who you callin a cow?!

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!)