<p>sabaray- I think you would enjoy some of the online forums. There is a wealth of information and I can direct you to the non-hardcore ones. runningahead.com forums are the BEST! The general forums have topics on anything you would want to know, and the women’s forum (limited to only women- password protected) is called the Ladies Locker Room and is VERY supportive and has lots of beginner and slower runners. It does have a lot of younger women, but some of us oldies, too. My city running club also has an excellent online forum.<br>
You might enjoy subscribing to Runners’ World or pick up an issue. It has lots of tips for “regular” runners. The elites tend to make fun of it and call it “Joggers’ World”. </p>
<p>My daughter really enjoyed the “Couch to 5K” and “Couch to Half Marathon” training programs, even though she wasn’t “couch” to begin with. </p>
<p>I like Roy Benson’s heart rate training books. Easy to read. My kid went to his camp a number of years ago but I followed Roy’s training theories before that. The most important thing is to alternate hard/easy days so as not to get burned out and/or injured (do as I say and not as I do…).</p>
<p>Perform Better has their free shipping on online orders through July 5…</p>
<p>Recover quickly, Chintzy. You’ll be surprised when you return–all is not lost. I’m away until the beginning of August and have had trouble getting an exercise routine going. Finally got back in the gym and I really felt strong and rested. Walked with a friend here at our summer place and she asked me to slow down because she couldn’t keep up. That never happened before losing weight and this was after three weeks of light workouts and walks. I think you will be surprised at how you well you’ll do when you get back into your
exercise routines.</p>
<p>Heading to the Lake in a few hrs. Can’t wait to get there! Have a bike there now so my knee won’t get stiff. Bringing lots of fruit and veggies along with some chicken and turkey items. So different from what I brought last year! H is down at least 15 pounds and his work suits are hanging off of him. I think he should now concentrate on lifting weights rather than weight loss. He is amazed at what cutting out white carbs has done for him in a short amount of time.</p>
<p>“H is down at least 15 pounds and his work suits are hanging off of him.”</p>
<p>Uh-oh! Good news and bad news. 
DH says that the new pants we got for him last November are too loose, although he has not lost much (I’m sure the kettlebell has something to do with it). Ouch, alteration$$$$…</p>
<p>Well, it’s easier to alter suits down 15 pounds than up.</p>
<p>Son has lost 20 pounds in the last three months (he’s doing a lot of what I’m doing with diet and exercise). We need to go to the tailor soon.</p>
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<p>I feel your pain! Last week, I washed every cotton t-shirt and polo I own in hot water and ran them in the dryer on HIGH heat for an hour. The t-shirts shrunk pretty well and are wearable, albeit loose fitting. The polos are still huge and going into retirement.</p>
<p>Last night, I gave the same treatment to long-sleeve cotton t’s and cotton mock turtlenecks. I have a closet full that I bought last year. Looks like they shrunk enough to be at least serviceable. So, I’ll only have to buy smaller long sleeve tech shirts. Those are now falling off me and they won’t shrink.</p>
<p>Crazy after all these years of having to stop wearing anything that shrunk.</p>
<p>idad, now you can relate to my pain of replacing my entire wardrobe that I painstakingly collected over several years by shopping discounters (I like good stuff, but I do not like to pay retail). However, I’m not complaining. :)</p>
<p>I find it harder to find smaller sizes on sale. My recent trip to Nordstrom did not yield anything - the clearance racks were filled with larger sizes, and the good stuff in smaller sizes was gone. Does it mean that the nation’s collective waistlne began to shrink?</p>
<p>I have a stack of t-shirts in the basement that no longer fit. I use the XLs to sleep in or if I’m doing something that could potentially trash them. But it will take a long time to get through them. Larger tech shirts are useful for running. If I wear tech shirts that fit closely, then I’m likely to get bloody nipples on long runs. In the past I used Band-Aids or Vaseline to prevent it but they were a pain. Using a really loose shirt works without having to bother with the other stuff.</p>
<p>I’m going to be at work for a few more hours - no run for me today. I think that I’ll just do weights tonight and call it a week.</p>
<p>Just got back from the gym…</p>
<p>Extensive warm up today including some KB Figure 8’s, Monster Walks, Dynamic Stretches, Swiss Ball Roll-outs, and some Shoulder Rehab exercises. Really get the body moving and get the blood flowing…</p>
<p>My WOD:
On the minute Thrusters
Minute 1: 1
Minute 2: 2
Minute 3: 3
Minute 4: 4
Minute 5: 5
Minute 6: 6
Minute 7: 4</p>
<p>So the objective is to add one more each minute and go until you can’t. I used an 85# bar for this exercise. I probably could have gotten the 3 more reps, but I called it quits instead!</p>
<p>Then I finished with some of Idad’s favorites: Metabolic Finishers</p>
<p>30 seconds Work; 30 seconds Rest
:30 KB Swings (40 pounds)
:30 rest
:30 KB Single Arm Snatch (20 pounds)
:30 rest
:30 KB Swings (40 pounds)
:30 rest
:30 KB Single Arm Snatch (20 pounds)
:30 rest
:30 KB Swings (40 pounds)
:30 rest
:30 KB Single Arm Snatch (20 pounds)
:30 rest</p>
<p>I did 15 swings in each 30 second period and did 8 SAS on each arm during that 30 second period. </p>
<p>Rested 6 minutes
:30 KB Swings (40 pounds)
:30 rest
:30 KB Single Arm Snatch (20 pounds)
:30 rest
:30 KB Swings (40 pounds)
:30 rest
:30 KB Single Arm Snatch (20 pounds)
:30 rest
:30 KB Swings (40 pounds)
:30 rest
:30 KB Single Arm Snatch (20 pounds)
:30 rest</p>
<p>I did 15 swings in each 30 second period and did 8 SAS on each arm during that 30 second period. </p>
<p>Should have put the heart rate monitor on today…</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>No. That’s the way it’s always been. As someone who has always worn small sizes, I know that when the sale is on, I can only find maybe five items in my size, while the “big girls’ sizes” have 30 or 40 items. I think they just don’t make as many of the small-sized items.</p>
<p>And don’t get me started on small shoe sizes . . . That’s a disaster. Whyohwhy can’t stores like DSW and Marshall’s organize their shoes by size, rather than style? I can spend a good hour looking around for my size – 5 1/2 – and find one entire pair of shoes in that size.</p>
<p>I have found if I have large cotton t-shirts, they no longer fit. My large tech shirts (Nike and Under Armour mainly) are all a little bit tight in the sleeves, but make great shirts for working out and for wearing as undershirts. The XL tech shirts are nice for wearing or for workouts, but too big for undershirts. </p>
<p>Polos are all either mediums or larges.</p>
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</p>
<p>In mens, I would say that LARGE is the most popular size. The selection of MEDIUM is a little smaller, but it’s maybe not quite as picked over.</p>
<p>I found a gold nugget at TJ’s. I’m really sunk now on discounter pants because I need a 33 Dockers and most retailers only sell 32s and 34s. So I had to pay Kohl’s pricing on some dressy khakis. Marshalls and TJ have practically nothing in 33s and Docker doesn’t even sell these “Soft Kakhi” casual pants I really like in 33s. But, TJ’s had one pair in 33 and it was the most popular light kakhi color that I’ve never seen discounted in the 34s and 36s I’ve bought. So, I grabbed that pair and they fit awesome. I still have three pair of 34s that I got cheap and they are fine for kick-around pants. Just a little baggy.</p>
<p>I’m with BC on belts. I had nothing in this new size except for a couple of beat up old skinny belts from the early 80s – one inch wide that are hopelessly out of style and pretty much trashed from wear. Word to the wise when belt shopping. Size means nothing. Find a belt that fits and then measure the length of the leather from the buckle to the middle hole. Take the tape measure and buy new belts that match that distance, regardless of the size stamped on the belts. I have new belts in 34 (LL Bean), 36 (LL Bean), and 36 (Allen Edmonds) that are all exactly the same length. There’s no rhyme nor reason to it. In general, men should buy a belt 2 inches larger than their pants size, but that’s not always gonna work. I had to send back a 36 inch Bean belt and send back the 34 inch Allen Edmonds belts.</p>
<p>hops:</p>
<p>I did break down and buy three of the tech polo shirts – one solid black, one solid white, one solid tan. It’s really hard to accept for someone who remembers all the nasty polyester BanLon golf shirts of yore, but there is something to be said for something a little dressier than a t-shirt, but cooler than an izod if you are going to be walkin’ in the sun.</p>
<p>The golf oriented brands are cut more generously for the “portly” gentleman. The euro brands (adidas, Reebok, etc.) have a more athletic cut.</p>
<p>I have a ton of performance polos:</p>
<p>5 adidas
2 New Balance
4 Under Armour
18 Nike
2 Champs Sports
2 George (from Walmart)</p>
<p>6 of the Nike ones have school logos, one Nike has company logo, the New Balance have school logos, 4 of the adidas have school logos, and one Under Armour has company logo. The rest are blank…</p>
<p>Runners: Do you replace your shoes after 200 miles? (Discard or ???) And do you buy in quantity, or one pair at a time? I walk, so I wait longer, then order from HolaBird Sports since I have foot fit issues.</p>
<p>I’m highly looking forward to a company-logo tech. Maybe I should see if BC or BU sells tech shirts too - after I lose more weight.</p>
<p>I replaced the last pair of shoes at 400 miles and the switch felt good to my feet. Perhaps I should change them a little earlier. I run in cross-trainers which are generally sturdier and heavier than running shoes.</p>
<p>I turn them into everyday walking shoes after retiring them from running. After that I put them in the athletic shoe recycling bin at the office. We have some kind of program with Nike with the recycled shoes.</p>
<p>We bought four or five pairs of shoes the last time we were at the New Balance Factory Outlet. I buy a bunch, put them in the closet and take them out as needed. The problem with going out to buy when you need to is that there’s always multiple reasons not to go to the store (it’s an hour away) and I just keep using the old ones.</p>
<p>I do think that weight and speed do affect how many miles you can put on shoes before it’s time to change them.</p>
<p>Third outing of my week 3 ipod nazi core workout today. Warm up. 20 minutes of intense core exercises. Then two supersets of strength: rear foot elevated split squats/TRX inverted rows and single-leg deadlift/TRX pushups.</p>
<p>These workouts are really kicking my butt. Not so much from a panting like a dog standpont, but really a workout for my muscles. Favorite exercise today was the pushups while rolling a stability ball in and out with my feet. 8 reps x 3 sets.</p>
<p>CCsite- I am not the “norm”. I’ve kept shoes as long as 300 miles (I tend to scrape on the left outside forefoot), but have running friends with very efficient strides that can get 400 miles or more. I generally get about 200, but I have a lot of different pairs going at a time, and sometimes I just decide I don’t like a particular shoe so I give it away or sell it on ebay. I have light trainers, racing shoes, heavy cushioned trainers, minimalist shoes, long-run shoes, speedwork shoes… (My name is XXXX and I am a running shoe addict) I have a shoe company sponsorship, so I get some for free.</p>
<p>My experience as an online shopper is that the really small sizes are always available on sale, while medium and up are sold out. So that may be a place for smaller women to look for bargains.</p>
<p>About those 5-1/2 shoes - try finding my size (10.5-11, narrow)!</p>