The Adventures of Cowboy Hazel

I finally ran two laps of the Central Park Drive loop yesterday morning! It was something I had been trying (unsuccessfully) to do for almost a month. Crossing it off my list of things I need to accomplish definitely felt good. My body, however, did not feel good. I basically lost all of yesterday to this run. I woke up at 9:00, ate a peanut butter & jelly sandwich (my favorite pre-run meal), stretched, showered, and headed out the door to meet the guys at the top of Central Park.There were six of us doing the run (a huge turnout — 3 had been the previous record for our running group) and we made all the introductions to the new guys, stretched, and walked over to the start. We decided to get the Great Hill out of the way early, so headed counter-clockwise. My friend Justin from Boston was running with us and he and I were out in front talking and not really paying attention to pace and ended up running the whole way down the park way too fast. We both paid for it when we started coming back up the other side. Everyone passed us and he fell behind me a bit. I hung back behind everyone else for a while, seriously struggling with the hills, but finally found the energy for a big push and caught up with everyone just before getting to the straight-away by the Reservoir. So, the remaining five of us finished our first loop without any further troubles. The Great Hill the second time around was killer, though. We were all struggling at the top. Two of the guys quit there and another about a half mile past it. Antonio and I were the only ones still running and he asked me how I was doing and I said, “I’m running on fumes. I’m going to try to quit, don’t let me.” I was worrying about the long hill coming back up the park, but when we got to it, it actually wasn’t as bad as I expected. It was definitely a struggle to keep going those last couple miles, but I just focused on the the ground in front of me, repeating “left foot, right foot” in my head over and over, trying not to think about how far was left to go. We ended up finishing the 12.1 mile run in 1:25:20, which is 7 minute, 3 second miles — the same pace as my fastest ever single lap run of Central Park. I know it wasn’t a race or anything, but finishing this run was a big deal for me. It is great to know that I can go out there and set a goal and achieve it (even if not on the first attempt). I am feeling much more confident about getting myself into marathon shape. I definitely have a long way to go, though. After the run, I was dead. Antonio and I got Gatorade and walked back to East Harlem and then when I got home, I showered, stretched, and plopped down in my recliner to watch a movie. I was planning on working after that, but about a half hour in front of my computer and I realized that I had no energy at all. I went back to the recliner for another movie and then off to bed at 8:30. I didn’t wake up this morning until almost 10. That’s the first time I’ve slept 13 hours in a while — I guess I needed it. But, now, I have a ton of work to do (that I was planning on doing yesterday) and so I really should get to it.