You will do fine Robbie, just have fun with it!

I did a killer spin class this morning, too wet and nasty outside to do anything else. I am taking my running gear with me on vacation, hoping to get at least one run around the National Mall in DC while I'm there!

The sun came out this afternoon! I backed the right horse. LOL! I had a nice run along the river; 5K in 37:45
Went to the Running Room today to ask about my shoes. I'd bought a pair 1/2 size larger than normal for the width. They feel comfortable but since getting them, my legs have felt heavy and my toes sometimes feel weird. I noticed that when I put the shoes on, the toe box feels large around my toes but when I run, my toes are at the end of the toe box...so my feet are sliding forward, it seems. I laced them up tighter and my right foot started to numb (that went away when I loosened the shoes).
The lady in the store showed me a way of tying the shoes (cinch knot?) that supposedly keeps the foot more stable and secure around the ankle. I tried it today and my legs felt better. I'm not sure if it was luck or if the knotting really helped. Time will tell.
I did notice that my foot didn't slip forward as much (good) but that my right heel slightly lifts (bad). Ugh. This will teach me not to size up. No more of that. If the width isn't right, the shoe isn't right.
I'll keep trying them out for another few weeks to see if the new knotting works. If not, I may just bite the bullet for a new pair of shoes and use these on the treadmill over the winter.

Finally signed up for an organised 10k event in support of prostate cancer (Morunner Nottingham). I was advised to attend a mass participation event ahead of the HM in the new year, so given that it is 10 mins walk away I could hardly miss it. See how this goes, the advantage is that I know the course as I have run various bits of it. There is one section I avoid as it it is uneven underfoot, but otherwise it should be a fun hour.

Been a while since I updated and I can't remember my last update, so I'll just do my last 2 runs.
Saturday was parkrun day, which due to life interferences was also make up distance for the week day. It didn't start well with my Land Cruiser throwing the alternator belt less than 1km from home as I headed off. Turn around and swap vehicles.
Get to parkrun still early, though not quite as early as planned and head off on some exploration to begin the making up of weekly km's. A nice easy 6.2km jog along trails by the river. Saw the side to society that I hate to admit exists, with 1 bed for a homeless person or people, and someone probably asleep in the bushes. I did manage to sprain/jar/twist BOTH ankles whilst I was out due entirely to inattention. Fortunately both were ok'ish after a few minutes. Finished the exploration by catching up with a fellow parkrunner doing the start of a freedom run lap of the course, which was interrupted by the RD arriving to set up. Helped with the setup and chatted for a bit before parkrun started.
Headed out with everyone as you do, and rather quickly tagged onto a pair of people running together. One is much faster than I, the other about 15 seconds faster. The lady realised I was drafting them about 1km in, the guy didn't realise until we were a good 3k in. Apparently I am something of a ninja runner!.
We stuck together until about the last 750m-1km at which point I pushed on. The guy caught me quickly and I played chasey for the last few hundred metres as he tried to pull away. He beat me, but dragged me in to a new PB!!. 22:25 whoooo HOOOO!!!!!. Last 500m was done at silly pace, so with better pacing I believe I can do faster, especially as most of the run was just beyond comfortably hard.

Fast forward to tonight's 15k. It was meant to be my long/easy run. It was my long run but definitely not easy even though I was averaging somewhere in the 6:15-6:30 pace, I think I'm still carrying some fatigue in my legs from Saturday

I'm gone for a couple of days and nobody is posting?!

5k from my brother's house down a country road this afternoon, probably my fastest so far- 30:20, 9:46 pace. The route was flat.

Not much new here. Just trying to get through the last two weeks of heavy mileage until I can start tapering. Had another visit with the chiro yesterday after dealing with some lower back pain that was throwing off my form. She cracked my back pretty good in a few spots and worked out the tightness on one side. She said my spine is not very mobile so I need a lot of work there. Last night I did 6 miles after the storms cleared out and besides my legs feeling heavy, everything else felt pretty good. And I swear my feet have gotten bigger, or just some temporary swelling. My work shoes feel tight now.

The storms brought in some cooler weather which is very welcome here after running in the upper 80's last week. Finally I think fall is here to stay!

Everyone is doing so well. It's always nice to read about your runs and experiences.

My run today was up the hilly route. It was fun. 3K uphill, then a plateau before the downhill, then level ground until reaching home. It's a great feeling to crest that hill.

I'm slowly increasing my mileage. I'm trying for 6K minimum and 8-9K once a week, on the weekend. I may have to postpone this weekend as I'm on-call but we'll see what happens. On-call means running around the block over and over. It's a good workout, with a hill and a downhill, but not very interesting after the first couple of loops.

Romy, JogScotland sounds like a lot of fun.

Me and my son got up early to travel into Aberdeen for our first Parkrun. It was cancelled!! We went for a 5k run round the park anyway, jumping streams and running through rivers (yes, it was the rain that flooded parts of the course and made it unsafe). Next time we are going to try the one at the beach, it is much windier but at least the rain doesn't stop it.

Sitting in Heathrow about to jet to San Francisco. Got 4 miles done on Thursday and a 8 miler last night. Last run for a while. Didn't feel like going last night but went out anyway and after 2 miles settled into a slow run (HR 70% of max). Time passed quite slowly but sorted out a few problems in my mind. The only disconcerting thing was when a runner shot past me, going twice as fast, so not sure whether he was intending to go that fast. I then thought boy I am slow. However it will be. Legs still tired this morning.

Have fun, will be off the network for a while

Yesterday I did my longest run ever: 19 miles at 9:16 avg pace. I felt pretty good until the last half mile (which was uphill). The cooler/drier weather helped a lot. I felt much better than a week ago when it was warm & humid. I'm a little sore today here & there and walking a bit slower than usual. This coming weekend I'll do my last really long run (20 miles) before the marathon. I'm looking forward to two weeks of tapering! My wife ran 23 miles yesterday and has started her 3-week taper. She's going for 3:40 and I'm hoping for 3:50 but would love to be in the 3:40's. Gotta average 8:45/mile or less to hit that goal. My plan is to start with the 4:00 pace group and stick with them for 6-8 miles and then slowly get a bit faster. Hopefully it works out!

Yesterday, I ran with my friend and her daughter. We did Couch to 5k w2d1. Afterwards, I ran another couple of miles on my own. Felt great and kept a pretty steady pace. Ended up with 2.23 miles in 20:54 for a pace of 9:22. Pretty sure that was my fastest 2 miles so far! Wish the weather was like this all the time!

Went for my last evening ride of the year with my girls' group yesterday. We only managed 5 miles before it got too dark. (I rode 5 miles earlier by myself.) I love the fall colors, but hate that the days are getting shorter.

This weekend promises some pretty awesome weather, so hoping to get out and enjoy it!

Make it a great one!

I'm finally in taper mode for the marathon! Saturday I did my longest run ever: 21 miles at 9:10 avg pace. I felt great during the entire run. Not so great when I stopped running. Every muscle in my legs ached. I had to walk around for a while to get my legs to calm down. Now I feel very confident about hitting 3:50 or maybe a few minutes less for the marathon.

I felt like crap most of the day yesterday, but decided to run anyway. Managed 4.5 miles in 48 minutes through my National Park, 10:37 average pace. The weather was perfect, the fall color is beautiful, the deer were abundant. Hoping that whatever this crud is that I've got clears up soon. I guess it's allergies.

Ceci_O_K wrote: »

No running or riding for me lately- my head cold developed into a chest cold and my sinuses are plugged. Hoping I'll be better by Saturday!

Sorry to hear that Ceci! Hope you get to feeling better soon! I started feeling a sore throat on Monday and immediately started taking Airborne twice a day. My throat is still sore today but no other symptoms have developed. Now my wife is getting it.