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My running group ususally goes for coffee after our runs on Saturday. Not everyone goes every week, like me, but it's one of the reasons I love running with the group. You get to share war stories, and share your successes, and comiserate when things are not going so well.

I had one of my best runs ever yesterday. As I told the coach - "I think I've finally found my running legs!" I ended up doing just over 6.5 miles, instead of 8, but that's life. I started out slower (about 12 minute miles) but was just feeling so good, that at the end I was doing somewhere around 10 to 10 1/2 minute miles. And I felt just great when I was done.

There's a lady who has been running with the group for about 6 months now. She is going with the group of us running one of the races in Ashland next weekend, and is planning on running her first 10K. She's feeling frustrated with herself because she is comparing herself to some of the other runners in the group, not just in running ability, but body shape. She said that she thought that if she started running, she would start looking like some of the very thin, trim runners in the group, and since she started running, she has not lost any weight - and it sucks. I agree, it's tough. But there is really no getting around genetics sometimes, and sometimes you just have to come to grips with that, and accept it for what it is. Nobody is ever completely satisfied with how they look.

Then there's me: I know I'm somewhat using it as an excuse, that I can't lose weight when I training for a long race, but to some extent it's true. After next weekend, I am going to quit using that as an excuse, and work on dropping the 30 pounds I have regained. I just have to, if I want to keep doing the longer races. It's not bad - but I can tell that the weeks with longer milage are starting to hurt my knee again, and I want/need to keep running.

It's a fine balancing act. And I just need to figure out where to put the fulcrom.

~a