The Philadelphia Distance Run, 2008.

Well folks, I did it!!



What a race. The weather was PERFECT, the course was beautiful and the race was very well organized. Because of all those factors and my pure awesomeness (LOL, we all know it was the cooler weather), I had a great run!



That's right!!! 2:04:22!!!

That's OVER FIVE minutes off my PR in Sarasota 18 months ago!! AND almost FOURTEEN minutes off my crappy Half Marathon in Miami in January (nightmare). Also, it's almost TWENTY minutes off my first Half Marathon in Miami in Jan/2007.

You know, for all my bitching and complaining, you would never know I am actually getting better.

The day started out fine. I took a bath last night, laid out my gear and drank some Tension Tamer Tea.



This ritual always helps to relax me a bit, but I still had a hard time falling asleep. I couldn't stop thinking about the race which led to weird dreams all night (something about Jeremy and his friend not helping me do dishes after I cooked for a huge party, then Jennifer Garner coming to my wedding...). Anyway, I ended up with about four hours of sleep.

When I finally woke up I was shocked at how cold it was outside. I think it was about 52 degrees, which I know for most people is not a big deal. But honestly, I think it may have gotten to 52 degrees TWICE in Miami last winter. And that was a nighttime low. Yeah, I was definitely wearing capris.

I ate a Cliff bar with some water and coffee and we headed out. We had no problems finding parking because there are a million lots downtown. We actually found one about 1/2 mile from the start. I was still freezing. I actually had on a light jacket and GLOVES! LOL, I am in for some serious shi%t in a a few months.

We got to the race with about an hour to spare. We wandered around and took a few pictures. We used the port-o-potties before the lines got out of control. By the way, if the door is RED, that means it's OCCUPIED!! Some douche tried to break his way into my potty while I was in there. He was jiggling on the door so hard I thought the whole thing was going to knock over! When I got out, Jeremy told me he was just walking along them all, wiggling all the doors trying to find one that was empty. Idiot.

About 20 minutes later, of course I had to go again, but the lines were suddenly 3 miles long! We ended up going into the woods to cop-a-squat. Isn't it funny in these situations how the trees seem to somehow get divided into a "men's"and "women's" section? Some girls played lookout for me and then I was good-to-go.

We lined up in the corrals. Everything was very well organized. In other races I have been to corrals have been kind of a joke. Pretty much anyone can go into any corral and it's no big deal. These were actually separated and your number indicated which one you were in. It seemed to work out well.

The mayor of Philadelphia said a few words, we heard the national anthem and we were off. The weather was perfect (low-mid 50's and sunny) and downtown Philly looked beautiful! There I was. Finally happy to be running again with 15,000 of my closest friends.

Immediately I noticed my achilles. Not really a "pain" but more like an irritation. I figured as long as it didn't get any worse, I could deal with it. I tried to press down on my big toe as little as possible. Normally, changing your running pattern on gameday would not be considered a good idea. But it actually worked for me and now after the race, my foot and achilles feel fine. Or at least no worse than they did before I ran.

In spite of this, I felt pretty good. My legs were nice and warm, I had zero wardrobe problems and I felt pretty strong. We started out down Ben Franklin Blvd and ran the first four miles through downtown. We ran through some of Philly's most charming Center City neighborhoods, past Rittenhouse Square and back up towards the Art Museum. It was a little difficult trying to manage my way around the other runners (it's been awhile since I ran a race) but pretty soon I managed to get my groove.

Around mile 5 we headed out on West River Drive which is the loop Jeremy and I run for our long runs on Saturdays. It felt good knowing there were no more surprises on the course since I already felt I have run this route a million times. The road widened and I found it hard to keep myself under control. I felt so good I just wanted to take off. Thank goodness Jeremy (and his common sense) were there to reel me in.

"Slow it down."

"We can speed up at mile 8 if you feel good."

"I said, slow down."

"No, not yet."

This was pretty much the extent of our race dialogue.

So I slowed it down a bit but still ran it a nice, steady, speedier pace. I know this ultimately helped me later on.

I took a GU at mile 6. Still felt good. Got a good burst of energy at mile 8. But after we stopped for a walk break at mile 9, I noticed the first onset of fatigue after we started to run again. It scared me a bit, but luckily it never really came back as bad as I feared.

I took another GU at mile 10 and tried to distract myself with songs in my head. At mile 11 I felt pretty good and made myself zone out into a "runners high" because it usually helps me if I can completely empty my mind. I remembered something someone once told me about how when you get tired, you should focus on a persons back in front of you and sort of use their energy to pull you along.

I started noticing peoples calves ( I have no idea why). I picked a girl in front of me with strong, muscular calves running a steady pace and I just focused on them. I emptied everything out of my head and focused on the energy of her legs pulling me along ( I know this sounds hokey, but it actually worked!). Pretty soon I was passing her and I found another runner, this time a guy and used him. Then I passed him, etc. This went on for over 10 minutes. It helped.

Mile 12 we were suddenly running face first into the sun. The temps weren't as hot as I am used to which is good, but the sun was definitely putting a damper on my runners high. For some reason though, I didn't slow down. It was really the first time I have run a race where I really pushed myself to stay as strong as I could. Even though I was doing this, I never felt like I was exhausted and I always felt like I could maybe go a little harder.

Until mile 12.

I always have problems with the last mile but this time it was for two reasons.

1. The first half of this mile was on a slight incline.

2. I saw some orange construction stuff up ahead that I mistakenly took for the finish line.

When I saw the orange I started booking it up the hill thinking "Why the hell would they put the finish at the top of this incline?" When I got to it and realized it wasn't the finish and I couldn't see it anywhere, I started to panic! I literally felt myself slow way down. I saw Jeremy turn around and give me the "You're kidding me" look. The one he always gives me the last mile of every race. Poor guy.

Finally, I saw the real finish and looked down at my watch. It was 2:03!!! Holy crap! I actually almost considered slowing down when I realized I had beat my PR by so much, then had to shake those thoughts out of my mind (I am so lazy sometimes). I said "O.K" to J and took off. Later he told me he got pissed cause he thought I was going to ditch him at the end. Haha. That's what you get for not helping me with the dishes in my dream, sucker!

So, 2:04:22 is our final chip time. And we did a pretty decent job with getting a negative split (no thanks to me, lol!)

Mile 1 - 9:37
Mile 2 - 9:46
Mile 3 - 10:01
Mile 4 - 10:09
Mile 5 - 8:26 - Um, no...
Mile 6 - 10:43 - Must have been a mile mix-up
Mile 7 - 9:36
Mile 8 - 9:24
Mile 9 - 9:28
Mile 10 - 9:15
(oops) - :42
Mile 11 - 9:14
Mile 12 - 9:17
Mile 13.1 - 9:28

Afterwards we wandered around, got our Liberty Bell medal ( I almost told the volunteer my medal had a crack in it, but refrained when I realized how lame that joke actually was) and got some refreshments. We took a million more pictures, ate breakfast at some dive diner in the city and now I am sitting on the couch, in my race shirt contemplating walking to main street for some beers.

Yes folks, life is good.

Here are some more pictures from my new favorite Half Marathon!

A view of City Hall in the morning.


Staying warm.




The Art Museum where Rocky ran up (Yes, they played the Rocky theme at the start).




Me, feeling like a badass.


Jeremy on top of the Art Museum steps.


My newest treasure (and an awful pic of me)




Either my feet are huge, or Sly had some tiny Chucks.


The finish from above.


We had to do it.

Ready to Run.

Well, this is it. I guess I'm as ready as I am going to be.

Sounds pretty confident, huh? Haha.

I'm not sure why I am getting so nervous about this race. Maybe because it's the first one I have done since January. Since that one was awful (first trimester fatigue, no training and serious IT band problems), I really want this one to go well. I need to get my mind right for the rest of my marathon training.

My goal originally was to PR (2:09:32) which I totally think I could do with the beautiful weather conditions and new course. But now with this sudden achilles ache (it hurts when I press down with my big toe, wtf?) I am wondering if this will be possible. I guess I'm just going to run the first 6 miles and see how I feel. If I PR, I PR. If not, it's a great training run for the Philly Marathon and as long as I beat my last Half Marathon time (2:18:29) I'll be happy. I guess instead of a PR, my goal should be to stay healthy this time. Haha, stupid common sense!

So the weather is amazing outside. Right now the conditions for the start of the race look fantastic.



While it would be nice to be about 5-10 degrees cooler, this is still VERY cool for Miss. Former-Miami-Runner. I think I can totally handle this.

I have also decided that I am going to go with the cotton capris for the run. As long as the start is under 60 degrees, it's cool enough for me (I know I am a total wuss). However, my legs really don't get that warm. And my PT last year actually told me I should run in pants to keep my legs warmed up because they seemed to tighten up easily. Of course, then I was running in 85 degrees and 90% humidity at 4am and there was NO WAY that was going to happen. Anyway, I can deal with cotton better than I can deal with creepy shorts and jacked-up thighs right now (sorry for the visual).

So yesterday I thought I would try to get in a slow 4 miles if my achilles was feeling better, but alas, it was another day on the bike.



I did a nice, easy 16 miles to Wissahickon Park and back. And it was beautiful! A great day for a ride in the woods.

Today Jeremy and I rode the train downtown to pick up our gear for the race.



It was a decent expo with lots of great gear. There was a HUGE booth by One More Mile which I had to DRAG myself away from (You don't have a job, quit spending money, remember your SHOES!) It was hard because their stuff is hilarious. It was a toss-up between these two:





But I walked away empty-handed. Mainly because I had no money, but also because I had just bought a dry-fit long sleeved Philly Distance Run running shirt. LOL! Either way, I was proud of myself!

After that we headed to the Reading Terminal Market to grab some lunch (homemade Chicken Noodle Soup for me), pick up some gourmet pasta and salad stuff for dinner tonight as well as some dutch cherry cobbler for tomorrow night's dessert! YUM!





So the bib number for tomorrow is 12320 and there are live results posted on the Philadelphia Distance Run website. That way you can keep up with me, J and my achilles. BLASTED ACHILLES!

Now I'm off to ice, ibuprofen, rest, eat, take a warm bath (pre-race ritual) and hopefully get to bed at a decent hour. Good luck to all you other runners out there racing this weekend, especially N.D. who is running her first race "with child"! Haha! Good luck to you! Look for me, I'll be the one sweating my butt off in the dark blue, cotton running capris! LOL!

A Cure for the Common Running Ailment...

Immediately after my "totally awesome" 7 mile run on Tuesday, I started to notice a pain in my right achilles tendon. I didn't write anything about it in my last post in the hopes that it would magically disappear. You know, the whole, "pretend it doesn't exist and maybe it will go away" school of thought?

Well, it didn't go away. My achilles is "a-killing" me.

Lol, my friend Jackie told me that joke, I can't take credit for it.

Anyway, I was planning on doing another 7 today and 4 tomorrow but decided the best thing to do is just rest it until Sunday. I don't want to make it worse before the Distance Run. So ice and ibuprofen are my new best buds.

Yesterday was beautiful and I was itching to get out, so I jumped on my bike and rode up to Valley Forge National Park. The whole ride was about 32 miles, which I think is the longest I have ever ridden. It was a beautiful ride. I took my time but stayed at a decent pace and enjoyed the time alone outside with my thoughts.

Of course it was the ONE time in my life I didn't have my camera. It's too bad too. The park was amazing and I saw all sorts of crazy wildlife. I saw chipmunks, deer, even a groundhog!

I know these are normal woodland creatures, but I don't think I have ever seen a real groundhog in my life. On my runs in Florida I would see lizards, iguana, snakes, bats, toucans, parrots, gators, armadillos, squirrels, naked guys, prostitutes, crackheads, etc. But never a groundhog! It really is nice to have a peaceful, beautiful setting to run in with creatures that wont bite your leg off, fly in your hair, ask you for money or shock you with their penis.

While I didn't have my camera to take any photos yesterday, I do have this little video I shot a few weeks back while i was riding on the bike path trying to catch up to Jeremy while he was running.



The video really doesn't do it justice. It's beautiful out there and I love it.

So today instead of running or biking I decided to get my exercise the good-old American way. CONSUMERISM!

I walked around the mall for about 4 hours today to pass some time and look for running capris. I didn't find the capris, but I found a way to ease my pain...

I LOVE DSW!!!

And here in Philly they have the most BEEE-UU-TEE-FUL DSW I have ever seen over in the King of Prussia Mall. This place is huge and awesome and has the best selection of any DSW I have been to yet.

Today I ventured out because I needed some new shoes for any possible jobs that may come my way. Normally, people buy clothes for jobs after they get paid. I am not normal. At least not when I walk into DSW.

But all in all, I did pretty well. Three pairs of shoes for under $100. All can be worn to work (well, the boots are really more for play, but I can wear them with some brown slacks) Not too shabby.

First pair:

I needed a FLAT pair of black shoes to wear with slacks for when I need to walk to the train and around the city. Something I can wear to work. Right now when I go on interviews, I wear my flip flops and keep my heels in my purse until I get there. Very "Working Girl" circa 1988. Also a pain in the as%. Here is what I found.





Very cute and comfortable.

Next, I found these shoes in red and I have ALWAYS wanted a pair of red shoes. The price was right and the heel was low, I can definitely wear them to walk to the train and in the city. They are really comfy.





Lastly, these boots are made for walking and kicking butt! They are soooooooooo pretty. Not completely for work, but I can definitely wear them to work if I want to. (LOL, what work?) The heel is pretty low AND they were boots for $34!!! COME ON!!!

They look good with pants...



and without!





I'm in love! Who needs running clothes and a healthy achilles when you can have these bad boys?

Who knew fashion was so important in running?

I had a great run this afternoon. I went out at 1pm. Yes, ONE PM. I don't think I EVER ran at 1pm in Miami.

The weather today was perfect. High of 73 and overcast (no rain this time). So I did some core work, weightlifting, then headed out for my 7 miles. It was fantastic. I felt strong. I felt cool. I felt confident. FINALLY. I was in love again. Yes, I have a severe case of bipolar running.

And while I tried not to focus on time, I actually ran it at a pretty good pace (7 mile/1:05:15/9:19 pace). This made me pretty happy.

I think one of the things that helped me to focus on running and enjoy myself more was my choice of wardrobe. I decided with the cooler weather I would bust out the old Nike cotton capri's. I figured if I could wear them at 1pm today when the temps are in the low 70's, I may be able to pull it off this Sunday during the Half Marathon when I am guessing the temps during the race will be in the 60's.

The capri's were perfect. They kept my legs warmed up and they weren't hot at all. Best of all, no chaffing or bunching. The only problem is that they are cotton and I HATE running in cotton. But I hate running with ripped up thighs even more, so I may just have to suck it up.

All in all, I think the capri's may work out well this weekend. Maybe I will run to a store and see if I can pick up a inexpensive version in a wicking fabric. Any of you runners in colder weather have any suggestions or recommendations? I am totally clueless to running clothes other than shorts and tanks.

Soggy

So, by Friday I had only gotten one running day in for the week. So much for my chart.

Even though I knew I had a long run on Saturday scheduled, I decided I needed to get out there and get in a few miles. It had cooled down a bit on Thursday and Friday (mid 70's) and it had been overcast as well, making for ideal running conditions. But of course, I found an excuse to squander away Thursday (hangover), so Friday I needed to suck it up and run.

I left the house thinking it was going to be another wonderfully overcast day and headed out for 7 miles (3.5 out and back). After about 30 seconds I felt a slight sprinkle. No big deal. But of course, the running Gods decided to punish me for skipping out of my run on Thursday. By the time I got to the turnaround, it was absolutely POURING! And I was literally in the middle of nowhere (bike path out to Valley Forge, nothing but trees). The only way out of the soggy mess was to run back. I had no choice.

Here is a picture I took from my couch after I had taken a warm shower and was drinking a cup of tea :)



Actually, other than my headphones dying from becoming soaked, the run was not bad. It was kind of fun to play in the rain and I really wasn't any more wet than my run last Saturday when the humidity was out of control. It was definitely a lot cooler too. I even saw a few other psychos, I mean runners, out there with me.

I wish I had the same wonderfully positive things to say about my long run the following morning.

Jeremy and I headed out for a 12 mile run at 7am. Our last "long run" before the Philadelphia Distance Run this coming Sunday. It started out OK, and by started out, I mean mile 1. After that it was all downhill. Well, I wish it would have been downhill. It just sucked. It was humid, my legs were tired from the run on Friday and I was miserable (whine, cry, sob...)

I really don't know what my problem is but I have been having a really hard time lately on my long runs. The shorter runs in the middle of the week don't seem to bother me but for some reason, I am NOT feeling it on Saturdays. I get all these negative thoughts in my head that I can't get rid of while I'm running and I literally am on the verge of tears the entire time.

I don't know if it's because I miss running with my old friends and running group or because we are trying to run our longs runs a bit faster this year and I am just not in as good of shape as I was last year. I don't know if it's an accumulation of everything that has happened all year and when I run it all comes tumbling out of the back of my mind. I have no clue. All I know, is all I can think of when I run my long runs lately is how much I hate running.

Is this normal for anyone else? Am I going nuts? Does anyone else experience this? I would say I need to take some times off from training but I really haven't been training that long this year. Oh, who knows...

By the way, the skirt wasn't so hot on my long run. It tore up my thighs. I swear I am running this half-marathon nekkid on Sunday. Or in jeans.

Monday, 9/8 - off
Tuesday, 9/9 - 6.2 miles/59:41 - 9:37 pace
Wednesday, 9/10 - elliptical/40min, weights
Thursday, 9/11 - hungover :(
Friday, 9/12 - 7 miles/1:07:10 - 9:35 pace
Saturday, 9/13 - 12 miles/1:57:10 - 9:47 pace
Sunday, 9/14 - off

Total Weekly Mileage: 25.2

A little bit of Miami in Philadelphia

You know, one of the reasons I was excited about moving out of Miami was the idea of enjoying a long run in crisp, clear weather with LOW humidity and dry clothes. That and getting the hell out of dodge right before hurricane season hit. Five years in Miami and dealing with Hurricanes Katrina and Wilma were enough to drive me over the edge.

So imagine my surprise when I woke up Saturday morning to Tropical Storm Hannah coming for us!



Maybe I am an idiot, but I really had no idea these storms sometimes made their way all the way up here. When you live in Hurricane Alley you get so much media overload every time a storm comes through that once the storm passes you stop paying attention to it. I guess I just never noticed.

Well I noticed Saturday on my 14 mile run. Not because of the nonstop rain and wind, that would come later. I noticed because of the insanely HIGH humidity that suffocated us during our miserable run. I guess I have quickly become acclimated to the lower humidity because I seriously forgot how difficult it was to run in those conditions. I really have no idea how I did it for so long.

Probably the most irritating aspect of the run was my shorts. Lately I have been having a really hard time with my running shorts creeping up on my runs to the point where I am spending half of the time trying to yank them out from between my legs. Saturday I switched to an older pair that was fine until I became SOAKED my from sweat. After that, forget about it. There was a moment at about mile ten where I seriously thought about just ripping them off and running home in my underwear. What a sight that would have been. A bitchy, wet woman running down the street in running shoes and white underwear.

So the next day I broke down and did something I told myself I would never do. I bought a running skirt. I have no idea why I figured I would never get one. I guess maybe the fact I don't like being "girly" while I run had something to do with it. When I'm running I like to feel like a superhero, not a cheerleader. Of course, lately I was feeling less superhero-like and more nerd-who's-fat-thighs-can't-keep-her-shorts-down. I guess cheerleaders aren't so bad.

I ventured to Target since I figured I would buy one on the cheap before making a commitment. To add insult to injury, the only one they had in my size had PINK shorts and waistband.



Anyone who knows me knows I am not really a "pink" type of girl, but whatever. Hopefully the skirt wont be blowing up for everyone to see anyway.

I took it out for a test run tonight and I have to say, I am pretty much sold on it. I had a fantastic 6 mile run and no digging out material every 10 seconds. YAY, SUCCESS!

Not only that, but I have to admit, I felt kind of cute in it. Hehe...

Other than that, my game plan is going pretty well. I had to rearrange my workouts a little bit due to birthday plans last Thursday (my 33rd...ouch) and a job interview I had yesterday (YAY!) But I got some good workouts and decent mileage in.

And after my run tonight (in my cute, pink cheerleader skirt) I am sold on running again.

Monday, 9/1 - 7 miles/1:06:46 - 9:32 pace, core workout
Tuesday, 9/2 - Bike Ride/18 miles, weights, core workout
Wednesday, 9/3 - 7 miles/1:04:32 - 9:17 pace, core workout
Thursday, 9/4 - Bike Ride/17 miles
Friday, 9/5 - off
Saturday, 9/6 - 13.72 miles/2:20:47 - 10:15 pace
Sunday, 9/7 - off

Total Weekly Mileage: 27.72

The Game Plan

So, the past few months have been weird in the exercise/running department.

Last October when I ran my first marathon, I was in pretty good shape. I knew I still needed to lose a little weight but for the most part I was pretty fit. Then I got injured and instead of a steady training plan for the Miami Marathon in January, I had to coast along on a bike with my group while I healed enough to run the half. Coasting is not good exercise, by the way.

Then about 7 weeks into my pregnancy I got so nauseous that I could barely move, let alone exercise. The impact of how sick I was really took me by surprise. I would try to workout or run a slow three miles maybe 2-3 times a week but for the most part I just tried to stay still since moving made me feel like I was riding the Gravitron.

The one good thing about being nauseated though is that you can't really eat. In the three months I was pregnant, I didn't gain a single pound.

But that all changed after we lost the baby. A mixture of depression and actually being able to enjoy eating again turned me into a freight train out of control. I ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, not to mention drank whatever I wanted. Hey, I had taken such good care of myself for two years and look where it got me. I got injured, missed a marathon and lost a baby.

Never mind that I had a great first marathon in Columbus, when you are feeling sorry for yourself, those things don't matter.

Beer and wine became my friends. My fattening friends. And I felt like I deserved it. I deserved food and fun and a little time off. And let's face it, I said I wanted to work out to feel better but I was just feeling sad and couldn't find the energy to get out there.

So I ate, drank and made every excuse not to work out. Since I hadn't been on a steady schedule, this was pretty easy. Once you fall off the exercise bandwagon, it's pretty hard to hop back on.

Then one day I realized I hadn't weighed myself in about 3-4 months. I also realized that my jeans would barely button and all my clothes were getting tighter than they had in four years. So I forced myself on the scale, knowing full well what the outcome would be. And wouldn't you know it, I am the person who gains no weight while 13 weeks pregnant, then TEN pounds afterwards. TEN POUNDS PEOPLE!!! Come ON!

I needed to take action before it got too far out of control. I told Jeremy I needed a race to focus on. Something to make me work out while also taking my mind off of everything I seem to had lost in the past year. A full marathon seemed like the only answer. You can kind of get through a half-marathon with minimal training if you needed to. But if I paid money for a full marathon, that meant I HAD to run. It's not like you can just show up and wing 26.2 miles. Since we had already decided at that point to move to Philly, we decided the Philadelphia Marathon would be our best bet.

We started our training while we were still in Miami. It was hard to get back into again, especially since summer was back in full-force, but we did it. We ran a few times a week and got on a steady routine of lifting as well. We even managed to work our way back up to a 10 mile long run before we left.

So now we have been here for one month. When we first arrived we were so excited by all the fantastic running/biking paths and the low humidity that we jumped at every chance to work out. And with all the walking we do around town and living in a house with FOUR floors, we definitely are a bit more active than we were in Miami. I even lost 6 of the 10lbs I gained. But after we settled in a bit and J went back to work, I started finding excuses to be lazy again.

Not that I haven't been running, it's just been pretty inconsistent. (Two weeks ago I ran 26 miles, last week I ran 4, etc.) Basically, it's pretty simple. I have been feeling kind of down since I left all my friends and have been having more trouble than I thought finding a job since we got here. (Anyone need a graphic designer in Philly?) I was letting my disapointment get me lazy again. But I finally sucked it up and realized I have ALL the time in the world now and I need to take advantage of it. So if I do NOTHING else during the day, I am at least going to get in my workout in. So I made a game plan people. And I'm sticking to it.

And to prove what a total dork I am, I even made a workout chart (in color of course) to put on my fridge so I have no excuses.



I wont hem and haw and say "Maybe I will run today, maybe I will lift, maybe I will just eat this whole container of hummus and watch HGTV all day...." I'm a virgo, I need structure and lists to keep me going. So now it's, "Today is Tuesday and I have to do core, lift and ride the bike or the elliptical, it says so RIGHT HERE!" Then I can eat hummus and watch HGTV. But at least I will have gotten my workout in.

Nineteen days till the Philly Distance Run and 11 weeks, 5 days till the marathon. I think I can do this.

A New Chapter - Philadelphia Freedom

First things first...

Thank you all so much for all the wonderful, kind words you sent my way from my last post. I know I have been awful about replying back, but I want you to know that I read every one and they all meant the WORLD to me. Thank you all so much, thank you, thank you, thank you...

I have been meaning to catch up with everyone and update this thing for the longest time, but life has been crazy the past few months and I always find an excuse not to do it. Mostly, it's because I'm lazy, I mean let's be honest, but there are other reasons as well. :)

I have slowly been reading and trying to catch up with your posts even though I haven't been leaving comments. Although I must admit after a few minutes of reading, I feel like a fake. I know it's stupid but I have been having a REALLY hard time getting back into running again. There were a few months there I really was barely even trying. With everything that has been going on it's been hard to find my rhythm. I'll do great for three weeks only to get to a week where I barely squeeze in one run. This is when I realized I needed your guy's help again. I needed to jump back on here and catch up with you all and try to get my head back in the game. And I have two good reasons for it.

1. The Philadelphia Distance Run (Half Marathon) , September 21st.

2. The Philadelphia Marathon (Full) , November 23rd.

So maybe you're thinking, "Gee Laurel, why are you traveling to Philly for TWO races this year?" Or maybe you're not thinking that, but let's just pretend. Well, one of the main reasons life has been so hectic these past few months is that we moved to Philadelphia four weeks ago.



Yes, that's right, the City of Brotherly Love. Or Killadelphia, depending on who you listen to. Either way, it's a good move, made at the right time for a million different reasons.

Long story short:

Jeremy and I had always been struggling with whether or not we wanted to settle in Miami or not. We loved all our friends there and we loved the fact that my parents were so close (3.5 hours away) but in reality, we weren't really happy there. We weren't in love with the city, we couldn't afford a house there, we hated the hot weather (trust me, it get REAL old, fast), and we were not totally excited about our jobs anymore. But at the time we were pregnant so we figured, we would stick it out, have the kid and see what happens.

When I was still pregnant J got a call for two interviews, one from Temple University in Philly and one from another school out west. We figured he would go interview but that we really weren't going to leave (because of baby). Then fate stepped in (refer to last post) and a week after all that happened he went to interview in Philadelphia.

The interview went really well but we still didn't think we would leave. I mean, I really was in no state of mind to pick up and leave my friends and family and move to a strange city. But after he brought me up for a couple of visits and we toured the city, I was hooked. The people at the University where he is working are WONDERFUL and made every effort to make us feel like family and it didn't take long before I fell in LOVE with the City of Brotherly Love. After a month of sleepless nights, therapy, major decisions and finally blessings from our family and friends, we made the decision to leave Miami and move to Philly.

Before we left I told him I needed a race to train for. Now, with no baby I could run a race again and maybe make up for the injury last year that made me miss the Miami Marathon. So we decided the best thing to do is train for Philly in November. That way we can spend a few months training and running and getting to know the city. After we signed up for the full, we leaned about the Distance Run and decided that would be a great half-marathon to run as part of our training.

So that's where we are at now. We are in Philly and loving it. Of course, life is still not perfect and this move hasn't solved all the problems and pain we have encountered in the past year but it's the first step in a new direction. It's the path towards healing and starting new. I still have days that are rough and admittedly there are days when I miss my friends and yes, even my job so much it hurts but that's all part of it. We have moved across the country a few times now and while each time it is hard, it's always a fun adventure (although I would feel better about this adventure if I could find a job, but that's a whole different post).

And deep down inside I have to wonder about fate. Yes, fate, the thing I went ON AND ON about in my last post. The thing I was sure did NOT exist. But when all is said and done, sometimes I can't help but wonder if things really do happen for a reason. I mean, in reality, every move you make, every word you speak, every nano-second of your life paves the way for everything that will happen in your future. So many random events in my life these past two years have led to where I am sitting right now, I can't help but wonder why...

Anyway, I promise my next post will be about running now that I have you guys back to motivate me. I have a lot to catch you up on ;)

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There are some moments in life you wish you could just erase.

Words that are said, written, thought…that as soon as they appear, you know are a mistake. You know it’s wrong to say things and tempt fate in such an idiotic way, but come on, fate wouldn’t interfere with something just because you said it out loud. I mean, does fate even really exist? Superstition has no business in a life built on reality and reason. But yet, somehow you still get that lingering doubt when the words tumble out of your mouth and you immediately realize you may have just made a devastating mistake.

I had one of these moments while I was writing the last entry of this blog back in March.

“We didn’t get pregnant in December, but we did in January. Yes kids, sometimes is really is that easy…”

As soon as the words appeared on the screen I knew it was a mistake.

“Sometimes is really is that easy…”

Cocky? Probably in my pregnant state, I was. Stupid? A little. Tempting fate? No doubt. Why would I say something that could so obviously come back to haunt me? Pregnancy is anything but easy and we all know I was just lucky to get pregnant so quickly anyway. If that part was so damn easy, it probably meant that there would be harder obstacles to overcome in the next few months. I knew this, but I typed it anyway.

“Sometimes is really is that easy…”

While I pride myself on being a rational person who doesn’t fall for the idea of “fate”, I still had a lingering doubt about publishing this sentence. Besides, when you become pregnant with a child, all your reasoning goes out the window. You will believe anything if you think it will help. All your suppressed religious beliefs, superstitions, old wives tales, and understandings of fate and the universe rise to the surface with reckless abandon. You truly want to believe there is a God that would bring you such a wonderful gift, an understanding God that would make it so easy to conceive, a loving God that would keep you and your baby safe. Of course, God wants all babies safe and sound. And if there is ever a time to believe in an understanding and loving God or at least not mess with fate, it’s when you are pregnant.

But twenty days after I published that sentence we lost our baby. Z was 13 weeks old, just passing the point of when we thought we were home-free. It was without a doubt, the worst three days of my life, three days filled with tears, fear, screaming, praying, pacing, pain, guilt, research, questions, doctors, waiting…The darkness we experienced in those three days are like none I have ever known or thought I would ever experience. How do you grieve for the loss of your future? How do you deal with the loss of your child when you have never looked into its eyes, touched its skin, felt its heart beating against your body? How can you wrap your mind around seeing your baby dancing inside of your body on a computer screen so clear you can make out every line of it’s face only to know that in a few short hours it would probably be gone? You can’t. Anger, grief, disbelief, sadness, agony, heartache, suffering, torture…no word can really describe what it is to lose a child, even one you have never met. It just doesn’t exist.

The weeks after losing Z were intense. I stayed in the house for a week and did nothing but lie in the back bedroom like a sobbing zombie, being waited on hand-and-foot by my loving and worried husband. I wallowed in immense guilt that I could finally enjoy eating a meal again without feeling like I was going to be sick. After three months of not being able to eat a thing, I suddenly couldn’t get enough food. It didn’t matter that I didn’t have an appetite. I ate out of anger and spite that I was miserable and starving for thirteen weeks for nothing. I ate to fill my suddenly empty stomach.

I craved the discomfort of a long, sweaty, uncomfortable run to make myself feel a different type of pain, anything other than what I was feeling. I wanted to run so far it hurt and I could cry as hard as I could to get out every tear stuck inside of me. But I couldn’t run for three weeks, which seemed to make the grief all the more of a prison sentence. I suddenly had energy again with nothing to focus it on.

So I made all the necessary arrangements to transform my life back into a childless existence. I packed away all my baby books, magazines and onesies in hard to reach places hoping that I wouldn’t accidentally stumble upon them at an unfortunate time. I unsubscribed from all the electronic pregnancy newsletters that were infiltrating my inbox. I deleted the ultrasound pictures and congratulatory comments off of my Myspace page. I watched all the beautiful flowers that were sent to our home as a loving gesture from countless friends and family during those weeks wilt and die. We cancelled all the remaining Doctors appointments I had for the baby and replaced them with therapist appointments.

I watched in quiet appreciation as Jeremy, who in his own despair, did whatever he could possibly do to make sure I was going to be O.K. He called the Doctors; he made the arrangements; he called my work to tell them I would be taking time off and intercepted the phone calls from concerned friends and family for weeks when I just couldn’t face anyone but him. In his own way of grieving, he took care of the only thing he had left to take care of, me.

And when I honestly thought I wouldn’t make it, that it was more than I could handle, than we could handle…we made it through to the other side.

Over the past three months, the grieving process has been slow, awkward and uncontrollable. Sometimes I take giant leaps back just when I think I am making my way through it. The crying and pain haven’t stopped but have slowly subsided, becoming less suffocating and violent and more listless…dull, sometimes coming from out of nowhere and catching me by surprise. I thought once my hormones were under control again, this would end, but to no such avail. I went from crying maybe once every two months before I got pregnant, to crying on a regular basis nowadays, sometimes 3-4 times a week, mostly for no good reason. Well meaning friends and family respond by telling me “It’s ok, you’re young and healthy, you can have another baby.”

But I don’t another baby. I want the baby I lost, the one I made plans for, the one I named, the one I saw alive inside of me, the one I fell in love with. I want Baby Z back.

It is slowly getting better though. While I’m not the same person I was inside before Z came along, I’m not sure that is a bad thing. Some days the faint, ever-present numbness fades enough and I feel myself filled with hope. The person I am now is stronger, more aware of my family, friends and career than I ever was before. My marriage is better than it has ever been, and I am sure about what I want out of life more now than ever.

Then of course, something as simple as my hairdresser telling me she is pregnant or seeing all the babies at Jeremy’s cousin’s wedding will bring it all back and I am engulfed by sudden, intense panic and then blistering pain. And I realize that this is all bigger than me. That is it a process and like with any injury, a broken heart needs time to heal.

Maybe one day I will be brave enough or strong enough to tell the entire story of the loss, but after having to tell it over and over and over again to countless family members, friends, and therapists I need to keep the details quiet for a while. And I suppose, it probably isn’t even necessary unless I thought it would help someone else in our situation. I need to quit ripping the scab off so the wound can heal a little bit. The scar will be there forever, but the pain will slowly fade, at least that is what I’m told.

This, I suppose is why it took me so long to post this. Putting all these words into print seemed so permanent to me and makes everything that happened that much more real. It was the last step I had in dealing with this loss and I just never felt it was the right time. How could I possibly write it? Would I regret the words as they came out of me like I did before? But the rational side of me knows that it doesn’t matter if I publish these words or not, it wont change what happened to me, J and Z. What’s done is done.

So now, three months later, I am finally starting to take better care of myself again. I am eating better, running a bit more and trying to focus on the future instead of everything that has happened this past year. While I needed to take a break from the running blog, (some things suddenly seemed unimportant) I will slowly start to get back into it again. I will eventually catch up with you all and before you know it I will be posting again on a regular basis.

Thank you all for all your kind words, understanding and support, not only for the baby but for everything over the past couple of years.

Gone, but not forgotten...

I'm not dead, I promise.

I know, I know, I have been the world's worst blogger. Sorry I have been so absent lately. I promise there is a really good reason. And I really want to thank those of you who sent me messages through email and myspace just to say, "What's up, are you breathing still?" I appreciate all my cyberbuddies looking out for my life.

That being said, I would like to introduce all of you to the reason I have:

A) Been so freakin tired the last 3-4 blog entries

B) Ran a much slower time during the Miami Half Marathon (not all injury related)

C) Been a little too preoccupied to update this damn thing...

TADAAAAA...look what I did!


That's right...I'm one of "those people" now. This is Little Baby Z as J and I like to call it. Our little peanut that at the moment is 9 weeks 4 days old (for those of you interested in that sort of thing).

Jeremy and I planned all along to try to start a family after running Columbus and Miami. I insisted I wanted to run a full marathon before I became a mother and since I signed up for Miami before Columbus, I was determined to finish both.

But as I got injured and time went on, I realized that running another full in January was out of the question. One night in early December, after a couple of Dirty Martinis, Jeremy asked me why we were still waiting. "You can still run a half marathon if you get pregnant now!"

Rationalizing this in my drunken haze, I realized he was right. And besides, we're not spring chickens. It would probably take us like 6 months to get pregnant anyway!

We didn't get pregnant in December, but we did in January. Yes kids, sometimes it really is that easy. We were very lucky.

And with that, Baby Z was conceived. And the little bugger has already completed it's first Half Marathon. Here are a few pictures of the happy, running family.







Notice how freaking tired I look.

Since that day, Baby Z has been keeping mommy busy. Busy keeping her sick as a dog and making her feel like she has had non-stop motion sickness. Making her feel like she is 2 seconds away from puking (without actually puking...oh no, that would be sweet relief). Busy making her so dizzy every waking moment, that the thought of moving her head even 4mm to one side or the other makes her break out in a cold sweat and start crying. Busy making every food/drink taste like crap (with the exception of peanut butter crackers and pop tarts). Busy making mommy second guess everything in her life from her job, her house, and what city she wants to live in (we are currently looking at about 4-5 different options). Needless to say, the past month has been a little crazy. And with the dizziness I have while staring at the computer for 8-9 hours at work, the last thing I can do when I get home is go online. I have barely touched my home computer in weeks.

So there is my excuse, I hope you will forgive me :)

That all being said, I have started feeling a bit better this past week. My doctor (bless her heart) suggested I try B6 vitamin to help ease the nausea. She also wrote me a prescription for Zofran but I figured I would give the vitamins a try before I drugged up the kid. So far, it seems to help take a lot of the edge off. Still dizzy and foods taste bad, but not as intense and instead of it being constant, it's more like 1-2 days a week. Or maybe my body is just finally used to being a green, miserable wreck. Either way, I haven't needed to fill the Zofran yet. I hope it stays that way.

Other than all of that, life is good. We are happy, excited, scared as hell and freaked-the-f out all at once. But Baby Z is good and strong and right now that is all I really care about. We finally told everyone in our family and most of our friends, so I feel it's finally safe to announce it over the internet without pissing anyone off.

As far as running goes, I still venture out every week. But instead of 5 days a week running, it's more like 1-2 days of running (no more than 3 slooooooooow miles at a time) not for fear of running, but just because I am exhausted. But I also make it to the gym 1-2 days a week and get a lot of dog-walking in. Today J and I went for a 6 mile walk on South Beach, which was fun (and exhausting).

So this is my new marathon. I hope you guys are as interested in watching me train for this one as you were (or pretended to be) for the ones I trained for in the past. I have a feeling it will be the toughest race yet.

Do babies come with shiny medals and tech t-shirts?

2008 ING Miami Half-Marathon

Well, I finished. And that's what counts. :)



Actually, it could have been a lot worse. After all I have been through since running Columbus in October, I should be thankful I was able to run the half at all. And I am. However, once you run a full 26.2 miles, you sort of lose a little respect for 13.1. And you (and by you here I mean me) tend to forget how brutal a 13 mile run can be on the old body.

Official chip time - 2:18:29. Not bad at all, especially considering the circumstances. It falls pretty much right in the middle of the two other half marathon times I have and it's a 6 minute improvement from my time last year on the same course (my very first Half-Marathon). In that respect I am very happy.

What sucks is that my leg REALLY started to hurt at mile 6. And I had to dig deep down inside to figure out how to run another six miles in pain. Another thing is I was completely exhausted by mile 2. I started the race sort of bummed that I wasn't doing the full. The weather was beautiful, humid but cool and dry (thanks P.O.M.! ) and I was ready to go. But after trying to keep up with my training group who started waaaay fast, I was so tired and my leg just wasn't having it. A full 26.2 miles would have been a nightmare.

Another bummer...Jeremy's leg gave out at mile 3. He had to run with intense IT band pain for TEN miles. Yeah, we weren't the happiest runners out there. More like a couple of old gimps run/hobbling down the road.

So basically, I don't remember much about the race. I was tired and in pain and just focused all my energy on finishing and not having to walk back. It was odd. It was the first race I have run (with the exception of a 5K) where I really didn't take in much of the scenery or people. The whole thing was just a blur and it seemed to go by really fast since I was so focused on being done. I imagine this must be the same way races are for elite runners. Although the blur is probably a lot blurrier.

There were however a few cool things about the race yesterday:

1. Weather was amazing. Which sadly, is rare for this race. I do remember running up Ocean Drive and the sunrise was BEA-U-TI-FUL!

2. Around mile three I felt a little tap on my shoulder and turned around to see Jess running next to me! I was amazed that she was able to find me in the middle of over 10,000 runners! We said hello but my group was taking a walk break and since she was plugging along at a good pace we parted quickly. It was great to meet her in real life though. And she is freakin' cute as hell! Which I'm sure she gets a lot :)

3. The new medals this year are so pretty!


4. After the race I got to witness all of my group finish the run as well as a lot of other friends. About 3 of them PR'ed too! :)



5. A LOT of port-o-potties. I didn't wait in line once!


6. While waiting for my friends to finish the full, I got a lot of fun shots of all the usual suspects that make running marathons so much fun.




Here are some more shots of the whole event if you're interested.

7. I finally go to meet Sonia.


Like with Jess, I was amazed that she was able to find me in the mess of people that day. She was there with her parents who love to come cheer her on as she runs her races. One of the first blog entries that ever made me cry was about her marathon where her dad followed her around the course snapping as many pictures of her as he could.

We got to chat for a long time and it was so good to meet her, she is even nicer in real life than online and it felt like I was catching up with an old friend :) Sonia I hope you had a great time the rest of your stay and a safe trip back home. You and your parents were so great.

So even though my race was a little painful and I feel like I got hit by a dump truck today. I am extremely grateful I was able to run yesterday. I am a firm believer that the worse the race, the better a runner you will be for it. That being said, I am sooooooo glad I don't have another race to train for ...for a few months anyway. ;)

Pre Race Rundown

So, we went to see Spirit of the Marathon Thursday night and it was pretty amazing. If any of you guys missed this one-day showing, I think they have added another date in February. I highly recommend it to anyone who needs a little bit of inspiration. It definitely helped me get into the mood for tomorrow.

This week has been good. I only ran twice, but they were two solid runs. While I was exhausted both times, once again, no leg pain which is pretty awesome. I told my PT on Monday of my progress and she was so excited for me that I was going to be able to run tomorrow. Yeah, sucking it up and paying the dough to switch back to her was the best decision I have made in a long time. I have no doubt that if I had stayed with Mr. 70's Velvet Sweat Suit, I would not be running tomorrow.

So today we went to the expo and picked up our swag.





Other than the $15 parking, the expo was pretty good. Although I live in Miami, so a $15 parking fee shouldn't phase me, but somehow it still does.

After the expo we headed home and just chilled on the couch switching back from "Best Week Ever and The Real Housewives of Orange County. I love Saturday afternoon T.V. Later, we headed down to the Footworks pasta party that was held at the Knights of Columbus Club in the Gables for some pasta and cake. The cake was made by our friend Ralph's wife and was amazing. She duplicated the medal from last year perfectly!





So now I think I'm going to take a warm bath, do some light stretching and make sure I have everything ready for the morning. The weather is calling for rain showers from 6am-11am now, which scares me after last years monsoon that came at the beginning of the race. You never know what kind of weather you are going to get down here in South Florida. Well, at least I know we wont get snow.

Wish me luck (and dry weather)!!!

Bring it Miami...

Decision's been made. I'm in. I'm doing the Half on Sunday.

I am happy to report I had three FANTASTIC runs this week. Jeremy and I ran 4.6 on a beautiful and cool (51 degree) Tuesday morning. Leg tightened a bit at the end, but no pain at all. Then we ran 5.6 on Thursday which was the best run I had in months. While, we didn't run it fast and I felt completely out of shape and tired the entire run, there was no pain or tightening at ALL. I was so excited. I'll take exhausted over painful any day.

Then Saturday morning I ran my final run of the season with my Miami Marathon Training Group (Roadrunners). I designed some running t-shirts this week for our group to wear after the race. We should be getting them in sometimes this week. I can't wait to see how they came out.

Front:


Back:

I am pretty sad that this is the last week we will be running together and a little bummed that right when I am starting to feel better and run with them again, it's ending. But I have to say, it is going to awesome to get to sleep in on Saturday mornings again. This whole getting up between 3am-4am to run every Saturday morning, especially since I have been biking most of these runs since October, has gotten very, very old. I have been getting up early to run on Saturday mornings since October of LAST year. And by last year I mean 2006, not 07. Jeremy and I have been training for something it seems like FOOOREVAH. Sooooo ready to hit the snooze for a few months.

Anyway, the final run was great. Other than feeling EXTREMELY tired and out of shape again, I felt really good. No pain or tightening at all and we ended up doing about 9 miles. Thats the farthest I have run since Columbus, and it felt great.

So, I am going into the race this weekend with a lot of confidence. I have zero hopes for a PR, but I am pretty sure I can run the distance without too much discomfort. At this point, I think the hardest part will be the fitness part. When I run lately, I just feel like I am running through a vat of Jello. I am not sure if it is just me not used to running, or the humidity. Whatever it is, I can live with it. Like I said, as long as I am not in pain, I'll be OK.

I am also pretty excited to meet up with Jess and Sonia afterwards. It should be a beautiful race day guys. Hope you are ready! :)

Tuesday, 1/15 - 4.6 miles/45:39 - 9:58 pace
Thursday, 1/17 - 5.6 miles/55:44 - 9:57 pace
Saturday, 1/19 - 9 miles/1:39 - 10:59 pace
Sunday, 1/30 - Gym, lift, 30 minutes elliptical, stretch

Total Weekly Mileage: 19.20

Plugging Along

First of all...

What the hell happened to my Buckeyes???? Seriously, COME ON!!!



Two years in a ROW??!?!?!?! Sigh...

Other than that my week has been OK. I had another session with the weird PT that was bizarre. He had me stretch out my leg on this machine for 10 minutes and when I was done and he came back, my back was so tight I could barely walk. He had to get another PT to massage it for me until it was better. Needless to say, I cancelled my last appointment.

Wednesday morning I went for a slow three mile run around campus and I felt great. No pain at all, just a little stiffness. Then I had an appointment with the original PT that worked on me and I love her. She worked on my leg for a whole hour and I felt so much better when I was done. Sooooo worth the money.

Of course, then I tried to run again on Thursday morning (stupid) and I had a horrible time, I had to stop after 1.5 miles and walk the rest of the way home. I was pretty bummed out even though I shouldn't have been. I knew better than to try and run two days in a row, so it was my own stubborn fault.

The rest of the week I spent stretching a lot and Saturday morning I met my group on my bike for their training run. Since they are in a taper they "only" had a 12 mile run. I biked the first 6 then passed off the bike to another leader and attempted to run the rest.

I am not sure if it was the group dynamic, or if I was just running a bit slower than I do when I run alone, but I felt pretty good. Not great, by any stretch of the imagination. My leg got pretty tight. Especially when Ralph, the other leader sped up and had us doing Cross Country drills. But the pain never went to the knee, which is a good sign. All in all it was a much needed mental boost to my running.

I talked to my PT again this morning (or she talked while I writhed in pain and sobbed like a baby as she rubbed knots out of my leg) and she told me since I didn't really have an injury but more or less just REALLY tight muscles all over one side of my body, it wouldn't kill me to do the half. She told me to just stay conservative, have fun, walk if I need to and to NOT even think about a time. She also reminded me that there is no shame in having to stop during the race, especially since I'm injured.

We'll see. I am still up in the air about the whole thing. I will be there either way, but it may be a game day decision at this point. Either way, I am just glad I am seeing a bit of progress. Yay! Progress rocks!

My mind is made up...

What a crap week.

My emotions have taken a ride on the proverbial roller coaster. One minute everything seems to be going my way and then wouldn't you know it, my stomach is doing flip-flops from dropping down another hill.

Without boring anyone with details, lets just say I had a lot of things planned out for how the next year of my life was going to unfold. We (J and I) have been planning certain things for almost a year and this week a lot of what we had planned pretty much flew out the window. Tough to deal with on many different levels.

I may have had an easier time with all of it, if at least my plans for running had been going my way. Since all the nagging injuries I have had, which seem to change from one thing to another every time I run, running is just another thing on that list that seems out of my control. Another thing that I am longing for that I just can't have.

The thing that really sucks about it, is that running is the one thing that would actually make me feel better about all this other shit. Running clears my mind, makes me take better care of myself, which makes me feel better about myself. When I don't run, I eat and drink like a pig which just makes me feel disgusting, weak and sad. When I feel healthy, I feel better about everything else. I need running now more than ever.

So this is why I was so bummed out this week when I went to my new PT. Before he even evaluated me, or let me finish telling him what was wrong with me, he immediately told me to forget about running the Miami Half.

"Not gonna happen." he said.

Of course that was after he hurried me along while I was trying to explain to him my problems. Then he automatically told me I have a back problem, which is fine, but he completely missed the part about my tendon issues and the IT band pain, which was why I was there in the first place. Never mind the fact that he wore an awful 70's sweatsuit, didn't wear underwear and rubbed his junk all over my knee when he was stretching my leg, cut me off every time I opened my mouth to speak, rubbed my back so hard I thought he was going to break it (it was bruised the next day) and just generally made me uncomfortable. Oh and of course, when I told him what my other PT had told me, he basically told me she was stupid. Of course.

So after he stretched me, rubbed my back and had me do back exercises he had me run. When my IT band started aching he seemed surprised, like, "Oh, you have an IT band issue as well?!?!?" Sigh. Maybe if he would have let me finish explaining myself!!! Grrrr.

Now, I know it sounds bad, but I am not saying this guy is unqualified. He is a well-known PT in the area, owns his own popular running store, taught as an adjunct at various Universities and written countless articles on gait analysis and running. He knows his stuff. I just think that our personalities do not match at all and I just got a really weird feeling about him.

So after telling J how I felt, he agreed he was weird (he is going to him as well), but he knows his stuff and it only cost us 15 bucks, so we should give it another chance, blah, blah, blah...

Then, after he found out some running gossip about him from a reliable source, he agreed to let me go back to the first PT if I told them I was limited to 2-3 visits. I called and made an appointment immediately.

I went back to him for a second visit though on Friday (it was too late to cancel and I figured I should give him one more chance to redeem himself to me). Maybe I was being too judgmental. Anyway, he was better, but I am just not convinced he is the right fit for me. I have another appointment with him tomorrow, but on Wednesday it's back to the first PT. I hope I am making the right decision.

So the good news is that after having our gait analysis, we figured out the correct shoes we need to be in. Jeremy and I both have narrow feet and slightly overpronate. He was in a neutral shoe, and my shoe was fine, but too wide in the middle. So I switched from my beloved Saucony's to a new pair of Asics 2130's.

Tadaaaaaaa....


Pretty snazzy huh? I broke them in on a 3 mile run tonight and good news all around! First off, love the shoes. I thought they wouldn't be cushiony enough for me, but they are. And since they are snug in the middle they seem to really stabilize my feet.
But even better than that is that this is the longest run I have had since the Columbus Marathon where I wasn't in excruciating pain (yes, 3 miles is my longest run in two months and I want to run a half-marathon). At the very end, I could feel my leg getting weak, like the pain was coming, but I stopped in time.

Since the Miami Half Marathon is three weeks away, I have made up my mind. I am definitely running it. I think if I work my way up to a slow 10 mile run in two weeks, I can do it. I was thinking about just dropping out completely, but you know what? Screw it. It's already paid for. If all else fails, I'll power-walk that bitch. No more feeling sorry for myself. I don't care what annoying PT's in bad attire tell me.

I'm doing it damn it!