Sunday, April 11, 2010

My Very First 20 Miler 20.20 mil (3:49 Hrs)

Piece of cake, I don't know why people cry about 20 miles..  HAHA.. LOL yeah right..

Ok, ok.. So my ego ruled over everything else.. but lets call it "determination":-). I actually woke up at 10 to 7am today, but I kept stalling the getting out the door part. Finally around 7:10 I managed to get over it and got up. I took my time getting ready :), I ate 2 slices of hole wheat bread and a glass of gatorade. Right before I put my shoes on, Jocelyn woke up and was a bit mushy, so I could not just say no. She asked me to put Veggie Tales for her and thats how I managed to get out of the house.  My ankle was hurting even before i left the house, so I decided to go really, really easy. I usually have a hard time starting slow, but today it was easy to do.

My original plan was "lets gain as much distance and time as possible without taking a walk" well, when I got to the park, a bunch of morons had unleashed a few pitbulls and they were running all over the place. This cause not just me, but 6 other runners (2 guys and 4 girls) to halt and walk with caution 'till we cleared them. after that we all pretty much ran together 'till we got to my 3rd mile. This is where we all split up, they went towards City Island and I kept going towards New Rochelle. One of the girls said "hey, why don't you run with us?" I said "why don't you guys come and do 20 miles with me?" they laugh and said "you crazy, but good luck". I saw my dad on my way to mile 4. He was already on his way back home. He asked how long was I running. He said the same thing the group told me when I said I was doing 20.. lol


As I was getting close to 5 miles, I began to think, "hmm if I can run 7 miles and then run around Glen Island to make 9, I will be able to pull 18 miles and it wont feel that long of a distance. As I got close to Glen Island I was still under 6 miles. I thought, maybe if I do a loop around the college and then down to Glen Island. However, as I got close to the college, I just decided to keep going straight on Shore Road and pull 9 at Larchmont as planned. I was ok and my ankle was not bothering me at this point. Between mile 8 and 9 I was so happy, I said "I am almost done.." but then it hit me. If I ran 9 mile and back that would give me 18 miles and I had planned to run around the neighborhood to put another 2 miles to make it 20. I was kidding myself if I thought I was going to be able to do this. If I was to do this, I would have ended at home after 18 miles and call it a day".. lol, I know myself pretty well. so When I got to 9 miles I decided to keep going for 10, but I got stuck at a traffic light that took forever.


From mile 9 to 10 it was like a magic trick. Really, it was like pulling it out of a hat, the pace was great. Slow but great at that distance with a bad foot. LOL I ran out of Gatorade so I made a quick stop at CVS to get one. (mental note; Bring more $$ next time I do a very long run) The freaking thing cost me $2.03 with tax and I only had $3 with me.. I thought I would have enough for 2 gatorades.. lol So I figured, "the first bottle lasted me 10 miles. I'll be fine" HAHA.. on my way back I passed the diner we usually go to with my parents and I was their car parked. So I went in to say hi really quick and use the bathroom to plash some water on my face. I took off, they caught up to me by the college again. At that point I was running low on my drink.. Ooops.. As I saw them pass, it was like my life flashed right before my eyes. I began to think "Why didn't I ask them at least for a $1 so I could buy another drink? Why did I say no to some food? I should have taken at least a toast... lol I got so stressed thinking about it that my run became chaotic at that point.

I ran out of drink at mile 15. Mile 15 to 18 were the worse, I got so hungry and so thirsty.. I began to get dizzy. I hate the idea of using the park's fountains, but at that point I just wanted water.. Shocking, the fountains were off. I got so frustrated that I was looking for a puddle. Then I saw and ice cream truck. I figure water was going to be $1 and the guy would not mind me paying only $0.97. So I went over and hoped for the best.. Lucky for me the guy remembered me from Thursday, the first thing he asked was, "Hey, where is your daughter today?" so I explained what I was doing and asked.. "How much is the bottle water?" he said "$1.50" HUH? you are kidding me right? he said, no, how much do you have? I said. Well, I thought it would be $1 and I was going to owe you 3 cents. So the guy said.. hmmm don't worry.. just give me what you got, I'll give it to you.. "I converted all over again at that point" all I could say was "Oh man, God bless you. You have no idea how much I needed this", so with iced cold water at hand, I resumed my run.. I tried to pick up my pace a bit, but the lack of fluids got to me big time, so at that point I only had 2 more miles to go and all I wanted to do was to just finish the run.



I got to the corner by my house and my Garmin vibrated announcing the 20th mile and I scared a few people that were standing on the street when I screamed.. "Ohhh thank God, I made it" lol  I got home and Joyce asked.. "was it a 20?" I said "you know it" so she gave me a really and I mean a really good kiss congrats.. :-) I showered and while I was showering Joyce made me a really good brunch.. 2 fried eggs/refried black beans with sour cream/ cheese/ 2 toast/ two slices of avocado and coffee. oh man oh man.. it was delicious. Now time to relax and enjoy a nice BBQ at my parents.. :-)

So 20 miler virgin no more.. woohoo..

4 comments:

  1. Congratulations, as I read ur blog, I picture the whole thing... U are so brave going off so far, shoot, i would have made sure i had enough for cab money for the just in case i dont make it back running. I am so proud of you! This is so inspiring... VH

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  2. HAHA.. funny.. and here I am thinking.. "next time bring $5 so i am sure to be able to buy more water for the run. LOL
    Thanks.. you should start running again.

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  3. well done israel. i hope this 20-miler gives you the confidence that you can do well in your marathon.

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  4. Marty: awesome bro.. It's so good to hear from you. Thanks for still following up on my runs, and thank you for the encouragement.

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