7:53 - 7:27 - 7:07 - 6:32 - 37:25 (7:28) – I usually try to end these hard and always walk or jog a nice cool down, besides the fact that my heart rate always seems to recover quite fast and goes down below 100 within a minute, and is back to normal within 2 and a half to 3 minutes no matter how hard I run. Tuesday - 6 easy miles - 52:15 - (8:40) - I ran this one early in the afternoon after getting home from 12 plus hours at work due to more power / computer issues. Boy I can't wait until this all subsides and things get back to normal, cloudy & 30 degrees. Joel and I are supposed to do speed work this evening but that looks like it won’t happen since we already have a couple of inches of snow on the ground from the current storm.

Wow, Maine, you've had a rough time. We did lose internet along with the power, so we couldn't work Friday, even with the generator hooked up. I heard on the radio that state law requires the cable company to give you a rebate if you ask for one, so I called up Time Warner and they're giving us a credit for $3, whoo hoo! The principle of the thing. You got in a lot of running under difficult conditions! I wimped and out and didn't run during it all. I'm glad your daughter finally got her power back on!

My workout was about the same as Mary's this morning - 3 easy miles on the TM and some walking TM lunges. I do regular lunges while holding weights and these did not seem to be any more difficult, but perhaps I will be paying the price tomorrow. I buy new shoes every four months, which I think works out to somewhere in the neighborhood of 450-500 miles based on 40 mile weeks. This rotation seems to work pretty well for me and I buy only three pairs a year. Given how pricey they are, I am happy not to have to replace them more often. I just recently started keeping the pair that I just wore out to wear when I have soaked my other pair in the rain. I think I wear the tread out on mine before the actual insole goes. I don't think my form is bad but I do wear out the sole right under the ball of the foot where I push off. Mary, glad to hear that all went well with your daughter's surgery. I hope she has a speedy recovery. Maine, sorry to hear you have been out of power at home and at work. It's amazing that you got in all those miles under severe weather conditions. Is the Town of York near York Beach? My mother went to school at Colby College and worked in York Beach in the summers. Thanks for all the sock tips folks. I will buy him one of each so he can determine which he likes best. Happy Humpday!

timmi - at least I don't have a closet full of shoes enticing me out running while you're suffering into now taper day 46. WTG. I'm jealous. <>piddlyday18)>>> Maybe I'll get my orange Nike waffle stompers and blue Brooks Vantage out of the garage (if they haven't disintegrated) to wear for a mile or two at the Seattle Rock'n'Roll. 'course you might have to promise to join me in a barefoot run down the beach <>withasmanygoddessesaspossible)>>>