i enjoy reading all the updates, but am so short of time these days i can't respond individually. your updates are what keep me motivated at the moment.

i'm struggling. i have yet to find my "happy place". i really, really enjoyed the C25K structure and then the zenlabs 10K program was also right up my alley. now that i've completed both, and without the desire to move forward to longer distances, i am lost with what to do with myself.

i tried a few 10K improver programs, but don't have the time to commit to 1.5 hour training sessions. as a result my running frequency has really tapered off, and i'm losing some of the progress i made this summer doing the zenlabs 10K program. it was tough on my knees and ankles, but did i ever LOVE getting out three times a week for an hour each time.

i went out for another 5k run today. i managed a little faster pace, but stopping to answer a call (who does that?) skewed my time a bit. my heart rate peaked at 171 bpm - i was pretty red in the face when my 29 minutes were up.

i'm trying to commit to runs on tuesdays, thursdays and sundays . . . hope to get at least one 10K in each week.

i need summer weather and long daylight hours back.

Well last weeks attempt at starting taper was.... mildly successful. I managed to drop my 'mileage' to 75k last week. The reduced workload has definitely had an effect though (a long with the training) as I set a new 5k PB on Saturday at parkrun of 21:07. That's a 9s improvement on my overall 5k pb, and a 53s improvement on my pb for that course!
Sunday was a nice 22k trail run with a group of friends as a recon for the 47k trail race most of us are doing at the end of the year. Saturday night is my big race.... I'm getting both nervous and excited when I think about it!

@maggiekat7 Hang in there. Just running 3 days a week should help. I find that I run better if I have a plan.
@taeliesyn tapered to 75k last week Wow! Great job on the 5k pb!
@moyer566 You are doing great. I keep saying don't worry about pace, it will come. So I'm leaving this here for you:

@Just_Ceci - I didn't know you lived in Texas! Where abouts did you live?
And thanks for the support everyone! I've been signing up for a lot of races, and I think my Facebook friends are getting tired of hearing about it!! LOL!!!!
My 40th birthday is coming up in Jan 2016 and I think I'm going to try a new challenge: Run 50 Before 50 (a marathon in each US state before I turn 50). What do you all think?

I sent a request to join the 50 States Marathon Club's Facebook group....looks like they have a lot of active members so it will be a good resource for race suggestions. I can't submit an actual club application until I've done a marathon in at least 10 different states, so I guess that will be a couple years down the road Exciting!! I'm looking at March for my first marathon here locally...a friend and I are considering doing the Flying Pig in Cincinnati, Ohio, in May

I ran speed intervals with the local running store yesterday. We ran a ladder- intervals of 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 800, 600, 500, 400, 300, 200, and 100 with 30 seconds rest and 10 pushups in between. (I did squats since my shoulder won't let me do pushups.) He wanted us to run the 100 - 500's at 1 mile pace, the 600 and 800's at desired 5k pace, then the last 500 - 100's at 1 mile pace. I did the 800 in 4:37, so that would be pretty blazing 5k pace for me! My overall pace for the total run was 8:33, not including the rests. If only I could take 30 second rests during a race without that counting against me!

I overslept this morning and didn't do my scheduled 5 mile run, soooo I guess I know what I'm doing after work!
I signed up for the Rock 'N' Roll Marathon in New Orleans on 2/28. I actually signed up for the half marathon, not the full, since I won't be done with my marathon training until mid-March. I'll be arriving in NOLA on a Thursday evening, but the race isn't until Sunday morning...I figure that gives me some time to look around/get in some trouble...LOL! This will be my first official "run-cation"!!

Only had time for a couple of miles yesterday. Better than nothing.

So I did 7 miles today. In 92 min even with some walking. I'm so proud of myself. 20 weeks ago I couldn't run a mile.
Maybe next weekend I will be able to run the whole thing

Rain runs are nice