i've fallen and i can't get up...

ok, i haven't fallen. just wanted to give you all an update on my situation..

i went to see Dr. King at the Hospital for Special Surgery.. they've got some sports medicine gurus over there!

it was a funny scene because there are many people there getting hips and knees replaced.. old people. i was in the radiology waiting area sitting in a group of seniors that appeared to have all come in on the same bus. they were all talking about
colon cancer and tumors and -oscopys of all kinds. i felt like somehow my aging process was increasing at lightning
speed. when i thought i was going to scream they called me in for my xrays. the technician seemed as happy to see a young person as i was!

he took xrays of my ankle and foot which all came back clean. no major breaks for fractures. the next step is to get an MRI which is more likely to show a stress fracture (i'm still convinced it is not a fracture, but better safe than sorry). so we're waiting to see if oxford is going to pay for it or not. apparently they don't know that there are 26.2 miles on the line here!

in the meantime i am resting, icing and trying to lay off the girlscout cookies!

a little R 'n R

i can neither confirm nor deny their identities!

there were some great pics of the training session on saturday that i missed. this one clearly says 'we hate running without beck!'



i miss you too kids!

i am down but definitely not out!

i don't care what they say, brooklyn is FAR!

yesterday we were scheduled to workout in prospect park in brooklyn. i live in washington heights (no, it's not the bronx but close) so i was thinking my commute could take close to 1.5 hours depending on how the trains were running. this means i have to leave my house at 7 to insure an 830 start. figures the A train arrives quickly and is (surprise, surprise) running express today so i get to brooklyn in under an hour! now what?! i'm a half hour early! i walked around a bit looking for a coffee shop where i could sit for a few minutes, but found nothing so i set off for the park. that area of brooklyn is so beautiful. old brownstones, wide treelined streets. you could picture the cosby's living there for sure!

i haven't been able to run since last weekend's injury. It's been bumming me out. I'm feeling lazy and sluggish... running has really taken a hold on me I'm now realizing. I've taken a few hits lately, and was really looking forward to getting out there and working some of that stress out. i was a bit anxious because i was still feeling twinges in my leg, but ramon and i both felt that once it warmed up it would relax and i'd be ok.

not the case. i started out with roxie and the rookie and all of me was feeling great except my damn left leg which was screaming at me to stop. when i realized that i was literally limp-running i decided to stop. i sent r 'n r on their way and turned back. i ran into lisa my mentor who talked it through with me.. next comes ramon. he is my running guru.. we consulted and decided i need to see a sports medicine doctor to rule out stress fracures and figure out what the real problem is. he assured me that it is early enough in the season that i will be able to catch up and be fine for the marathon. lisa is an great mentor. she's always up, always got a smile and a hug and today she had both for me when i needed 'em!

i am trying to keep these words in mind as i sit here with frozen peas encasing my ankle. i see the rest of the group upping their mileage and gearing up for the brooklyn half marathon in a few weeks. i want to be there with them workin hard for all the money i have gotten as donations! and personally i've lost a few things that were important to me and am not willing to give this one up!!

so that the day was not a complete loss, i went to crunch and worked out with lamont on my upper body strength. told him to punish me from the waist up.. he's good at punishment that hurts so good. i rode the bike for a few minutes and have decided that spinning will be my recovery training. keep the cardio up and the spirits up.

please keep the donations coming and i will make you proud!

oh woe is the champ...

i am benched due to injury.. sunday and monday i was having trouble walking. dr. anselmi worked his magic on me yesterday and my leg is feeling much better, but it will still be a few days before i can run again. those of you who know me know that i am not very patient..but if i want to see this through i need to take the rest now.



here is the pic of my grandfather and me that aunt jane sent.. love.

UGH!

seems this has been the word of the day for 3 straight days now!

the snowstorm on saturday made running really unappealing, so roxie the rookie and i made a promise to do a nice long run today. last night when we were knee deep in guiness the rookie starts shit talkin.. 'we can do 10 tomorrow. easy!' i was like 'no way dude, the last long run i did was 6. i don't think i'm ready to make the jump to 10' roxie backed me up on this and added that there was really no need to push the schedule. we were really only supposed to be running 5-7 this week anyway. the rookie takes another sip from his guiness and announces 'we can definitley do 10... we're doing 12!'

it was a very slow start to the day and it would have been really easy to skip the run. at 2:30 I rallied and headed down to the park. i headed out alone since the rookie and roxie were both under the weather still. i planned to start my run at 102nd street and do a full loop. this would be 6 miles and that would be totally respectible. it started out a bit rough, but it was a BEAUTIFUL day out. 40° sunny and snow on the ground. i warmed up quickly and felt like it was all gonna be ok. the focus was not on running to fast, just doing the miles. at a mile and a half my left leg started bothering me, and at the 2 mile mark i couldn't take the pain anymore.

not sure what the problem is, it's pain that runs from the outside of my ankle up the side of my calf to my knee. unhappy i hopped on the subway at 59th street and headed home. completely discouraged i tried to tell myself that 2 miles is still better than no miles.

the good news is that last night when i picked up my mail i had a letter from my aunt jane.. along with her donation check she sent me a few old pics.. one of my cousin jess and i when we were about 2ish, a couple of my sister and i, and then one of my grandfather and i. i was about 2 and sitting on the arm of his chair and he's sitting there looking down at me. he had this big red armchair that he always watched tv in. i can still remember how this chair always smelled like his aftershave. it was like his throne. the pic is great and i can't wait to scan it and add it to the blog! tune in tomorrow!

miles run: 2
curses mumbled under my breath: 7

i heart ny

this has nothing to do with running.

tonight i was out ... it was st. patrick's day.. i am not usually up for drinking on st. patricks day (or halloween) which has something to do with my fear of dudes from jersey and being thrown up on. but, roxie sent me a text message and said the girls were meeting out at 5 at sketchers to seek out some cute irish boys and i was to come wearing my shamrock wristband (which i quickly pulled from the trash!). who was i to say no.

so, we made it through the night with relatively no drama (fainting sister turned out to be ok) and definitley no vomiting. so i leave at a respectible 1am... so now i'm competing for cabs with every drunk person in the city it seems.. i am not that drunk so i decide to walk a bit uptown. this turns into a 20 block walk. freezing in my boots. at 22nd st i decide to just stake claim to the corner and wait. finally a cab stops but it's only dropping off part of the group. i am determined so i hop in and say 'drive them wherever and then take me up to 171!'

i'm in the front seat which is weird in a cab because I'm on the other side of the glass! weird. at some point i realize we've dropped off all the other people so now i'm alone in the cab STILL on the wrong side of the glass! i don't know why this is awkward, but it is.. and especially since i'm going way way uptown.

we quietly listened to luther vandross on the radio. and when he dropped me off i tipped him nicely.

i scurried to my door and realized that the cab driver was waiting for me to enter the building. as i opened the front door, i turned and he was watchign through the open window and said 'you ok?'

thanks cab man!! thanks for the ride and the peace of mind!


miles run: still 0
blocks walked : 23
cute irish boys met: 0
farts inhaled in the bar: 48

obey!

6 inches of snow and ice delayed the saturday morning run, we'll be taking care of business tomorrow!
and my friends at obey just donated to the cause! shepard is an amazing artist, so it will make for some great tattoos i am sure!



miles run: 0
hours overslept: 2.5

happy st. patrick's day kids!

spring!

whoa! running last night in the park was great! the weather was beautiful, if dare i say, a tad warm. since all my running gear is winter gear i was not really prepared, but know better for next time.

last week when we were out drinking paco spotted my shoes and explained that they were way to heavy for someone my size. if i lightened them up i'd be faster, my legs wouldn't tire so quickly and i'd have a lower risk of injury. he assured me he doesn't get commission so i believe him. last night i went ahead and let him sell me a new pair of the GAYEST sneakers i've ever paid money for. they are white and silver with teal stripes.. really bad. the rookie took one look at them and said 'man, those are girly'... followed quickly by 'you look like you should be running the miami marathon in those things' followed later by 'damn, i think i saw some dolphins chasing you out there on that run'.

looks aside, they did feel good and the price wasn't too high so i'm happy. he threw in a free pair of socks to sweeten the deal. thanks paco!

the drill for the night had us focusing on breathing and effort levels.. the rookie decided that we should run with the intermediates which i hesitantly agreed to.. since i am still kind of sick i wasn't sure i'd be able to keep up. roxie and i ended up running the whole drill together which was a nice way to catch up on boy talk, running pitfalls, and the perils of keeping up with running gear laundry! the rookie's got some long ass legs so he left us for a faster pace.

when all was said and done we ran about 5.2 miles which was not too painful, and i'm ready to run some distance on saturday.

OH, more good news.. Jane Magazine has decided to sponsor my sticker campaign, so i have now passed the $2000 mark on fundraising! THANKS JANE! Donations are still coming in, and the list of donors keeps growing, but the more the merrier so please don't feel like your money isn't needed. giving feels gooood!



miles run: 5.2
temp: 66!
dollars spent on ugly shoes that look like eva longoria would love them: 82

super kawaii (that's super-cute in japanese)

i couldn't sit still any longer!

i got home and was feeling down.. i could sit here and watch idol or i could go out and attempt a run. so run it was. i've been coughing for days so i wasn't sure how far i'd get before hacking up a lung, but one mile is better than zero! i made it through the complete hood run and was fine at the end. felt really really good and i'm excited to run with the gang tomorrow.. even though ramone's drills sound hellish.

Got my first sticker donation! Cheers to 5boro.. steve gave me his board to make my first bag so it's fitting that he gives me my first sticker and donation! beck(y) hearts 5boro! as a special bonus he included this little article from a japanese fashion newspaper featuring a beck(y) bag.. most of you can't read japanese, but trust me it reads 'CRAZY RIOTS ARE BREAKING OUT IN THE STREETS OF JAPAN AS GIRLS FIGHT OVER THE SUPER CUTE BECK(Y) BAGS!!!!' .... trust me.





miles: 3.5
starting lung count: 2
finishing lung count: 2
number of times i listened to the same song on repeat: 7

stick it!

i finally finished my fundraising ads.. i couldn't decide between the 2 photos, so i've decided to use both!
letters have been sent out to over 25 companies in the action sports community, and a couple cool magazines too.
for each $100 they donate they can add a sticker/logo to my body for the marathon.

I'm only 5'1" so space is limited!!

to get more information or to sponsor me, email me at beck@beckycity.com





the health update is this.. i am still sick. hacking cough and a runny nose. i refuse to succumb to this, so i'm taking my cough syrup like a champ and am going to try to run tomorrow if it kills me! if it does start to kill me i'll find a nice warm seat somewhere with a nice cold beer.

sippin' on the 'tussin

just because i ain't runnin doesn't mean i ain't workin.

i have been fighting a cold and when i woke up saturday at 6:30am i was having a hard time breathing. since that was before i even picked my head up off the pillow i knew running was not really an option. i was bummed. seriously. i can't stand being sick, and i felt like this run was going to be a big one for me. as it turns out, the rookie ran 8 miles with roxie yesterday, i will have lots of making up to do for next saturday. can't be left in the dust!

all was not lost. i scheduled a photoshoot to get some shots to incorporate into the ad i'm creating to generate donations from the action sports industry. i work with lots of people in the skate and surf industry and as a way to bring in more donations i am offering to wear the stickers of any companies who donate to the cause. if all goes as planned i will be covered with stickers (that i will turn into temporary tattoos.. this will cut down on sweating and general irritation. i do not want to be irritated in any way while running 26 miles. seems that will be irritating enough!) just like all those skateboards i cut up everyday!

the photographer i worked with was berman fenelus http://aa.carbonmade.com his work is beautiful, and he happens to be working on a 'body culture' series which captures real women of all shapes and sizes who are strong and confident. so, we killed 2 birds with one stone.. he shot my ad and then will use additional photos for his series. cassandra came over and did my make up.. and boy oh boy did she work some magic on me!!! we had a great time, chillin and listening to music and taking pictures. they were here for a total of 6 hours which just seemed to fly. **i need to stop for a second and explain that i HATE getting my photo taken and am usually nervous as hell. maybe it was the cold medicine or maybe knowing that i was doing this for a good cause, but i was not as nervous as i normally am.

today it's a beautiful warm day so hopefully later i can get in a quick run around the hood between making bags.

miles run: 0
photos taken: 168
song of the day: price 'you've got the look'

count 'em!

yeah! i hit my first grand in fundraising!! it feels good to watch it all add up. i've gotten some amazing stories of people who have fought against Leukemia and other cancers. their stories are inspiring, and they will definitlely help me get out of bed on saturday mornings. And to all my friends who have donated, you now have license to call me out when i'm getting lazy!

today i am fighting off a cold, and i'm really hoping it does not cause me to miss my run tomorrow. i feel like i am at a crucial point in training where things are starting to feel more like a routine. if i break the cycle now it could be hard to catch up. my original plan was to go to the gym tonight but i think i will skip that and go to bed early. in the meantime i am loading up on airborne, tylenol cold medicine, cough drops and lots of tea and water.

tomorrow i have a photoshoot for my corporate donation campaign.. more details on that to come later, but just know that i am insanely shy infront of the camera. this is going to test the last of my nerves.. coming off a good strong run will give me more confidence i'm sure!

so thanks again to everyone who's donated.. you have found a place in the hall of fame to the right -->

sarcasm wednesday

wednesday night workouts are the best!

our runs on wednesdays are dedicated to practicing form and technique. last night was all about running with short quick strides. or as ramon described it 'tiki tiki tiki' strides. so we had to run for about 7 minutes tiki tiki style and then 2 minutes our normal stride.. now my question is, what is a girl to do if her 'normal' stride IS tiki-tiki?!

we ran back and forth between 87th and 97th on the east side of central park for about 40 minutes. it was cold, and after the heat wave last saturday it seemed even more torturous. i had a taste of spring, and i loved it. the upside to the night was that i ran with the rookie and so we got some quality catching up time in. i felt like i was holding him back, but he assures me that was not the case.

after the workout we had our first official team social at a bar on the UES. i headed over with the rookie and roxie had a pitcher waiting for us! it was a fun night, played some pool, made some new friends and found out that my running shoes are way to heavy for me. i kind of knew i needed new ones, but it's official now. luckily one of my new friends works at urban athletics so i am sure he will steer me in the right direction!

miles: 4ish
beers: 4ish

ice ice baby

knee hurts! i am sitting here now with a bag of frozen peas on it hoping it helps.

This weekend is full of running and bag making. yesterday i headed to central park at 8:00 for our group run. i was feeling really down and had only 4 hours of sleep behind me. the challenge for the beginners this week was 4-6 miles. we were given the flexibiltiy to choose our mileage and our route through the park. i was completely undecided... i wanted to run at least 5, mentally i NEEDED to run 6 to really work out all my stress, but wasn't sure my body would allow for anymore than 4. I set out alone and decided to try for the full 6 mile loop. if i got too tired i could always cut over 102nd street and make it 5.

Once I started running I felt pretty good. Concentrating on pacing myself and breathing. As I approached the 102nd street transverse I was struggeling with what to do.. 5 or 6? 5 or 6? I have never been above 102nd in the park and for some reason it scared me up there.. silly i know. i imagined it to be dark and very woodsy.. like some creepy haunted forest. i dedided I was going to go for the 6 mile loop but allowed myself to put my ipod on to carry me through the last half of the run. HOT DAMN! 6 MILES! now someone get me a seat..

The 6 miles did the trick, the anxiety level was back down and the feeling of accomplishment was great. once again exercise saves me from imploding! :)

I met Davey for lunch after the run, and due to some scheduling mix ups I got stuck downtown until 5pm.. in my running gear all day! Fashion faux-pas for sure! Davey was extremely amused and as usual was not shy about expressing his joy in my pain. i think all my running talk is rubbing off on him.. he's running again, and i expect some runs in our future. he gave me the good idea of getting my legs massaged regularly before the big saturday runs. since i don't need much convincing when it comes to getting massages, i'm calling to set up my friday appointment now!

today there was a quick 5k race in the HOOD! yay, i can roll out of bed and the start is literally 4 blocks away. I was planning on running my 3 mile hood route today anyway, so i signed up and made it official. it was a great run.. not so sure about my time. i felt like i was running fast, and making good time on the downhills but for some reason i think i came in over 30 minutes. can't wait to check the official times later.

oh, on a side note... guitar hero is my new favorite thing! a video game where you play guitar along with killer rock songs. i KNEW i was gonna grow up to be a rock star!!!! might have to get myself a playstation....


saturday miles: 6
sunday miles: 3 race time: 28:37
total hours spent in spandex: 12
total sk8bags made: 38

phew!

So the other day I sent out fundraising email letters to 50 of my closest friends to get this thing started. I waited and waited for some kind of response from someone.. anyone! Nothing. THEN, finally I got a donation from Jen! YAY jen! But I was feeling like 'man, no one cares that I'm doing this! and more importantly, no one cares that it's for cancer!!!'

Yesterday I found out that no one got the email!! I was so excited. I am not a loser, and my friends don't suck! Tonight it is movie night (too much wine last night, and an early run tomorrow) so I will re-send the email letters.. so all you non-sucky friends out there, get your credit cards warmed up!!


album of the day: nirvana unplugged (a little kurt in the morning does a body good)

day of rest...

miles: 0 album of the day: ok computer by radiohead (ahhhhhhhh)