It has been a busy couple of days! Thursday I was out of my house from 6 am to 10 pm, and left again Friday at 6. (No complaints – I enjoy the busy times, they help me appreciate relaxation!)
Friday I did 9 miles at marathon pace on the treadmill, which averaged to about 8:20 pace. It went fine but I was so bored. I can’t wait to run outside tomorrow!!
My work desk needs some cleaning. I have a bit too much going on.
I’ve been getting through my work day by eating tons of clementines.
Spending so much time on the subway makes me want to take in copious amounts of Vitamin C. I’ve probably been getting way more than I need.
We have a big box of clementines, so I might just have to make some clementine muffins, a clementine cake, or Julie’s clementine brownies, which look pretty delicious.
(Photo courtesy of Savvy Julie)
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I’ve also been getting through my days by having things to look forward to, like meeting up with blog friends for a movie!
Thursday night I saw the Hood to Coast Movie with Lizzy, Becky & Lauren – all of whom are amazing girls. If you’re not reading their blogs, you totally should. Lizzy posts amazing recipes every week, Becky is hilarious and enthusiastic, and Lauren’s posts are incredibly helpful and informative.
Basically the movie documents the 197-mile relay that 1,000 teams of 12 people run from Mount Hood to the Oregon coast. Most of the time individuals run 16-17 miles each, over the course of a day.
While the movie covered many aspects of the race, it specifically focused on 4 of the 1,000 teams:
- One team named R. Bowe had an incredible (and sad) story. They were friends/family members of a 30-year-old runner (Ryan Bowe) who died unexpectedly a couple of months before the race the previous year, which also happened to be a couple of months before his only son was born <– (wasn’t expecting to tear up in this movie). Running and the HTC relay was obviously a huge part of his life; it was pretty powerful and emotional to watch them all run it for him.
- The Heart ‘N’ Sole team was composed of women over 50. In particular, one member of the team almost died while running the relay the previous year because her heart stopped beating for a minute or two. She had run 75 marathons in her life, plus a ton of other races. These ladies had such a strong bond over running.
- Thunder and Laikaning was a bunch of artists (animators to be exact) who lived a sedentary lifestyle, disliked running and had a “drink a lot of beer and don’t run at all” training philosophy. But, they had great a great sense of humor and team spirit! I think they were shocked to finish.
- The Dead Jocks was made up of some older guys who were fast, and used to be even faster back in their day. One guy on the team ran Hood to Coast every single year since the first race in 1982. They were hilarious and cheered other teams in addition to their own.
Overall the movie was interesting for me, because I was wondering what a relay experience would be like, spending a whole day running 3 different legs (a total of about 17 miles, because each team has 12 runners), running in the middle of the night with a headlamp, not really sleeping and living out of a van, cheering on your team and other teams, and not showering after running 3 times (gah!)
I’m not sure how I feel about actually doing a relay myself. I think I would rather run 26 miles at once than run 17 miles broken up into 3 chunks and be sore, smelly and sleep deprived.
But I can definitely see why people do it. It’s a major challenge physically and mentally, it’s a unique team bonding experience, and just really cool to be able to say you’ve done it!
Would you ever do a 200-mile team relay? Fun or crazy?
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
These long relay races are intimidating to me, but the movie sounds good. I have a friend who did a 100 mile one in VT, and she had a ton of fun driving around and bonding with her teammates. I love running at night when it’s just getting dark, so it would be kinda fun to have the experience of running in the middle of the night.
Lauren recently posted..It’s OK to…
Great recap- but you didn’t mention anything about the incredibly awkward beginning : ) haha
The most fun of the night was hanging out with my blog friends : )
I think doing a relay is definitely an experience but I’m not sure I’d want to do another UNLESS I get into Hood to Coast. I definitely want to do that in my lifetime.
Lizzy recently posted..Restaurant Review- Trattoria 89 Centrale & Valentines Day
I really want to see the HTC movie! I’ve run HTC twice, and both weekends were two of the best of my life. I loved my teammates, and we still laugh while reminiscing about the race. So many fun memories. I would recommend HTC to any runner.
I vote clementine muffins.
I would LOVE to do a 200 mile relay! I just need a team who is as crazy as I am
Matt @ The Athlete’s Plate recently posted..Tropical Traditions Canadian Raw Honey Giveaway Winner
I wish I would have seen that movie when it was here! I’ve got to agree with you though – 26 miles once seems a lot better than runs broken up into chunks with no showering. Because I am just a leetttle high mainenance
but it would definitely be adventurous!
Kelly recently posted..Training- Sharing & My Thoughts on HFCS
I think it would be fun to do the Ragner Relay! There’s one from CT to MA in May. I love the commraderie that these races portray.
Alaina recently posted..Blue Ribbon & BSB
I honestly used to feel the same way about the relays as you do. I had run marathons when Evan started talking the relays up to me and I just was not convinced. I honestly said the same thing – that I’d rather run for 3+ hours straight than run 3 different legs without sleeping. But, then I did it, mostly because it was a new experience and I figured I had to try something like that at least once. And you know the rest of the story! I can’t promise that the entire weekend is just one non-stop fun festival. There are definitely times where you feel sick and cranky and you wonder why the heck you’re doing this to yourself. But, when it’s all said and done, there’s nothing like it in the entire world! You feel so alive and accomplished after finishing a relay. And the team camaraderie is one of the best parts about it. It’s amazing how much you can bond with a group of people just from being stuck in a van with them for over 24 hours
Lauren recently posted..Beating the Winter Blues
GREAT job on the run! Long runs on the treadmill are boring- so I think its really awesome that you made it through. I want a box of clementines! And those brownies
The movie sounds interesting but the concept of the race sounds a little nutty. Hope you have a great weekend
I want to see HTC so badly! And I appreciate your honesty about relays. I feel like most of us (me included) see them lke marathons; like you have to do one!
I hope you had a great outside run today
Jen recently posted..The break-up I didn’t see coming
I’ve been asked to join relay teams before and my answer is always NO!! I know a lot of people love them, but 24+ hours in a cramped van with smelly, tired, hungry runners does not sound like fun to me. I love my friends and I love running, but I love personal space and sleep more.
I think a relay in general would be fun, but maybe not one of that size. I’m thinking of doing a marathon relay in the fall, but that’s only running like 6 or 7 miles for each person.
I’m ALL ABOUT running a huge relay race! How fun to have a whole team of people on the same mission cheering each other on every step of the way. Fun! I hear you don’t get too tired because of all the adrenaline. And I’m thinking I’ll be running the DC one in September with Matt @Athletesplate ! I”m SUPER excited!
Rae recently posted..Hey There!
The relay sounds amazing!!
What a fantastic run! That is FAST for such a long time!
Clementine brownies sound so, so good!