Tag Archives: ridley creek state park

Birthday Walk at Ridley Creek

Posted in Bailey, Hikes by

Last Friday was my birthday, woohoo!  Because we were entered to run in the Trinity 5K at 9AM Saturday morning we kept Friday’s celebrating pretty low key.  We got breakfast at Manhattan Bagel (my favorite) and worked a full day while hydrating like crazy for the race.  After work we took a nice walk with Bailey at Ridley Creek State Park before eating a pasta dinner and getting a good night’s sleep.  Here’s a photo of my Ridley Creek walking buddies… the perfect birthday companions!  🙂

380 Matt and Bailey

The weather was gorgeous during our walk.  Since we weren’t planning on doing any running in the park I brought my camera along to capture the beautiful autumn colors and my favorite photo subject, Bailey.  Here are a few of the photos I took:

Bailey my little GSP
Rain drops on a leaf
Yellow Leaf
Bailey looking regal in her new harness
Bailey looks so happy with herself!
Orange Fall Leaves

Bailey hasn’t been to Ridley Creek State Park since I hurt my foot in late September.  She was so happy to be out and about again!  She was sporting her new ‘walkeez’ fleece harness and she paused for lots of photo ops.  She’s such a good dog!

Bailey

Hiking in the park with Matt and Bailey was the perfect way to spend my birthday.  What’s your idea of the perfect birthday afternoon?

Limping my way to 400 Miles

Posted in Challenges, Race Recaps by

Last night I hit the 400 mile mark in my 100 mile iPad mini challenge.  Sadly I was not running triumphantly through a park or jogging confidently on the treadmill as I hit this milestone, though.  Nope, instead I was cross-training on the old beat up elliptical in my garage because my left foot hurts too much to run.  Boo!

After running the Run-A-Muck 5K on Saturday, September 21st I felt AWESOME!  Empowered by the completion of my first adult distance race I was unstoppable and super motivated to run, run, RUN!  And so I ran like crazy:

…on Sunday Matt and I ran 6 miles at Valley Forge National Park,

…on Monday before work I ran 2 miles on the treadmill,

…on Monday after work Bailey and I ran the 4.3 mile loop at Ridley Creek State Park in 38 minutes (a new record!!),

…on Tuesday after work Matt, Bailey and I ran the 4.3 mile loop at RCSP again, this time in 40 minutes.

Then I got home on Tuesday night and said, what the heck, I’ll run another mile on the treadmill, just for fun!  And that’s when I realized that the outside bottom of my left foot really REALLY HURT!  Uh oh…

Bailey was my running buddy during both days of Ridley Creek loops. I had her secured to me with a waist leash and I think she pushed me (or pulled me, actually) to run a little too fast for my own good!

Bailey was my running buddy during back-to-back days of Ridley Creek loops. I had her secured to me with a waist leash and I think she pushed me (or pulled me, actually) to run a little too fast for my own good!

Ignoring the stabbing, cramping pain in my foot, I woke up early on Wednesday and ran 2 miles on the treadmill before realizing that I might actually be injured.  I then did some internet-aided self diagnosis and determined that I am likely suffering from Peroneal Tendonitis.

In short, Peroneal Tendonitis means that the tendons that go around the back of my ankle bone down along the outside of my foot are inflamed and irritated.  This is apparently a classic “overuse” injury which makes perfect sense considering I ran over 20 miles in 4 days of 5K-induced euphoria.  Oops!

My Peroneal Tendonitis (or whatever it is) was causing some pretty intense pain along the outside of my left foot last week, so much so that I realized that it would be stupid to keep trying to run through it.  I had previously had a 4+ mile a day (walk, hike, or run) streak going since July 23rd but that came to an abrupt end last Wednesday.  On Thursday I slowly limped my way out to the old elliptical that we retired to the garage after getting our treadmill and I’ve been cross training on that all week.  😦 At least I’ve been able to keep my 1 mile a day streak going – yesterday was day 94 of that.

In addition to logging some quality time on the elliptical I’ve also been icing like a fiend (even under my desk at work!), and taking Ibuprofen.  My foot is feeling significantly better now but I am a little nervous about running.  I might start out with a really slow jog on the treadmill in the next day or two and see how that goes…

Here’s the official tally for this week.  Not quite what I wanted, but hopefully by my next post I’ll be back to running!

Miles since last post:  41.8
Days since last post:  12
Average Daily Miles since July 18th: 5.23
TOTAL MILES: 403.0

 

Related Posts:
•  Run-A-Muck 5K (9/22/13)
•  300 miles and a 5K in my future (9/9/13)
•  200 miles!  (8/26/13)
•  100 Miles in 21 Days! (8/7/13)
•  100 Mile iPad Mini Challenge: 49 Miles to Go! (7/29/13)
•  The Challenge Begins: 100 Mile iPad Mini Challenge (7/23/13)

Ridley Creek State Park

Posted in Hikes by

In honor of my 100th post (yes, it’s my 100th post!) I’m going to feature one of my very favorite hiking spots ever:  Ridley Creek State Park.  “Ridley Creek,” as we call it, is a 2,600 acre park located in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, approximately 15 miles west of Philadelphia.  It also happens to be about 2 miles from our house which makes it a very convenient place to enjoy nature while getting some exercise!

Ridley Creek State Park Map (TheLittleGSP.com)

Matt and I both grew up in this area so we’ve been coming to Ridley Creek State Park with our families since long before we met one another in college.  Come to think of it, we both spent SO much time here as kids that it’s actually pretty likely that we unknowingly passed each other on the bike trail or splashed around in the creek together at some point in our childhoods.

Ridley Creek features miles of secluded hiking trails, multiple family-friendly picnic areas, and a 4.5 mile paved trail.  The paved trail is popular with walkers, runners, and bikers.  The trail has mile-markers every tenth of a mile and the scenery along the way includes thick woods, cornfields, deserted 19th century stone houses, and, of course, Ridley Creek itself.  Matt, Bailey, and I walk this trail fairly often.  Most recently we went on Day 14 of my mile-a-day “Streak” and the next day I was definitely feeling the combined effects of the hilly 4.5 mile walk and my morning mile!

In addition to the paved trail, Matt and I also enjoy hiking in the much more secluded northern section of the park.  This area is usually utilized by horseback riders but we started to frequent it after discovering an off-road hunter’s parking lot (1) near our house last February.  The 4.25 mile trail can be a bit difficult to follow if you don’t know where you’re going but I love how sections of it makes you feel like you’re 100 miles away from civilization or, better yet, like you’ve gone back in time.  In fact, if you follow the gas pipeline right-of-way up the (very steep) hill you’ll actually come across a forgotten cemetery that hails back to the 1800s.  Cool!

If you’re ever in Delaware County looking for a good place to take a hike I’d definitely recommend stopping by Ridley Creek State Park.  If you have been to Ridley Creek before please let me know what your favorite trail is in the comments section below!  🙂

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