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!

Surprise

Sometimes, I simply cannot believe God...

There have been times where I questioned why things had to be.

There have been times where I said, "REALLY???" while wrestling with God.

There have been sunsets that have blown me away.

There have been moments that He has blown me away.

There have been times, quite honestly, when I've wondered why some people get blessings poured over them while others do not. 

The other day a friend said that sometimes it's harder to see God in less joyful times.  Funny thing is, the less joyful times is when I see and feel Him most.

For the first time in years, we have not been stuck in the muck.  Life has been good.  We are healthy, the kids are healthy.  There have been no major trials.  While I find myself thanking Him often, it's mostly just when I'm running that I actually "feel" His presence.  I've started diving into my Bible just looking for Him.  I'm not even sure that makes sense...

However, the last few months have made me step back in awe and wonder why in the world I get to be so blessed.  I do smile at His goodness.  I do see Him.  It's just not the same feeling as when His arms are holding me closely, when He is carrying me through the painful times.  I think, perhaps, I just don't know how to function in non crisis living...

God has been patient and gracious with me.  He has answered many of my prayers and He has said, "not right now" to many others.

He answered my prayer to run on the 4th of July and last week He gave me a gift that I didn't even ask for.

Two years ago I wrote this... "What did I do??"

A ball of anxiety.  Never wanting to do it again.  Ever.

Then, there was this...  "What I did"

"Two days later and I'm able to say that I will do it again someday. First I said, "maybe in 5 years." Then, while talking to my brother yesterday, he asked if I would do it with him. Absolutely! We're hoping for Hood To Coast 2012! A healthy brother to run with would make me do it again in a heartbeat!"

And then, one year ago, this... 

I smile and cry as I sit here reading my words.  My heart goes back to that moment of aching and in the replies, was a little light...

Lesley from Racing if Off wrote these words...

"Maybe 2012 is the year for HTC... run it for your brother?"

In the fall, I briefly thought about putting a Hood to Coast team together to run in honor of my brother.  However, knowing how I am, I decided that it would not be the best move.  I am too unorganized, I get overwhelmed too easily, I wasn't sure I really wanted to spend that much money on something that I would only do if my brother was by my side.

A month ago someone asked me to join their team.  I thought maybe that was God's way of giving me a little gift.  When I told Marnee about it, she said, "do they have another spot??  How fun would it be if we could do it together?!?"  However, it didn't work out and although I was a little disappointed, I was okay with it.  I just held on to the fact that God knew best.

Not too long ago, Marnee told me she had been asked to join a friend's team.  I was so excited for her and the opportunity God was giving her for redemption.

And then, Friday afternoon, my heart skipped a beat as I read these words...

Want to run Hood to Coast with me and Marnee???

WITH you???

Yes, you'd be leg 2, I'm leg 3 and Marnee is leg 4!!

God, you are amazing!

In 3 days I will be running in Hood to Coast.  In 3 days I will be watching the sunrise over Mt. Hood.  I will be running down the mountain.  I will be laughing.  I'm sure there will be crying too :)  I will be sweaty and stinky and tired.  I will be blessed beyond comprehension.

I simply cannot believe God would put this little gift in my lap.  An unexpected gift that means the world to me.  God, you amaze me!  Thank you!

"Just Do It"

Before there was "Find your strong"...

Before there was "Run Happy"...

Before there were "Brilliant runs"...

There was a little saying...

"Just Do It"

On Wednesday, I established that I would not be running Thursday or Friday.  I do not do well running in the heat nor do I do well getting up before the sun.  No, I would run on Saturday and Sunday.

Yesterday, I spent the morning at Target and Costco.  Finishing up school supply shopping and buying food for the family.  By the time I left Target, I was shaking and sick to my stomach. 

I hate school supply shopping.

And yes, hate is a strong word.

I hate it.

And yes, I should just be thankful that I can buy school supplies for my children.

However, it stresses me out like you wouldn't believe.  Yesterday, as I walked out of Target, I was convinced there is a conspiracy between the government and school supply companies.  I was certain, school supply shopping was simply their way to make us stimulate the economy.  Well, economy, this mom of 5 kids says, "your welcome".

Shaking and sick to my stomach.  Mind spinning.  Ready to cry.  Ready to run away. 

Add to that that my hormones seem to be dictating my mood this week.  I've wanted to run away every single day this week.  I've felt lonely.  I've felt like the needy friend that no one needs.

Just being honest.

Darn hormones.

So, this morning when the morning didn't start so well, I decided one thing.

Just do it!

I drank my coffee, watered the garden, put on my lightest and most comfy Saucony shorts and laced up my good, old, reliable Saucony kicks and headed out the door.

I was expecting nothing.  I was feeling like the, "oh, look at her, at least she's trying" runner.  And then, something miraculous happened.

With each footfall came a grin that got bigger.  Sweat started pouring out of every pore.  My legs finding their stride.  I'm quite certain I could feel Satan eating my dust.

8:54

8:16

8:12

8:01

And with that, I finished with a grin, praising the Lord and ready to tackle another day in the heat with my sweet little cherubs.

Just do it! 

You will never regret it.

Confessions of A Lazy Runner

I find it funny when I say I'm a lazy runner.  Lazy?  How does that work?  If I were to just look at the running side, I'm not exactly a couch potato.  However, I am lazy.

Yep.

Lazy.

My typical run day looks like this...

Run (at the end of my run tell myself I need to stretch)
Forget stretching
Log my miles into Dailymile
Shower
Decide I'll stretch at night... along with those crunches and push ups I want to do.
Night comes...
Snuggling with my hubs sounds so much better
I don't want to get on the floor
Go to bed

No stretching.

No core work.

No push ups.

Lazy.

I even went so far as to check out some books from the library...

And while I've browsed through them, nothing has happened.

Weird, I can't get stronger just by looking?

I've realized that part of the problem lies in the fact that my brain doesn't work like a lot of other people's brains.  I look through those books and it's as if I'm trying to read it in Spanish.  It's overwhelming and makes absolutely NO sense to me.  My sweet friend hates it when I say this, but it really is true...

KISS

Keep it simple stupid

Here's the thing.  I don't believe I'm stupid.  Just simple.

And looking through those books is not simple.

I think that's why I'm drawn to the Smart Coach plans.  They're as simple as it gets.

Simple.

So, when talking my my sweet Marnee the other day, I asked her if she would put some exercises together for me.  Her only concern?  "If I do this, will you actually do what I tell you to??"

Of course, sweet friend!

And, because she is who she is and is so not like me, she had something to me the next day.  I started this on Wednesday (using the Monday schedule) after running 3 miles and felt like Marnee was trying to kill me.

On Tuesday, I started with 2 miles, did the required burpees and jumping lunges.  Ran 1 mile, made it to 20 burpees then the lunges and finished with 2 more miles and actually finished out the required amounts of burpees and lunges.

I could barely get my rear to the store I was so sore!

How is it I can run a marathon and be so stinkin' out of shape??

Seriously, burpees are enough to make me want to vomit and cry all at once and yet, here I sit, knowing exactly where all my muscles in my abs are because I can currently feel every single one when I flex.  Or move.

And, on another note, my kids are wondering if there will be tootees involved?  I'm not kidding.  They think the word burpees is hilarious.

Looking forward to today since I only have to do 10 burpees at a time :)

Want to join me in getting stronger??

Monday

10 burpees

10 jumping lunges

30 jumping jacks

Jump rope 2-3 minutes

(Repeat 2 to 5 times)

Tuesday

Run 1-2 miles

30 burpees

30 jumping lunges

(Repeat 2 to 5 times)

Wednesday

10 burpees, Run 400 meters

2 minutes recovery

Run 400 meters, 10 burpees

2 minutes recovery

(Repeat 2 to 5 times)

Thursday

30 burpees

30 bicycle kicks

30 push-ups

30 jumping lunges

30 tuck jumps

30 tricep dips

30-50 crunches

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOKfd7ZIFZI - tuck jump example

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zLTDUFjbXA - jumping lunges example

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzm3AnA57Og - bicycle kick example (you'll do them faster then what is in video though) :)

Friday

50 Squats

15 Burpees

50 Lunges (25/leg)

25 Sit ups

15 Push ups

25 Jumping jacks

1 Minute plank

(1-3 rounds)

Saturday

Rest

Sunday

Long run

I laughed at myself yesterday as I remembered that whenever I watch the Biggest Loser I think of how awesome it would be to have Jillian train me.  Um, who needs Jillian when they can have a Marnee?? :)