On May 2nd 2009, I decided to do something that many people might call crazy. I joined The great saunter of 2009 with shorewalkers.org. The great saunter is basically a 32.2mile walk around the perimeter of the island of manhattan. Going into this I didn’t think of training for this event and only thought of how I would feel if I finished the entire walk. So glad I bought those nike sneakers, because I didn’t have any blisters at the end of the day and they were practically new when I wore them!
Things I brought :
Poncho – Just in case in rained because it was in the weather forecast. It ended up only drizzling so it wasn’t needed
Umbrella – see above
3 packs of dried mango
Peanut M&M’s
Bandaids – for any blisters that would appear
Gatorade
Water
Ipod – never used it
Nikon d90 – yea…. I know.. Heavy
3 pairs of extra socks
Raisinets – never ate them
So the morning started off at waking up at 515am, normally I wake up at 530ish for work so it wasn’t so bad. I then ate a big bowl of cereal and headed out to meet up with my friend from college, Emily. We arrived early to south street seaport at 7am and there were already a few people waiting around. At around 730, we signed in and filled out the appropriate paperwork and started our long walk. The walk didn’t really have an official starting line where everyone starts together so after signing in, we can leave whenever we want. About 10mins I remembered to turn on my GPS (GPS output here) and kept it on throughout the entire walk.
At around 8 we met up with Lindsay who was behind Emily and I at the 42nd street circle line which was the first check point of 5.9 miles. After that we continued our trek up the island with occasional stops to take pictures. As we neared riverside park it started drizzling but it never poured which was a good thing because then I never had to use an umbrella, just only my hood from my jacket.
We then reached Inwood hill park at 1:30, our halfway mark. There we all ate lunch and rested before our long trek down. Going back towards south street seaport mustve been the hardest part for me. It was a mixture of feeling the effects of eating a hotdog and kebab for lunch and losing motivation since I was so tired. Between Inwood hill park and 150th street I was walking on my own because I had told Emily and Lindsay to walk ahead of me (I didn’t want to feel like someone was waiting for me). At 150th street I re-energized and regained motivation by eating some dried mangoes and read through our guide book telling myself there isnt that many more miles to go.
For the rest of the way back, I pushed myself harder than ever and became very overwhelmed. I called people for support and talked to Emily to push each other all the way back. Our legs were in pain and our motivation was going away until we saw the 3 bridges that signaled the end of our trip (Williamsburg –> Manhattan –> Brooklyn). I probably never have been so happy to see Pier 17 and our finishing point at the Heartland Brewery in my life and as a New Yorker. Emily and I signed in and got our certificate of completion exactly at 930pm, 14hrs from our start time. Lindsay also finished the walk but ahead of us.
Looking back, it was a hard thing to do. And I might even do it again next year, but definitely with training so im not in so much pain the day after. It was an overwhelming experience and I’m proud to say that I did it. Going home was definitely the hardest part. Who knew that at 10pm there were so many people on the train where I had to STAND on 2 trains to get home? My mom picked me up from the train station and walked with me home. I took a nice long hot shower and went straight to bed. The throbbing pain from my feet kept me up for awhile but I passed out from being so exhausted.
I woke up the next day on Sunday with a nose bleed, probably because I was dehydrated. My body was also very sore from the whole thing but in my opinion it was all worth it. I accomplished something that not many can/will do =)
