Robin, thanks for the encouragement. These past three weeks have been good ones, not necessarily on accumulated miles, but most of the miles have been "workout caliber" - either good hills or good pace or good, long runs. I say that, but when I got my massage just a bit ago, my friend/mentor Kelly gently chastised me for not doing the back to backs w enough miles (he felt I should be doing 24's w some speedier miles in the middle of both.) Argh! Sometimes it seems that the battle is never ending and always increasing at a fever pitch. At the same time, as I ran today I also thought, "When do the miles pay off and I start running with ease and comfortable and effortlessly" Maybe all I'm really doing is treading water. Ah well, I guess that's better than drowning:-)