Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Reach The Beach- 2days. 10.5 well then 9 girls. 200 mi

This is going to be a hard one to sum up in a blog post. I spent a lot of time thinking about it but it still isn't going to do the relay justice! But here goes... My team mates @rtdanielle09 and @kissing_frogs have written their commentary- guess its my turn.

So- I wanted to do a reach the beach but J and I didn't want to be capt and try to pull together a team with the schedule we both had for work in May. The relay went out the window and I went on with training. Then a twitter friend @fiftyforbilly asked me to join her team. Well when I responded they had already found a replacement. Then sometime in late April I got another message from @fiftyforbilly asking me to join- this time I responded promptly and was added to the team.

I know my coach and I had discussed not adding anymore races to my schedule but this opportunity looked way too fun to let it pass! I signed up then told my coach. I wasn't really sure what legs or distances I would be doing but I was on team #dirtylittlefreaks and really looking forward to it.

A couple weeks before the race we needed another girl to join- of course I offered up @kissing_frogs. It worked perfectly that she could get the time off and wanted to run! I was excited that I would actually know at least one person going into this!

The week of the race I was out of town traveling for work like always. I didn't get to eat too much with being on my feet in an airfield so I had a hard time getting my runs for the week in. I got home and started to pack up. @kissing_frogs came over Thursday night- we went to the grocery store and tried to be sure I packed everything. And let me tell you I packed EVERYTHING! hahaha

Got up in the morning made my awesome French Toast- don't believe me ask D and @kissing_frogs?! We met up with @RTdanielle09 Sarah, Kelly,and Katie at Wachusett. We almost got tossed out of orientation- sorry I am not a morning person and the only way to get me through mornings when I am exhausted- LAUGHING!

Kelly had the first leg STRAIGHT up wachusett- better you than me! @kissing_frogs and @RTDanielle09 were next. Then my first leg:

Leg 1 STATS: 5.95mi, Moderate
Time- 1:06
Avg HR- 164
Cals- 1189

My leg ended with a uphill to the finish. It was a tough one. I wanted to be sure I would have enough gas to make it through the whole race so I wasn't going to kill myself in Leg 1. It was a humid and hilly but I got it done- slower than I had hoped but such is life.

After our van finished our legs we went to @RTDanielle09 friend's house since it was right near where we needed to start up again. Nice to wash some funk off- repack the car and just relax a bit.

Our next set of legs was going to take us into the night which meant the fun of running in vests, head lamps, and flashing lights. My second leg actually started at the Middle School I went to growing up. So my parents came down to say hi and brought us some chips and some more water. And I asked D to meet me at the end of my leg at the HS in the next town.

Leg 2 STATS: 5.23mi, moderate
Time: 54:37
Avg HR: 165
Cals: 893

It was tough in the dark to navigate and I had a really hard time feeling comfortable on the wrong side of the road in the middle of the night- pretty scary. Luckily the girls stayed close in the van. I was passed just as I finished by the team who ended up winning the whole thing- ya they avg like 6 min miles over the whole race!

The team was off for a few hours so we drove to get some rest. I slept in the van which was actually pretty comfy and I think I was just exhausted. We planned to get up get coffee and food then run our next set of legs. Well that didn't happen. We got the text at the last minute and got lost going to the transition. We got kelly out there and supported her run then got @kissing_frogs out there. I was up next and I was doing everything I could to get some food in my system. I ate a couple odwalla bars and had some water and had some other snacks we had in the car. But knowing me and knowing what I need to fuel to run I knew I needed more for my long leg being next. But what can you do? You eat what you can and make the best of it.

LEG 3 STATS: 8.34mi, HARD
time: 1:33
AVG HR: 155 (kinda low for a race)
Cals: 1296

Leg 3 is where the wheels fell off. I couldn't find a pace- Id look down one min and I was running 8:30s Id look down the next minute and I was running 14:30s? WHATS GOING ON?! I feel okay I just can't find a comfy pace. I brought 2 sets of Gu Chomps with me to help get me thru and the girls stopped a ton to support me. I threw up 2 times. At one point I had to walk b/c I thought it would come out both ends if I didn't! When I finished I hit the porta potty. Took @kissing_frogs with me b/c I thought I might pass out. She had to pull my compression shorts back up on me I was so swollen.

Before my 3rd leg started we had a team mate get sick. So I knew her long 8mi hard run was going to have to be taken my somebody. Everyone else in the van was already running 4 legs. After they saw how hard my 8mi was for me they decided to split it between them. I got in the van and told em I was not going to let them do that and not have me take part too. So we split it into 4 each taking about 2mi.

LEG 4 STATS:part of a 8mi, hard 1.85mi
Time: 19:38
Cals: 266
AVG HR: 151 (low considering pace- prob b/c I was beat)

All in all I totaled over 20 miles. Our team finished the 200mi in just under 32 hrs- avging a 9:30 pace. Not too shabby. I burned over 3600 cals! I have to say I had so much fun! I would do a relay like this again! I had a great group and wouldn't trade them for anyone! I am actually looking for another relay I can do with these girls :)

*this post took forever to write- i wasn't sure how to even write it but I think this covers the basics. I learned a lot from this race and had a blast*

2 comments:

  1. xoxo im SO glad you joined our team... we quite literally could not have done it without you!!

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  2. Great recap!!!! The 3rd leg is usually the toughest always!!!

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