So, whats it like? Well to be honest... alot of motion. Its nothing like I expected. Yes, it was a ridiculously hard run, and I thought I was going to feel like hell during and after I finished, and I didnt! Before Sunday, 16 miles was the longest distance I have ever run and I thought that run was much harder. Granted, I ran in Central Park and battled the hills on the 16 miler, but 20? I never would have fathomed running 20 miles in my life before! I figured, the best way to tackle this 20 mile run would to rest up and just not think about it. If I thought about it, I know I would have psyched myself out. (hmmm.. I find myself flashing back to swimming again!!! DONT PSYCH YOURSELF OUT!)
So, I approached my 20 miler like this - Saturday, relaxed and made a way wicked awesome Lasagne, watched Patrick Swayze (R.I.P) movies and just chilled on the couch. Oh how it was difficult to stay in on such a beautiful night in the city! Considering it was the last official weekend of the summer, you couldnt ask for nicer weather and yep, my dedication to the marathon kept me "chillin" on my couch, ha! But thats okay... I got to enjoy the weather on Sunday from sun up to sundown and beyond...
Sunday morning, my alarm went off at 5:45, yess!!! I got to sleep an hour later than all those Upper East Siders who always get to sleep in when we run in the Park, wohoo! Still not thinking about all the horrible things that could go wrong on this run, I ate my banana 2 pieces of dry toast and a salt packet (breakfast of champions, huh?) and headed for Brooklyn. Madrigal and I hopped on the 4 train headed to Flatbush Ave and got off the Borough Hall stop in Brooklyn to find a bunch of fellow teammates wandering around trying to figure out what way to go... after walking in about 6 circles and looking at maps on our Blackberries and IPhones, we figured it out and found Cadman Plaza and the team. Sunday, everyone seemed especially awake and talking about how nervous they were, how they hoped they had enough Gu's or Shot Blockers or if they drank enough water. What was I thinking? I was thinking, dont let all these people who are all worked up break my mentality. I got my Powergels and my Gu Chomps. Thats all I need and I know I drank enough water.
Finally... after a quick warm up and discussion of the course, we broke into our groups and headed for our journey... over the Brooklyn Bridge, down the FDR past the Staten Island Ferry, through Battery Park and up the west side allllllllllllllll the way to the George Washington Bridge (and the little red Lighthouse, of course) and back to the Boat Basin at 72nd Street. Phew! Thats a mouthful!
My group consisted of the 9-9:30 miler's lead by Coach Brian who, by the way has a goal to run a marathon in all 50 states while taking photos. Who does that!? Anyways, back to the run... The idea is to be able to hold a good pace throughout the first 15 miles of the run, and then, if you have anything left you can pick up your pace. Mile 1 and 2 are always the hardest and thats where I wanted to appreciate the run the most. Up and onto the Brooklyn Bridge, the views were amazing! Clear blue skies, they NYC Skyline, the ferries, the copters, the views of the East River and Statue of Liberty - REMARKABLE!
After the 2 initial miles, I can feel my legs and body loosen up and get in motion. Over the bridge, into Manhattan and through battery park were a breeze. Onto the Hudson River Park path and along the Jersey City views, it became difficult to keep that 9:15 min pace. Everyone was warmed up and felt great so it was much easier to want to run faster. Good thing we have Claudia with us! She is so good about keeping at pace so she constantly yelled at us, "your going too fast!" "slow down!" at one point, I think she even pulled my arm and looked me dead in the face telling me to take it down a notch! it is so easy to get carried away and want to sprint it out at mile 5,6,7 but then realizing that we arent even at the half way point, it was great to know that Claudia was going to stick to that 9 minute or so pace. Finally... after running down the west side to what seemed to be endless, we come to our halfway point at the Boat Basin. This is where the group split up into 2 smaller ones. after sucking down some water, a powergel and praying my stomach doesnt turn sour, we ventured on the second half of our journey to 178th Street - The George Washington Bridge and the "little red Lighthouse" under the bridge. Let me just tell you how deceivingly close that bridge seems when your at 80th st. When your at 125th street, it looks just as close as it did at 80th. Ugh! still another 60 or so streets to go! As much as it seemed to take forever to get to our infamous landmark, I got to see so many parts of the city I have never seen before. We ran along the west side highway, past where the Cruise ships dock, past the Intrepid (which is enourmous!), and past the Fairway Market at 125th where all I can think about is Dinosaur BBQ which is right across the street! Oh how I love that place!
Knowing that the bridge is approaching; Matt, Anisha and I contemplated our plan of attack for the last 5 miles. The 3 of us felt pretty awesome being about 14 miles into our journey so we decided to pick it up a notch for the last 5 miles...
Finally!!! The little red lighthouse is in sight! We run up the dirt path under the GW and touch the lighthouse and break free from the group. 5 miles left at this point and most of it is straightaways with one hill. We booked it! We ran the last 5 miles at 8:22 pace, thats almost a full minute faster than the previous 15. Who knew listening to Claudia whenever she said we were going way too fast would pay off in the end... thanks Clau for being our pace nazi! Ahh, and we finish! What an incredible feeling knowing I just ran 20 miles and I feel like I didnt over-exert myself. Yeah I was tired, but to know I just accomplished something I never even dreamed I would do, was such an exhilarating feeling. Total time to complete 20.25 miles = 3:05.22 - and that includes all our water/regroup stops. What a confidence booster for the marathon. Will I break 4 hours? You bet I will!! So, what does a girl do after running 20 miles on a Sunday morning??? Brunch of course! Its Sunday, Sunday Funday! If you asked me where we went to eat, I couldnt tell ya... all I cared about was food and bloody marys flowing. Yep! Instead of rehydrate, dehydrate more! liquor please! Sacrificing a social life to run turns into catching up after the run! After brunch, Madrigal and I headed home to shower and hit the town again. Football was on and bars were crawling with people, so we met up with Cristina drank a couple of pitchers of beer while watching the end of the 1 o'clock and beginning of 4 o'clock games and then headed uptown to yet again to meet fellow TFK'ers. Matt and Sondra were nice enough to invite a bunch of us up to their rooftop to BBQ and watch the games. Sometimes I feel like my Running teammates are like my work teammates - I see more of them than I do my own family. But, then again... they are family now, my running family. After another wonderful day spend hanging with my teammates drinking, eating, swearing at the tv... it was time to call it a day... Monday was only a few hours away and I was dreading it already...
20 miles - check
football - check
foood - check
enjoy the awesome last weekend of summer - check
bed - check
another day in the RUNNING life of lee.. leesh.. ap.. blondie.. whatever you call me..
taking it easy for a bit...
lee
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