Surviving the Pope and a 5K

Welł it's Sunday around 9pm, and all is well in Philadelphia and the suburbs. The city didn't burn down, the Delaware River didn't turn blood red, and no locusts were sighted. Everything went swimmingly well. All the major roadways are still closed till tomorrow morning, but the Papal visit is over. Good job Philadelphia! The warnings were all bark with no bite. And I'm totally okay with that.

I'm not catholic, or very religious, but think the world of Pope Francis. What a truly kind, genuine soul. He brought tears to my eyes when blessing disabled children, going out of his way to hug a little girl, and how he brushed off lunch with congress, to eat with the homeless. I hope his kindness was contagious and folks try to give a little back to their communities and neighbors.

And now to somehow try to transition to the 5K I ran today..,,

For the second year in a row I ran the Get Well Gabby 5K for fighting childhood cancer. It's a great race for great cause. Last year it was the first 5K I did after having Victor. It was POURING. This year, sunny, upper 60s, and a nice size crowd. I ended up running it in 24:31, 6th overall, 3rd female overall, and 2nd in my age group. I'm pretty happy with that! Wished I got a medal, but it's not about that. It was medal enough to see my son at the finish line! Yeah that sounded cheesy. Glad I ran it, and I'm happy to help the cause.

The Pope is Coming!!! aka Pope-ocalypse

First off, I hit a new PR yesterday on the Schuykill River Trail. Six miles in 47:40 and I was averaging a 7:57 mile. I'm very happy with that! And yes, I was without the stroller. My mom walked Victor with I was running. 

Philadelphia is starting to FREAK out. Not that the Pope is on his way, but out of sheer fear that the whole city is shutting down. After Friday night, once you're in the city, you are stuck in Philly until Monday night. Same with the suburbs. If you need to get into Philly, you can't. Barring medical emergencies. This is slightly concerning to me since Victor's doctor and hospital is not going to be accessible. But, I'm not stressing about it. He's been good all week.

Anyways, we've pretty much have been told to prepare like a snowstorm is coming. Get your eggs, bread, and milk before they're gone. My township and surrounding townships have declared a state of emergency this weekend. And I live about 20 miles away from Center City Philadelphia. Crazy! Even my trails and bikepaths are under a state of emergency. They're one of the only ways into Philly. A TON of bikers are coming into the city to see the Pope that way. All the major roads are closing down Friday night with the excepting of I-95. I-95 runs from I'm guessing around Maine to Florida. I imagine you can't close that road down. Public transpiration is shut down getting into Philly, unless you have a special Papal pass to ride the train. It's going to be so nutty this weekend! Let's see how the Papal visit  goes! There's also a rumor he might be traveling to an all boys, troubled youth school/parish that is about 2 and 1/2 miles from my house. It will be totally chaotic here if that happens. It would be really cool though! 

Hopefully we'll all survived the Pope-ocalypse!

Getting Back in the Groove

Last week was Victor's surgery, so I didn't get many runs or workouts in. I more or less ate hospital food, sat around at his bed side, and slept on a pull out hospital couch for about 3 nights. Not the most comfy, but I've slept on worse. His surgery went well, but his post-op, not so great. 

He was released the day after his surgery, and seemed fine, but quickly declined to not eating or drinking, having his belly cramp, and vomiting. Last Sunday night/Monday early morning after three calls to the on call urologist (who didn't help too much) I drove him back down to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's ER. The ER doctor was courteous and friendly, but was truly of "weekend shift"quality. He wanted to discharge us 20 minutes after an enema and halfway through a course of forcing pedialyte every 5 minutes for an hour down Victor's throat. When I asked to stay a little longer to let the enema set in and to finish his hydration run, he still insisted on pushing us outta there and told me that I could change a poopy diaper in my car. What a complete asshat. I kept my cool, and thank god Victor then threw up twice. The head nurse intervened and admitted him after the vomiting. 

Victor spent the rest of the day, till Wednesday afternoon at CHOP.  More or less he had constipation and his intestines weren't working correctly. The pain meds were constipating him, so he didn't want to eat/drink, and he would also be in pain. It was a vicious little cycle. He received excellent care from all the awesome nurses and doctors, and was more back to normal by Wednesday. And so far, so good. He still has some bouts of gas. At the beginning of October he will get his stent removed from his ureter, and hopefully everything will be working normally. Fingers crossed.

I did get a couple runs and a lifting session in to blow off some stress. Friday and Saturday, I got in 2 runs. Friday I ran, while my mom walked with him in the stroller. It funny how running can be so mental. I ran 5.85 miles in 48 minutes averaging an 8:12 mile. One of my faster times in a little while. I wanted to get back fast enough in case Victor started to not feel well. He was fine and enjoying his walk with my mom. Saturday, Zim watched Victor while I went out for a 5 mile run. I finished in 41 minutes, averaging an 8:08 mile. Again, I didn't want to be out long and had another fast run. Never the less, it felt good to get out and pound the pavement for a little while!

Hot September

The last two weeks have been pretty damn hot in good old Philadelphia. And when it's hot, I run earlier in the mornings. Between 8-9am hasn't been too bad. It's been a little humid, but it's been quite enjoyable. I'd run even earlier, but I'm not going to jostle an infants belly around right after breakfast. Wouldn't be too smart. I've been averaging 5-5 and 1/2 miles per run, with a pace around 8:45 with the stroller. I'm happy with that.

I also went back to the dumbbell/barbell workouts for the past two weeks. It's been good, and kicking my ass. It usually consists of 5 different exercises, with the first two exercises having 5 sets of 7-10 reps, the third consists of 4 sets, and the last two having only three sets of 12. Then about 5 minutes of abs. 

Then three days a week, I'll box at night. At the boxing gym tonight, I had a great workout. After jumping rope and hitting the speed bags after 5 rounds, I got to work with my friend and fellow coach Jake. We worked around in the ring for 4 rounds. And I learned a few things that I can work on at home. Mostly blocking shots and working out of corners. I finished with 3 rounds on the heavy bag and called it a day. This was also after a 5 and 1/2 mile run this morning. My body is spent. Always happy to have more knowledge in the sport. I usually coach the new, younger kids, and just teach the basics. Good to add to the arsenal!

Happy Labor Day and stay cool out there!