wildchild Sarge ok, I give, what is a "leg lamp ornament?"

Back from a 5.7 mile run. Odd number I know but just enough to get me to 1000 for the year. I was gunning for 1500 but was sidelined for 6 weeks so no way to make it up unless I have a really big December I love the movie A Christmas Story. My dad had the same battles with furnaces and changing flat tires. Funny stuff. Wildchild, My son was in Colorado Springs visiting friends over the holiday. He says it is beautiful there. Now back to the boring ol airbase. {{{{{{{{ Erika}}}}}}}} This too will pass. Take it easy and I am sure you will be amazing us with your sub zero training runs, Mountain climbing marathons and mutiple marathons to add to your maniac status very soon. You are in my thoughts. Larry

{{{Erika}}} Freezing cold rain here, too, this morning (34 degrees) when I set out, determined to hear the next disc on my audiobook, but at about 3 miles, when the light rain turned into a heavy downpour, I turned back and cut my run short, finishing in the TM in dry clothes. 8.3 miles total, with 5.6 miles outside and 3.7 miles on the TM. I booked my June flights to Seattle today. I know it seems early, but Expedia.com had a round-trip ticket, Dayton to Seattle, for only $327 (tax included), flying at very convenient times for me, and it said, “Only 1 ticket left at that price!” I don’t know if that was true or not, but it convinced me to act now. If no delays, I will arrive in Seattle at noon on Friday and leave at 11am on Sunday – plenty of time for lots of partying to rest up for the race. We had a friend come over and take lots of photos of our family so that we could pick one to include in our Christmas cards this year. 32 photos, and DS had his eyes closed in EVERY ONE!

Geez, I might need to go re-read my post from last night. I must've sounded really down... Honestly, the thing that got me was how hard it was to run almost 7.5 miles. I used to be able to do that without thinking about it but this felt really hard. I'm sure if I'd had a HRM on it would've been in the upper ranges for me, that's how hard it was. And I did slow down a couple times, but running slower is hard for me, too. I did have the incline at .5% which oddly enuf feels like 1.5% on my treadmill at home. Those Precor TM's just feel hard. RE: my foot. Thanks for the concern. Tim, my podiatrist said "2-3 weeks of rest or reduced mileage." I stopped ALL mileage for 3 weeks, so took the extreme on both parts. It did improve, but it didn't get 100% better. It may never, whether I run again or not. The thing will be to control it going forward, and always being sensitive to how it's doing. I have a metatarsal pad in almost all my shoes now, which does help. This morning it feels fine (new definition of "fine") so I'm considering the overnight recovery a good thing. I will be seeing my podiatrist this month (Dec) to get a new re-evaluation after the layoff, and come up with a plan of action/treatment. So.... that's about all I really want to say about it. I appreciate the concern and the hugs, really. But just not running won't make it better, and smart running won't really hurt it (emphasis on the "smart" part). Tetsujin, sorry the Seattle Marathon didn't work out for you (trying to imagine what could happen there!), but have fun at the Pink Door tonight. Holly, was sure hoping you could stick around a little longer... Cute picture of the clan. Twocat, good luck with your recovery. I had shin splints a couple of years ago and just hated it. A bad case can be so debilitating! You're working on a hamstring problem still, right? Good luck with that... Rochrunner was out for a long time with that. Tim, glad you like the pool running. It's the next best thing to running, but it's not perfect. Still, I might keep it in my workout plans for quite awhile... did 15 minutes as a "cool down" after yesterday's run. Still not sure what to do today. Seems like this 4-day weekend went by soooo fast and I still have so much I want to get done.

Twocat thanks for the advice, I seem to have run the gamut in shoes. The AT all started when I went to more stability (Brooks Adrenalline) 'cause I could get a good fit with a b width. I was rotating with some neutral trail shoes and Mizuno Nirvanas and the Adrenalines. The Adrenalines are great shoes but pure poison to me. So will rotate Wave Riders and Nirvanas. Do you think its possible for someones gait and shoe needs to change as they progress in this sport?

Just got back from 3 miles in the rain. I'm soaked. I have 2 more to do. Going to change my clothes, esp. my shoes and socks and get back out there for the remaining 2...puddles everywhere, and I'm a bit paranoid about irritating that blister on the bottom of my foot that is healing.

OK, I feel much better now completing what I set out to do! Walt, anytime you want to stop by for clams is a good time for us! Holly, nice photo!