Thanks for asking, Larry! I'm a little discouraged - my ankle is still sore. Not as much as Saturday, though, so maybe I'm on the upswing. I tried pool running on Friday, and I need to give it another shot. The New England meet was on Saturday - beautiful weather! Here is what I posted about it: "DS15 (sophomore) ran in the New England outdoor track meet today - 6 best runners (or relay teams) from each of the 6 New England states participated in each event. In the 4x800 relay, his team was seeded 19th out of 34, but finished in 8:09 to come in 10th. They were the fastest team from our state (Maine). Their previous PR was 8:15. In the two-mile (3200 m), DS wasn't even supposed to run, but another boy decided not to do it in order to concentrate on the mile. DS was seeded 33rd out of 35. His previous PR was 9:57. He ran his heart out and came in at 9:39! He finished 15th overall - the second fastest runner from Maine. He is on cloud nine (he keeps saying, "Oh, my goodness"). We're taking him out to a nice restaurant tonight, and then he has to start studying for finals. Life is good!" It was very exciting! When I saw his time on the electronic clock, my first thought was that it had to be broken! That kid - a few months ago, he told me his goal for the 3200 was 9:40, and I thought he was nuts. He was at 10:24 a year ago. Now he's supposed to take a break from running for two weeks, but he's going to bike some instead. He has to get through finals this week. Next year, New England is in Burlington, VT! That will be a hike.

Teresa, I'm very impressed those are awesome times for a sophmore. Like my son always said, it's all about peaking at the right times and good coaches are able to do that with kids and avg coaches can't and poor coaches, well what can you say about them other than at least they're there and giving kids an opportunity. My son never had a good coach in the four years of high school. Is he going to Running Camp this summer? As for your ankle, are you applying heat and soaking it in warm baths? If you are working out some on it, are you applying cold compress after the workouts? Remeber RICE = Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation for the first 24-48 hours, then recommedation for applying heat. I always modified that based on how I felt and some believe that alternating ICE and Heat gets the blood flowing better to help heal. Did you perform another pool workout? I know it has to suck not being able to work out. It breaks down so much of what we all work to get to. I wish you a speedy recovery, but be sure to be truly healthy before you hit the pavement again.

Thanks for asking, Larry! I'm a little discouraged - my ankle is still sore. Not as much as Saturday, though, so maybe I'm on the upswing. I tried pool running on Friday, and I need to give it another shot.

Simon, Sounds a lot like me. I'm not sure if I know what a truly easy run is. On my long runs, I was Avg low 8s and my race goal for the HM was a 8:00-8:05. Wwhen I do my 5M and 6.5, I start out at about 8:00 pace, but like to finish in the 7:30 range and often am faster than that. My PR in the 5K is a 7:02 pace, so for longer distances, I should probably be running at least a minute and a half slower than that, I just can't do it. The slower I run, the harder the run. I find I have to adjust my stride and that ends up giving me more aches and pains than it's worth. So I don't. So how has it worked out for me? Well, I'm just starting my 5th year of running. Last year, I PR'd in the 5K and 5M, improving each by minutes. Ran my first 10K in faster pace than my 2006 PR 5K pace. Ran my first HM on June 1st. Didn't have the best run, but it was my own fault because I had run a tough 5 miler six days earlier and set a new 5M PR on a much tougher course. However I still made my goal of breaking 1:45 8:00-8:05 pace with a 1:44:26 7:58 pace. Up to two years ago, my best 5K pace was like a 7:51. Last night in a 5K, I finished the last 1.1 with a 6:41 pace, the fastest recorded mile pace I've run to date. So for me it's working. Could I be even better if I followed some of the adivce of experts and on a more rigid Training schedule? Maybe, but I'm not training to win races, it's about making myself feel good and since I see that I'm still improving, I'll run my way. By the way, very simialr story. Started Running at 50 to surprise my son and never ran distances because of bad knees.

Had a good long run on Sunday, though very tired afterwards, brought my mileage up for the week.

What are you talking about, I just looked at your log and see that you ran a 10K at a 7:28 pace, that's pretty impressive. My 10ks last year were in the 7:35 area. I also see that you ran a 1M race in 6:36. I'm not sure I could do that. So don't sell yourself short. Other than that, yeah I'm a few years younger, I'll be 55 in Sept and only a few lbs lighter. Larry

Larry - my running partner and I agree with you. When we try to go as slow as we're "supposed" to (which is slug-like), it seems harder because we're plodding along. Good job on your fast pace! My son is going to a Nike XC camp in Ashevelle, North Carolina in July - he will turn 16 while he's there. He shares my birthday, so I will miss him. It's supposed to be a really good camp, and he will get to see some amazing runners. I DID try pool running - it's fun! I need to find a few pointers for how to do it, because I have some questions (eg, should I point my toes, which feels natural, or keep my feet more horizontal?). I did it for 30 minutes, but I'm thinking I should do at least an hour to get a real workout. My ankle is much better, but I can still "feel" it, so my doctor is sending me to PT this afternoon. I'm hoping the woman knows about running so she can give me some good advice. I think I'm close to getting out on the road for a short run.

Sometimes I think I'm just filling this thread up with idle chit chat. Even thought of starting a new thread here just for chatter.

Thank goodness Larry and Simon have been keeping the thread alive! Sorry MIA. Busy week . . . 8th anniversary (yay!), took the kids to see Diego Live, just busy. Did 6.2 kind of fast on the tm Monday, off Tuesday, 7 at a good pace (for me) Wednesday, and set a new PR for 4 miles today. I gotta slow down! I'm gonna go for a few slow miles tomorrow, I think. I generally take off the day before a long run but it's a cutback week and I'm not sure how many miles I'll get in on Saturday so I'd like to put a few miles on tomorrow. Larry, I got to see a bald eagle myself several months back. It was at a real bad point in my run, too. It's funny--we also have a pair nested in our town, in a wildlife reserve. Their eaglets just left the nest. So cool! Simon, love your new avatar! Looking fast! Well, you guys are fast . . .

Teresa, glad to hear the PT went well. Sorry to hear 2-4 weeks off. Is that total or more? It is important to listen to Andrew and take things slow. Concentrate on the other forms of exercise and stay away from running a little longer would be my advice. Anotherwards wait at least next week to try running again. Coming back too soon could just push out the recovery time. Your son will love running camp (has he gone to one before) They teach so much more than just running and the experience is great. Oh, and thanks (I think) for weighing in on the other thread.