14 miles! What?! What?!

It was 10:15 on a Friday night and I had fallen asleep after eating a wonderful, fresh, homemade lasagna that my lovely roommate "Blondie" made.

So, why was I in bed so early? Well, we had our usual Saturday Run and I had to be up by 5:30 a.m. (ouch). As I got up and got ready, I wondered if the trains would be empty. I mean, who would be up at such an ungodly hour on a Saturday?! Well, to my surprise, as my roommate and I walked to our Wall Street stop there were actually a lot of people waiting for the train. Do you know who most of them were?... Runners! They were heading to Central Park as well. Funny how you can just see people at 6:10 a.m. in the morning and smile because you know they are just as crazy as you are.
We got on the train and by the time we hit 86th street, it was 6:30. Crap! We were running late. Alicia and I jumped out and took a cab to 103rd. Once we got to the park we have a very excited Eric (TFK coach) tell us to go sign up, almost everyone had registered for the race. We ran over and got our numbers for our first 14 mile run.

As always I look for my running partner Melissa because we keep each other entertained and we both run a good 10 minute mile. I found her and saw that she was just as frantic to register for the race. We line up in our time zone 10:00 minute mile pace. As we are in the group, all the TFK's stick together and it’s a pretty awesome feeling.

By the time that 7:30 rolls around we are up and getting ready to go. As our first time running 14 miles in Central Park, we did a the whole loop of 6.2 miles and saw my lovely friend HH (Harlem Hill). Lucky for me, I only saw her once. When we hit 103rd again, we cut across the park for our 5 mile loop and still Melissa and I were going strong at a good 10 minute pace. Along the way I got water at almost every stop, but I poured more water on me than I actually drank. When we hit the third mark, it meant that we were almost at the home stretch, which was only 3 miles away! I could hear my body rejoicing and at the same time saying…GIRL YOU NEED TO STOP!! But I kept going on the bridal path in Central Park. We usually run this Monday and Wednesday, so I knew the track and I thought no problem. Well, I thought wrong. I hit the bridal path and it was going well until….a TFK we will call her "Satan" (only because of the news she was going to deliver) at Engineer's Gate told us to make a whole loop then come back to her and then turn around and head back to our site. WHAT! You want me to do what!! At that point I couldn’t do it. I thought I was going to pass out!! My legs felt like logs and I was getting the worst and I mean WORST case of chafing. What is chafing you ask? Well according to www.time-to-run.com, "the major contribution to chafing is from sweating and rubbing". Which means that I will be investing in Body Glide ASAP! Doesn’t the name just sound cool?

By the time I finished our 14 miles, I was done. I went to medical and they wrapped my knee in ice. (See Danielle, I even have pictures). :)

After that a couple of went to a diner, only because most brunch places do not open until 11, and it was only 10:15. As we all ordered food we spoke about our experiences and how we felt. It was great to share this run with so many people and now I am looking forward to the Half Marathon on the 16th. Hope you can all make it out to cheer me on!!!