31 days after another injury...

September 5th...31 days later...finally run/walk again for the past week and today I ran a full 3 miles. Damn muscles...not the "big" ones that get all the attention like your glutes, abs, biceps, calf or thigh. It is the little muscles like the piniformis and hip abductors that cause me to have problems!!! Again, it is a lot like life. People can get the "big" things right. But it is the "little" things that trip us all up!

September 17th...I've been running every morning for the last 6 days!!! 3 miles daily until today, Saturday, I ran 4.266 this morning. A little pain in my left hip. I stretched my piniformis and the pain went away!! I'm looking forwards to resting tomorrow!

Looking back I ramped up the mileage to early for this old body of mine to take it. I have some patience but not enough to keep me from biting off more than I can chew.

48 days till Marathon day!!! Ok, I have no chance of qualifying for Boston (that will have to wait till next year) but I can take my time and enjoy running my first marathon this year.

For now I guess I will celebrate the end of a full week of running and look forward to Monday!!

When the Starting Line is the Finish Line.

I did 8 miles on my long day! When you look at your training plan and see what is about to come I wonder if I can do it. I worry about another injury. I wonder if I'm going to over do it and get another injury. Mostly, I worry about another injury...a lot!!!

I'm beginning to believe that the hardest part of a marathon is just making it to the starting line in good health. I'm thinking that running the marathon will be the easy part.

Of course I'm a newbie and don't know what I'm talking about but Hey, I'm just talking out loud here.

So what if I've bitten off more than I can chew? So what if I'm in hopelessly over my head? It's just like life. If I knew what was going on and what to do all the time I wouldn't need to read, call mom for advice, talk with others, or my personal favorite, figure it out as I go along. Sure it's not a great plan for success but at least I'm doing it. I am trying. I give up sometimes, get hurt sometimes, but I'm trying no matter what.

I think that is what makes the marathon such a great event. It's the trying. It's the beginning. It's the starting that makes the marathon great. Finishing is great too, but to decide to commit to weeks of training, to DO the weeks of training, the planning of race day, the scheduling of work time, family time, illness, unexpected troubles, injury and to persevere and arrive in good health at the starting line on time, on race day...Yes, the starting can be a finishing line too.

Well I'm officially back! It took six weeks but I'm back in training again! I've been running for 2 weeks now. I'm having physical therapy two times per week as well. I did a long run on Saturday with the Savannah Striders of 6 miles in 62 minutes! OK, not very fast but I did it. I did walk a few times. I made the mistake of running on a full stomach! My stomach hurt off and on all day. It was a hard work out and I wasn't feeling good but I'm glad I put the effort in because what if it was a racing day? What if I feel bad and have to race? These long run days are a great practice for the real thing. The humidity and heat are pretty bad (Temps are well into the 80's by 8am, Humidity is over 70%!) I did 1 hour of Jivamukti Yoga this morning (Sunday). I needed the rest but Yoga is still a lot of effort, albeit "gentle" effort. (I hope David and Shannon won't be offended-Jivamukti is not "gentle" but it is low impact!)

Karen and I walked the first half of the marathon! I took several pictures. The course has a lot of asphalt. Some concrete and a few hills made up of mostly overpasses but there are some low, grade hills. A couple of train tracks to watch your footing at. We walked about 14.2 miles in total. Karen kept commenting that we were going the long way around and how inefficient the course was. She thought she could cut the first 13 miles to about 5 miles. I had to reminder her that it needs to be a total of 26.2 miles or it isn't a marathon....Her hips were quite stiff for about 2 days.

Stretching is really important in preparing to run a marathon. I used to stretch maybe 5 minutes before running. Since my injury I've worked up to about 30 minutes or more of stretching before a run. I try to warm up with 5 minutes of jogging in place before stretching but I don't do that every time.

Nothing like an injury to show you how marvelous the human body is! How delicate a balance we have in our bodies and how even one little thing can knock that balance out. But I'm awed at how with a few simple things you can bring a body back into balance.

I used to think that if something in my life happened to "lose my balance" that I would tailspin and crash, give up, quit or worse- Dig in and stubbornly keep maintaining the actions or attitudes that cause the imbalance in the first place.

I'm learning that the world won't end if something goes wrong. That the situation is a speed bump in life not a dead end, certainly not the destination - the end of that particular journey. If I need help, then I need help. Working with Theron, the Savannah Striders, and Coastal Therapy I am able to get help. Not necessarily about running so much as living.

It's funny how a little change can bring a life of a person back into balance.

Tomorrow is a Speed Day!! See you at the track!!

They say that when you train for a marathon you will have injuries. I got my first one 6 weeks into training. I was doing footwork drills like butt kicks and high knee lifts. Then I did some side to side shuffles when I stumbled and pulled my gracilis muscle on Wednesday. Now I am to rest up to 3 weeks!!! So I went to the gym Friday and did situps and weight lifting as cross training. Woke up Saturday morning and I'm limping every time I walk! I guess I need total rest. This sucks!!!

Oh well, could be worse. The marathon could be in a few days instead of months away so I should count my blessings!

Theron, from the Savannah Striders, is right..."Just run, leave that fancy stuff alone!"

Savannah Marathon Tip #2: The course for the Rock and Roll Marathon in Savannah has very few hills! Just a few overpass and on/off ramp kinds of hills for the most part. Mostly asphalt with some concrete will make this a good course for beginners and those running with injuries.

Here is the course map web site: here

Here are the turn by turn directions for the marathon: here

Keep running!!! Keep it simple!!!

I guess I'll just sit here and rest!

I will be back soon!

Why a Marathon Now?

I just turned 44 last month. 2 days later I found out that a Major Marathon is coming to Savannah!! I could never forgive myself if I didn't run a marathon that was in my own backyard! So I did it. I signed up. Paid the entry fee and on November 5th I will be running my first marathon at the Inaugural Rock and Roll Marathon here in Savannah, GA!!!

I have alot of fears and concerns. I'm 44. I last ran over 20 years ago and I got hit by a car which damaged my right knee. I am a Type 1, insulin dependant diabetic. So I've got alot of questions and concerns about my bodies ability to handle the stresses and endurance. I am a Vegan/Vegetarian who has been without caffeine for almost 4 years now so food is a part of my mix as well! Alot of "sports" drinks and gels have caffeine! Choices Choices Choices

I started reading every book I could get my hands on about Marathon running. I love my library. I've read almost every book on running and training that they have plus magazines like Runners World.

I've spent the last 3 weeks working out at the gym to see about keeping my knee strong. I've been doing alot of cross training with weights, circuit equipment (the inner and outer thigh master especially) to strengthen my quads and hip abductors. I also used the cycle and elliptical machines to save wear and tear on my knees.

Last Saturday I ran, for the first time on the road for 3.2 miles!! My knee feels great!! This Saturday I will be running at Lake Meyer Park with the Savannah Striders running club for the first time!! I guess there is a race this Saturday too so some of the runners will be there at 5:30am instead of the usual 6:30am time. Go figure.

If you or someone you know is coming to Savannah for the Rock and Roll Marathon let me know! I will help if I can.

Racing tip for Savannah, GA #1: Bring allergy medicine! This is the South and November is still allergy season for people like me with outdoor allergies!

May 2010 Sorrel-Weed House Ghost Tour

We finally went on a Ghost Tour in Savannah! We took the Paranormal Tour inside the Sorrel-Weed House. We learned about the Hamilton Inn and the hangings that took place in the original Jail of Savannah (which is now office space!!) and the 10,000 people buried in the Colonial Cemetery that only has around 600 headstones, which begs the question of where are the other 9,400 other dead bodies? The answer is pretty creepy!!!. Anyways we had a good time, learned a lot of history and would take another tour any time. I would take a night time tour next time since during the day time we didn't have anything really happen. P.S. we found a Gellato place that makes Vegan Gellato!! It is called Mr. Koolz and it is where the tour starts so come down and enjoy a Haunted History Tour and a cool and tasty Gellato!! P.S. wear the Penguin suit for 20 minutes and get a free Gellato! ( of course I will post the video on you tube to preserve the event forever!)

Vegan Red Velvet Cake

Happy Easter 2010!!

The batteries died in our camera! Sorry, no video for this one. We love this cake so I will film it later and add the video at a later date.

Not everything vegan is healthy but since most chocolate and Peeps are not vegan we had to do something!! This tastes great and is not too sweet or too rich. I had to play with a few recipes to get it right. A quick shout to Savannah Magazine Jan/Feb 2010 for having the best cake recipe to work with. Karen's grandmother gave the frosting recipe to her.

This is NOT healthy but it tastes oh so good!!

Red Velvet Cake

2 1/2 Cups All purpose flour

1 1/2 Cups sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. Cocoa powder

3 tsp. Energ Egg Replacer

Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl.

1 1/2 cups canola oil

1 cup almond milk

2 tsp. white vinegar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 ounce red food coloring

Blend all liquid ingrediants together then add to dry.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray your cake pan with vegetable cooking spray, then add 1 Tbsp of flour and tap the pans until all surfaces are covered with flour. Divide the batter evenly between the pans ( or just put in a 13x9 pan like me!). Bake between 25-28 min.

Butter Cream Frosting

1/2 cup Crisco all-vegetable shorting (read the labels the cheaper ones have beef tallow!)

1/2 cup vegan butter

1 cup sugar

add very slowly 3/4 cup almond milk and beat until well blended.

Please frost your cake now and eat!!!