slinky

yeah, Kristen this is my official C25k "graduation" run. planning to stick around though. i gotta tell you though its the first thing in a long time that i set out to challenge myself with and i did it! well im doing it. have 2 weeks to improve my time. now, if the weather cooperates, i'll be fine. since i dont have a stopwatch of any kind except for my on my cell i, really have no idea how fast im doing. i figured out that just adding up the times of the songs isnt working since there's time (like 1-2 secs) between songs. gotta go run theres some daylight left and the thunder seems to have ended for now. TC all, Carol

i just registered for my race on the 18th!

very cool cake kathy!

Welcome back Lyn! Woo Hoo Malissa. Im getting psyched for my race on the 18th! trying to convince a cpl of friends to do it with me as its also a fundraiser for a homeless orgainzation here. i didnt know that part till yesterday and i have a friend who is the dir of development there. a coincidence, but it'll be nice to know that i'll defintely have a friend there. may bring my kids too, hubby has to work that nite :smile2: ssdd unfortunately. the other nite (thurs), i did 3.1 miles again. im happy knowing i can do it. im going for a RUN completion this race. i'll worry about speed another time. Kathy WTG on your loose jeans. My scale is finally going down again so i hope to be right behind you with my jeans. since its the fourth of july, im not planning to run tonite. too much going on. so, im planning to go tomorrow nite. will plan on 3 times next week and once the following week then taper till the race. whatcha think, my running buddies? sound reasonable? one final thing! my sound is fixed on my puter so hopefully i'll be able to put together a good mix for the race to keep me motivated. yay me! YAY all of us!!!!!!!! TC, Carol

minxz - it took me a while but i finally found the exercise that saved my shins. i started getting shin splints when i began walking not even running. when i researched stretches for running and preventing shin splints, a lot of the exercises just felt like they were ineffective for me. I found this picture (scroll down to the pictures) and its helped me a lot. the only difference is that i do the third position sitting in a straight-backed chair, and my legs at 90 degree angles. hope this helps. let me know if it does. tc carol About.com: http://www.runnersweb.com/running/deb_june2000.html Woo Hoo. i just read Kathy's post, and it gives a great description of the one i do. its the same as the one in the 3rd pic.

i forgot to add something cute. I was talking to DH today about running. he told me ive gone from half-baked couch potato to hot tamale!!! lol its a play on the couch to 5k. cute, huh? Carol

Kathy im with Ktork and Jane. but if they don't select you - theyre insane. just make sure they know what an inspiration u are to all of us. if you need an endorsement, i'd be willing! definitely keep us posted. lufferly, i really applaud your decision to start today. just 1 word of advice: patience. several of us have had to repeat weeks here and there, and this is by no means failure in the event of an extension IF its necessary. ive told the ppl here that my mantra is: improvement is better than perfection. and IF you dont get to the graduation by your birthday, you are still giving yourself a wonderful gift by working on YOU. you're worth it and EVERY step makes you stronger physically and emotionally! that last sentence goes for all of us. Bill welcome back. its nice to see men post ere again too. gives me a different persective. thanks. oh, and i love the shirts too. i feel really cool wearing them. :thumbup: TC, Carol

i love it jane. a friendly competition. :rolleyes2: im just hoping for 45 minutes or less on my run. i'll let u know, friends. i forgot this part. i do have another friend who i wish could see my post about the run. hes been absent for way too long, and i miss him. i'll think about an email after i get my official time. im getting a lot of confidence in so many areas from the running, but i just need a bit more to send that particular message out when i get my stats. tc, Carol

thanks Kathy and Sizanne, youre both inspirations to me. so i feel like im learning from the best. suzanne every time i think about crapping out i think of you when you ran w/ the navy guy at work. lol. something really motivating about that for me. :rolleyes2: Kathy, glad things went well, hope to see you posting a bunch again! Jane, i run at nite. now, i know thats not for everyone, but two suggestions - 1. try www.active.com and look up the areas where u r tarveling. and 2. look up on the net any running stores in that area to see if they know about any running clubs u can connect with. maybe meet a buddy to run with so youre not running at nite by yourself in an unfamiliar area. hope this helps. well i have happy news. another long time friend of hubby and me commented to me on facebook that my posts about my running stats have inspired him to get back into running. its been over 3 yrs since he did any running, and of course hes passed me in like 5 days. lol. he's run every day since he started (like 4 days) and has gone from 1.5 miles to over 3 already. but i did invite him to do the 5k with me. i told him not to wait for me to catch up since hes probably got a much longer stride than my short stubbies. but it'll be nice to have a friend there if he does. i'll ttyl. shooting for a run tomorrow. was almost considering running again tonite, but im being snsible for now. tc all, Carol

I DID IT! I DID IT! I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I DID IT! WOOOOOOOO!!!! 3.1 MILES! (5K) YAY ME!!! wow Jane CONGRATS!!! that makes 2 of us. granted yours is real and official, and mine is only in my back yard, but still - we both have a right to be proud of ourselves! im so happy, now i know i can do this and more. i get an official time on the 18th when i RUN my next 5k. TC All, Im gonna go savor my running high now :thumbdown: Carol

Minxz - LOL i hate any bra, and would rather go braless most of the time... so i totally understand. you should see some of the contortions i go thru with the sprots bras. :thumbup: Thanks for the other map link Jane. it seems a bit easier for me than the one Kathy posted, but maybe i didnt give that one enough of my concentration to be honest. Last nite i did 2.5 miles and im only a bit sore today. my plan is to go again tomorrow. i'll need the stress reduction since tomorrow is the last day at my current job. im starting my new job complete with promotion and a new agency on saturday with some systems training and officially on monday with everything. im nervous and excited just like i was when i got banded. and ive done well with that. Kathy - its amazing how much the new ppl we're becoming is being shaped not just physically but emotionally too. I can really relate to what you experienced a few months ago. i think its partly the wt loss and increased confidence in myself since i dont feel so fat/ugly. but i also think a bunch of it is due to the running. i set a goal for myself and im working on meeting it. im not sure i want to say ive reached it. but i have definitely knocked off a very large chunk of it. everyone - thanks for all your help! tc Carol

minxz - i love that description of running bras. good news though as u get smaller, u will find it easier to get them on. the other challenge is getting them off when youre all sweaty. lol

well the other day, it was sooooooooo hot. it was 90 at 10 pm, it made it impossible to run for me. i did only about a mile. was thinking aobut another run last nite, but was stuck w/ food, and i learned my lesson on that score the hard way (if you look back a few pages, you can see the post). so my goal is to run tonite weather permitting. hoping i can do it since its been since last week that i did so well. anyway, will keep y'all posted. do any of you have suggestions for increasing/improving my stretching? the stretching is totally boring for me. its the one area i NEED to improve alot! all other areas can be improved of course, but the stretching is my biggest challenge right now. tc, Carol

Malissa, I agree with Kathy. I wish the program used the phrase level instead of week. Thinking that advancing in a week and not accomplishing that goal can be intimidating and frustrating. I deliberately took longer with most of the weeks for the extra conditioning. I moved on when I was able to do the intervals like they were laid out in the outline, just like Kathy said. A few of the weeks I did a "graduation" run of sorts. If I was having a hard time completing the intervals or felt like I was "dying" during or after the run I waited, and kept adding single days, but in the format thats laid out - basically every other day. When I felt like I could do it I did another one to be sure the one b4 wasnt a fluke. Then one last run as my graduation to the next level. Next time I moved on. That worked for me. Now, I was plateauing too at the time - still am but even though the scale isnt moving - yesterday i managed to put on over my fat a$$ and button/zip a pair of Gloria Vanderbilt skimmers (just below the knee capris) in size 12!!!!! I'm still convinced that they were sized wrong, but maybe not. I have some Gloria jeans in 14 that are getting a bit less tight. (I won't go so far as to say they are loose.) I tried several other size 12 pants that were just not happening, though, but I love gloria vanderbilt. hoping to run tonite. have plans in early evening at friends, but it will definitely be an evening run. TC all, Carol

i agree completely with kathy. my legs spasmed a lot when i startedd running. also when i stopped for a week. when i started back i got them. still get them occasionally. another thing is i try to get some banana in on those days. the potassium helps me too. good luck malissa and mary. tc, Carol

2.7 miles last nite!!!!!!!!!!!! for the first time 3.1 miles (5k) actually seems do-able! i mighta been able to do more too if it wasnt pitch dark on the lake where i run, by the time i got to that point. Jane...WTG...just keep doing it next to those hot sweaty guys. eventually you will be showing them up and some will take notice. always an ego boost. :sad: busy weekend ahead, full of dancing and hanging with friends. running sunday nite is my plan. TC all, Carol

Woo Hoo CONGRATS Mary. welcome! Im hoping for my run tonite. weather permitting cuz i'm gonna be busy tomorrow and saturday nites. whew im gonna be exhausted by sunday. lol tc all Carol

minxz - im with u on the issue of saving for shoes. GOOD shoes are the only expense you NEED to figure in. thats what drew me to walking then running. (orthotics too if u need them) its the only investment and so far its made a world of difference for me... as for the out of shape stuff, if I can start running at my age and lack of shape then almost anyone can. i hated HATED sweating and was anti exercise b4 my band. then i made a half-hearted attempt for a while walking. something clicked for me and im at a point now where i dont say i "have to" exercize... i say to myself..."i get to go for a run." slight shift in attitude... Mac and Kathy - can either of u explain to me what i should do when i go back to use the intervals for building speed? im on week 9, ran 35 mins on monday, and got a fill yesterday. being on mushies and all im not in a running mood energy-wise. planning on it tomorrow but today my knees still r giving me he** today. doing advil & icy hot to get them back in control so i have time tonite to think of strategies to get better by next month and my 5k. anyway do i go back to week 1 and work on speed? a different week? not sure how that works best. well TC Carol

thanks Tkl. already emiled them to find out something. i appreciate good leads. tc, carol

Suzanne, I take the huge ones and just suffer a bit till they disolve in my pouch...i have a liquid one but i hate it. its a very thick liquid that has an apricot flavor base. too sweet and mediciny. not sure it helps me much either. i got it at vitamin shoppe. ive taken the pills for a long time now but didnt think i should after my last fill, and i really missed taking them. was too achy without them. i just added the second dose that i should have been taking all along, but kept forgetting. making a better effort with all of the vitamins and supplements even though i always take my multivite, etc at nite. i need to space them out more thru the day since im getting a fill tomorrow and will have even better restriction i hope. Let me know if you want me to find out the name of the liquid i have. it was not carbonated at all it just made me gag. lol tc carol

20k - another slacker among us, Kathy? lol. NOT! Im very impressed. For once im not stressing about my runs this past weekend. I really want to try again tonite. that'd make 3x in a row, but i know i need to do it later in the evening or even after it gets dark. gonna make a concerted effort to get more fluid in just in case its that. also starting to take extra glucosamine/condroitin. now, instead of waiting to run, im tryng tonite since im scheduled for a fill tomorrow and i always give myself that day off from running, just in case im a bit tender from the fill. i get a bit bruised sometimes, and dont want to push it on those days. if i waited to run that'd push me to wednesday or maybe thursday. i dont want to wait that long, so im gonna try for tonite. my kids r home from a week of sleep away camp, so its back to the daily summer grind of work then picking them up from day camp then home, dinner, RUN, etc etc. Im making sure to schedule the runs. those are for ME. ttys, will post how i do. tc Carol

had a mixed weekend running-wise. last nite i tried to run. not sure what happened, but i couldnt do even 2 of the 3 laps. too much on my mind? too hot? whatever... so this morning, i i tried again. i did about a lap and a half, basically making up the difference. a little disappointed and trying to be philosophical about things, and see what i can learn from it. idk yet... but one other cool thing. a bandster friend of mine has been asking me for advice on running. seems he's thinking of giving it a go. im encouraging him to come and see what we talk about, makes me feel like im an experienced runner. lol. ive been telling him to get fitted for good running shoes, as his budget allows. I told him to get good running socks, too since one of my friends here advised me to do the same. it seems to help me. I hope he's successful and likes it. its a great way to feel successful in the health improvement departments of our journeys... I think i'll try again tomorrow nite. after the sun is low in the sky and cooler, i hope. ttys running buddies. tc Carol

OMG Mac. only doing 8 work outs a week...such a slacker...(rolling my eyes - lol) WTG on your tri!!! and good luck on the next one. Suzanne - thanks for the encouragement. Last nite, after my post i got some news about a friend that made me sad, (what happened really isnt important to share here) but b4 my first thought would have been to beat myself up or eat the saddness away. (and dont we former fattys know how we internalize everything to ourselves as the cause and as a result eat.) this time, i felt like i was really glad i had running as a release. and, if i hadnt just run id have gone out at 10:30 pm to do one. For now, im putting the sad feelings on a shelf and will take them down when i go for my next run. its called compartmentalizing. When i run im hoping to say a prayer for my friend and get it out of my system that way. i think my friend would be proud of my decision to run it out. we all make good and difficult decisions, and even though my friend made a choice that made me sad for a while - i really learned from it that im much stronger than i was b4 my band and even till i started running. so...yay me. my knees are giving me hell this morning from my 2.4 miles last nite. i may wait till saturday to run if they keep bugging me tomorrow. and uh oh last nite i remember coming home full of adreneline and sitting down to type out my post, and just now realized i didnt stretch much after the run.... that'll teach me. i'll be in touch. tc for now, Carol

well Kathy i followed your advice about running as far as i could. i did 2.4 miles (4k) in 34.18! was crapping out then saw how close i was to the end of my 3rd lap around my lake. so i sucked it up and finished the lap. then added up the time of the songs on my mp3 player. i have that runners high. i know this cuz i am so flippin proud of myself ive been giggling like a fool. im going to do that and more and i still have a month to train for the 5k in july! Thanks! tc, Carol

yay Mac! u go girl!!! TC Carol