Epic Relay and Memories of a Lifetime!

I admit it.  I was a little sick of hearing about Hood To Coast before this weekend.  Even though I was signed up and on a team, I just wasn't feeling the same excitement and HTC mojo that some were feeling.  My luke warm attitude about the whole thing probably had to do with a lot of things:

• I had never met any of the people we'd be on a team with
• Had total blog burn out and was feeling uninspired about many things in life.
• Was having a hard time getting excited about the weekend until I got through the week with my kids, packed everything up and had everything arranged for where the kids would be when we were gone.  Sometimes it is tricky relaxing and really enjoying something until everything is checked off and we are actually in the moment.  

Now that it is over and we are enjoying a quiet Sunday afternoon, I find myself having similar feelings to that of my thirteen year old "just got back from church camp" self.  My husband and I have both been saying that we feel a little sad to be done and say goodbye to our new friends.  After sharing a powerful and energizing experience in such close quarters with a group of people over so many hours, you kind of find yourself "bonded" at the end of it all.  Or that's how we feel with this group.  

For those that you don't know about Hood To Coast, here is a brief explanation:

• 1 team = 2 vans.  12 people.  Six people in each van. 3 legs each.
• 2 days. 24 plus hours.
• 200 miles from Mt. Hood to Seaside, Oregon (Oregon coast).
• Over the course of the race we are running, cheering each other on, keeping in contact with the other van, finding short periods of time to sleep in between legs and pass off to the other vans, sharing a common love: Running, learning about each other's life, laughing, meeting new people, drinking beer (if you so choose :)  We did.), and being part of an epic experience! 

This was my third time to do Hood To Coast and my favorite so far!  My husband and I got to be in a van together and this was part of what made it so fun for us.  We made some great memories that I will never forget.  So fun to be able to be US together and take off our parent hats for a weekend.  Reminded me all over again about how much I love him!  We were also lucky enough to get on a great team of people and have an amazing family that took all three of our kids for two nights!

Some of my favorite parts of this year's HTC:

• Meeting new friends
• Meeting up with so many awesome ladies from the Nuun teams!
• Running some really strong miles and having FUN doing it!!
• Having my husband/best friend on my team and in my van
• Sleeping in the shade of a tree, under a blue sky with a light breeze with Waylon while we waited for our third leg.  And so many other runners doing the same thing...so peaceful!  
• Seeing so many people from all over come together for this goal and for the love of running
• Many fun people to look at...costumes, van decorations, etc.  
• Drinking beer on the beach 
• Knowing so many other runners from all over...I truly feel like I am part of an Oregon running community
• Cheering on our teammates
• Having a van full of people that are so positive and easy going.  And smart! 

Oh, and the running part of it:

• I was leg 10.  
• My total mileage over the course of the three legs was 15ish miles.
• My original goal was to just have fun and run whatever I felt like.  Then I changed it to making it a good tempo workout. 
• Leg 1 was just over 5 miles with a 7:10 avg mile pace
• Leg 2 was almost 7 miles @ 7:07 avg.
• Leg 3: 3.51 miles @ 7:05 avg.
• Passing people was fun!  In the HTC lingo we call it "roadkill".  It is all in fun and I'm pretty sure that most people don't take offense to being called roadkill.  Even if you say it to say it to them on the course (which I never did)...it is part of the spirit and friendly competition.  I didn't count them out loud and I almost always said good job when I passed.  Once I yelled at Waylon and said "yeah, roadkill!" as he was passing someone.  I think my teammate thought this was mean but I meant it all in fun.  I hope the guy took it that way.  I would have.  
• My second leg had about two miles of pretty big hills but then the rest at a good downhill.  This meant running the last miles at sub 7.  And getting 17 roadkill in one leg left me feeling like I'd played an awesome video game.  My husband didn't like this (playfully) since it beat his roadkill average.  Poor baby.  
• The roadkill count and having my Garmin to see my pace really helped make each leg so much fun!
• My husband passed off to me and we were sharing a Garmin so this was tricky.  

Van 2 ready to go!

Meeting up with some girls from the Nuun team!  Harmony, Me, Susan?, Marjorie, Tonia 

Waylon getting his Nuun Tattoo from TMB from Racing With Babes!

My awesome teammate, Heather!  Love this girl!

Sporting our Nuun Love!

More Nuun girls!  Loving meeting up with so many bloggers!

Jess is just as awesome in person as on her blog!

Lots of people in costume!

Waylon after leg one and a shower downtown..love his orange  Zensah socks.

I bet this guy had lots of chaffing

Love this man!

Fueling for leg 3

Relaxing before leg 3

So much blogger love!

These girls were so fun!

TMB was loving this guy's orange socks!

Complete strangers. So nice to let me get a photo.  

Have you ever been on a relay like this before?  Do you want to?

Amanda