Had a great workout this morning. It felt good after 2 days of too much booze and snacks.

Hi. I have just posted on introductions but thought id say hi in here too. Im quite new to NROL, just did level 1 session 5B yesterday. I planned on coming on here sooner but I felt like a bit of a fraud as it took me until last week to get into doing thereal heavy weights as I was too intimidated to get right into the weights room. However, i bit the bullet and plunged in and I love it! I love the feeling of lifting heavy and beating your previous lifts, and i love the feeling after! Im even starting to feel my triceps poking out!!!

This has probably been asked before but I can't find it: What happens at the end of stage 7. I'm half way through stage 5 and am starting to think about what's going to happen afterwards. Do I do the whole thing again? Do I look for a different program?

What have others done when they reached the end?

The gym never reopened on Friday. Funny because ALL of the other businesses in that complex reopened immediately. Finding a new gym might be in our near future if she keeps this up. Luckily winter is almost over!

I tried to run on Saturday but my knee was being funny. I notice that one is a bit more sore than the other but they are both going in and out of phases of hurting. It's strange but I'm definitely linking that to shoes. I wouldn't necessarily think that if it was just one knee. I have a brace for the worst one (it's not hurting much today since I rested the whole weekend and iced). I'm planning on slapping on the brace and finishing out Stage 2 which was supposed to have been completed on Friday!

Em, I haven't tried them. I was fitted for Mizunos and have stuck with them ever since. I am interested in minimalist shoes but I don't think I could do Vibrams. Toes gross me out

For what it's worth I am LONG overdue for new shoes and didn't think about it much since I hadn't run more than a few miles each week for 2 months. Now that I'm starting up again I need a new pair.

Hope everyone had a great weekend. I was tied up with being onsite at work last week, so didn't get to post much. I got in my final Stage 6 workouts and am ready to start Stage 7 TODAY. EEK!!! I'm a little scared. You can opt for 6 workouts or 12 if you repeat it. I might repeat, since I'm not sure what I want to do after.

freezerburn and MissSifaka - I am considering doing Supercharged or a program by Nia Shanks after Stage 7. My goal is to learn enough to be able to create my own program eventually.

Mary - I think we can all relate to the weight thing. I was always chubby but muscular and active. Even at my skinniest (135), I still thought I was fat. I like to blame society for all of my image issues. Seriously though, I still have them. I saw myself in the mirror the other day and seemed to "appear" the same as I was when I started back in July. I know in my head I've lost weight, but I still see that obese person. I just have to remember I HAVE accomplished a lot, I'm wearing smaller clothes, and I'm stronger than I've ever been (and I used to think I was a pretty strong person). It's a mental game!

Beeps - glad you made it back (sounded awful). Just try to brush off the weight gain. We know it's water retention, so easiliy remedied. I have been battling water weight the last couple of weeks - up and down, up and down. *sigh*

LB2LL - what did you do to your knee? Mine has hurt off and on since starting new rules (noticeably when I do squats). It never hurts while running, but always after. My doc says nothing is wrong (from her brief observation) and that I just need to ice it and rest it and take ibuprofin. But...I'm not sure how I will ever be able to up my weights for a squat. I'm bummed and not sure what to do about it. Hopefully yours is just a shoe issue. Mine is not, I know that. :-/

Emgel - you and those vibrams!!! How is your foot?

My hat's off to all of you weekend warriors! I didn't do anything except -- brag alert -- 3 chinups! Yup, at the playground with my daughter. My goal is 5 and then one day...10!

Gadenni - I don't have any specific sites to point you towards re barefoot running, and if I did it would be incredibly biased as I am very much for them! I found my way to barefoot/minimalist running through google (started by some article I read) and I just read and read. In 2010 I began running and training for a 10k. I was wearing regular sneakers (sauconys) and I was getting very bad runners knee and a lot of joint fatigue when running. Something, but I don't remember what, sparked my interest in vibram five fingers and I just bought them. I found it was really important to train in them slowly (1/2 mile at a time or so) because your arches and calves just aren't used to working that hard and will be very very sore in the beginning. But my runner's knee and fatigue was gone! I found I could run much longer barefoot running.

I loved the vibrams so much I trained for my first half marathon in them and managed to break my foot in the process (nothing is perfect). After my foot healed I tried minimalist running shoes (Nike Free plus) and I like them and use them now for the elliptical, but I found I was getting debilitating shin splints when I tried to switch back to shoes. So now I am back to barefoot running (in the Vibrams - not in actual barefeet). It is very important to pay attention to form if you switch to a minimalist shoe and make sure you forefoot or midfoot strike.

As for perfect feet: ha I am far from it! I severely pronate and have $400 custom orthodics that the doctor claimed would fix all my problems when I broke my foot and that he claimed would fix the shin splints - never happened. Bad knees also run in my family (I am the only one who hasn't needed knee surgery - see my sister and her torn meniscus who now loves her new balance minimus), and I know several people who have said that minimalist shoes have helped with knee pain.

That is just my plug for barefoot running shoes. If you do some research you'll find people in both camps: those who say you were born to run barefoot and those who say if you have flat feet or pronate you NEED the support of a sneaker. It just depends what is comfortable and what works for you - it isn't necessarily and easy switch though, you will be sore when first trying minimalist shoes out.

LB2LL - the minimalist shoes vary wildly. Unless you are an avid zappos shopper like I am and are prepared to order a few different pairs to try on at home and then return I would recommend trying them on at a running store.

Km - My foot is much better thanks for checking in! I've been able to run and lift and everything! Totally jealous of your chin ups btw!

I just fot a pair of miimalist shoes in prep for NROL4W, because I'd read that they are great for lifting. I used them for the 3 workouts last week, plus the hardest C25K that I've done so far. They were great for running!! I wasn't sure they would be, so I had my usual sneakers on standby. I also use custom orthotics and I'm hoping that the minimalist shoes will actually "cure" my foot problems. Well, that, plus Chi Running.

I went with the Merrells (Arc?), for men because I have a huge foot and they were more comfy than the women's New Balance I'd tried. They are the previous style and I found them at DSW. I'm surprised at how comfy they are! They're considered an in-between shoe because they do have a bit of support. I love how light they are, so I can pack them in my gym bag when the ground is yucky like it is right now (18 inches of snow turning into slush).