Running down THE Mountain: Hood to Coast 2012

How I wish I could write this one in French. 
Obviously I could, but most of you would not understand most of it and well that is a problem.  It is already hard to find the words to bring justice to this experience, for me it is even harder to do this in another language.  You see even after 12 years of living in California and in "English",  I still think in French.

Hood to Coast the movie came out on 1-11-11.  That was my 42nd birthday that day.  I did not know much about the relay before seeing the movie but I was curious to see what this crazy event was.  After seeing it that night, I wanted to be there and run down the mountain.  I remember telling Bill I would love to do this thinking it was just a dream. 

If someone would have told this girl

that she would run Hood to Coast in a couple of years she would have said "Hmm I hate running and what Hood?"

Dreams come true people...they really do.
Look I got proof:

That would be me in all my pink glory at the start of Hood to Coast.  It truly was a "pinch me" moment for me.  I was VERY overwhelmed with good feelings and also nervous ones.

OK before going further the quick notes on HTC for those who don't know about it (what?  maybe someone doesn't, anything is possible) :
 
It is a 200 miles relay.
Teams have 2 vans of  6 runners.
Each runners run 3 legs.
Location: Paradise (or if you prefer the real name: Oregon)

I was on Team Night, in van 1 and I was Runner 1.
So I ran legs 1-13 and 25.

MY TEAM:
I said it in my previous posts but I'll say it again: I was so lucky to be in that van.
I really liked all my teammates.  They were all fantastic.  Hood to Coast is about much more than running.  It is an EXPERIENCE, a crazy adventure, the Running Woodstuck!  I made real friends during this race and went through a bunch of feelings; joy, fear, gratitude, nervousness, disappointment, pride, happiness.

 LEG 1

This leg is ranked as VERY HARD.    Starts at the top of Mt Hood and it is 5.85 miles of downhill.  Driving up to the start of the race I was able to see what leg 1 would be.  I got really nervous, really fast.  Leg 1 is no joke.  We had 2:15 pm start.  We left Seattle at 8 am and drove to Oregon.  We made a few mandatory pit stops ...including Starbucks of course.

On the way we started working on our music video debut...a real master piece of you ask me.  Go see for yourself here.

When we arrived in Sandy, we started seeing runners who were coming to the first van exchange and that is when it got REAL for me.

and not long after....

It is hard to describe how beautiful it is there.  You will have to just trust me on this..it is breath taking. 

Finally we were there.  At the start of Hood to Coast! (Corey's pic)

All three van 1 were there and we took a van 1 group picture on "The Rock"

Then it was time to get ready for my first leg!

Vanessa must have felt how nervous I was and she stayed with me the whole time.  Thank you Vanessa!  She pinned the bib I made to remember Sherry Arnold and Sarah Hart on my back.

She took pictures of me at the starting line and she was just a wonderful friend.

We were 11 runners in my wave.  Each one was introduced by their team name and before we knew it we were off!

 

 

Here is a good place to discuss my outfit.  All 3  AfterNUUN Delight teams wore Team Sparkle skirts.  Thank you Team Sparkles!   We all got different colors.  Mine was pink.  I had never seen it before and looking on their website I thought it would be light pink and I packed tops with that in mind.  The girls on all 3 teams talked about being colorful and staying away from black tops and I wanted to be a good teammate and I went with colors.  So it turns out the skirt is more hot pink than light pink....and so for my first leg I was the hot pink giant!  About the skirt..I think for an event like this they are fun and perfect...we could see our runners from far on the road..we got a lot of compliments on them also.  My only problem was that mine was too big.   I got a medium and I needed a small.  So it was a little annoying to keep it in place as I was running.  I wore it for 2 of my 3 legs because of that.

Back to running leg 1.
It was hard and great.  The view is unbelievable...it is PARADISE.  It is all steep downhill.  I got injured running downhill so that added to my nervous state.  Mason had advised me to just "let go" so I did that at first.  My pace was faster than I planned..(8:38 for mile 1) for a minute there I thought maybe I could stay there..I was so happy and grateful to be there!  I knew my van could not stop to cheer or give me water because for this leg it is not allowed, so I carried my handheld and many vans honked and cheered as they passed me and it was fantastic.  I felt the spirit of Hood to Coast right away!

Around mile 2 I noticed I was breathing heavy and I started having side ache.  I also started getting pain in my groin so I reverted to what my PT said to do for this leg.  Shorter steps and slower pace.  That made the pain go away.  My breathing was all over the place.  I think altitude was affecting me a little.  Around mile 3 the course takes a turn and opens to the most beautiful view.  I was smiling and I screamed "We are so lucky!!!!!"  I kept thinking "YOU are running Hood to Coast!  Take it all in".  Mile 4.....a bump in the road...I got sick... crap...even at Hood to Coast it happens... I was so mad...a really nice young guy stopped and asked if I was OK..I said yes and got back on the road as quickly as I could. 

There are a few race photographers on the course.  I think most runners get their picture taken once in all 3 legs.  This is mine and I bought it: First "mommy vacation ever",  first Relay, first Hood to Coast, running first leg with Mt Hood in the back....worth $12.50!!!

I got down the mountain to the first exchange to pass the stick to LAUREN!

I went in full dry heave mode right after that.

I walked a little...I could feel my quads cramping, I was dehydrated and my stomach was not great BUT I could not be happier to be there and be a part of this relay.  I changed in a dry bra and shirt and waited to the next exchange to change the rest because we needed to get moving!

I WAS pretty disappointed with how I did as far as my time goes.  I came in behind the time that was predicted for me (they had me running this leg at a pace that was faster than my fastest 5k pace).  All my teammates were superstars runners.  Really.  I think all but 1 have ran one (or more) marathon already.  They were all much faster than me.   These gals never made me feel like the "older slower one".  They were very supportive and I thank them with all my heart for that.  It meant so much to me.   I told myself that I would run hard for my 2nd leg to make up some of the time lost.  I can say with honesty that I gave everything I had for leg 1, I just wish I had more to give..! 

It was now time to put the cheerleader and photographer hat on for the next 5 legs!!!!

Two things were great to have between running legs.

1. Shower pills wipes.  They are large antibacterial body wipes that are individually packaged. 

2. The Tiger Tail: Tiger A rolling muscle massager we received in our swag bag.  I LOVE LOVE this thing.  It works.  I used it the whole time during the race.  It is so much better than the foam roller in my opinion.

Thank you Shower Pills and Tiger Tail!

Thank you NUUN.  (cannot say that often enough)

I know I wrote before that I would write the running part in 1 post..but I changed my mind. 

My leg 2 is coming up and it will need it's own post...

Thank you for reading this.

Call us Maybe?

I had plan to post my race recap for Hood to Coast next but it is not ready so let's go with HTC entertainment! 

It is HARD to run Hood to Coast  no question about it.

It is also really fun.

I was so lucky to have the best teammates in my van: TEAM NIGHT Van 1!

All nice and funny and very talented runners.

We did have other skills...well at least we "think" we did...see for yourself...! 
I made this video from the footage I took with my Ipad while we were in the Van.  (Clearly, I am expecting an Oscar nomination for best short document)

Childless in Seattle.....

I am not going to write 12 posts on Hood to Coast but I am also not going to do just 1 huge one. 

Before I start..

I got to say that I think it is pretty sad that the women (me included) who were a part of HTC-NUUN 2012 feel like they have to "apologize" for writing about their experience..some are loosing followers because they write "too much" about it.  Really...?  As a follower of MANY blogs I can say that I don't enjoy every single post people write...but I don't un-follow them because they put a picture of a PB & J sandwich with carrots on the side for the 1245 times this month...I just skip and come back the next day and I don't put in the comment that I am tired of their food pictures because at the end of the day nobody is forcing me to look at them and read what goes with them. 

This will probably not make me popular...I am OK with that.  I am just tired of the nastiness..is that even an English word...let's check spell check....yep looks like it is!  I am tired of websites -I will not name here because I don't want to give them free publicity- that offer forums to put people down  ...the jealousy..the "let's be mean just because I can and I am hiding in front of a computer" attitude.   Life is way too short so I am asking you, nice folks who read my little blog, don't be mean to the 30 bloggers who ran HTC with NUUN...just skip the posts if you have had enough.   Last year I read all the Hood to Coast posts that the people I follow wrote.  I could not get enough.  The reason is because I had an interest in that event.  I wanted to do it one day.   I had an interest in how they did and if they had a good time.  The gals I follow who were on the team last year made me believe that I could do this.  I hope that by writing about my own personal experience at Hood to Coast I can do that for at least one of you who will read my words.  Yes there's many of us who are writing about the same race this week but in the end only a maximum of 3 bloggers ran each of the 36 legs and I can tell you that I am pretty sure it went down differently for all 3.

OK are you still here....well I thank you...merci beaucoup!
So Childless in Seattle....that was me the first couple of days.
This adventure was huge for me in many ways.  One of them being that it was the FIRST time I had ever left my kids.......that is 8 years people!  It was so strange at first.  Let me take a moment here to thank the person who invented SKYPE.

I arrived in beautiful Seattle Wednesday morning at 9 am.  I got up at 4 am and Sandy who blogs at Boston Bound Brunette and could not be nicer, came to pick me up to take me to the airport.  I owe her big time!

So I got to Seattle and Casey from NUUN was there to pick me up.  What a nice guy he is!  We went to get 5 other girls who arrived the night before and we staying at a hotel near the airport.  I met Jocelyn, Stephanie, Lauren, Laura and Susan, all super nice young gals.  I am not just saying that in case they come and read this.  THEY ARE.  Not once did they make me feel like the "old married with kids lady". They decided to go for a run before the baseball game but I was good and followed PT order and I walked.  It was hard to resist the temptation watching them taking off BUT in the end the best decision because I am 100% convinced that taking 2 days of running rest is what led to almost NO groin pain during HTC runs.

 I love Seattle.  I could move there today.  I can take rain over heat any day.  That city reminded me of my hometown a lot.  One big difference was the number of homeless people...I was surprised to see so many in the city.  Really sad situation.

I walked to the Pike Place Market and met the girls there as they were headed back.
I saw the very first Starbucks.  Lots of people were standing in line to get in..I did not get it..really you get the same coffee you would get at any other Starbucks and trust me in Seattle those are not hard to find.  They are EVERYWHERE!

For the 2 days leading up to Hood to Coast, NUUN had planned activities to allow the team members to meet and get to know each other before being put in a stinky van for hours.  That was such a great plan I think.  The NUUN group made us feel welcomed and took great care of all of us.  Look,  I could be a lot smarter here and say that it was horrible and the NUUN team was rude and not friendly and invent all kinds of lies..because well less people would apply next year right....  Right...but the thing is I hate liars so I am a truth teller like my Team Night van 1 teammate Robyn would say, and those people were the best.  I cannot say thank you enough for all that they did for us.   On the schedule was a Mariners baseball game, dinners, a visit to the Oiselle office, an "Amazing Race in Seattle a la NUUN", visit to NUUN office of course, Van decorations and hanging out with everyone on  the team.   That gave us the chance to get to know everyone not just the 5 others  who would be in the van with us.  I loved meeting everyone in person and having time to say more than just "Hi".  Many were just like I imagined them to be (in a good way of course).    It is a bit surreal to meet people for the first time that you kind of already know...I know you know what I mean.  Now do that 30 times in the same day!!  I could tell that we were all happy and grateful to be there.  I know I was.  I don't know how many times I told myself or others "We are so lucky".  We were all different..single, married, moms, superstar runners, average runners, really young, not so young anymore (hmm Hello over here), first time at Hood to Coast, 6th times at HTC, some have been running all their lives, some like me had just a couple of years of experience.   We all love to run.

Tricia, Tonia, Jess, Marjorie and me.

Breakfast at Starbucks at beautiful Green Lake Park: Katie, Kelsey, Megan, Tonia and me.

 

This was where the Oiselle offices are and we got to visit and Sally explained to us how she started this company.  Thank you Oiselle for the T-shirt! I love it!!!

After that we headed back to the hotel for some Jamba Juice time! 

"Finally a picture with running friends where I don't look like a giant"
That's what we said: Robyn, Sarah and me.

Next up...the NUUN Office!  My kind of place!  I would work there.  (NUUN if you need a translator..let me know!) The vibe is good.  Laid back.  Huge open space.  No doors.  Everyone sees everyone.  They even have an office dog!

It is there that we got the "swag".  OK I am like most of you, I do like to receive free gifts, of course I do.  For me, not even a small part of this whole thing was about getting free things.  It was all about getting down Mt Hood, having a good time, sharing this with others who also love running. 

We were spoiled.  I will mention the items through out my posts.

Thursday afternoon was the "Amazing Race in Seattle a la NUUN".  We were put in teams that were different than our HTC team and were given a list of stuff we needed to find in the city.  It was a great way for people to see the town and get to know each other.  It was a lot of walking though and I got worried.  My leg started to hurt pretty bad, all I could think of was "Tomorrow I am runner 1, I have a VERY HARD leg to run, I am going to die"

 



Team 1 (a very creative bunch with a name like that):

Sarah, Katie, Tricia, Robyn, me and Amanda

 

Famous Gum Wall: So So GROSS

 

We came back for dinner pretty tired and I was so grateful that in the swag bag we had a TIGER TAIL.  It saved me.  I love this thing.  It is so much better than the foam roll and the stick I think.  Easy to use and to carry and it gets the job done.  I rolled and rolled so much that I ended with bruises!!!

 

We had one last thing to do before trying to sleep before heading to Portland for the main event: Decorate our van!!!!!  My van was TEAM NIGHT Van 1.

 

 

Robyn, Vanessa, me, Lauren and Susan (missing was Shanna)
 

To be continued...
I hope you will come back..for the running part of this adventure...all in one post...

I thank you for reading
Thank you for the comments on my first post on this ...
What? you missed one HTC post...how could you....
(it is still here.)

I am a HOOD to COAST finisher! Thank you NUUN!

I am back from PARADISE...aka Oregon.
The most beautiful place I have seen in the USA so far for sure.

I am not ready for recaps yet....and like some of my teammates have said today in other posts on their blogs, I will say that it is coming your way and if you are having an indigestion of NUUN-HOOD to COAST posts well.... well nothing come to think of it.  You don't have to read everything but I sure have to WRITE everything because I don't want to forget any part of it.. (well maybe one part..more on that this week..)

Here's what I'll say for now:

• It was one of the best experience of my life.
• It was for sure the highlight of my short running life by far.
• I feel very grateful.
• I met some really nice and kind people.
• I have never worn that much pink in my life.
• I could move to Seattle or Oregon tomorrow.
• My legs are so trashed right now
• I am so happy I got to do this.

More importantly :

HUGE thank you to everyone at NUUN.

They took such good care of all of us. 
They went more than out of their ways to make us feel welcomed. 
Their generosity and kindness was endless.
They could not have done more to make this the experience of a lifetime.

Told you...lots of pink..

Hood to Coast Finisher

 


 

It's Hood to Coast time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am ready.
Bags are packed.
I hope I got everything :)

I cannot believe it is finally here!

I am a little nervous.  I have never left my kids before.  Not even for a day.
I know they will be fine of course but I am sure I will miss them.

But...I am ready for this running adventure!
I am looking forward to meeting all the gals on the team!
I am looking forward to the craziness of HTC.
I feel lucky and grateful that I have a wonderful husband who supports me and to NUUN for choosing me to be on the team!

Next post will be coming at you live from Seattle!!!!

Something for my first leg at Hood to Coast and a winner

Yesterday I ran 5.5 miles.
It was not pain free.
I am tired of this crap groin pain................
BUT

Nothing can put me in a bad mood this week.

It is HOOD TO COAST WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is finally here!



Now because I still have pain and because I want to do all I can to be as OK as can be comes Friday.  I will rest more this week.  Like today I am resting after running Saturday and Sunday.  Tomorrow an easy 3 miler and rest Wednesday and Thursday.

I am running leg 1 and it is all downhill and rated VERY HARD.  If you have seen the movie you know it is no joke.

Another thing that makes me happy:

It's coming with me to Oregon, so we will stay in touch!!!

One more thing that makes me happy:  Announcing the winner of my NUUN Giveaway:

Brand New Marathoner and also heading to Hood to Coast this week:
Christy!!!!!!!!  Congrats Christy and email me your address!

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back to HTC for something important to me.
I wanted to remember 2 runners who did what we do many times every week:  They went for a run.   Sadly, they never came back home.  I think about them both often although I never knew them.  I know how lucky I am to be able to run HTC or any run actually, so I am taking them on my back for that first leg down Mount Hood.  I made this bib:

If you don't know their stories

Sherry Arnold here.
Sarah Hart here.

Bloggers who Run are really NICE Folks

Did you enter my NUUN Giveaway yet?  No? OK I'll wait while you go here to enter.

All right...so today it was hot...nothing special around here but it was also HUMID.  I feel terrible for all of you who have to deal with both heat and humidity all the time.  I went for 4 miles like my PT suggested.  It was not horrible but it was not pain free.  I think I need to go back to run 1 day-rest 1 day (from running not complete rest).  Tomorrow I return to the PT, it will be session #6 and I will get new exercises.  He is supposed to give me some to do while I am in Oregon.  I will not go to PT next week because you know I am going to that little relay.  If I have to take a whole week off after Hood to Coast then so be it.  I will do it.  Yes Marjorie, you read that right. 

I am one lucky gal to have wonderful followers and friends because of this little blog.  On my way back from HTC I will have  2.5 hrs to kill in Phoenix.  Normally I would not be happy about this but in this case I could not be happier because it will be part deux of this:

She is coming to "hang out at the airport" with me...that is pretty nice.  Cannot wait to see you my Arizona Friend!!!!

You know who else is super nice?
This lady right here:

This is Sandy and she blogs here at Boston Bound Brunette.  She lives in my town and she has offered to take me to the airport next Wednesday.  My flight leaves too early for Bill to take me with the boys so I was going to take a cab but Sandy said "No cab! I will take you".  How nice is that?  Thank you Sandy!

Any of you have a pair of these?
Do you like them?

Nike Free 4.0 V2

I have a pair in that color.  I have not tried to run in them yet.



Packing for Hood to Coast- A new playlist and it's GIVEAWAY time!

The countdown to HOOD to COAST is on!

I think I have been pretty reasonable about HTC in my posts, trying to  not get on the nerves of those of you who are not interested in reading 44 posts a day about that race-relay.  Now that we are getting really close to it I cannot not talk about it. 

In one week from TODAY I will be on my way to Seattle.  To the Nuun Headquarters!
I cannot wait!

Packing for Hood to Coast is a bit of a challenge.  I will need things for the relay of course and it has to be kept to a minimum because well 6 runners plus 1 driver plus supplies...the space will be limited.  I also need stuff for the 2 days I will spend in Seattle....

I know some of you have done relay like this before...HTC or Ragnar.

Tell me
1.  Something you wish you had packed that you did not bring.
2.  What did you bring that you did not need.

I am on Team Night!
I decided to make a Playlist for my van (VAN 1)

Since we are talking about Hood to Coast I thought I would do another

 NUUN GIVEAWAY!

Here is your chance to win a Nuun bottle and a tube of Nuun tablets!

How to win:

1. You must be a Follower of this blog.  Leave a comment.
2. Share on your blog or twitter.  Leave me the link to the post or the tweet.

Open to all readers from any country.  Winner will be chosen with random.org.  You have until Sunday to enter!

Remember a post about my new addiction here?
I said the 1st person to guess it would get an extra entry.  Jenn gets it she guessed right:

Yep I am addicted to Angry Birds.  It is not even funny and the worst part is I suck at it. I totally blame these 2 for this

Now we can all get some sleep!

The Olympics are over.That means I will sleep more.
I am one of those people who stayed up until midnight every day to watch the Olympics on TV.  I would cheat and look at the results online during the day and STILL stay up way too late.

This might just be my favorite moment of the games:

I am so happy for this gal: Allyson Felix

Perseverance should be her middle name.  After 2 silver medals in that event at the Olympics....third time WAS the charm!

I am so over this guy:

 Yes, he is a GREAT athlete. No doubt. But he is in serious need of a mega dose of HUMILITY.  His interview last night on NBC gave me nausea.

I feel bad for this guy:

The Greatest Olympian (For me there's no question about that, it is him. The end.)

I am happy that he did end up having great Olympic Games and that he closed the book on high note.  One of a kind for sure.

Running:

Thursday I ran 3 miles in no pain.  I kept waiting for the pain in the groin to show up and it did not.  Now it was just 3 miles and it was not very fast but it was pain free. HOPE.

I had my 4th PT session Friday.  It was hard, 3 days later I am still sore.

My PT said I could try running 4-5 miles this weekend and that Tuesday we would talk about how that went and evaluate the situation again.  He said the idea was to run at no pain and slowly increase the distance.  So for now it was 3 miles and we would see if I can run longer without pain.

Yesterday I did just 3 and today I went for 5.

Well those 5 were not pain free.  I am a little discouraged by this.  I hoped it would be but right after mile 4 I started feeling the pain.  It is not sharp but it is there.  So for the next few days I will stay at 3-4 and see how that goes.

I bought one of these (got it on sale 50% off!) :

I have been using it at the PT for core work and other exercises and I want to be able to do it at home once the PT sessions are over.

Do you have one of these ball? What is your favorite exercise?