.... supports breast cancer awareness and research

Help us raise money for breast cancer awareness and research! We are members of Team AllEars - a group of Disney World fans who have teamed up to raise money for breast cancer by running either the Walt Disney World half or full Marathon January 9 -10, 2010.

It is easy to help! 

1) Follow the link on the right to Deb Wills Avon charities site (the founder of www.AllEars.net) to donate online

2) Make a check out to Avon Walk for Breast Cancer and mail to:

 Cailin Gidlewski

49 Monument Square

Charlestown, MA 02129

3) Email me at cailinvet@mac.com to purchase your breast cancer awareness key chain

The photo on the left shows the size and how easy life becomes when you aren't worrying about "where are my keys?". The photo on the right shows the key chain in the breast cancer awareness pattern. Thanks to my good friend Alissa at www.mymommypaints.com for making these keychains!

... will overcome their injuries together!

Since our 18 mile run I've only been out for three 5 mile runs - but they were all great runs! Thanksgiving threw our schedule off a bit but the biggest challenge has been ..... no, it can't be! .... INJURY! Aaaaaah! After 9 months of training and the marathon only 6 weeks away this is a bit devastating! 

After our 16 mile run, Josh noticed a bit of pain in his right shin. He was thinking/hoping it was shin splints. He continued to train but two weeks later after the 18 mile run he was really uncomfortable with every step and even walking was not normal. He went to his GP who also was thinking shin splints but the radiographs revealed there was evidence of a stress fracture. Ugh! Grrrrr! Hmph! He was told there was no way he could run the marathon. However, he is getting a second opinion tomorrow by an orthopod just in case. Keep fingers crossed! At the very least we are hoping he will be able to recover enough in 6 weeks that walking isn't painful and he can attempt to walk the marathon in under 7 hours. So our 20 mile run this weekend was postponed ... just in case the he is told tomorrow that it is shin splints and to keep running ... but I will pick up there next weekend and continue on. Josh did dig up his mountain bike out of storage and got it tuned up so I won't be ALONE for my remaining two long runs. Isn't he great? :) This will also give him a way to cross train while running is not an option. Although devestated he will likely not be crossing the finish line running, he is remaining positive my looking to swimming, biking, spinning and personal training as a great way to cross train. He has always said he wanted to do a triathlon!

My own difficulty is not in the same ball park. As opposed to acute and affecting my ability to run, my problem is chronic. I have had trouble with my right lower back and hip that is triggered by laying down. This obviously affects my ability to sleep! I've tried different beds, not running, pillows in an amazing variety of configurations. Nothing makes a difference. I have had radiographs, MRI, consults with physiatry, trigger point injections, SI belt, and 10 weeks of physical therapy. No better! Ugh! Grrr! Hmph! And the most frustrating part is that no one knows what is wrong with me or why laying down is the problem because laying down usually makes back problems feel better. Their response? "That's weird" Not REAL helpful. So I sleep sitting up - again thanks to an engineering feat involving 6-7 pillows. Many theories have come and gone - as I mentioned before - my bed, my running, iliosacral inflammation, and the latest - diastasis recti. What is this latest hypothesis? Diastasis recti occurs most often after having children. The connective tissue between the abdominal muscles stretches out and doesn't return to normal. So down the middle of my stomach I have a space between my "six pack" muscles (although they NEVER looked like that even in my best shape!) that is three inches wide and 5-6 inches long, where there is nothing but a thin piece of connective tissue. The theory is that this makes it impossible for me to have a stable core, no matter how many sit ups I could do, this space will continue to make my abdomen unstable and weak and so my back has to compensate for it. 8 more weeks of physical therapy with a focus on this diagnosis and we will see where I'm at. If not improvement they will refer me to a surgeon. If it is improving I continue with PT. But the bottom line? It is just a theory - no one really knows. 

Luckily for me I am still able to run. I am incorporating more cross training and doing less running and Josh has obviously switched to only cross training until further notice. Josh says you don't know how much you like something until you are told you can't! Now every time he drives along the charles he watches the runners go by with envy. 

Chin up! Keep plugging along doing what you can and that is your best and is great! We were never out to break any records, just to finish, to raise money for breast cancer, and to make a healthy change in our lives. And even if Josh can't RUN the marathon, we can still accomplish all of our goals. Hip hip hooray!

.... is back! Where we've been and where we are going.

Sometimes "life" gets in the way of things. And so it goes. So I had to blow off a few cobwebs from our blog before beginning tonight. Where have we been? What have we been up to? I will try and give a quick summary!

Summer training continued fine. There was no real answer to my question "how will I get my runs in?" I took it day by day and jumped on any opportunity to get out there. Sometimes I took the baby with me when he got up early, other times I'd head out while he napped and my parents watched the other two. Josh and I might trade off, he would head out and I would be ready to go the moment he stepped back in. And our long runs became our date nights. We would have our baby sitter come and head out for 8, 10, 12 miles at 6 at night. Ah! The things you can do when it stays light out until 8pm! Not a romantic candlelight dinner but it was time alone together that we both really looked forward to. Don't we know how to have fun?

The end of summer, the start of school, and our trip to Yellowstone led us into a 3 week slump of little running. I've been having trouble with my back when laying down so this unintentional break allowed me the chance to evaluate if running was part of my problem - it wasn't. So when October 1st hit there were no more excuses and it was time to hit the pavement.

Squeezing in our runs continues to be a challenge. I don't know anyone who has "free" time, and neither do I, so I just made the decision to find "some" time. It is never ideal, you just need to make it work. We continue in the same fashion as we did over the summer. We take it day by day and if the week is getting ahead of us and we haven't gotten runs in then we make a more concrete plan. I run 3-4 times a week and Josh usually 4-5. Some weeks being better then others of course!

Josh spent the late summer and fall experimenting with "barefoot" running in Vibram Five Fingers. I also have a pair and have run up to 5 miles in them but am not the diehard Josh is. He wears his to work and everything. Hopefully we can get him to do a post of his own on this topic. It is a very interesting concept! They are particularly awesome in the rain.

We are now up to 18 miles. It is amazing how by adding a little bit each week you suddenly arrive at these huge numbers. It is almost a bit anti-climatic. When you have done 16 two weeks earlier and now you do 18 it is great, but I'm still the same old me. I don't feel like a different person. I don't feel like a "runner" all of the sudden. Just me. But that in and of itself is amazing too! That it is that ..... easy. We have continued with the Galloway method of run 4 minutes, walk one. We ran 18 miles yesterday and around mile 15 I started to feel the distance a bit. A little sore. Tough when you stop at a light because you notice the aches more. Ok so long as I'm walking or running. But every time the going got a little tough I just thought "ok, 4 more minutes - no problem."  And it isn't. And then we are done. We give each other a high five and a hug and walk up the hill to home hand in hand. Mission accomplished. We stretch, we are sore, but we did it. The next day we are ourselves again. Today I only feel a slight tightness in my right hamstring. I can walk, I can function. I don't feel how I imagined I would feel after running this far when we started this journey.

Hard to believe just two more long runs left before the big day! 

We have come so far. 

When we began this journey Josh was 54 lbs heavier, we could not run 3 miles in under 36 minutes (12 min/mile) and our long run was 5 miles. Today, we are eating healthier, are more fit (yet somehow I haven't lost a single pound!) we can do 10 miles in 94:60 (9:46 min/mile), our training run is 5 miles and our long run is 18 miles. 

WDW HERE WE COME!