Congrats Plantmom - you’re WAY faster than me!
@BunsenBurner – thanks! Never would have found it. Looks pretty serious!
Oh no sabaray, more healing thoughts to your ankle. My D has been bothered by a bum ankle and it’s annoying to deal with.
We had a beautiful Indian summer day yesterday, H took the day off and we played 18 holes of golf. Just the 2 of us which never happens and I had a great time.
Unfortunately I seem to have picked up a cold. It’s mostly annoying but I have a 5k this weekend. Hoping I’ll feel fine by Saturday!
Currently in my hometown in MA; drove up yesterday afternoon. Playing golf with my father this morning – although we’re waiting for the “frost delay” to be lifted on the course. (Yeah, I think we’re getting to the end of the season.)
Hope you feel better, deb.
Worked till 12:15 this morning, so I skipped early yoga. Going into work late and am taking a long walk first.
Thanks for all the encouragement and support, everyone. Bunsen, I have a CEP brace that I had really not needed to use but clearly do now. That’s coming back into the rotation. I’m really trying to stick to the plan but I’m kind of at the point that I need to adjust - there’s a three hour run on the schedule for Saturday. 
Headed to the gym this morning and had a quick elliptical workout - Pilates mat yesterday afternoon.
PlantMom, you are kicking my rear! Speedy! Whale mollusk? No way! I love the “Good Deed Half” - that ought to be a thing!
Sabaray, you really should be tapering for your race. You already did a 20 miler, didn’t you? Your race is two weeks from the next Saturday, my bet is that you can do 10 and then 8 the next weekend and be rested and ready to rock the course.
@PlantMom – well, I went and read about the whelk mollusk, I thought I’d heard something about high-speed snails… I’m wildly impressed with your 10-min miles–I think it’s a big deal when I go below 10-minute miles in a 5K race, and I’m pretty much only that fast in training when I’m doing quarter-mile track intervals!
I went to trail running skills clinic #4 this morning (at 6:30 AM… in the dark… in the cold (45 degrees F)… but NOT RAINY!) and wow was this one revelatory! We did technical-trail skills, up and down a rocky little section of trail, after warming up by doing agility-ladder drills–stuff like the drills in this video (https://kingsportstraining.com/blogs/training-blog/7694405-13-agility-ladder-drills-for-faster-footwork/) (ignoring the ads, sorry about that, but the video is actually pretty good). Anyway, doing the drills really revealed to me just how weak my left knee is and how much I favor my right knee. I could move right well but not so much on the left side. I’d heard that from my dog-sports coach, but I thought I’d been working on it… apparently not. Or at least, not enough.
After I got home from the clinic (2.7 miles over an hour, all of it either uphill or downhilll, even though it seemed like it was uphill both ways), I grabbed the dog and went for a very slow (13-minute pace) relaxed hour-long trail run to add up to my long run for the week–just under eight miles total. I’m feeling very virtuous, and very tired.
dmd- that’s a great morning! The skills clinic sounds hard but good.
Here’s an old post that I found from one of my running groups. It’s some good advice, even though most of us are a little past this point…
“See the forest, not the trees. Running a lot means running a lot. It means thinking about your running in terms of weekly, monthly, and yearly mileage totals instead of any single run. The purpose of running a lot is to build the system of capillaries, to awaken the mitochondria, to strengthen the heart, to lose weight, to transform the body into a running machine. This transformation happens over the long haul. These changes are not the result of any single run, but the accumulated effect of months and years of running. Run easy most of the time. If what matters most is the forest, then don’t stress too much about any single “tree.” Running hard too often wears you out, both physically and mentally. 80% of your running (at least) should be comfortable, easy, and fun. If you’re feeling really good, then you might once or twice a week turn an easy run into a spontaneous tempo run. Do your workouts by feel, not by pace. Do not concentrate on making yourself hurt….Spending a month or so doing race-specific work will put the icing on the cake. But it’s the cake that matters. If you don’t believe me, I’ll let you in on a little secret: I did no single training run longer than 14 miles before my most recent 50k. But I had my share of 80-90 mile weeks. Plenty of cake. And I can put on the icing whenever I like. Keep it simple! Keep it fun! Run a lot! Build that base!”
I’ve been MIA but am now caught up on the hundreds of posts. Great job, everybody! We were on a New England cruise last week and it was really nice. The weather was perfect and we really enjoyed ourselves - it was good to rest and relax for a bit. I gained less than a pound and I am happy about that.
I need to fit a long run in sometime this week, it will be my last long run before my marathon. My training hasn’t been as consistent this time, life has gotten in the way, but I think I’ll do OK. I have a business trip to Pittsburgh Wed & Thurs (aren’t you all jealous?) and then I’m leaving Friday for a long weekend in Seattle. Wedding dress shopping with D! That will be a very fun time!
dmd77 - your trail running clinic sounded like a great workout, although really tough.
sabaray - I am so sorry to hear that your ankle is bothering you. It sure seems that you need to rest and take care of it at this point. You’ve trained hard and well, you are prepared. As BB says, you should be tapering now anyway.
Michael - I’m looking forward to hearing about your daughter’s wedding, I’ll bet it will be fabulous!
Yay, C3Baker! Dress shopping? Fantastic! Is Luly Yang on your list? 
Bring your rain jacket, it is supposed to get a little drizzly. I highly recommend Burke-Gilman/SRT for your long run… If you make all the way to Woodinville fields, you will be able to check out some fantastic winery wedding venues just off SRT and have lunch in the village or at Red Hook.
Sabaray, please be smart and not un-wisely sticking to a previous plan if your ankle is giving you problems. It seems to be sort of a choice between which do you nurture - the physical game (your ankle and that it seems to need some recoup time) or the mental game (if I don’t follow the training plan, I won’t do it!) - just guessing on all this of course. Just remember that either one can take you out of a race - physical or mental game - but you can beat a mental game, not so much a physical game.
Back from a long weekend trip in DC where I managed two nice runs - one being the entire loop (that was open anyway) around the national mall. A little breezy and 48 on Monday morning but SOO fun! In fact so fun apparently that I totally messed up running back to the hotel. I should have turned back heading down 4th street - got to the block where my hotel should have been and noticed I was on 7th! In a bit of a panic, I ran a few blocks the way I thought I was suppose to go - and looked up and realized I was on 12th street - NOW I’m panicking! I was suppose to meet my D and her friends for breakfast and here I was surrounded by cement and my cell phone had no reception. So, ended up adding several MORE blocks to my run and finally made it where I was suppose to be. Totally got caught up in the moment of running and didn’t use my head!
Ate more and not as good as I should have…need to flush the weekend “treats” out of my system!
MK, congrats on the upcoming nuptials - you must be getting so excited!!!
@MomofWildChild — “see the forest not the trees” really applies to a whole lot of things, including (quite literally) trail running. The leader of the trail running clinic has a line about “good bubble, bad bubble” that’s similar. “Good bubble” is when you’re in that relaxed run state where it’s just flowing along… “bad bubble” is when you’re only looking five feet ahead and totally don’t see something that’s six feet ahead and it then causes a problem.
It’s funny to me to look at those 8 or 12 week training plans. I really don’t see my running in such short chunks. I started training for this weekend’s 5K “tar ‘n’ trail” (mostly uphill, with a net elevation gain–includes technical trails, some roads, some stairs even) run over four years ago. I first ran it four years ago (46"), and immediately started thinking about how I could improve my time for the next year (43")… and then the next year (36") and now year four is coming up Sunday. I did most of my “long run” today over the race course, and thought about what I could do to be faster this year–as I have all year. I’m hoping to go under 33" but it will be hard. (The start of the race is less than a half mile from my house, the race organizer lives in my neighborhood, and it’s a blast to run–first mile is downhill and then the next 2.1 are uphill. Finish at the top of the “mountain” (750 feet above sea level) with fabulous views of the cities and the Cascades. Fundraiser for the park, too.)
This week I’m noticing that the weather is clear enough and the trees are losing enough leaves that the views of Mt Hood are appearing again. And chanterelle season should start any day now.
Take care of that ankle sabaray! Sending you healing mojo!
Walked 5.5 miles around a beautiful lake today. It was a a wonderful day!
Anyone know where pizzagirl is? Seems like she used to post almost daily, here and elsewhere, but I havent “seen” her for quite some time.
Sent you a PM. @1214mom
I’m sorry that it has taken me a few days to circle back on everyone’s recommendations. I have sent ALL of your recommendations along to her! MOWC- to answer your questions, she runs around 3-4 miles four times per week and one longer run around 5.5 miles. Her running pace on the outside is 12 minute miles but often faster. The course will be completely flat. Any other recommendations will be greatly appreciated!
Thank you, you guys, for the suggestions. I’ve looked up the sizing guides and I think I’ll go in and try them on first.
It’s that time of the semester and I feel “so-so”. Decided not to do my usual work out, but I promised myself I’d do some kind of work out. :-<
I think the key is to increase the longest run by a little bit each week- even if she slows the pace down. AND- make sure she has decent shoes without too much wear.
Good grief! I just looked at my last post and see that I’ve implied I was running a half marathon distance in a just over 10 minute mile pace–I wish! What I was trying to say was a pace of 10 something vs. an 11 something minute mile. The actual pace, according to the Garmin was 10:55 min/mile or 10 minutes plus not quite 1 more minute per mile. Quite a difference. I was using the interval timer with a 3:1 ratio with 3 minutes of the lower pace (9-11 min/mile) with a rest consisting of a slower run or even a few steps of a fast walk. Somehow the slower “rest” interval is really helpful for me. I will be ecstatic if I can repeat that performance on race day. Heck, I’m going to be over the moon just to finish.
I hope your ankle is feeling better, Sabaray.
What a great getaway, abasket! I’m glad you indulged in some delicious extra calories. You deserve them.
Feel better, deb. Nasty cold, be gone!
C3B, good luck on the marathon and helping to find the perfect dress.
Michael, best wishes for the wedding weekend!
I took a four mile run this morning, keeping it slow and easy–no intervals.