November 22

I believe I’d be remiss if I neglected to mention one of my main motivations for running the Philadelphia Marathon. After seeing my buddy Rob at mile 18 of the 2008 Philadelphia Marathon, I had a passing thought: "Could I join Rob next year & finish a marathon?" While Rob was passing his post-marathon days with Double Stuff Oreo’s & Family Guy re-runs, I was looking to see when the 2009 marathon would be held.
Quick tangent: Why do they continue to make single stuff Oreo’s? I mean who goes into the store, looks at the single stuff Oreo’s that are RIGHT NEXT TO AND THE SAME PRICE as the Double Stuff Oreo’s and says "Oh, those Double Stuff Oreo’s have too much stuff in them….Thank goodness for the single stuff Oreo’s." No idea.
Anyway, upon my discovery that the 2009 Philadelphia Marathon would be held on November 22, I knew that I HAD to try to complete this 26 mile & 385 yard course.
November 22 was the date that President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas in 1963. Even though, I wasn’t born at the time, his death had a huge impact on my childhood. As children of Irish Catholic parents, my sisters and I felt the enormous sense of pride my parents had towards JFK & RFK long after their premature deaths. It went well beyond "having one of our own in the White House." At a young age, I can remember my Mom reading yellowed copies of the November 23, 1963 Philadelphia Inquirer and a copy of Life magazine to me, and telling me stories about what her, my Dad and my older sisters went through in the days after the assassination.

A little closer to home, November 22 also happens to mark a terribly tragic day in my own family. It’s the day my nephew Ryan Bolte passed away in 1996. Ryan was the type of kid an uncle loves to have: mischievous, silly, funny, but ultimately, not your responsibility. For the first six years of Ryan’s life, he was just a normal goofball of a kid with an infectious laugh and a surfer hair cut that he thought was too cool. My lasting image of Ryan was when his brother Erik was born. While my brother and sister in law Steve and Kathlynn were at the hospital, my wife and I went to Voorhees to watch Ryan & his older brother Richard. When word got to us that Erik was born, we decided to celebrate and allow Richard and Ryan to have a little red wine. While the older Richard cautiously poked at the wine with his finger and lips, the younger Ryan picked up the glass, drank it down, slammed the glass down and let out an emphatic "Ahhhhhhh!!"
At age six, it was discovered that Ryan had an inoperable brain tumor, and at age eight, he was gone. Both of my kids have the middle name Ryan in his honor.
While I’m struggling through the streets of Philadelphia on old and tired stems, I’m sure Ryan will be watching over me and will never be far from my thoughts.
39 days to go…thanks for reading,
Curls

Bad Sneakers and a Pina Colada My Friend

For a few weeks I’ve been having a bit of knee pain after I run. Thankfully, it hasn’t really effected me while running (maybe the last few miles), but afterwards is really when I would start to feel it. After longer runs, I’ve been walking around with a similar stride as my Mom….trust me; this is not a good thing. Also problematic, was the fact that I don’t have hours to sit around and ice my knee down. I’ve read that you should probably change sneakers every three hundred miles or so. I haven’t been keeping track, but I’m sure my present sneakers have well over five hundred miles on them. The cynic in me tends to be a little leery about taking the "replace your sneakers" advice since the people telling me I need to buy new sneakers, are the same people selling me the sneakers. Finally, I got off the wallet & took my boy Hal’s advice: "Practice makes perfect. Practice not only running, but everything else related to race day. That includes equipment. Do you know what shoes you'll wear on race day? Buy a new pair now!" Okay Hal. Message received. I hit The Haddonfield Running Company on Monday for a shiny new pair. Guess what…my knees feel remarkable better and my Mary Alice gait is quickly becoming a thing of the past.

The other item I must address is the Phillies taking the NL East Pennant last night and how I’ll be able to watch playoff baseball for the third year in a row. While I’m beyond thrilled at the prospect of watching the Phillies chase another World Series title, I’m a little concerned about how this will affect my training for the marathon. Late night baseball watching with family and friends while beers are never in short supply just happens to be in direct conflict with marathon training. Due to MLB trying to bleed every cent out of their advertising dollar, many of these games will not start until at least 8:30, while it’s not uncommon for the final out to be recorded well after midnight. In reviewing the first round schedule, it looks as I’m catching a break with relatively short runs or rest days following most Phillies games. We’ll see what happens if the Phils make it to the NLDS, but for now I’m please that I’ll be able to enjoy Phillies fall baseball while not interrupting my training too much.

Fifty one days to go….thanks for reading,
Pat

Verbal

One other thing.
Remember in The Usual Suspects when Verbal Kint leaves the police station at the end of the movie? After limping along for several yards, his leg starts to straighten out and he’s able to walk normally. It just occurred to me….with my sore knee, that’s EXACTLY how I’m walking now. When I stand up, my knee is stiff and painful, but after a few strides, I’m okay. Thankfully, this doesn’t bother me too much while running or I'd be looking for Kobayashi to drag my sorry butt into the Jaguar.
Still fifty eight days to go.
Pat

One Step Beyond

With the onslaught of fall, a few things start to occur around the South Jersey area that I truly love: Cooler weather (although this mornings run was made more difficult due to heat and oppressive humidity), playoff baseball, fall foliage, outside fires, football at any level, comfort food….I could go on & on. The other this that will occur is the training miles required for the Philadelphia Marathon will begin a serious spike up. This Saturday’s training under the Hal Higdon plan will require me to complete 15 miles.
Shouldn’t be a problem, right? After all, I completed 13 miles just a few weeks ago & felt pretty good afterwards. The only cause for concern is one indisputable fact: I’ve never run more than 13 miles in my life.
I’m hoping that every stride after 13.1 miles will carry with it less knee pain & more a sense of accomplishment. Fifty eight days to go.
Thanks for reading,
Pat

PDR or PBR?

Sunday morning one of my favorite runs, The Philadelphia Distance Run will take place. A few of my friends will be running, but I’m going to sit this one out this year. The PRD coincides with my daughter Faith’s birthday, and it’s always difficult to pull of and organizing a children’s birthday party with ice bags strapped to both knees.
It’s supposed to be beautiful weather Sunday morning, so I’ll be thinking of you guys as you make your way through Old City, past The Art Museum & transverse both sides of the Schuylkill River. Before you know it, you’ll be at Boat House Row, and then just up the "hill of pain" to the finish back at The Art Museum.
Good luck to everyone & thanks for reading,
Curls

Lone Wolf

One of several of my motivations for running the Philadelphia Marathon was I knew how fun it would be to toe the line, joke during the many miles & the share the thrill of crossing the finish line again with Rossi, Ron, Kate, Rick, Harry The Hat, Ira & Rob Haney. While my training has been progressing nicely, the camaraderie I was hoping for on November 22 is in serious jeopardy. Registration for The Philadelphia Marathon was topped out at 18,000 & closed last week before many of my friends were able to register. While some of my friends are going to take less than honest methods in order to get on the course, others have decided to sit this one out. Undeterred, and since I signed up in April, I’m pressing forward with my training.
Week 8 is behind me. Thirteen fun filled miles were completed in the early hours Saturday morning. In years past running a half marathon would have put me in the Lay-Z-Boy for several days. However, this time I felt surprisingly good afterwards. The Hal Higdon training schedule really does work. Runs of 3, 7 & 4 miles await me this week, and a fall-back run of 10 miles is coming up this Saturday. After that, things get kinda intense as I’ll be averaging over 30 miles a week cumulating with a 40 mile week right before Halloween. Talk about scary.
Thanks for reading,
Pat

You Talkin' To Me?

Ahh, the cool weather of September has arrived right on schedule. I was able to completely enjoy running three miles this morning while temperatures hovered in the high 50’s. When I made the decision to run The Philadelphia Marathon, one of my main concerns was training in the heat of late July & August. A slight measure of relief is upon me as I know (for the most part) cool runs await me for the remainder of my training.

The mileage is starting to pile up now as I’ll be running 24 miles this week. The Hal Higdon training schedule I’m following offers this nugget of advice for week seven:
"You'll be able to accomplish tomorrow's long run much more successfully if you are rested and ready. This means getting a good night's sleep tonight too. Social considerations aside, you probably don't want to hang out all night at the bars, then be forced to get up the next morning and train hard. What's important in life to you? Make that decision and follow up on it."

It looks like the old boy Hal was may have had Rob Haney, Ira Krassan, Rossi, Ricky Haney, Ron Rossi, Harry "the hat" and me in mind when he penned that paragraph. With football season upon us, I have to make more of a concerted effort to pass up one last beer and the forth quarter of the Tulsa / Tulane game in lieu of a good nights rest.

Thanks for reading,
Pat