Cheerleader?

Well after a few more attempts at running i've had the same results. Basically my knee shuts down after 2 miles. This past weekend I was visiting my dad and went to Strathmere beach by myself. I decided to try to run to Ocean City and back, what I believed to be 1-1.5 miles each way, not that i actually looked at a map. Well it was more like 2.25 miles there. It was about 90+ degrees, humid, and i was running with no water. I got about 2 miles when my knee started hurting again, but had to keep going because i needed get off the highway and reach water. I found an ice cream truck and had myself a delicious deer park. Then i called the old man to come pick me up in ocean city and take me back to strathmere because my knee wasn't taking me anywhere... lame. so things are no better on this front. i've tried a few other times between the last blog post and now, all with the same results. Its not looking very promising for the marathon, especially since i'm supposed to really start training this monday. we'll see. if it doesn't work out i fully intend to cheer bridget on from the sidelines and hope that i can get the knee situation figured out and train for a spring marathon. Tomorrow i'll give another shot at running, but am not very optimistic, considering my knee is sore just sitting here watching tv. what am i a 50 year old man? jamie moyer is still pitching in the bigs at like 93 years old and i can't even run more than 2 miles without my knee falling apart. something isn't right. anyway if i can't do it i'm going to be bridget's biggest cheerleader and make sure she gets across the finish line. in the mean time i'm going to have to find something else to fill my time. i think i'll start brewing some beer.

good news and bad news....

so, between dave and I, this blog so far hasnt proven extremely inspirational, haha. we're kind of in shambles. BUT......i have good news and bad news...

the good news: i dont have appendicitis

the bad news: i do, however, have a mysterious golfball sized mass in my intestine? what that means, i still don't know. right now it looks like there will be a surgery in my future to remove it, according to my doctor. so, what this means for training, remains to be seen.

otherwise, i got the go-ahead last night to run from my doctor, as long as i "take it easy"....which, luckily, is the speed i run at anyways ;)

so this morning, I had a great 4.5 miles (3 with BOMF, 1.5 on my own), and i'm excited to start the official training schedule on monday!!

my knees are a little sore, but i think i need to get new shoes asap. since joining BOMF in january, i've put way more miles on than I typically would (got this pair for christmas).

so, off i go!

-bridget

Stupid appendix

About two weeks ago, when I was at All Good...I had horrific stomach pains for about 24 hours. I had told myself if they lasted through the night I'd go to the ER but thankfully they faded enough to enjoy the festival and the weekend. So when I got home, I noticed a dull pain continued in the same area, right side of my belly.

Everyone I told this to immediately said "appendix?" which scared me into finally seeing the doctor. Now, this week, at the same time, I've also been lucky enough to get a lovely cold/cough/runny nose. Good times.

Quick backstory- I lost my calendar when my iPhone died a month ago.

So I call my dr on Monday to make an appt. "well we already have one scheduled for you, as a follow up from january for tomorrow night"

Wow! How about THAT for lucky!?!

Sike...the doctor decides I need a cat scan, and the disasterous mess that unfolds between my insurance & doctors office just trying to schedule the scan over the next 3 days is so ridiculous I still can't believe it. A total of over 40 phone calls by me, in 2 days, countless tears, and zero cat scans. Basically my insurance had me as the wrong primary care dr, so the doctor i've been seeing for 9 months wasn't authorized to send me for it, blah blah blah. Add in a horrible health system giving me the run around & bad nurses (oh yes, the University of Pennsylvania....Penn hospital, maybe you've heard of them? Just a small place.........that owns all of Philly!!)

All I could think was that if this WAS my appendix, I was a ticking time bomb, literally waiting to burst, and I was trapped in a paperwork
nightmare.

Finally Friday I got an emergency ultrasound. Which determined there's enough wrong that I need a cat scan (wait, wasn't that the original plan? Hmmmm) so now I'm off to the ER since they will actually help me.

Basically....running hasn't gone great all week, I've done a few 3 milers, but I've been tired & sick. I'm going to run 5 right now before we head to the ER. Hopefully it's not my appendix & I can kick up training. But I'm worried what'll happen if I need surgery :(

stay tuned...

gettin Back On MY Feet....

So instead of running (because I'm too poor for constant race fees), I volunteered at Back On My Feet's 20in24 race this weekend, handing out water.

a guy from our team ran 53 miles in 24 hours! Another guy who used to be on our team (but now leads a different team), ran like, 73 miles?? Thats two and three MARATHONS!

well, i feel very inadequate now.

But, after a week of missing my morning runs with BOMF, i got out there this morning and ran a great 3 miles with one of the guys, Robert. Its not 53....but, its a start? I'm hoping to run about 25 miles this week, I really need to stop screwing around since the "official" training starts in 2 weeks. yikes.

and hopefully dave's knee heals up so we can do some long weekend runs together sometime soon!!

i've definitely got a case of the mondays. i'll check in at the end of the week when hopefully i've run lots and lots of miles :)

-Bridge

Achy breaky knee

An update is long overdue on my part. The past week has just been a little frustrating and so giving a recap wasn't exactly at the top of my to-do list. Last week, after a nice and easy 4 mile run, my knee began to hurt. I ran that morning and after sitting at work all day it started to feel stiff, and walking -- especially up and down stairs -- became an unpleasant task. I tried stretching it out and icing it down when I got home, which helped momentarily but not fully. The next morning I woke up early and got ready to run 5 miles. My knee felt a little uncomfortable, but nothing terrible; I figured it would go away once I got warmed up and started moving. After a mile it started to hurt. After another quarter mile even more. I though to myself, "Just push through it, the pain will go away". No such luck. Just shy of two miles i was reduced to a limp, running through the park hardly able to bend my leg. I'm sure I was a site to behold, trying to swing my left leg in front of me rather than run like a normal human . OK there was a problem. Discouraged I walked back home, stretched it out, iced it, etc.

That day I didn't exactly walk, but gimped around. Well that can't be good. Now I decided to give running a rest for a couple days and let it recover. I took a trip to Rite-Aid and dropped $50 on knee and pain products. I bought myself an ACE knee brace, a hot/cold wrap, and a bottle of 1,000 aspirin. The next day the ol' knee was slightly improved, and by Sunday it felt alright again. Still a little sore, but I wasn't limping so I gave it another shot. Again, after one mile, it began to hurt again, but this time I decided not to push it, cut my losses and walked home. For the past week I kept did no running, but tried to figure out why my knee was so f'd up.

There are two main things that I think have been causing it:

1. I may need different shoes. After looking at my running soles and checking out my foot I realized that I have a high arch, more than normal. This causes my stride to land on the outside of the foot and then my foot/ankle kind of turns inward after impact. That can't be good on the knees. I'm gonna get myself to a good running store, see if my self diagnosis is correct, and if so what they recommend.
2. I tried to do too many miles too quickly that first week of training. I went from running about 12 miles a week to trying to do 25. As my friend Mike pointed out, its best to stick to the 10% rule -- increasing weekly mileage by only 10% each week. i.e. increasing it by 100% was probably not a good idea. I think for the next two weeks I'll concentrate on short runs, about 3-4 miles, four times per week. I'll see how that feels and then start increasing my mileage. This means I may fall behind my mileage pace to get up to marathon length, but I'd rather keep my knees healthy and at worst I have to settle for doing the half-marathon. Not the end of the world.

UPDATE: Well after giving a go at this 3-miles at a time plan, I've had not so promising results. The knee felt a little uncomfortable from the start but no serious pain. I made it about 2 miles and then the pain set in. I went another quarter mile felt some sharp pains and then stopped, stretched, and took a slightly painful walk home. Great. Well tomorrow I'll take a trip to the running store, see if new shoes will help and then give it another shot. Right now this is just very frustrating more than anything. If it was just muscle pain that would be one thing, that's something that I can just run through. But this knee problem makes it difficult to simply bend my knee and the shooting pain is a totally different sensation than plain soreness. Its also worth noting that this isn't exactly a new development; the same thing happened last summer when I tried to running regularly and picking up my mileage.

I'm open to advice from anyone who has experienced similar problems or who has a little more knowledge in this area. Stay tuned, hopefully I can get through a full run this weekend. Time's a wasting!

storm chaser

so last night, i was determined to get in a 6 mile run, before going out to celebrate my lovely roommate Liddy's bday. I saw on the weather that we were supposed to get some storms, but totally ignored it anyways. So i set out on kelly drive, using my new iphone & a new app called Distance which tells you distance, time, and pace (although i SERIOUSLY doubt the accuracy of this). It started off well, even though the silly app said i was running a 15min mile, haha, which, is almost impossible (i knew i was somewhere around 11).

At around 2 miles out, the sky ahead of me was turning pitch black and yet weirdly light, like from the movie Twister, and I kept having these internal struggles. "Do I turn around at 2 miles and get in a solid 4 mile run before the storm hits? Do I keep going? Can I camp out somewhere if the rain hits, so as not to ruin my brand new iphone??"

I decided there was no way i was NOT running 6 miles! so i trudged on, heading right into the darkness.

I finally hit the 3 mile turn-around point, and was almost exactly where the sunny sky and the dark clouds met. Once I turned around, I knew the storm was right on my tail, and I was going to have to book it if I wanted to stay out of the rain. Now, don't get me wrong, i actually LOVE running in the rain, I was just panicking about my new iphone getting wet, hehe. So at this point, I started sprinting (ok, well, sprinting for me, is like, a slow pace for normal people, haha), and I kept looking over my shoulder and watching the storm creep closer and closer.

I was actually outrunning it! I couldnt believe it!

And then I felt some droplets of rain.... so I ran faster and faster, even though I had 1.5 more miles, I was running like I was almost at the finish line of a race. It felt great!

and then the skies opened up on me......


Moral of the story: Its probably physically impossible to outrun a storm that is moving 20mph, but, trying to outrun it is a really good way to boost your training!

ps- I put my iphone in my pants, so don't worry, it didnt get ruined. thankfully!

epic fail.

so, i havent ran in exactly a week.


yikes.

all the non-sleep while i was at All Good has caught up to me, and i've been a zombie all week. but these are all excuses, and i really really need to just get out and run. especially now that i have my fancy new iphone with a fancy app that tracks mileage and pace and everything. i just feel so tired all the time.

trying to find motivation/time to get back on track :( any tips advice? besides simply, "just do it"?

le sigh.


-Bridget

ps- i really feel like eating a pile of cannolis today. just thought i'd share that one.

starting from square one....

so, i just spent 4 days partying on a mountaintop with 40,000 of my closest hippie friends at All Good Festival.................and am pretty sure i have completely de-railed my training. 4 days of drinking, and not running, and i'm not looking forward to my 4 mile run tonite. i'm completely exhausted from getting barely any sleep and sore from sleeping on the ground, so we'll see how this goes!

BUT..........i got to be front row, center for BEN HARPER..........so i think it was all worth it :) what an incredible festival! and there was tons of climbing up and down hills, so maybe i won't be as out of shape as i feel right now, ha.

here's ben harper.....and Marvin's Mountaintop, where All Good was held.

wish me luck tonite, yikes!

-Bridget

Training schedule and some beer info

Today was day 3 of my training schedule. Did a nice 4 miles this morning in Inwood Hill Park.* It's refreshing to get up extra early and do some running through the park. Great way to start the day.

*More of the park in my backyard will be coming in a later post. Just an awesome place to run. Also, I stole this little embedded footnote from Joe Posnanski, which is aptly named a Posterisk. Check his blog, it's some of the best sports writing ever.

Since I'm at the very beginning of things I figured it would be a good idea to post my training schedule to get an idea of what kind of running we're talking about here. It's worth noting that before I began this training I'd never ran more than 7 miles in one shot, and that was fairly recently. So from here on out every Sunday will be a new personal best in distance. Kind of exciting, no? That weekly mile total on the right hand side is a little intimidating. Let's hope the knees hold up!
















Alright, enough with that. Let's talk about beer. I love it. You love it (or at least you should). It's great. It's one of the things I have to cut back on, which is a good thing but I needed to figure out if I should ditch it all together. Well a google search of "carbs in beer useful for marathon training" gave me the answer I needed. Basically a beer here and there isn't bad for you, just don't drink too much before race day (don't wanna poo yourself). This website sums it up the best:

"And why not hoist a well-earned brew? Beer, like red wine, does provide some health benefits. The malt and hops used to make dark beers contain flavonoids, the same heart-healthy compounds in vegetables and wine that counter cell damage, thus reducing your risk of heart disease and cancer. Beer also contains B vitamins and chromium, which aid in converting carbohydrates to energy."

Well then, keep drinking beer.

Speaking of beer. Tonight my good friend Catinca is hosting a Flying Dog event at Blind Tiger in NYC. She just got the job as Flying Dog sales rep for all 5 boroughs of NYC (!) and I believe this is her first promo. It's gonna rock I'm sure. I will be there to sample a brand new brew they're unveiling. And of course I can't pass up my favorite of theirs, the Gonzo Imperial Porter (pictured left). Lofty brew. As their motto says, via the great H.S. Thompson, "Good people drink good beer." Word.

crazy dogs and bagel sandwiches

here's a quick backstory:

I run 3 days a week with a wonderful group called Back On My Feet. (http://www.backonmyfeet.org/) Basically, we run with homeless men, to help them, well, for lack of better words- get back on their feet! (its a very fitting name). Each team is based out of a shelter in Philly, and my team is an amazing group of people.....about 15 homeless men, and about 15 or so volunteers at any given time. We meet at 5:30am on Mon, Wed, Fri mornings, and usually do anywhere between 1-3 miles, with longer runs on saturdays. Its been an incredible experience to be a part of it, and it really has inspired me to get more involved with running, and was a big motivator for wanting to do the full marathon.

so.....this morning, i set out as usual, jogging down to broad street where we meet...... and I come up upon this woman walking a giant giant dog. I'm thinking to myself "do i go around her side, or the dog's side?" as there wasnt much room. Suddenly, the dog turns to the side, and i see its wearing a crazy looking muzzle. Usually not a sign of the Worlds Friendliest Dog.

The horrible woman turns around and starts SCREAMING at me! She's like, "What is wrong with you??? why would you run up behind someone with a German Shepard? What the hell is your problem?? You've got the whole city to run in, why would you choose this sidewalk??" and is all yelling and crazy and mean and horrible. So i just sideswipe her and say a quiet "sorry....sheesh" and keep running.

i'm such a wuss.........there was about 100 things i couldve yelled at her- including the fact that maybe she shouldnt live in the city with a dog that isnt safe to be around people!! Or the fact that i run down Bainbridge because I'm about to meet 30 people for a run on the corner of that very street! (even if it was a few blocks away).

ugh. she was the worst. and her dog didnt even try to attack me or anything, but she was SOO mean about it! I hope i see her again some morning, because this time i'll yell back!

but then I had a great run with BOMF, did 4 miles total this morning.............and just topped it off with a glorious bacon egg and cheese bagel from Pete's.

I'm off to a music festival and camping for a few days, so I cant wait to see how badly I manage to de-rail my training so far, haha.

hopefully dave can run enough this weekend for the both of us!

Here's a lovely picture of part of my Back On My Feet Family......and also, german shepards and a bagel sandwich. enjoy!

-Bridget

Off and Running!

So I'm on day two of "official" marathon training......logged a 4 mile run yesterday, and a 6 mile run today.........this stuff is a piece of cake.

and speaking of cake, i'm going to go eat some for my friend Dani's birthday.


also, i'd like to add that this is the conversation which spawned the birth of this blog:

me: i just had a snickers, and a giant cookie, as part of my training, haha
Dave: i'm eating a giant italian hoagie thats not helping
me: i feel like we should document our training, how funny would it be to look back and be like, "during marathon training, i drank 415 beers, and consumed 75 snickers bars, 25 hot wings"
and then write a book about it haha
Dave: i think the beer drinking is really gonna be hard to cut off
me: oooo yea
Dave: well, reduce anyway
me: yea, mostly just the nites before 18 mile runs
Dave: yeah very true that could end bad
me: well, we'd prob just end up vomiting, passed out in fairmount park or something
Dave: eh there are worse things
me: true odds are good i'd wind up doing that at some point in the next few months anyways marathon or not
Dave: hahaha good point thats a pretty typical weekend
as long as we end up in a nice part of fairmount park and not like the middle of mantua
me: haha exactly. New Rule: any long runs the day after drinking should be routed through nice areas of the city, in the event that a coma occurs.
Dave: naturally
me: hmmm, this gives me an idea. i might start a blog about this training, haha.
Dave: oh thats actually not a bad idea


and there you have it! Stumblin' to the Finish was born!


Lesson of the day: Dont wear high-heels all day before a long run. my toes are killing me.
Snack of the day: Snicker, and a 4th Street Deli giant chocolate chip cookie. snacks of champions.

The Starting Line

Stay tuned for the (mis)adventures of Dave and Bridget as they train for the Philly marathon. We'll keep you updated with our training routines, maps of our runs, and pictures along the way. It's sure to be entertaining and most likely full of poor training habits such as eating junk food, drinking too much and too often, and missing workouts because we were too lazy. It should be a doozy.