Hood to Coast 2012

Wendy, Wendy, Janna, Marnee, Toni, Me

 I knew going into the weekend that I was right where God wanted me.  I was giddy all week and smiling at the fact that I could not wait to embark on the amazing experience that is Hood to Coast.  I looked forward to sweaty runs, being stuffed into a packed van, eating abnormally, my muscles being sore, having heavy legs, and even curling up in my sleeping bag in a field in Mist, Oregon.

The Van 1 girls met up on Thursday night and headed up to Mt. Hood to spend the night in a cute little cabin in Government camp.  What a blessing to be able to be so close to the start and only have to get up 5:00 (I think?).  As we discussed our wake up time, Marnee and I joked about the fact that I am NOT a morning person.  I do not like to talk in the morning.  I need my coffee in the morning.  I am not Rosie Sunshine in the morning. 

As I curled up in my sleeping bag that night I was so excited for what was to come!  At 2:00, I woke up ready to go and was shocked to see I still had some more sleeping to do :)  At 5:00 the alarm went off and I got out of bed, brushed and flushed and proceeded to be an absolute and complete dork.  In Marnee and Wendy's face with the camera, laughing so hard I was crying, obnoxious and crazy...  I guess I'm not crabby when I get to get up and run Hood to Coast!!

 We walked to a little, truly tiny, coffee shop and got a little joe to get us going.  It was a beautiful morning...

 As we made the drive to the starting line, my breath was taken away, I looked out the window and tears sprang to my eyes...  Chris would have LOVED this!  I knew he was missing nothing.  I just missed him and would have loved to experience this with him.  Thankfully, Marnee was sitting next to me.  Thankfully, Marnee has walked beside me long enough to know my thoughts.  Thankfully, as I remembered and thanked the Lord for my brother, Marnee was right there holding my hand.  Little did I know that this sunrise was only the beginning of God's blessings for the weekend...

 

 We parked and piled out of the van.  The energy at the top of the mountain is contagious.  There are radios playing, people dancing, laughter galore, it is something that I am so thankful to have been a part of.  We danced and sang to "Call Me, Maybe".  We smiled big.  We danced to "Locomotion"...

 
As I stood in the bathroom line in the lodge I glanced up and noticed Waldo in front of me.  I looked at Marnee and smiled and got a little teary.  As I walked out of the bathroom, there was a whole team of Waldo's!!  I was in awe at God's goodness.  It was as if He was saying, "I love you baby girl, I'm right here and so is your brother."  With tears in my eyes I asked if I could take their picture.  Marnee asked if I was going to tell them why I wanted their picture.  I didn't want to emotionally vomit all over them so I said, "no".  However, I changed my mind when I realized they might just think I was a little crazy.  I quickly told them about my brother and his nickname of Waldo.  I told them about mile 13 at Eugene.  I told them that they were a complete blessing.  Chris was right there with me!

 

 Back out to the party - it was beautiful!!

 

 With tears and smiles we cheered as Wendy took off for leg 1.  We headed to the van and my stomach started to get a little anxious.  I was to run leg 2 and while I wasn't necessarily nervous, my stomach seemed to think otherwise.  I had no idea what to expect and knew that I wanted to be careful with this one.  I was to drop 1500 feet in 5.67 miles.  I knew not to go too fast as I had zero desire of shredding my quads or killing my shins.  I went into it thinking sub 8's might be possible and thinking 8:15-8:20 was more realistic.

Waiting for Wendy

It was a beautiful morning and as my feet took off God started playlist number one in my head...

"Here I am to worship,

here I am to bow down,

here I am to say that you're my God.

You're altogether lovely,

altogether worthy,

altogether wonderful to me..."

I sang.  I smiled.  I ran in awe of God and His amazing creation.  I laughed at His goodness.  I ran controlled.  At one point, there were 3 men in front of me.  It was clear that I was going to pass them and as I came along side of them I gave a smile and they said, "come on!"  I told them I was just letting my legs go at my "happy pace".  Funny enough, my van passed just as I was chatting and passing the guys.  A bit down the road, 2 of the guys passed me.  And, just a bit further and I sheepishly ran beside them again, gave them a smile, heard a protest from them and told them that maybe they just shouldn't bother passing me again :)  I saw a sign that said 1 mile to go and with about .25 to go, I let my legs go.  

Leg 2:  5.36 miles - 38:48 - 7:14 average

7:24, 7:19, 7:15, 7:15, 7:15, 6:34 (.36)

Um.  Yeah.  I think I got that sub 8.

The hill was the perfect pitch to give me some awesome times.  At no point did I feel like I was pushing it.  My breathing was easy.  My legs light.  There was only 1 point where I felt like I needed to slow down so I didn't land on my face.  Absolutely perfect!

My first leg DONE!  Now, we wait for Marnee's :)

 

 We finished our first legs with smiles on our faces and headed to Marnee's Aunt and Uncle's house to shower and prepare for our 2nd legs.

 

Our M & M sandwich

As we waited for van 2 to finish their legs, we heard that there was a fire on Hwy 30.  We were supposed to run down Hwy 30.  This was going to be interesting.  Off Wendy went and we headed off to our 2nd legs.  Less anxious this time and curious what my legs were going to do.  I was feeling pretty good, but I was SO thirsty!  Off I went...

The headwinds as I headed out of Portland were crazy and I was so thankful to have sunglasses on to keep the dust out of my eyes.  My 2nd leg was supposed to be my easiest and yet, there I was pushing myself to keep going and wondering if I were to collapse on the side of the road if anyone would stop to help me.  

"Oh, I'm running to your arms,

I'm running to your arms.

The riches of your love,

will always be enough..."

I wasn't quite certain on the distance but knew it was something just past 6 miles.  I passed a few, I got passed by a few, I was SO happy to see the exchange.

 

Leg 14: 6.12 miles - 51:48 - 8:28 average

8:22, 8:17, 8:26, 8:38, 8:40, 8:27, 8:03 (.12)

Thankful to be done with leg 2.  Thankful to have been able to run it.  Kinda blown away by my times.  I was hoping for 8:45-8:55...

Done with 2nd leg, Marnee waits for hers :)

So ready to curl up in my sleeping bag!

Wendy runs, then Marnee and then Toni.  Sweet Toni and leg 5.  Leg 5 is the hardest of the race.  The distances and hills combine to make it the beast of the weekend.  As we headed down the road, we learned that they were able to make a detour to the course due to the fire and leg 5 would now be running 9 miles for their 2nd leg instead of 7.  As we saw on a Van the next morning, thank you Les Shwab :)

 We drove through the crazy traffic and worried as we knew Toni would be waiting for us.  30 minutes she waited for us!!!  Toni is a rockstar and didn't mind at all.  She said that it wasn't bad since there were so many runners waiting for their vans. 

Janna went on her way and we all closed our eyes and dozed as our amazing driver drove to pick up his sweet wife at the next exchange.  Then, it was off to Mist for a little shut eye.

Mist, Oregon, I love you!  We got ourselves situated, put the tarp on the ground, rolled out our sleeping bags and tried to get a little sleep.  It's amazing to me how cozy a sleeping bag can feel when it's freezing outside, when you're laying on hard, bumpy ground, when there are cars pulling in all night and you can hear numbers being yelled in the distance.  Yet, there I was, marveling at the coziness and the experience and loving hearing the numbers called for incoming runners. 

I think we were up at 5:00 and waiting for van 2 to arrive.

Good morning, Sunshine!!

 I was beyond excited for my final leg.  We hurried to the next exchange, I made a little dash to the potty and got the bracelet from Wendy.  And there He was again, God and His playlist...

"I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength...

I don't have to be, strong enough...

I know I'm not strong enough to be everything that I'm supposed to be,

I give up, I'm not strong enough.

Hands of mercy won't you cover me, 

Lord, right now I'm asking you to be strong enough.

Strong enough.

For both of us."

Chris's verse?  Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

There we were, God, Chris and Me, running side by side through beautiful Oregon.  It was glorious!

Again, I wasn't sure on the distance and asked someone as they ran by.  Somewhere around 6 miles.  As I neared the end, I had an average pace of 8:38.  I realized if I could just push myself that I could keep all my legs under an 8:30 average.  So, what's a girl to do??  She flies like the wind (or so it felt on tired legs!) and just like that it was over way too soon...

Leg 26:  5.81 miles - 49:11 - 8:28 average 

8:25, 8:37, 8:23, 8:30, 8:56 (that's all I could give on a hill), 7:51 (.81)

Blessed to have run.  Blessed to be done :)

We waited for Wendy to come in and for Marnee's final leg and I marvelled, once again at God's beauty...

Marnee finished her final leg with a smile, some tears and smashed a few lies along the way.  It was AMAZING!  And, she finished with Waldo :)

 

 

 And then, we wished Toni good luck as she headed out for the hardest, most beastly leg of the entire race...

Wendy and the amazingly strong Toni

 Her words?  She thought it was going to be harder.  She thought the hill was going to be longer.  Oh my word!  She is strong!

Janna finished her leg strong and we headed off to Astoria for some lunch.

 

Wendy and Toni and their "mini" burgers

Wendy, Janna and our awesome driver, Tom

Love this girl!

An amazing weekend with some AMAZING women!

I am inspired by them all

 From there, we headed to Seaside and Marnee and I got dropped off at the outlets so we could wait for our sweet husbands to arrive.  We had a 40th birthday party to get home to and rested while we waited...

 

 

 Our sweet husbands arrive!

 Off to grab some yummy coffee, give kisses to our kids and head back out the door to celebrate our sweet friend.  What a blessing of a weekend!

The beautiful birthday girl in the middle!