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Monday, September 24, 2012

I ran the NYC 18 Mile Tune Up Race!

I did it! I ran the 18 Mile Tune Up race and I rocked it!  More on that in a bit...
Let’s start out with Friday!  I left work, did a quick 5 mile run.  It wasn’t the best, my legs where a little rickety from the 7 miles on Thursday but as I said before I fell into my stride around mile 2 and finished at a decent pace, including a round of hills.  As soon as I got home I hopped in the shower and by the time I was finished my sister was there to pick me up.  We headed uptown to pick up my other two besties and off to the caves for dinner!  We had wine, talked and talked and talked and then woops we missed the movie!  No biggie though, it was worth it to catch up and have such a great time with amazing people.  Here we are a bunch of chooches sitting in our cave.  Can you tell which one just came from a run and quick shower?  Ah, yes, I got dressed in a flash and didn’t do my hair or make up, at least we were all wearing our best smiles!!!!

Saturday morning started off with a long walk with B and good ole Clyde.  It was a gorgeous morning and we got an early start because, we just do now a days!  One of my besties Kristin spent the night at our place so when we got back from the walk some quality chill time was in order.  About one hour of TV and full on laziness.  Let me tell you, we know how to do lazy right!  I had to get my bib for the race the next morning so we took a “quick” trip into NYC to get the goods.  Going uptown, a breeze, coming back, a nightmare!  It took us about 20min to get there and over an hour to get back.  I get why they close the streets for pedestrians to chill, etc, I really enjoy it actually, but dang when you are driving in NYC, it is a traffic smorgasburg!  Once we got back into Hobo I said goodbye again to my girl K and headed down to see my dad and step mom for dinner.  It was really nice.  My dad is about 10 on the tense scale but he means well and he has a good heart, just full on set adult ADD for sure.  When our bellies where nice and full and the Yankee game was over, we headed home.  I went to bed around 9pm...on a  Sat night.  I am that lame!  Not even B made it up to bed that early! 
At the butt crack of dawn I took C for a walk and B and I headed into NYC.  Yes, I got up at 5:45 to walk the dog, but we didn’t actually make it into the car (B had to load up his bike) until 6:45.  Um, the race was at 7am!  I got to 102nd street at around 7:05 but my stomach was rumbling.  I noticed some people still waiting for the toilets, so I jumped on it.  I did the deed (so gross but such a necessary part of training) then sprinted to the start.  They were literally rolling up the mats when I crossed the start.  It was about 19 minutes past 7am.  Ok so I knew I started 19 minutes late.  
After about ½ a mile there is a climb immediately.  It’s a long one about ½ a mile and its tough.  I will say training on with some hills defiantly gave me an advantage.  I remember doing the ½ Marathon in April and the hills really gave me a hard time right from the get go.  This time, not as much.  The first climb I made sure to remember to sike myself up each loop.  I noticed each climb we took and remembered the mile marker.  The first loop was easy.  I hit my stride as I was climbing in mile one.  I felt great.  I was passing a ton of people toward the end of the loop (this is because I started like dead last so I was catching up to people who are naturally a slower pace).  The weather was perfection, chilly, shady with a slight breeze.  Everything was going great and I noticed I was shaving time each mile. 
The second loop started, the first mile I didn’t shave off any time but I knew with the climb if I don’t add any then I will keep up for a great 2nd loop.  Then something happened, I started shaving 20 seconds at a clip each mile marker.  It was amazing I don’t remember the last time I felt so great running.  I started wondering was it running in the sun, the heat, what was causing this run to feel so much better despite the much harder elevation?  After I thought about it for a mile, I decided who cares, just go with it.  I saw B on his bike around mile 12 and he was so cute!  Taking my picture and cheering me on.  I cannot tell you how amazing it felt to know that you weren’t alone, at least it did for me, I’m a sucker for cheerleaders!

The third loop began and I caught up a lot, there were loads of people everywhere.  It was actually annoying.  All I can say is I was on cruise control.  My legs where tired but not down and out, my head was in a euphoric zone, my breathe was steady and constant.  I started breaking down my mileage.  One more mile then I only have a 5k, etc.  Around mile 16 I was getting out of the zone.  My legs and breathe etc was all good, I was just getting super bored.  Like I couldn’t focus on anything except finishing and finish I did.  I shaved some more seconds off those last two miles!  As I turned the corner toward the finish line I saw B there with a big smile on his face.  I was so excited!  I did it!  I did it under 3 hours to boot!  I even thought I could have gone more.  My official time was 2hrs and 56min running at a 9:48 minute mile pace.  I needed this badly.  My mental state wasn’t optimistic to say the least and this gave me faith back into myself.  I can do this.  I know I can and I will prove it on November 4th!!!!  Below is a pic of me as I'm about to finish!


After the run, B and I cleaned up, chilled and watched football all day.  Redzone rules and I recommend it to football fans.  Today I am going to go home and do a massive stretch session, some arm weights and crunches.  Then back to the running grind!  I did switch my days now.  All of my runs will evolve around a Sunday long run day, since the actual race is on a Sunday and this past week has been.

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