Hood To Coast 2012

Aaron ran Hood to Coast a couple of years ago and another similar type relay last year (Epic).  He has always come home saying how much fun he has running a ton after not sleeping at all :)  So this year when his running buddy got a H2C team, I told him I'd like to do it with him.

 Aaron's sister Meghan flew up from Cali to run in our van with us.  She is super fast and was so much fun to have run with us.

 Here is van 2 of our team called, "The Running Dead."  The 3 other boys are the brothers of Aaron's running buddy (Peter) and were so much fun to have in our van.  They kept us laughing for the two days we were stuck in a van with them.

 Here is Aaron after his first leg.  He had the hardest leg in our van and was the so fast.  He averaged 7min 29sec miles on his 3 legs (19.68 miles).  And he did all his super speedy running with a bad sinus cold.  I was so proud of him!  When Aaron decides to do something he always does his best and I love that about him.

 Meg was helping me stretch before my first leg.  I have to say that his was my least favorite.  It was in the upper 80's and I had 6.5 miles to run.  It was miserable.   I loved my 2nd leg at 5 in  the morning in the mist of a town called Mist. It was a beautiful 5 miles and felt great.  I was just tired by my last leg.

 I always struggle with blisters, but have found that duck tape helps me from getting them.  The problem was it was a lot hotter outside than I usually run in (I go at 5 am when it's cold!) and my tape slipped because I got sweaty and my feet suffered.  The picture above is from my first run, you should have seen my socks after my 2nd run.  They were so bloody.  Thank goodness for the first aid tent that cleaned my feet for me.

 I didn't eat too much before my run because I was so darn nervous, but really wish I had.  I was starving on my run and my pb&j and banana tasted so good after.

 Here is our whole team at Seaside at the finish.

 I'm glad I did H2C, but it was hard for me.  It was hard because I knew I had a team that I couldn't let down and I felt bad because I am not fast and felt like I was holding them back.  Running is such a test of mental strength for me and I found that going on no sleep and driving in a van trying to make sure we were at where we needed to be at the right time was so stressful for me.  I just wish I was faster and could stop listening to my head telling me that it was just too hard. But I did finish, so I guess that's something.

 It was a blast having Meghan here to run with us.  She is amazing and such an athlete.

 Yea!  He totally deserved his medal!  Which he promptly gave to Noah when we got home.

As for the awesome zombie tattoos, part of the fun of H2C is dressing the part of your team name.  We put these on to cross the finish line running like zombies.  It was great fun!  (We stopped to get fries and a shake on the way home and I couldn't figure out why the drive-thru lady was being so weird.  Then I got home and looked in the mirror and realized why!  Creepy!!)

If would have asked me right after if I would ever run H2C again, I'd tell you no.  But after thinking about it a few days later I'd like to try it again and beat my times and over come the mental aspect of it.