Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Crazy Kate - December 24, 2008

I hadn't run in weeks because of my bad knee, but I just couldn't take it anymore. I signed up for the Christmas T(h)ree miler last Sunday, which would be my first run in weeks. I was prepared for a very slow race with some walking if my knee hurt too much. However, the race was postponed due to weather and the race director, Jim, being sick. The weather was pretty bad. We had lots of snow on Friday, a little more on Saturday and there were flurries when I got up on Sunday morning. Instead of going back to bed I thought this was a perfect opportunity to give running a shot. There was no pressure to race and no pressure to run any specific distance. Also, with the snow on the roads I had the perfect excuse to run really slowly. It's almost 'what the doctor ordered', but not quite since I shouldn't be running at all yet. I headed out the door and set out on an undetermined route, which I could make as short as I wanted or if I made the full loop it would be about 3.5 miles. My knee hurt from the very beginning, but it did not get any worse throughout the run and it felt better for a few moments here and there. Landing on the very thin layer of snow felt really good because it softened the impact. I ended up doing the full loop and taking all the way back to my front door to make it a 4 mile run. Yahoooo!!!! I was thrilled. I did lots of stretching, iced my knee and took Advil. Over the past 3 weeks my knee has ached a lot one day and then been pretty good the next with no real rhyme or reason to which way it would be each day. Although the bad days have been gradually getting better and good days are coming more often. This run did not seem to change that at all so I don't think I did any harm.

I wanted to run this morning since I'm only planning to run about 2 days a week and today fit into my schedule pretty well. I turned on the weather channel to find out that there was freezing rain and that the roads were extremely icy. I knew that running in these conditions wasn't ideal, but I wanted to get in the run before PT and before I headed out to the grocery store. I knew that I would lose my motivation if I waited until afternoon so I proceeded to get my running gear together. Francesco called right before I headed out the door to say that PT had to be cancelled since the parking lot was like a skating rink. Now, I had an excuse to wait a little while before heading out, but I was all ready to go and was looking forward to the challenge of running on ice. Yes, I'm crazy!

I headed out and found the roads in my complex to be extremely icy. I kept going through different scenarios in my head for how to reschedule my day so that I would still get in a run. However, it came down to this being the best time. I figured that the road conditions would be much better once I got out of my complex. The roads were better, but still very slippery and a little scary. The downhill was the worst because I was afraid of picking up speed and not being able to stop. However, I took it really slowly and was enjoying the workout. I could feel my calves working harder from trying to run on the ice and trying to keep from falling. I thought it was very funny when I ran on the uphills because my feet kept sliding backwards as I tried to push off. There was a light rain throughout the entire run and the temperature was rising so I was starting to run on roads with puddles of water instead of ice. This made it safer, but also made my feet wet and my socks soggy. Towards the end I could feel my knee starting to hurt a little more - there was a funny feeling of something tweaking in there which was concerning me. The pain had moved and was getting closer to the outside of my knee when previously it had been on the inside. I was also feeling a little winded from working so hard and being a little out of shape. I decided to bring it to a walk right before I got to my complex, which gave me a 3.5 mile run. My knee hurt significantly when I first started to walk, but it gradually loosen up and felt better. I walked back to my place, stretched out, iced my knee, took a shower and then headed to the grocery store. It is now a few hours later and my knee feel pretty good.

I am planning to run the Christmas tree race, which has been rescheduled for Saturday morning.

Happy Holidays to All!

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Alter Ego at Brennan's Dec 13th 2008

Cheers to another fun filled night out with Alter Ego and guests!

Jon was feeling a little under the weather and needed a break from singing so Ed and Robbie came to the rescue.

Alter Ego - Tom, Hank and Jon
http://www.alteregomusic.net/
with Ed joining them on vocals



Ed (from Blind Rhythm)
http://www.blindrhythm.com/





Robbie and Eric (from PsychoMagnet)
http://www.psychomagnetband.com/



Robbie playing the guitar!




Time for a break.
Ed, Tom, Kate, Mark .... and Joyce



Back to work with Robbie on vocals





Jon



Hank (also in Blind Rhythm)



Robbie and Ed





Tom and Jon





Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Photos from Holiday Run for Kids - December 7th 2008

The Holiday Run for Kids race in Fairfield provides an opportunity for runners to contribute toys to needy children in the area. It has also become a celebration of Doc George Whitney's Birthday. This year he will be turning 90!!! Marty made arrangements with one of Doc's daughters to get the whole family to the race to celebrate with him. Doc has always been a 'fan' favorite at our local races. He has a great sense of humor and always has a slogan or two on his race shirts to make us laugh.

I was not able to run the race due to knee pain, but this gave me the perfect opportunity to take lots of pictures. It had snowed the day before so it was really pretty out with the snow still in the trees.

The Channel 12 news team was also at the race and ran the story on the news that evening and the following morning.

http://news12.cv.net/video/AC1207RT.wmv

Pre-Race photos

Richard, Paul and Gail



Bruce and Brian



Doc George Whitney / AKA Birthday Boy



Doc wearing one of his custom designed running shirts



Marty making pre-race announcements



Doc and Marty's Dad



Mark from Trailheads.com



Mark working with his daughters



Doc with additional sign made up by his family



Doc with his family



Andrea and Paul


Marty



All Runners at the start line with Doc at the front of the pack



Ready to go



Hank and Chris


Brian and Torpedo

Brian

Monica



Gail running with her dog 'Big Monster'


Larry



Doc coming around the first loop with Mike and Donna





Chris Dickerson from the Woodbridge Running Company coming in to the finish. Finished 2nd overall.



Brian



Torpedo



Bruce



Andrea - 1st female



Paul



Ronnie



Mike

Diane



Gail and Monster



Monica



Larry



Doc with family joining him











Channel 12 News Crew preparing to interview Doc









Gail





Doc preparing to cut his Birthday Cake