Just quickly popping in to catch up before I head off on my holidays. Glad to see it is so busy here! Too many updates to comment on but everyone seems to be doing really well. I have been following my physio's advice and adding on an extra km every run. I am up to 7km and will probably stay around that distance while I am away and start increasing my pace the week after. I should be okay for my 10km race at the end of September but I think I am going to have to shelve my plan for a sub-60 minute time. While I have been on the bench I have been concentrating on weight lifting and have lost 2% body fat which will hopefully help with my running a bit. Hope everyone has fun running and stays injury free, I'm off to Aviemore for a week of cycling, canoeing, pony trekking and hiking.

@samra338 that is so awesome!! Did you sign up for that 10k too?

Did week 2 day 2 of b210k today. 5.6 miles including the warmup and cooldown. Longest distance I've ever done!! Helps that it was nice and breezy this morning. The humidity was killing me last week.

Thank you @JSC145 and @LLduds...No, I haven't signed up yet, it's on Oct 25th, so, plenty of time. I want to see how much distance I am covering at the end of B210k before committing myself as that was the mistake I did last time. I was running less than 2.5 miles when I ran my first 5k.

@LLduds blacklight run sounds intriguing. Have fun!

Sorry, keeps getting cut off.

soooo . . . had to cut my last run of week 10 short. i think i've got a touch of what my little chappy just pulled through and instead of taking the long way home i bee-lined for the shortcut before things got dire! Only 6.6 km today - but i ended up running 4 km last night "for fun". i fully intended to just go for a walk to watch the moon rise and 5 minutes in without music, heart rate monitor or proper running clothes i just started running!

it was great. without music i was able to delight in an easy pace and now that i have more endurance i'm not too bothered by the sound of my own breathing. (please tell me i'm not the only one?) i did find a songza station that is a bit slower tempo (Ya'll Ready for This: '90s). takes me back to my uni days, but i didn't listen to that style of music then so it doesn't feel too stale yet. i think i'm done 'Rock & Run!' for a while. been hearing some of those tunes since i was a little kid. be kind, don't do the math.

looking forward to week 11 - although i'm rather tempted to skip to the week where there are only 2 intervals and repeating those sessions a few times. would that be bad?

I went to the Blacklight Run 5K last night. It was very similar to @eyethree 's Color Run....not timed, several "color stations", and about 90% of the 12,000 participants had no interest in actually running. It was a bit frustrating because people were stopping on the course to take selfies/group photos and walkers would more often than not be blocking the entire path (with zero response when runners would yell out "On your left...." in an attempt to pass them). I timed myself with Runkeeper and got 33 minutes, which isn't bad I guess when you consider all the evasive maneuvering required to keep running around the walkers/photo takers. I realize this event was intended to be fun but it definitely wasn't my kind of fun...just frustrating. Anyway, lesson learned...I won't be signing up for any of these big 5K events again. Hopefully the 10Ks I have coming up will be more runner-focused.

Next Saturday night I am signed up for a 5K on the beach. I've never run on the sand before so it should be extra-challenging! Does one wear shoes or not for such a run? The event is to benefit the local animal shelter. They are serving beer and barbecue afterwards, so it should be a much nicer/calmer time then the bedlam of this weekend's event. Happy Sunday to all

@eyethree and @LLduds I've heard most of the big runs especially, colour and blacklights etc, or really any run where walkers and runners set off together, can have trouble with people blocking paths etc unless you get near the front.

Running on soft sand is weird, running on hard sand is just like running on dirt. Soft sand will work your calves more. Depends on the beach and the sand as to running barefoot. Medium soft or softer if it's safe I'd do barefoot (But you should be used to running barefoot or in zero drop shoes too) hard sand I'd probably chose shoes.

Sunday was an epic sufferfest run, trying to run at aerobic level for 60min straight, when I was a wedding the night before and only got 2.5 hours sleep is HARD. Lots of sleep yesterday, and last night and I nailed this mornings interval session.
8x 4min (@ 4:09 pace) with 2min recovery walk (Well some guys did jog theirs, but that definitely wasn't happening for me this time round). All intervals hit at pace +/- 5seconds. I haven't properly looked at them yet on Garmin or Strava, so not sure how steady I was. Still much better than 4 weeks ago when I was +15 to 20seconds on every rep.

Nice running everyone, don't have an internet connection for a few days and it takes 15 mins to catch up with all the news.

Quick update, not much running since the middle of last week, Thu/ Fri and Sat missed the planned runs. Sunday went out for a 18 mile long run on the North York Moors, it started in sunshine but after 4 miles I was running in cloud getting wet. Made the decision to carry on and it was ok (ish), however it was slow, I should have done 18 miles in around 3 hours but had only got to HM distance after 2hrs 30. It was obvious I was never going to get the 18 done, so planned the break after getting to HM. General advice is to not run longer than 150-180 mins as the recovery takes longer than the benefit you get. When I saw Strava this afternoon, I had not appreciated how much elevation change there was and the way out was running into a headwind, so I don't feel as bad as I did on Sunday. I'm sure it did some good. This morning had an easy run along the the same ridge route. I understood why it was difficult, I managed it but it was slow.

Hopefully you guys are having better luck with your running. Hopefully won't leave it so long next time!!

We have a 1.5 mile (approx.) outdoor paved trail that goes around the perimeter of the YMCA property. Lots of use by walkers, joggers, bicyclists, dogs, roller bladers, etc. I swear it is uphill the whole way around! I'm going to go the other direction next time just to mix things up. 2.5 times around tonight for approximately 4 miles - W11D1.

I keep hearing about strava, so I downloaded the app and started an account. Um, that program is for real! I glanced at the segments, and they're all climbs (what the *@#?) and one of them is 13.3%! I'm so a beginner. I like my routes as flat as I can get 'em!

I was at the first workout of week 11 yesterday (had to do an evening run, was too hot in the morning by the time my husband was back from camping to watch our children) and I thought I'd take the strava app for a test drive. Well, I guess my phone doesn't like strava, endomondo, songza and zenlabs all going at the same time, because I couldn't get zenlabs to keep on the workout. So I ditched it.

And I just ran. I knew approximately where my walking breaks were happening from the previous weeks so for the first one I guessed a little bit after usual. But then something happened . . .

I found my happy pace (6:39 min/km avg). After the first interval I didn't feel the need to stop running. My heart rate was at a nice place, my breathing was good, and it felt wonderful to be running. So I just kept going. I ran out of route at just over 8km, so I stopped.

I ran for 54 minutes. With about a +/-1 minute walking break at about 35% through.

I'm rather pleased, and know it would be no problem to continue to 60 minutes. I'm super motivated to reach my 10k goal. Exciting times!