David Romano

*shrug* It *is* a competition, lol. People can feel free to disregard it if they like.

It can be done, folks. My first 5K, no training was just under 29 minutes. six months later I ran another 5K in 22:48, and several months after that, I hit a PR of 20:42. I am hoping for the elusive sub-20 race myself, but if you train right, you totally can reach the goals. -Get thee to a track. The intervals I ran were invaluable to increasing my speed.... 400s, 800s, even miles. Even if you can only do three, run 3x800 with no more than 90 seconds in between. I put the local triathlon team through that, and they loved it and incorporated it into their own training. -msuroo is right about strides. I usually did 5-6 after a run, at least once a week. you don't have to plot, you can do them for 20 seconds, or you can pick a nice stretch of block/trail/track, whatever. -During your runs, pick up your pace every five to ten minutes. Even if it's only a second or three faster than when you started, it's great for speed and endurance. Then increase again in the next five or ten minutes. The key is to hold the new pace. -If you don't have access to a track, pick a time (say 3 minutes), and try to run it faster each time you run it; it's a bit more difficult to gauge distance sometimes, but if you know the area you're running in, shouldn't be a problem. Same impact as intervals on a track. -If you can, alternate pace during your runs, say a minute on and a minute off for shorter ones, and maybe 3 on/3 off on longer ones. You're going to pick up the pace for three minutes, slow down for three minutes, repeat. Another speed and endurance thing. To build speed you have got to build endurance. Race day will make you faster, no doubt about it.

I make a lousy nerd. That's what I have a secretary for.

crud, while I was trying to enter my stuff, I somehow messed yours up. sorry!

Uhm, spandex fetish much? *shudder*

I would suggest you start to enjoy swimming, or at least aqua jogging or an aquatics aerobics class. One of the main problems with cycling and rowing is that they use the same muscles as running. The reality is that swimming will give you a fantastic work out while giving your body a chance to recover because of the low-impact nature of any aqua sport. And if you truly suck at swimming and don't want to learn (but learning *would* level up your life!), then jog in the pool, it's what I did when I threw out my back. Aqua jogging can look goofy, but it's a really solid work out. Other than that, I echo the advice given, 6x week is a bit much for a running n00b. 3-4x week would be more ideal until you get used to it.

A number of folks in my office walk around the office with no shoes. I do, too.

Present: New Balance Minimus. A great minimalist shoe, pretty well-priced, easy to fit. Only con is the need to wear really thin socks with them. Past: Asics Cumulus (at 8-10 ounces, far too bulky and too much structure), Reebok Paris Racers (a solid racing flat if you're afraid of minimalist shoes like I was at the time I bought them), and Asics Banditos for distance running (not too much structure, but enough to keep my feet from injury at my first half). They're all sitting in a corner now that I have my Minimus running shoes. I shall *never* purchase a pair of Vibrams. Sorry, too goofy-looking, don't like the style names, and really, not interested in a shoe I have to roll onto my feet. The things sound like too much effort, I'd rather not wear shoes at all.

My mile PR is 5:42.55, set May 2011 at the Millersville Mile Race. (yes, that's five minutes, forty-two point fifty-five seconds!)

The double standard comes with product creation and forum enforcement...it is interesting that men get a "one-size" fits all guide designed for BOTH genders despite the fact that one size doesn't fit all and the women's guild was moderated significantly differently from the men's. It's what you're promoting on the forum.

and why seven-year-olds get shot in the middle of the street, and yes, I've seen it happen. You want to blow someone away in your apartment or home for breaking in and threatening your family, great, we can mostly agree on that one. But gunfire over a CAR? In public? Ahhh... no, I cannot in any way see how that rises to a necessary legal protection. At least just have the courtesy to run him over instead. Messier but safer for those around you.

It's not a matter of upsetting as much as it is a double standard, IMO.

Been there, done that, know the value.

I think that, with all due respect, shutting it down without any warning was not really appropriate. I would have rather the guild been given a chance to grow and you (or preferably Steve) help guide it into the right direction instead of just shutting it down with no notice. To keep the women's guild and shut down the men's smacks of favoritism, whether that was your motive or not. Men and women get bullied differently, body image issues are dramatically different, our roles in our families are different, there was the defense thread... I could go on and on. Not giving the forum a chance to grow was a big mistake. A warning would have been more appropriate, IMO.

That's fine by me. I'm having a reasonably good day, so I won't overreact to your overreaction. And since it's be nice to lawyers day and I'm a lawyer, you just have to suck it up. That doesn't mean the attitude is any less true, though. My men's group at my church is addressing this; a lot of times when this issue comes up everyone speaks up for the women needing their own space, but the underlying tone is that men so dominate everything that we don't need ours. Well, guess what, I do; I've gone through a lot in my own personal life over the last ten months where I appreciate the company of just my brothers alone without any input from my sisters. The place wasn't even given a chance, and yet Steve and Staci are now prepping up yet *more* stuff for women only, despite the rave reviews the nerd fitness books have gotten from both men and women, and then they decide to take away the men's forum. No, I'm not happy about that. This is one of those things you either agree with or you don't. I do not want to take dating advice from a woman in a mens' only forum... If I want dating advice form a woman, I can post it in a general thread in the general forum. Of course Steve plugs a forum associated with his website, which is how he makes his living, every chance he gets; that's common business sense, bro. He has a great product; I have two of the three ebooks and bought a tshirt. I think Steve's advice is great and he's a lot smarter than he sometimes gives himself credit for. I appreciate that. So is Staci, she answered a slew of emails for me while Steve was in South Africa. I don't doubt their dedication, drive, skill, or desire to see this community flourish. I do, however, disagree with the way this situation was handled.