$20 on average. I'd like to knock 5-7 of them out over the next 2 months. I need to find $60 in the budget that I can free up.

I ran CC and track (4x800, 1600, 3200) in High School. I wasn't particularly good, but I enjoyed it. Racing was fun. I like to compete. A lot. But it wore me down pretty good. By the summer after graduation, my knees were in a bad shape, nearly arthritic. I could hardly walk in the morning until they got loosened up. So I swore running off. I played Basketball, tennis, and rode my bike. But never ran more than a length of a basketball court.

Well, I'm getting close to 40, and I'm carrying 15 pounds I don't need to carry. And the only thing that will drive me to train is the reward of racing. I'm going to take it slow, not rush myself. I don't expect to running 17.5 minute 5Ks again. But I do expect to handle 30 minutes my first race. And if I can trim :01 off each race, I'll be thrilled to get under 24 minutes. After all, I'm 30 pounds heavier, and more than twice as old as i was the last time I raced.

I'll post updates here. And if there are any other runners, advice is welcome. W's daddy was President that last time I traded elbows going around corner.

Yep! I put off Pgh Marathon partially due to the entry fee. Makes 5k's seem free! It really adds up when you consider that many. I do 3-6 races a summer to keep the price down.

Get involved at www.dailymile.com - find / friend me there if you join.. GREAT community and a way to log your running

And yes, 5k's do get spendy, I'm doing my first one Sunday, another on the 4th and a third on April 25th.

I've tried to find ones that benefit a charity or someone in need, that way I feel better. Honestly, I'm doing it because I'm goal orientated and when I signed up for one, I knew the $ commitiment meant I needed to physically commit to it as well. I'd like to keep running at least one a month for the spring / summer / fall, provided the $20-30 is in my budget and they are close to home and hopefully have a charity or something involved... otherwise, I'll keep running the loops I'm doing w/ my friends now for free.

Yep, signed up for Daily Mile last week. Pretty cool, but I wouldn't mind some better integration with Facebook.

Sat I did 3 miles on the treadmill in 30 minutes. An hour ago, I did 2.54 miles outside for 26 minutes. Outside is harder, difficult for me to regulate my pace. Practice makes perfect, though.

Leave a comment in their forum about Facebook integration, Kelly is really good about getting things done. You can integrate it with Twitter though.. and integrate Twitter w/ Facebook, so that might be a work-around for now.

My sprint distance triathlon just cost for $120 to enter, plus camping and food and transport.

I ran exclusively in high school (CC and track, just like you, except there was no 4x800, but I occasionally did the individual 800, though I never had the speed to do too much). Once in college, I decided my body liked it when I broke up the routine. Hence the triathlon. I think I'm actually healthier now.

Anyway, good luck on the races. The last race I entered was a two miler in my hometown that I entered on a random weekend I was home. Turned out to be great because the age groups were so small and the racers mostly amateur that I scored 3rd in my division on a 12 minute two mile.

Remember not to go out too fast. And that running on a treadmill is different. Treadmill training NEVER helped me learn a pace. Track running is a little better. But best is using gmaps pedometer and finding your times around the area. You might find a one mile stretch in the middle of your run and do "tempo" runs, so that if your target rate is 10 min/mile, spend one mile warming up, hit the pace for the next mile, then 2 miles at a normal jog.

If your body can handle at this point, once per week of interval runs is helpful both for building speed and dropping pounds. Google: HIIT

Ryan

or just find a running group and save yourself some money. many running stores do have organized runs. you can also look on craigslist for running groups or partners. i also like hashing which makes running more enjoyable. in bigger areas, you can probably find enough hashes to cover most of the week. www.gthhh.com to find POC's and groups near you. you might also try orienteering clubs, which combine orienteering with lots of running. I've been running since elementary school, having done my first half marathon in 6th grade, so I have gotten really tired of running, so I need to running to be fun, and not just running anymore.

you need running partners and/or groups. it will make running more enjoyable, and it will help you establish a regulated pace.

I started running again in December and I ran/walked my first 1/2 marathon on March 01. It cost 65 bucks. They gave away an awesome windbreaker though. I run with a group through a local running store, and everyone there follows the Galloway method of running for x time, walking for x time. My group does 2 minutes run, 1 minute walk. I think the interval style running is really cool. My overall pace for the 1/2 marathon was 9:58.

I did play every sport growing up, and I never particularly liked cross country, but I did it anyway. Now that I have people to run with and no races in mind, it's so much more fun. I also ran a Shamrock 5k last weekend. I don't know if I will run any other races soon because they do start getting expensive, but it is fun and keeps me in shape.

In regards to racing, I have heard of some running groups developing "races" like the cyclist's alleycats. Could be a fun way to develop competition, goal setting, and community in a inexpensive (free?) way.

From a runner of 36 years since high school track (sprints) and cross country, I've also run 20 marathons (the 26.2 mile kind), and too many half marathons, 10K and 5K to ever keep track of. I probably could've funded my 401(k) with the fees I've spent on races, not to mention the trips and lodging (twice for Maui's marathon).

Now, I run just to run. I just keep plugging along at a slow pace. My knees aren't bad even after 36 years. I've had about every running injury you could imagine. The only race I do regularly is an in-town 5K on the 4th of July where I can jog to the starting line.

I started marathoning when I was 43, encouraged by a coworker runner who was 52 at the time. So, no age is too late. I'm now 50. I joined a running group in my marathon days and it helped. You can actually spend around 3 hours chatting with your closest-paced friends on a Saturday morning . And even though race fees are expensive these days, runners have some of the cheapest people I've met, so chances are you wouldn't be encouraged to spend.

Just an update, Facebook integration is now on dailymile: http://blog.dailymile.com/2009/03/30/sh ... -facebook/

Thanks Mike, i saw that last week, and was thrilled. Of course, FB sucks now, since they changed the layout.