Finally, Joe and I made a challenge: to spend $100 a week on groceries. Surely we should be able to make it work – there are only two of us after all.

This meant a couple things: Goodbye, Whole Foods. Goodbye, Di Bruno Brothers. Goodbye, Food & Friends $6 pints of Fro Yo. It was time to begin planning meals, creating a list, and sticking to Trader Joe’s.

So I made my list and visited TJ’s – no, I did not walk around TJ’s with a calculator. But I definitely compared prices and sacrificed some “needs” for “wants”. I noticed more than usual how much more expensive organic food is compared to “conventional” and made decisions on what was most important.

Organic Non-Negotiables: Milk, Whole Milk Yogurt, FroYo, Cheese, Chicken, Beef, Eggs, Apples, Spinach. We eat these pretty much on a daily basis and I won’t sacrifice our health for a cheaper price tag. Need a reason to switch to organic dairy? Read What to Eat by Marion Nestle. I’m sorry but you’ll thank me later.

As far as everything else, I’ll buy organic if it’s reasonable.

Other weekly shopping cart staples: Broccoli, Carrots, Brussels Sprouts, Onions, Peppers, Sweet Potatoes, Avocados, WW Bread, Nut Mixture, Dried Mango, Prunes, Veggie Burgers, Tofu, Hummus, Wild Salmon, Frozen Veggies & Berries, Peanut Butter (My favorite is PB&Co. The Bees Knees or Mighty Maple – not found at TJ’s so I’ll make a special trip to Whole Foods for these I don’t care), Olives, Pomegranate Juice, Soup, Cereal, Mini Whole Wheat Bagels, Almond Milk

The result?

Not bad! We’ll see how it goes this week. Hopefully we don’t begin to run out of veggies toward the end of the week otherwise I’ll panic.

Veggie/tofu bowl + hummus + WW peanut butter bagel as my reward. (Standard lunch)

In other exciting news, did you guys hear about this?

Have you seen that Taco Bell commercial where they mock the girl who brings veggies to a super bowl party? Okay, that is always me. I cannot tell you how thrilled I was when I heard this commercial was pulled. Not to mention I hate Taco Bell with a passion (yes, I just said with a passion), especially KBellHuts (cringe). They are everything that’s wrong with America. No, I am not a complete fast food hater. I am a respectful fan of Chick Fil A, Chipotle, and In N Out Burger. But nothing good can ever come from a visit to a KBellHut. Anyways. Triumph! Small victories. (preach)

GOTR Philadelphia - Sunday 2/3 Hot Yoga Donation Class

Speaking of Super Bowl Sunday, got plans in the morning? If you live in the Philadelphia area, before you indulge on chicken wings, beer, and veggies :), please consider attending my Girls on the Run Donation Yoga Class! This Sunday 2/3 at 8:00 AM at Dana Hot Yoga in Bala Cynwyd. $10 suggested donation - all proceeds will benefit Girls on the Run Philadelphia. Visit Dana Hot Yoga's website to register!

Q: What are you bringing to your super bowl party this weekend??

I apologize for the infrequent blog posts these days. Quite honestly I haven’t been running all that much since the Manchester City Marathon and sometimes find it hard to blog about running when I’m not running :) Also - I am working on some re-vamping and re-branding ideas for the site. I’m excited to kick off 2013 with a fresh start.

BUT! I have been thinking about Part Two of this blog post for weeks. Sorry to leave you hanging.

PART TWO: How to Come Back from a Double Pelvic Stress Fracture and Qualify for Boston

Where were we? OH! Neglecting my body while running way than I could handle, right!

Receiving my double SFX diagnosis left me angry, depressed, and distraught. I won’t lie, I sobbed like a child to my mom on the phone, “why does my body SUCK when I take such good care of myself? What will I DO for three months?! How will I run New York?? I’m gonna die.”

Drama.

Truthfully, telling a runner she can’t run for 3 months is pretty devastating. After a week or two of self-pity, I snapped out of it and decided to make a plan. A googled (obviously) similar injury stories and eventually learned that my stress fractures were likely on the less-severe end of the spectrum. Some people with pelvic stress fractures can’t even walk without crutches or have severe pain while sitting. Although the pain while running was excruciating, I could walk, sit, and bike without any pain whatsoever. I decided I would try to keep a level of fitness over those 3 months, and come the end of July, I would try running.

I also was able to recognize the factors that likely contributed to my SFXs and decided some things needed to change. I needed strength training. I needed yoga. I needed balance.

So here, my friends, is the recipe for how to come back from a terrible injury and train for a marathon:

(Again, If you stumbled upon this site while frantically researching your own injury, please consult your doctor before taking my amateur advice.)

1. Don’t Stop Being Active: Just because you can’t run doesn’t mean you have to sit on the couch and lose all that fitness you worked for. Not to mention you’ll go completely insane. During the months of May through July (get ready) I did the elliptical. Six. Days. A. Week. Yes, it sucked. Now and then I would throw in long bike rides, but I felt like the elliptical was the closest thing to running without the impact. But I got used to it. I developed some “interval workouts” and became a devoted fan of Gossip Girl (my rule was I could only watch GG while on the elliptical – which was obviously very motivating). Tip: Hold 2lb hand-weights while on the elliptical. It amps up the workout by not allowing you to lazily transfer your weight onto the handles. Also, it’s a great arm workout.

2. Strength Training: I believe the strength training regimen I adopted was the number one reason why I was able to train for a marathon this fall. During my 3 months off, I started Strength Running’s training regimen 2-3x per week which I also maintained throughout the fall when I started running again. I focused on strengthening my hips, glutes, and core. Also, I added dynamic stretching routines before every single workout as well as static stretching for at least 10 minutes after every workout. These are non-negotiables.

3. Yoga!: While I was injured, I found an amazing power (hot) yoga studio that I became a devoted member of. I started practicing hot vinyasa yoga at least twice a week and was amazed with how tough of a workout it was, but also how great it made me feel. Being able to devote 90 minutes to stretching a few times a week seems like such a luxury. I loved it so much that this past fall I started the teacher training at that studio, which required us to practice six times a week! So, yes, while I was marathon training I was also practicing yoga six times a week – I can’t help but think this was also a key factor in bringing me across the finish. (PS: I graduate this weekend!)

Return to Running:

4. Come Back Slowly: On July 22^nd, my twelve weeks were up (but who’s counting?). I decided I would give running a shot. I’ll never forget those first few steps. It was as if it was the first time I ever ran. I “ran” about 5 minutes on the treadmill, at a pace pushing 12-minute miles. It felt like my legs were disconnected from my body. This was incredibly humbling, to say the least. But I was in no pain, I just felt awkward. Throughout July and August, I s l o w l y increased my pace and mileage. I ran/walked 5 minutes off and on for a couple weeks. I was running 10 minute miles from there, and eventually got down to 9 min/miles in September. And it was TOUGH. Running was not fun for a couple months there. There were no “easy-breezy” runs, getting lost in thought, nope. Every run, every step was a struggle. But, again, I wasn’t in pain.

Around Labor Day, I decided it was time. I was going to begin a 12-week marathon training regimen. A plan that was equally conservative and aggressive depending on how you look at it.

5. 12-Week Marathon Training Plan: My plan was simple: Run the least amount possible. You can check out my Training Plan here. I only planned one 20-miler. I didn’t even consider speed/hill work until October. I cross trained on the elliptical when I could to give the body a break. Continued yoga 6x per week. Continued strength training 2x per week. Stretched every day.

Basically, all I did for three months was run, do yoga, eat, sleep, repeat.  

6. Diet & Supplements: Determined to maintain my weight, I began eating a lot when I started training. Diet included a daily avocado, red meat 3x week, lots of nuts, veggies, yogurt, whole grains, LOTS of peanut butter, and a froyo sundae every night. And chardonnay.  I also continued to take 1500 mg of calcium every day.

daily snack!

Towards the end October, I was feeling good. I was increasing my speed to 8:30’s pretty consistently, and running was becoming fun again. I knew that qualifying for Boston required me to run this marathon sub-3:35, which is roughly 8:12 min/miles. The week before the marathon, I didn’t really consider this a “real” goal. There’s a big difference between 8:30’s and 8:12’s – especially over 26 miles. My original goal was a 3:45 or so.

But then Hurricane Sandy happened. And then the New York City Marathon was cancelled.

What?

Panic.

7. Extra Motivation: At the last minute I signed up for the Manchester City Marathon scheduled for that same weekend. I was determined to run a marathon, any marathon. All I did for the past 6 months was think about this damn marathon. I felt so lucky that my friends and family were safe. But I felt guilty for all those who were affected. I also felt guilty and disappointed for my friends who were registered for NYC and who weren’t able to run that Sunday morning. I think that’s when I decided to just go for it. I was able to run. I didn’t have a stress fracture. Maybe that was the extra motivation and adrenaline I needed.

So, you just do it. I kept an average pace of 8:11’s and finished in 3:34:21.

And that is how you break your pelvis (twice) and qualify for Boston all in six months. 

After we made it up to Manchester on Saturday, we relaxed with my mom, sister, godson, and grandmother. It was awesome. No pre-race jitters. No anxiety. No pressure. Just gratitude. We ate a casual dinner. I had a glass of wine. And then we had birthday cake (someone is turning 30 this week, cough). I mean, it was just awesome. I went to bed at 9 and slept hard until my alarm went off at 6. (Sure beats waking up at 3 AM to catch a 4:30 bus at New York Public Library!)

Race Day

Now it was time to get serious and in the zone. Standard race-day breakfast and compilation of my race gear.  

Joe, my sister, and my two best friends drove me the 3 miles to the starting line. It was just awesome. (I’m probably going to over-use the word awesome in this post, so just get over it :)

It was chilly up in Manch, but the vibes at the starting line were so high. There were an extra 300 of us running who were misplaced from NYC, and everyone in Manchester was so welcoming. Huge props to the race director for making what I’m sure were last minute arrangements to accommodate a 50% increase in race participants just 24 hours before the race. I was standing next to a few guys were up from NYC and we all gave each other high-fives just before the gun went off.

The first mile was all downhill, and I think my first split was about 7:45 which was way too fast. There was also a half marathon option that started with us, as well as a marathon 4-leg relay. So people were running all different sorts of paces. The expression, “run your own race” never rang more true. I forced myself to throttle back, to remember the goal in mind.

Miles 1 – 10: The first 10 miles flew by. Around mile 6, the course suddenly turned onto a dirt trail in the middle of the woods. WTF? (Slightly different than running through Brooklyn.) We ran in the woods along a lake for a mile or so. The half marathoners split off at mile 10 - It was sad to watch them go and see our crowd trickle away, but I felt pretty hard-core being with the “fulls” for a change. At this point, my left knee was bothering me a little, but nothing too bad.

Although I typically don’t race with headphones, I decided to bring my iPod, as I heard the crowd was pretty sparse at most points throughout the course. I ended up listening to some music between miles 3 and 8-ish, when suddenly, my headphones broke. This is called Murphy’s Law, people. After a half mile or so, I completely forgot about it and eventually pulled my headphones out entirely.

Miles 10 – 16: Did I mention the course was insanely hilly? I trained for hills to prepare for the bridges and Central Park, but not the constant uphill/downhill battle that was the Manchester City Marathon. But, as crazy as this may sound, the hills actually gave me something to focus on, like mini-goals. “Just get to the top of that hill.” But, mile 15 was a b*tch. It was a gradual hill that went on for-e-ver. But at the top of that hill, I saw my crazy-ass cheer squad consisting of Joe, my sister, and my two best friends! They were insane. It was awesome.

Joe handed off a bag of Honey Stinger Chews and a bottle of Tailwind - bonus nutrition. Feeling great!

During the race, I took 3 Organic Honey Stinger Gels and a package of Honey Stinger Chews, plus a few swings of Tailwind.

Miles 16 – 20: Now is the point in my marathon re-cap where I finally tell you what my goal was: To qualify for Boston. I never said it out loud because I was still frightened from my pelvic stress fractures. I didn’t want to push it, considering my first goal was to just get to the starting line injury-free. My second goal was to PR (sub- 3:48). But, my ultimate goal was to BQ at sub-3:35. I knew I had to keep an average pace of 8:12’s. At this point in the marathon, I was accomplishing this pretty consistently. I knew I had a couple low-8’s in the bank from the first few miles, was still feeling great, and was having a freaking blast. I was smiling the entire time. At this point, I said to myself, “just make it to mile 20 at this pace, and then we’ll reevaluate.”

At mile 19 we ran through downtown Manchester again and I saw my cheering squad once again! Still smiling!

I also saw my sister holding my adorable little godson – it took everything in me not to run up and grab him to carry with me!

Miles 20 – 23: I still felt great and knew I could keep up the 8:12’s. Just make it to mile 25 – at that point it’s all about adrenaline anyways.

Mile 23: As I passed mile 23, I realized my Garmin and the mile markers were about 0.2 miles off. (My Garmin said 23.2 as I passed mile 23.) And then I panicked – was my math was wrong?! I would NOT miss BQ-ing by seconds. Only one solution: time to speed up. Nothing quite like having to speed up at mile 23 of a marathon.

The last couple of miles sucked. This was the only point in the race where I was not smiling. We were running along the river and the cold head-wind was whipping my face and legs.  I was ready to be done. And I was panicking about my BQ.

Mile 25: Before I knew it, we were back in downtown Manch, and the finish line was in sight. I finally knew I was going to do it. I sprinted the last 100 meters or so. I saw my husband, my sister, my mom, and my friends during this last stretch.

(I may or may not be crying in this picture.)

Official Time: 3:34:21 – HA! Suckas!

Needless to say, I was thrilled. Minutes after finishing, I found my family and friends for hugs. Within 30 minutes I was taking a hot shower, and within 90 minutes I was sitting at a bar with my support crew, drinking my beer and eating my burger. I had thought about that burger + beer many, many times over the past 6 months.

Life is very, very good.

For all of you who were unable to race on Sunday, I was thinking of you guys the whole time. I was thinking of all of you still running through Central Park on Sunday. And, of course, I was thinking of those who were affected by Sandy, and those who were volunteering in NY and NJ.

But I was also thinking of these past 6 months. I did it. I managed to get TWO stress fractures in my pelvis 6 months ago. I took 3 months off. But I was committed to training for and running a marathon on November 4^th. My first run after taking 3 months off was on July 20^th, at which point I could barely run a 12-minute mile for 2 minutes without walking. I completely changed my training program. I got smarter. I incorporated strength training 2-3 times per week. I started practicing yoga weekly, and more recently 6 times per week. I stretched every single day – and I mean really stretched. I stuck to a 12-week marathon training program, got a sports massage every other week, and did not skip a single strength training workout. 

They will tell you it can’t be done, but I am here to tell you – yes it can. Stay tuned for my upcoming blog post of which will be entitled: “How to Fracture your Pelvis (Twice) and Train for a Marathon Qualify for Boston All in Six Months!”

THANK YOU all for the tremendous support as I overcame the worst injury ever. Hearing your similar and inspiring stories truly helped.

We are runners. Running is what we do. It’s how we cope. It’s how we celebrate. It’s how we clear our heads, and how we define our limitless potential. Nothing can stand in the way of a determined runner. Not a stress fracture. Not two stress fractures. Not plantar fasciitis. Not Crohn’s disease. Not a ruptured appendix. Not a f*cking hurricane. You just figure out another way.