Running is the only thing that keeps me sane :-)

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Oh, I hear you. It's really easy to underestimate the difficulties involved in doing this. I remember the first time I hit "the wall", for instance. I'd read about it, of course, and people had told me about it, but that's nothing like actually experiencing it yourself. Suddenly, within the space of a dozen strides, I went from running smooth and easy to running like I was pulling a wagon. I felt like I was underwater. And I still had like two miles to go! Whew. I never knew how I managed to make it to the finish line.

THE WALL......AUUUGH. I couldn't tell when I hit it during the marathon because I certainly had energy left over at mile 11.....but I remember SPECIFICALLY at 13 miles on the half....it was a weird half that was 13.6 miles and that .6 of a mile....I'm glad I lived through it...I was basically in a tranced-out dazed and confused state as people passed me and I just held onto moving.

so i go out and run - defrag my head, and when i get back, i am nice again. 3 miles is the minimum that is sufficient. 6-8 is optimal, 10 or more hurts my left foot

does anyone else get obsessed with keeping stats on their running - times, distances, time of day? the nike+ saved me tons of time in doing this.

I write everything I need to know on my calendar.

I work in a 24/7 operations office environment where everyone is fat dumb and lazy. They sit for 12hrs straight eating take our. There was no one to set an example to live by. I found that I was becoming just like the rest of them. So told myself the heck with it I got to do my own thing and set the example myself. And what do you know it’s sort of catching on.
When our self confidence is shaken we fail to keep focus. We have to realize the power to inspire comes from having no fear and daring to believe in ourselves! We have to use our gifted side or we become less than we were meant to be. Don't look at what everyone else is doing charge ahead without fear and they will be looking to you for inspiration!
Work smart not hard. Educate yourself on diet and exercise this will ensure success. That aspie trait I was talking about is our ability to hyper focus and pursues a goal with the tenacity of a hungry wolf.
I like to call this Aspietude. I am 47 at this time last year I was 210lbs and now I am down to a lean mean 163lbs and I am running circles around guys half my age.

The setting of my runs has become very important to me. I no longer like running in the street ... I much prefer running on trails out in the desert.

<-- You can see where I live. My house is on the edge of the Sonoran Desert that surrounds my city, and that's where I go. The fact that I have to watch out for rattlesnakes just makes it more interesting ... lol. Actually, you have to watch out for everything. The rule of thumb in the desert is ... don't touch anything. Every blasted thing out there, as curmudgeonly old Ed Abbey once wrote, either "stings, sticks, stabs, or stinks." The worst are the cholla. Those things are creations of the devil. You tangle with one of them, and you will sincerely wish you hadn't.

On my runs, I have encountered coyotes, deer, javelina, Gila Monsters, Western Diamondback rattlesnakes, Mojave rattlesnakes (the most lethal reptile in the Southwest), desert tortoise, scorpions, tarantulas, and killer bees, not to mention the ever-present vultures (I always wonder if they know something I don't).

I'm just waiting for the day I come around a bend in the trail and look into the lime-green eyes of a mountain lion.

I also worry about turning an ankle or spraining a knee, and not being able to get back to my house. But the solitude and hard-bitten beauty of the desert are worth all the drawbacks. So this thread speaks to me

"Curmudgeonly", you say??? Hmmmphf!




You got that right! I have, and I did.



Saw one just this afternoon. From the way she ran off in an oblique direction, and kept looking back over her shoulder, I wondered if she wasn't trying to draw me away from some pups. I've seen coyote mothers do that before.

I saw one of these guys out on the trail yesterday. It's called a "red coachwhip". Very pretty snake.

I like to run. I'm not terribly good at it but I applaud others who strive to better themselves through running.

I really love to run-however sometimes I get in a cycle where if I don't run every day I get so cranky.I have to do it in the morning or else I don't at all-get so busy working,commuting,classes,that when I get home,there's no way I could run at 6 pm.Dinner time!

it is an odd combination but I both run and smoke? Not at the same time but... yea, I don't want to quit smoking so my runs have been reduced to light jogs.

I try to run at least 2 miles everyday. If I can't, then I at least jump rope 300 times. I have to exercise everyday or i won't feel right.

Just to tell something about running...

A heart is a machine made by nature that has certain qualities. One of those qualities is that it's made to beat a certain amount of time, like any tool that has a specific function, for example a lightbulb. At a certain age, it is not good to do some type of exercises that increases your heart rate too much, such as running. The perfect exercise you can do is one that burns calories, makes you sweat and doesn't made your heart speed up, such as yoga, tai-chi, mixed with a healthy diet that gives you enough to survive in perfect conditions.
The heart of a human kind was not made to run many miles everyday, ir was designed to walk many miles per day, it makes a difference. Even though you might think hunters in the pre-history ran a lot, they had short periods of times, seconds and not minutes in which they had to run in a fast way, but their main skill was walk silently and gather in groups to hunt big meatballs.

Yoga, healthy lifestyle, healthy food, make a menu which you can follow each week, I eat the same thing every week, except on Sundays.

hope to one day be able to do marathons like you guys. i just started running in july had my first 5k last saturday finished with 24:43!! getting hooked to it always wanting to run faster or longer!!