1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1=

20.

Basically I was a complete wreck going into this run. I woke up at 5:15 AM without the aid of my alarm because I was so nervous. At that point I didn't even know if I was going to run at all, and if I did, I didn't know how far I'd make it or if I'd be able to walk home. I went through the long run morning routine (coffee, toast with pb and banana), packed up my stuff and headed out.

The NY transit system was not on my side. Getting from the East Village to 168th Street and Broadway is not the easiest task, let alone at 6 AM on a Sunday. The L was not running, and there was no 14th street bus in sight. I certainly wasn't going to pay for a cab all that way... Solution: cab to 14th and 8th Ave and C train (local) to 168th Street.

One mission accomplished. Now to decide if I was going to attempt the run. I walked around the meeting area a while, stretched, jogged in place... still not sure. Decision time is rapidly approaching. Confer with Coach Adam who advises me to run with a slower pace group, wrap my leg, and do a combo of running and walking if my hamstring starts to tighten up. As the time winds down and the 10:30 pace group is about to leave, I make the decision that I am at least going to attempt this 20 whether I run it, walk it, or have to call a cab from jersey.

Off I went with the 10:30's (I usually run with the 9:30's). To be completely honest, during the first few miles I was ready to turn around. Having not run in two weeks, I felt totally out of it, my leg was hurting a bit, and the wind on the GWB was not helping the situation. I was finding it very difficult to get my rhythm and the thought of having 19+ miles to go scared the sh*t out of me. I decided then and there to take it one mile at a time, focus on that mile only, and at the end of each mile re-evaluate the current situation.

As we descended the hill into the Palisades Park, I started to feel somewhat better and I was definitely more ready to face this challenge. Then the first climb knocked me back down. I remember thinking to myself "there is absolutely no way I can finish this." But then it leveled off, and I just kept going. Hill after hill, mile after mile, until suddenly we had reached the halfway point. Perhaps "suddenly" is too strong an adverb... at the time it seemed far from sudden. Now this was a great feeling, and the optimist in me was feeling totally awesome... but then the evil side started to creep in as we hit mile 11 and I realized that halfway was not as close to the finish as I'd imagined. By mile 14 I was definitely ready to go home; the hills just kept coming despite all my mental energy spent imagining they had magically flattened out.

15, 16 more of the same. As I hit mile 17, at which point we were supposed to speed up and RACE the last 3 miles, I felt more like I had hit a wall then a starting line. Thankfully Coach Adam had instructed me not to race the final 3, so I didn't feel quite as bad slowing down and finally walking that mile. The first part of mile 17 was a slow incline, and then it turned into a straight uphill shot. The people that passed me running deserve so much credit. I'm not sure if I could have done it with a completely healthy hamstring.

Jeremy and I walked up the hill together and as we were trudging along we made a plan to start running again as soon as we hit the GWB. We climbed the stairs and on the count of 3 we were off. At this point I had changed my strategy to taking it one mile at a time to taking it one step at a time, literally counting my strides up to 10 and then back down to avoid the looming bridge ahead. Funny thing about the GWB is how it can seem so short when I'm driving and so painfully long when I'm running.

I don't really recall how I made it over that bridge or how I managed those last two miles. I do remember as I was climbing down the stairs hearing words of encouragement from a fellow TFK-er, can't remember who exactly, it's all kind of a blur at this point. But thanks whoever that was. Down the stairs, across the road and to the final blocks. And I was done. I don't really know how, but there I was back where we'd started a few hours before.

And that's that. It's still kind of a surreal, out of body experience (although the soreness is very much in-body right now).