I live in a city so well lit for seeing where I am going, although I ensure that I have plenty of reflective material on me (mainly snap bands), I don't trust motorists. I try to ensure that I run towards oncoming traffic despite being on the pavement, I want to see what might hit me, yes I am that paranoid. I am also more aware of runners than I was previously, given I know what it feels like.

Ceci, well done on going faster, as for the blisters I have always found antiseptic cream, toughens them up, don't ask how I found out. Shame the new shoes aren't as nice as you expected.

likitisplit congratulations on getting the kiddywinks out, mine at 4 would not even walked a mile let alone run it. Although they both play rugby now.

Have fun

Ceci - bugger about the blister! Well done on the faster run though!
Varda - Family comes first and you're setting a great example for your daughters

Paytra, you can have the feeling of toes wobbling if the toebox is too big. Perhaps a different lacing style will help out?

Last night was Tuesdays group/social run as normal. Originally I had planned on skipping my pre-social 5k as I'm having a cut back week. Kinda forgot about that and got there with plenty of time for the pre-social. Ran with 2 of the other guys that do extra distance. All good except I ran at their easy pace which pushed me well into what is meant to be my tempo range. Still I managed to have a bit of a conversation and I didn't feel dead at the end of it so I'm happy with that. Did my laps pretty well solo, as that's just how it ended up being timing wise, I did remember to cut that a little short so I only did 3.9k instead of my normal 5+ and then the social run which was at a reasonable pace. I went out with the front group and we held a fairly even pace, until the home stretch push where for the last few hundred meters I dropped into the low 3min pace as I was trying to chase one of the other guys down.

Don't sell yourself short Robbie! I'd say my easy are probably your tempo.
Running in the rain always makes you feel 100% more hardcore about your running

That's one thing I love about running, everyone has the same challenges, just at different speeds and unless you're at the pointy end of running, you can pretty well guarantee that your temp is someone else's easy etc.

I just got back from the Great Smoky Mountains and had a pretty good race up there. I was going to take it easy but I felt good and kept pushing the pace a bit faster each mile to see how my achilles would respond. Never felt any pain the entire half marathon. Course was tough on my legs & ankles due to severe banking on all the curves. But it was pretty running along a river most of the way and the mountains finally came into view on the last couple of miles. There were some hills on miles 9 & 10 which slowed down a lot of people. I took it slow the first 3 miles so I had plenty of energy left for the end. I passed lots of people during the last 3 miles. They had some timing issues so I didn't have an official time when I checked. They said "oh we have a backup" and assured me everything would be fixed. Eventually they put me down at 1:46:56 but I'm not sure that's right. I hit my Garmin exactly at the start & finish lines and it said 1:48. Oh well, I'm happy either way. They awarded age groups 5 deep and I got 4th in my AG. The race organizers said they would never use that timing company again. I hope so because I plan on returning next year.

Tim, congrats on your half marathon! You did great...4th in your age group is fantastic!

Robbie, your speeds sound like my speeds. I'm not quite convinced I can go as fast as "not quite slow". :laugh:

Had a great run today. Wasn't really feeling it but decided to get out and just run. 5K in 37:19. Call me Surprised!

Congrats on the half, Tim! Great job! I love riding my motorcycle in the Smokies, I bet it would be nice to run there too!

Andie, switching days probably won't matter much at this point.

I had planned to ride with a friend yesterday after work, but when I got off WAY early, I decided to go for a run. Went through a local park and onto the grounds of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art (my favorite place for trail runs!) I managed just under 4 miles at an 11:09 pace. Still not happy with the shoes, but no blisters this time.

I went ahead and rode 14.5 miles with my friend too! (I'm thinking I will do a duathlon next year.)

Ya'll should read Dave Munger's blog today: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/davemunger/view/14-of-the-best-things-about-running-10-000-miles-698216

Ya'll should read Dave Munger's blog today: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/davemunger/view/14-of-the-best-things-about-running-10-000-miles-698216

Fantastic find thanks for sharing.

Yesterday got the 4 mile back to back, first time done running 24 hours apart. This is habit forming : P

Great progress Robbie!

After a busy brain numbing Friday it was a little late when I headed out for my run. Gotta love my trusty headlamp! Which meant I could still head out on the trails.
It was my first time running trails by headlamp, so that stole a bit of pace as well as simply running trails by headlamp steals pace. First few km were great... slow but great, to be expected with the hills. Around the midpoint of my run I spotted tails lights of a car, and then as I got closer I saw the car a few young guys standing around. I slowed down as I drew closer and saw a motorbike on its side. Turns out one of the guys had been foolish and taken his road bike offroad. Turns out he had dropped the bike, wedged his hand somewhere between the body of the bike and the rear tyre and also blacked out for a bit. I helped the guys get the bike back on it's wheels and hung around a little while as they debated what to do. The fool that had dropped his bike seemed ok, besides his sore hand. One of the guys said they'd be fine so I set off on the way home.

I picked up some accidental pace on the next km or so as it was reasonable track, still faster than I should have been going by headlamp. A good run overall. Today was umm 2hrs of horse riding as our monthly Search & Rescue training exercise. A fair bit of walk, with some trot. Haven't uploaded the ride to Garmin yet to look at properly. Can't wait for my 18k social trail run on Monday.

I finished off a pretty good week of training with a 17.5-mile run yesterday. That was my longest run yet and I averaged a 9:10 pace. The cool weather and light mist really helped me feel great the entire way. For the week I had a little over 43 miles. In September I had 3 weeks over 40 miles which I have never done before. This summer every time I got close to 40 miles/week something would start hurting. I'll hit 165 miles for the month with tomorrow's run. I can't believe October is almost here! Gotta build up to a 20 (or more) mile long run then start tapering later in the month.

Keep up the great work everyone!

You guys ROCK!

No running for me lately, although I did manage about 65 miles on the bicycle this weekend! I'm trying to take full advantage of the gorgeous weather we're having, because I know it won't last long. Supposed to be in the 40's for my 50 mile ride on Saturday.

Still feeling run over by a truck. I haven't run in a week. I hope I feel stronger on Tuesday. Great job all on getting out there and kicking butt!

Ceci as far as the blisters, what kind of socks are you wearing? Are you wearing actual running socks?

I am wearing actual running socks. Most of the time I wear a very thin sock inside my running sock. That with Vaseline seems to be the best so far in preventing blisters.

I'm thinking maybe my shoes might not be wide enough at the ball of my foot.

My wife does that on several of her shoes - skips the first lace holes. She has bunions on both feet but not very severe. Just enough to make many shoes uncomfortable. A wider toe box would help.

I'm trying a lube that I got at the running store.

I rode 15 miles yesterday which put me at 400 total miles for the month. Only about 40 of that was actual running. After my 50 mile ride this weekend, I'm planning to shift focus to more running days than riding.