I'm from Northport.. a small town on long island. every summer they hold the 'great cow harbor 10k'. i grew up hearing abou this race.. 'ooh, it's so hard' 'runners come from everywhere to run the cow harbor race'.. whatever.. i never had any interest because i hated running and figured that watching people run was even less exciting than actually running!
well, now that i'm a runner of sorts i figured it was only right that i run this particular 10k. i wasn't really worried about it, i've run 10k before. heck i've run 20k. this was just another training run. until my mom called me early in the week from florida to ask if i plan on running the course before the actual race. she offered the name and number of a friend who has run it in case i wanted to get the ins and outs of the race.. what the heck?! i lived in northport for the majority of my life.. i know the roads. i know the hills. i know that james street seems like the hardest part, but that the long slow incline of waterside ave. is actually the part that kicks everyone's ass. no, i don't need to call someone.
friday night i headed out to my parents' house to spend the night there. i thiink my mom asked me 3 times 'are you nervous?' then all her friends at dinner asked 'are you nervous?' no, i'm not nervous.. or i wasn't. this is just another training run!
i woke up at 6am to the sound of rain outside. sucks because i did not bring any warm clothes. i figured that the race itself wouldn't be a problem but the waiting to start would be cold. as i applied heat to my calfs i watched the early morning weather report and they said the rain would be moving through within the hour. i had 2.5 hours before the start of the race so i should be good.
this is a hilly run, and the first mile is almost all downhill which explains why the next 5 seem to all be uphill! everyone seemed to sprint off the start, and i knew that if i kept up this pace i'd be bummin by the end. my legs were really bothering me and i was trying not to limp down the hill on scudder ave. i just kept praying that my legs would loosen up soon!
my family was waiting for me at the bottom of the hill on james street which was a nice boost going into the hill. i was trying to smile and not limp, but apparently the limp was pretty obvious. my dad said he had doubts that i'd be able to finish, and to tell you the truth so did i.
my goal was to get to the top of the hill.
then my goal was to get to the end of ocean avenue.. a long flat stretch before a big downhill. the bottom of the downhill was waterside. waterside was supposed to be the killer, but it also meant i was on my way to the finish. i made it to waterside, but it was not pretty. i tried to drink a cup of water but managed to snort it up my nose instead. passed a girl puking. passed some people walking. i got to waterside, and instead of killing me, my legs loosened up finally and i started to feel good. right as i neared the end of waterside i had a surprise fan call out my name and wave which gave me the boost i needed to make it up the hill at the start of main street.
the top of this hill meant literally 'all down hill from here!' and the final stretch to the finish!
the music pushed me on, and then i heard a guy come up behind a small group of us and shout 'ok guys and gals, lets finish this thing!!!' GOD BLESS THAT GUY!!!! i was rockin now!
i dont really remember much about the finish other than i wanted to be running strong to the final step, and i started crying as soon as i hit that marker.
i am really not sure how i am going to finish 26 miles. i'm saying it out loud now. i'm not sure i can do it.
this is not me backing out yet, but it's me starting to face the fact that my legs just might not let me. we'll see.. cross your fingers.
miles run: 6.2
finish time: 1:01:15
song that saved me: 'feelin good' by muse (and that guy!)
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Thursday, September 13, 2007
it's official
i booked my flight to San Francisco for the marathon!
Last night I went out to run a new route in my neighborhood.. it was time I extended my short run so now I run south to 155th. I can run along Edgewater which has a park running along the east side. This way I don't hit any lights for my entire run. I've also realized that I can even extend it down to 145th, turn around and run to the top of amsterdam, around the school (up that steeeeep hill) and home for a nice 6.25 miles.
The weather in NYC has been amazing the past couple days and I've been off work, so I'm trying to work out and walk my dog as much as possible!
carry on!
miles run: 4.3
new songs added to the play list : 6
Last night I went out to run a new route in my neighborhood.. it was time I extended my short run so now I run south to 155th. I can run along Edgewater which has a park running along the east side. This way I don't hit any lights for my entire run. I've also realized that I can even extend it down to 145th, turn around and run to the top of amsterdam, around the school (up that steeeeep hill) and home for a nice 6.25 miles.
The weather in NYC has been amazing the past couple days and I've been off work, so I'm trying to work out and walk my dog as much as possible!
carry on!
miles run: 4.3
new songs added to the play list : 6
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
what i learned by mile 14
so i now know that i need to rig some kind of pouch for the marathon to hold my gel packs and ID etc.. the fanny pack i was wearing started out a little annoying.. this soon turned into chaffing on my waist. i will probably cut the belt off the fannypack and velcro it right to my shorts.
i also know that i will NOT be wearing thong underwear when running 26.2 miles... enough said.
i also know that i will NOT be wearing thong underwear when running 26.2 miles... enough said.
Monday, September 3, 2007
sorry, i lied..
well, i haven't lied to most of you, just not been completely honest.
This training has been WAY more difficult than i've let on. I was afraid that if I said it out loud i'd give in to the defeat I was feeling. My legs have been killing me. the stress fracture leg (left) has been surprisingly strong.. it's the right leg now. The 'hamstring tendonitis' didn't seem to be getting any better even with 2 weeks of rest and regular PT. The fact that it hurt just to walk around town was killing my motivation to even try to run.
Last thursday I went to see Michael for a PT session. We discussed the training schedule and I told him I was planning on running 12 miles on friday before i left for vegas. This was indeed the plan... i set out to run after work (and pre party) on friday and only managed to complete 3 miles. It was hot, my leg was sore and my mind was on the party taking place at my apartement in 4 hours. I was more than dissappointed with myself.
Vegas is a difficult place to run in.. late nights and tripple digit temps are all anti-motivators!
Thursday I woke up early and got a 3 mile run in on the treadmill plus 15 minutes on the eliptical machine before heading to the airport. Better than nothing i guess, but it was definitely not going to get me close to 26.2 miles. I was really seriously considering giving up on this marathon thing all together. I didn't voice this to anyone for fear of making it real, and people agreeing with me.
I decided I would give it one last shot on saturday morning. If i couldn't manage a good solid long run (10+) then i'd give up. I booked a last minute appointment to see michael on friday to get myself in good shape for saturday. He asked me how vegas was.. how the run on friday was.. how far i'd run.. my answers were 'great, good, and 12 miles!' two out of 3 were lies!!!
the group was planning a short run on saturday of only 6 miles. the said that if we were behind schedule we could run longer, but we'd mostly be on our own. I got to the park at 7:15am. I figured i'd start running alone and then finish up with the group. The plan was to run a full loop (6 miles) first, the second loop i'd cut across the 102nd trarnsverse (5 miles), then the final loop I'd cut across both transverses (4 miles) for a grand total of 15.
15 miles breaks every rule the coaches have been telling us.. only increase your long runs by 1-2 miles.. don't push yourself too hard.. etc.. but, if i was going to stay on this mission i had to prove to myself that i could do it.
the first 6 were a little tough. it took most of that time to loosen up my hamstring. but, i was not running too fast just wanted to get it done. outfitted with a new nike watch, i checked my time at the end of the first loop. i was running under 9 minute miles!! It didn't even feel fast! This gave me the boost i needed to get into the second loop. the park started filling up, and i started seeing some TNT'ers. Cap and Flash passed me twice, a little frustrating but i just used their smiles to push me along into the final loop.
BRUTAL!! my calfs were starting to burn and my fuel belt was chaffing my stomach ( have i mentioned i HATE fuel belts.. i'm trying to invent a new system before the marathon) and now my right quad was cramping or something.
After 2.5 hours I finally made it to the drink cart on the corner of the 72nd street transverse!!! an orange gatorade was my prize :) I was hoping the coaches would be around to share in my non-defeat, but they were all gone already. my big surprise was that roxy was on bag watch duty, and was being delayed by some other runners needing fundraising advice! She was excited to hear about my run, and of course asked 'did michael say you could run that far??!' ha, if michael had known, the answer most def would have been 'are you crazy?'
Yes, i am crazy.. and in desperate need of a massage.
miles run: 15
hours run: 2h 29m
money won in vegas: $136
This training has been WAY more difficult than i've let on. I was afraid that if I said it out loud i'd give in to the defeat I was feeling. My legs have been killing me. the stress fracture leg (left) has been surprisingly strong.. it's the right leg now. The 'hamstring tendonitis' didn't seem to be getting any better even with 2 weeks of rest and regular PT. The fact that it hurt just to walk around town was killing my motivation to even try to run.
Last thursday I went to see Michael for a PT session. We discussed the training schedule and I told him I was planning on running 12 miles on friday before i left for vegas. This was indeed the plan... i set out to run after work (and pre party) on friday and only managed to complete 3 miles. It was hot, my leg was sore and my mind was on the party taking place at my apartement in 4 hours. I was more than dissappointed with myself.
Vegas is a difficult place to run in.. late nights and tripple digit temps are all anti-motivators!
Thursday I woke up early and got a 3 mile run in on the treadmill plus 15 minutes on the eliptical machine before heading to the airport. Better than nothing i guess, but it was definitely not going to get me close to 26.2 miles. I was really seriously considering giving up on this marathon thing all together. I didn't voice this to anyone for fear of making it real, and people agreeing with me.
I decided I would give it one last shot on saturday morning. If i couldn't manage a good solid long run (10+) then i'd give up. I booked a last minute appointment to see michael on friday to get myself in good shape for saturday. He asked me how vegas was.. how the run on friday was.. how far i'd run.. my answers were 'great, good, and 12 miles!' two out of 3 were lies!!!
the group was planning a short run on saturday of only 6 miles. the said that if we were behind schedule we could run longer, but we'd mostly be on our own. I got to the park at 7:15am. I figured i'd start running alone and then finish up with the group. The plan was to run a full loop (6 miles) first, the second loop i'd cut across the 102nd trarnsverse (5 miles), then the final loop I'd cut across both transverses (4 miles) for a grand total of 15.
15 miles breaks every rule the coaches have been telling us.. only increase your long runs by 1-2 miles.. don't push yourself too hard.. etc.. but, if i was going to stay on this mission i had to prove to myself that i could do it.
the first 6 were a little tough. it took most of that time to loosen up my hamstring. but, i was not running too fast just wanted to get it done. outfitted with a new nike watch, i checked my time at the end of the first loop. i was running under 9 minute miles!! It didn't even feel fast! This gave me the boost i needed to get into the second loop. the park started filling up, and i started seeing some TNT'ers. Cap and Flash passed me twice, a little frustrating but i just used their smiles to push me along into the final loop.
BRUTAL!! my calfs were starting to burn and my fuel belt was chaffing my stomach ( have i mentioned i HATE fuel belts.. i'm trying to invent a new system before the marathon) and now my right quad was cramping or something.
After 2.5 hours I finally made it to the drink cart on the corner of the 72nd street transverse!!! an orange gatorade was my prize :) I was hoping the coaches would be around to share in my non-defeat, but they were all gone already. my big surprise was that roxy was on bag watch duty, and was being delayed by some other runners needing fundraising advice! She was excited to hear about my run, and of course asked 'did michael say you could run that far??!' ha, if michael had known, the answer most def would have been 'are you crazy?'
Yes, i am crazy.. and in desperate need of a massage.
miles run: 15
hours run: 2h 29m
money won in vegas: $136
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