...ready to pack

Hello from our new spin bike! Merry Christmas! A mother must master the fine art of multitasking so I typing this during the "downhill" portions of my ride this am :)

10 days to go! I can't believe it! 9 months in the making and it is time to pack. Last night I read my final race instructions and watched the race instruction video. 

I figured out from my bib number, #7738, that I will be in corral D (out of Elite through letter I). I just missed the C cut off ( based on my ToT 13k time) but am actually glad. They have a split start for the first 3.4 miles before the two groups merge. The first group has corrals A through C which means I would start in the last corral on that side. Doing the Galloway we always fall back at the start and I could quickly be at the back ( our strength comes from pacing well and picking up speed as we go and a strong finish). But at D I'm in the first corral on my side behind the Elite runners, so there will be plenty of folks behind me!

Anyone interested can follow my progress during the race using my bib number at http://live.activeresult.com/msg/MSG-signup.tcl?event_id=3 I've heard in the past it lags a little behind but will give an approximation of where I am when. Taking into account photos with the characters along the way, and running 6.2 miles longer then I ever have before, I'm hoping to be at or under 12 min/mile. If my knee acts up I'm hoping to hobble a 15 min mile. If I drop below 16 min/mile average I'll be on the sweep bus!

The race day weather at the moment is a bit iffy. "Real feel" low of 32 and high of 59 and ... rainy. High of 59 is great for running but sitting around on cold asphalt in the rain, temps in the low 30's from 4am to 5:45 when we start sounds pretty yucky to me! Hopefully the weathermen aren't right this far out!

I have a new SPORTS physical therapist, Jake at Kennedy Bothers in downtown Boston. He came highly recommended by some friends and apparently works with many marathoners and 

local "celeberties" like Mayor Menino who was on the table across from me rehabing his knee.

My appointment lasted 3 hrs and included a very thorough exam, stretching, heat therapy, strengthening, electrostimulation, and icing down. I go back tomorrow!

I have $100 left to go to reach my fundraising goal so if you would like to make a donation please follow the link on the right! Or take a look at the keychains i our older post that we are selling to help towards our fundraising goal.

... is feeling a bit more confidant!

Well, time for some good news! 

Turns out Josh's leg has something in between a shin splint and a stress fracture ... a gray area they call severe stress reaction. This doesn't mean he will be able to run the marathon, but it does mean a faster recovery and increase chance of him being able to run the last few miles with me!

I saw my physical therapist and instead of focusing on my back we addressed my knee. No running for another week but ok to cross train. I went to the gym tonight and managed 3 miles on the elliptical at a decent intensity aerobically before feeling the slightest ache in my knee. I just quit right then while I was ahead before causing a flare up. But I was happy to make it to 3 since I was only a mile and a half into my run Sunday when disaster struck. So I am feeling a bit more positive! Off to hockey tomorrow and hopefully 5 miles on the elliptical Friday. 

I also wanted to thank everyone who has purchased keychains or donated money to Team AllEars and the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. THANK YOU!

Cailin

... wishes everyone a happy holiday season.

Well, here we are 4 weeks away from the big day and nothing is how we envisioned it. Josh cannot run the race due to his stress fracture. He is bummed. He has come to peace with it and he is moving on. 

Of my last few posts several have been about injury. I don't mean to be negative. I am a positive person! Turns out this is the time, near the end of the training, when injuries pop up. So we are not unique. This is just our story.

Let there be no doubt that short of a stress fracture or similar injury such as Josh has suffered where there is simply no way in which I can compete.. I WILL be competing the 2010 WDW Marathon!!! With that in mind ....... 

Then I went for a 20 mile run last weekend. The first 17.5 miles I was feeling great, very happy, thinking to myself "yes! I CAN do this" but then ..... my IT band started acting up .... " hmmm, this is hurting. Hmmmm, this is different then my normal aches during these long runs" then unfortunately "ouch! crap! &%*! I can not run" How devastating. I continued to try and run off and on but with little success. I finished the whole 20, but did not finish it running. I had a hard time walking for 2-3 days then seemed to be ok. I was suddenly feeling very concerned about being able to complete the marathon. I managed to squeak  2.5 miles in feeling crummy, but could I have gone almost another 9??? I don't think so! So my big debate was - should I attempt another long run before the big day?

This question is a mute point at the moment because, after a full week of rest, knee feeling 100% in my day to day life, I headed out for a 5 mile run and was stricken with the same pain only 1.5 miles in. Well now, I had NOT anticipated this. I thought I'd be fine for a short run, that I might run into trouble going over 17, but not over 1 mile! AAAAAH! I continued the same pathetic walk 99%, hobble run 1%. So now what? 

Well I am already seeing a physical therapist so instead of focusing on my back and pelvis, we will be paying some attention to my knee instead :) I will also be incorporating even more cross training. Seems most people can get through this fairly quickly so we will hope for the best. 

Tis the season so...

"put one foot in front of the other... da da da da da ... and soon you'll be walking 'cross the flooooor!" 

Till next time!

Cailin

.... is selling keychains!

There has a been a bit of activity in regards to my last post about raising money for breast cancer awareness and research. In response I have now posted pictures of other keychain styles that are also available for $8 each with the profits going towards Team AllEars: Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. If anyone is interested in any of the styles send me an email! Some of the styles are sold out and I will update the stock photos as soon as I receive them. Also, if you want a larger photo email me and I can send it to you.

If you would like to buy a keychain:

email me at cailinvet@mac.com

 (not the gmail address this blog is associated with - I don't check it that often)

And an update on poor Josh... his ortho appointment confirmed that it is indeed a stress fracture and he is now walking around in an aircast boot. However, the doctor he saw was a fancy shmancy hip replacement surgeon and didn't give him the time of day so he has made another appointment - this time with a sports medicine doctor more familiar with this type of injury and hopefully a little more compassionate! 

.... 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!