Sunday, October 9, 2011

2011 Hood-to-Coast

Far too much time has passed to write a race report that details all of the awesomeness of this year's Hood-to-Coast.  But since the primary purpose of this blog is to capture the athletic side of my life so that I can look back on where I've been, things I've accomplished, and lessons learned, I'm going to memorialize it anyway.  The most important thing to remember from 2011 is how much FUN we had.  I need to remind myself of that next year when all of the planning and hassle inevitably leaves me thinking "I'm never doing this again."

We really had the perfect mix of people.  The right amount of crazy, responsibility, teamwork, and personalities.  We had some difficult adversities to face (thunderstorm, outrageously hot weather, broken down van, record traffic issues, etc.) but still managed to end up in Seaside with sore cheeks from ridiculous amounts of laughing.  And after more than 30 hours of no sleep, we still managed to rally for another 12 hours of post-race festivities.  Which, of course, were just as fun as the relay itself, but perhaps not suitable for this audience.

4:15am race start at Timberline on Mt. Hood.

One of the Van1 windows.  Inside joke.

No explanation needed.

Note the strategically placed door seam.  The runners of this van also had authentic molester-staches.  And cutoff jean shorts.

Coming in from my 2nd leg.  Way overheated.


For posterity, my run data from my Garmin:
Run 1 (leg 4) - 7.22 miles, 1:16:10, 10:33/mi pace
Flat/slightly downhill, easy even though a bit long, sun just coming up, really awesome.

Run 2 (leg 16) - 4.50 miles, 58:03, 12:54/mi pace
Mostly flat, super hot, horrible horrible hydration and electrolyte planning, suckage.

Run 3 (leg 28) - 4.05 miles, 46:02, 11:22/mi pace
Better than leg 2 hands down, mostly unmemorable, beautiful scenery but it was pitch black.

Checking In

Wow, that was a long and unintentional hiatus from blog land.  A peek into what has contributed to the radio silence:
  • A full summer/fall race schedule, including Hood-to-Coast Relay, Augusta Half Ironman (including a trip back east), and Girlfriends Half Marathon.  Race reports coming soon.  Or just sometime in the future.  I shouldn't promise "soon".
  • After a short recovery period following Ironman Coeur d'Alene, training has ramped up for Ironman Arizona (only about 40 days away!) and is in the middle of the peak phase.  It's truly kicking my ass this go round, despite the slightly lower volume.
  • Work never really slowed down, as it is expected to do each summer.  So toss a handful of 60-70 hour work weeks into the mix.
  • We moved.  Because those 1-2 hours of spare time each week were just begging to be soaked up in some chaos.   And then of course I have to organize and redecorate.  You know, recover all 8 dining room chairs, a completely new guest bedroom and living room decor, kitchen appliances, etc.  Free time just doesn't stand a chance at all around here.
  • We went to the Oregon Coast for a weekend to celebrate our 2nd year anniversary.  Which sadly for my husband included a long bike ride and then leaving early so that I could get me long run in before the end of the weekend.
  • The "Big Boobie Challenge" is going strong, and I'm gathering some awesome data and reviews to share with the masses.  Hopefully we'll all have happier boobies as a result.
More to come...