This picture has nothing to do with my running or the 15 miles that I painfully endured on Saturday but it makes me smile so I figured that was significant enough. This fine character, Hammy, is my favorite from the movie "Over the Hedge." I simply adore him because we both, "Love the cookie." (PS if you haven't seen the movie "Over the Hedge" which Hammy stars in...Rent It, NOW! I promise it will make you smile)So Saturday was an unfortunate day in my training. To say completing the 15 mile tour of the city I mapped out for myself was a struggle is an understatement. I woke up after getting a solid 9 hours of sleep (so its not like I wasn't fully rested), got myself together (properly dressed), and had some coconut water along with half a protein bar (proper hydration and fueling practice). Completing my "transformation" and putting on my "fuel" belt, handheld water bottle and nano armband with earphones in, I caught a glimpse of myself on the way out the door and looked comparable to someone waiting to be transported to another planet. I looked like a total weirdo but these "accessories" are what keep me somewhat functioning on these long bad boys. The first half of the run I must say was enjoyable and pretty cool too. I started out going down along the Hudson to the tip of the city and waved hello to Lady Liberty. Then I turned up the East Side passing by the Staten Island Ferry and crossing Canal St. I ran under the Brooklyn Bridge, the Williamsburg bridge and then I had to detour away from the running path along the East River because apparently they decided to stop it at 38th St... Not so great since my plan was to go up to 59th St and then cut over...Oh well...So I ran over to 1st Ave since I didn't have any other option (I would be insane to run on the FDR) and kept moving uptown along there. That is when my run started to take a turn. Having to stop and start up again at certain lights where I had to no choice but to stop or become roadkill, made it difficult to establish any sort of pace. Once I made it to 58th St I began cutting over to the park and thought the worst was over. Another sense of relief came over me knowing that there were water fountains for me to refill my water bottles. As I made my way up through the park to 72nd St, I was in pain but I knew that all I had left to do was make it over to the Hudson River to head back downtown. It sounded like smooth sailing from there....I was wrong. There were barely any trees for shade, so at 10:15ish, the sun was really starting to get hot as it beat down on my sweat soaked, tired body. I couldn't help but feel worn out and flat out exhausted. I did allow myself to walk and I took advantage of being able to drink plenty of water because there were multiple fountains along the way to refill if I needed. It was difficult to keep pushing forward when I couldn't help but feel defeated. Every 10 blocks or so seemed like eternity. I alternated between walking and mustering up energy to run. The last 10 blocks I literally cursed myself every step of the way to finish. Once I made it and could walk the rest of the way home, I didn't feel an ounce of pride because I felt like this time, the road won. I am not sure how long it took me but it took me longer than the pace I've been keeping and that was like another knife to the gut.
So, as I blog this, a couple days later, I do still feel defeated but I have this week and the next to pump myself back up before I tackle the next extremely long run which will be 17. This Saturday I have 11 which sounds like a breeze after 15, but to be honest, this is starting to get insane!
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