I want a do-over! I was robbed!
Last weekend I ran the Ragnar Relay with 11 other fabulous women and 2 awesome drivers (yes, I have an expansive vocabulary full of adjectives). My experience was exhilarating, humbling, emotional, and miserable all at the same time.
Let me start with last Wednesday. I went to work like normal but as the day progressed I felt a weird tickle in my throat. It was irritating and I beat it back with Zinc lozenges and a lot of fluids. After work I wasn't feeling 100% and I still had the weird tickle but I ignored it and proceeded to do last minute shopping and 'neon searching'.
Writing the tickle off as nothing later that night, I went to bed early in hopes that I would rise earlier than normal and get in a full day of work before heading South to the NUUN headquarters in downtown Seattle for the pre-race van decorating and dinner. Thursday morning came and I hit the snooze button. I wasn't feeling good. This was NOT a good sign. I got up, showered and dressed, and told Gabe that I was hoping to make it to 1 PM before coming home and taking a nap prior to the drive. Yeah... I made it a whopping 1.5 hours before I felt too sick to stay at work. I was a dizzy, sweating, shivering mess. Back to bed for me.
Race Outfits - all Oiselle all the time!
Finish line outfit previously seen here.
A little compression anyone?
Stowaways
Now you'd think that at this point I would either a) decide it wasn't the best idea to drive to Seattle that evening seeing as how the race started in BLAINE and I could easily sleep in my own bed and get much needed rest or b) not run at all. Somehow the feverish brain wasn't working all that well. I couldn't quite figure out how, if I decided to do 'a', I would get home once the relay was over. And really, let's be honest, 'b' wasn't an option.
So South I went after a few off-and-on hours of sleep. Corinne and I showed up just in time for me to be the wallflower. The antisocial - 'hey I have a cold so I'm going to sit over here'. It really wasn't THAT bad but my throat hurt and I was already having a hard time focusing so conversation with my fellow teammates was kept to a minimum. Which is AWFUL seeing as how I didn't know these ladies and it would have been an opportune time to chat it up.
Four thirty came pretty quick and I jumped out of bed, layered up with my first set of running clothes and sweats. Corinne and I grabbed a bit of food from my parent's pantry and we were out the door right on time, getting back to the NUUN headquarters at a quarter after 5.
I quickly claimed the back row of seats alongside the luggage in hopes that I could either hack silently and feebly by myself or at least get a few minutes of shut eye leaning on the bags. I was trying extremely hard not to get anyone else sick. I basically obsessed about this for the next 40+ hours. As we drove North I got a few moments of sleep here and there and by the time we got to the Peace Arch park I was feeling slightly better. Just in time for the downpour of rain! Let me tell you, nothing makes a sick person feel worse than having to stand outside in the rain. Just sayin. Granted, we didn't HANG OUT outside if we didn't have to but still.
Holly getting psyched for her first leg
We weren't at the park too long before it was time for our team to start. Now obviously our whole team (practically) is made up of bloggers so I'll let them share the details of each of their legs on their own. I do have to give serious credit, however, to both Holly and Lauren (our first and second legs of the race) who got the worst of Friday's weather.
The morning was spent leap frogging each consecutive runner, yelling encouraing words, noting road kill (people they passed along the way), and rushing to the next leg for the handoff. It all went smoothly AND quickly. Soon it was my turn. Was I ready to run 6.5 miles? To be honest I had no idea. It would be my longest run in well over 3 months. Would I be able to run hard? Again, no idea. Every time I had run hard recently my foot hurt. Really my plan was just to go. It didn't matter how fast but I would go as fast as my body would let me.
Tatted up and ready to represent
Compression gear for leg 1 - CEP calf sleeves
My leg went from Cornwall Church on Northwest, up to Bakerview, down to Aldergrove, over to Bennett, down to Marine, back over to Broadway, and then weaved through the 'Lehtto' (Lettered Streets Ghetto for those not familiar with the hood) to Bellingham High School. The rain had stopped, the weather was sort of warm and the wind had picked up. Game on.
I was getting hot though and my mouth was getting precariously dry. The throat was throbbing. I stripped the arm warmers and handed them off to my teammates as I rounded the corner onto Aldergrove. At this point I was kind of miserable and completely spaced out even really acknowledging their presence on the course. Must finish... must get water.
Once I hit Marine drive I knew I was mostly there. I watched the mileage go slowly by and just hung in there. I don't really know what went through my head in those last miles. I don't think I was entirely alert. I know there were a few stop lights, a few unfriendly fellow runners (it's nice to acknowledge a 'good job'... just so you know), a few road kill, and mostly just misery. I saw the high school and realized I had to run to the far side to actually do the hand off. It seemed so.far.away. But then there were my teammates - cheering and in neon - and I knew I was done.
And done indeed. I was exhausted. My watch clocked me in with a pace of 8:41 which included all of the stop lights. Craptastic but I'll take it. I just wanted ot lay down. As my teammates tried to search out changing areas and scopped out the Ragnar shwag I made myself comfortable in the back of the van and tried not to pass out.
And done indeed. I was exhausted. My watch clocked me in with a pace of 8:41 which included all of the stop lights. Craptastic but I'll take it. I just wanted ot lay down. As my teammates tried to search out changing areas and scopped out the Ragnar shwag I made myself comfortable in the back of the van and tried not to pass out.
This is all the smile I could muster - you should have seen the first shot!
Because my teammates love me they dropped me off at my house (only a handful of blocks away from the high school) and let me shower and sleep while they ate lunch. The shower felt amazing. I think I stood under the hot water for over a half hour, then promptly bundled up in sweats and crashed. I slept solidly for an hour and woke up refreshed. I hurried around the house trying to get Holly and Lauren's shoes dried (fail), our towels dried, and maybe think about eating something (fail). That lasted all of 20 minutes before I was once again exhausted. Back in bed I went. Another hour later and I was ready to get this show on the road. I checked in with the teammates and they came and picked me up so we could head down to Burlington for our second set of legs.
Once in Burlington we had a bit of time to kill before Megan came in and got us going on our night legs. So we wandered around the high school parking lot tatting people up with NUUN tattoes and handing out single-serve samples. I shouldn't really say 'we'... I mostly just followed along like a little duckling and stuck a tattoo where I was told.
The credit for this masterpiece goes all to Becky
Before long we were back on the road. I think we started somewhere in the 9 PM range but again, my timeline is all a bit fuzzy. As before, the lineup was the same. Holly, Lauren, Corinne, Katherine, Becky then me. Leap frogging our runners became much more challenging in the dark. Everyone looks the same! Luckily someone (Holly, Lauren... I don't know who) had bought us all glow stick necklaces so we sported those to help us stick out.
More cheering, more 'You've got the right stuff, baby' shouting, more driving... with a side of stopping and yelling at some idiot who was jumping out of his driveway and scaring passing runners and wouldn't you know it, it was my turn. I had the great fortune of having Mason run with me during my leg. I wasn't particularly 'scared' of running in the middle of nowhere, in the dark, by myself but I welcomed the company and am so thankful he decided to hop in.
Compression gear for leg 2 - CEP argyle socks
Side note - LOVE the 'Bum Wrap' - get it, flaunt it, you'll love it too
The run went smoothly. Mason did most of the talking and for the first couple of miles we were doing great - 8:04, 7:47 (oh crap, I don't think I can maintain that), 8:00. We were passing people here and there and the run was quite pleasent. There were no street lights and really nothing at all around us. We must have been in the middle of fields. The next few miles I did some talking and we slowed down - 8:15, 8:28. My voice didn't carry and it took a lot of effort just to tell a simple story. For the last half mile I shut up and brought us in to the handoff - 7:50. Night leg done and not nearly as painful as earlier that day. Thank you a million times over to Mason for getting me through that one both physically and mentally.
From there I 'Shower Pilled' off in the back seat and we headed to Oak Harbor to catch a few hours of sleep. Side note - Shower Pills are awesome. They're like thick gigantic baby wipes and they really leave you feeling clean! The rest of the girls slept a bit as we drove over Deception Pass and South to Oak Harbor. After my run I was pretty awake so I silently observed faster teams running in the night. It was pretty cool.
Once at the high school in Oak Harbor the van split up - a few heading to the gym to sleep on wrestling mats and Holly, Becky and I each taking a bench in the van and spreading out our sleeping bags. I have to say that I got a decent amount of sleep that night. My eyes were at least shut for a solid 2.5 hours. Granted, I did wake up to shouts of 'Rise and Shine B*#*@*es' but that only made me chuckle (and 'no' it wasn't OUR vanmates).
The next morning I felt fairly refreshed and even seemed to have a bit of energy. Leg 3, bring it! Since we all woke up a bit early we hussled over to the nearest Starbucks and caffeinated (or just drank something warm in my case). And... before long Van 2 was pulling in followed shortly by Megan and Holly was off!
More leap frogging resumed. A few directional mishaps and a few close call exchanges but all was good. The energy I had at 5:30 AM was quickly fading. Being replaced by nausea, fatigue, and an increasingly irritated throat. My cheering was sub par for these legs. It consisted of semi-shouting from the van window and sometimes no shouting at all. Just watching as my teammate went by the van. Sad. Pathetic. No energy. I could pretend like I was trying to mentally prepare for my final leg but in reality I was just trying to hide. Trying hard to sleep and escape from myself and hoping that my teammates weren't hating me for being a spoil sport.
And then it was my turn!
Compression gear for leg 3 - Zensah calf sleeves
Oiselle - wear it loud and proud!
That's the best way to describe it. My energy was gone. Alright... slow it down a bit, keep moving forward and checking people off as you pass them (at least I was consistently doing that) - 8:28. The 'out' portion was uphill so I had that as a concession. I just kept thinking 'I can go faster on the way back'. And that I did - 7:56. But when I was thinking faster I was looking more like in the low 7 range. 7:56 was just barely faster in my book and yet I was giving it all I had. Even the final kick into the finish - 7:51 - seemed like a lot of work. But, before I knew it I was done. Handing off to Van 2 and trying desperately not to puke on someone as I pulled off to the side and dry heaved. I definltely ran hard. I definitely gave it my all. Unfortunately my 'all' wasn't what I had expected it to be.
And with that, Van 1 was done running. After a few moments in private I was ready for a beer and bacon. Or so I proclaimed to Mason and Katherine. Runner's high. That was short lived as I was still on the verge of loosing my innards thirty minutes later.
Another Shower Pill clean up, a quick change into Rogas and my bright neon NUUNKOTB shirt and I was actually ready to eat. Breakfast has never tasted so good! It was great to relax in the sun and enjoy the banter of my teammates.
With our bellies full we drove on to Langley and the finish to await Van 2. The beer garden beckoned everyone else but sitting out in the sun was making me nauseous again and I made an escape for the shade of the van and a chance to lie down and maybe get a bit more rest. The throat was wicked sore at this point and my voice was mostly gone. Talking was worthless and sitting took effort.
I'm not sure how long I hung out in the van but it was long enough for me to start feeling weird about being anti social so I came back out and rejoined the group. Like the rest of the weekend, the hours flew by and we were soon lining up near the finish line to await Megan's arrival. And just like that, it was over.
The line at the ferry was ridiculous so instead we headed North back across Deception Pass to Mount Vernon - dropped Corinne off there so she could hitch a ride back to Bellingham - and then continued South. Holly had to catch a flight so there were a few quick good byes and then litterally it was over. Poof! Gone!
I drove back to my parent's house, stepped one foot inside the door, and completely broke down. I was exhausted and sick. My body ached, I was nauseous still, I couldn't talk, and I was just flat out tired. Thank GAWD I was at my parent's house!! Like all mothers do - my Mom made me soup, gave me medicine then sent me to bed. That was all I needed.
I'd love to say that my cold got better the next day. It did not. Nor did it get better several days later. In fact I took Monday off from work and dragged myself to the doctor where I was quickly given the diagnosis of Bronchitis (yeah... that's not what I started with but since it moved to the chest they just call it bronchitis - generic) and loaded up with antibiotics. I even scored antibiotic eyedrops because somewhere in my weekend time frame I likely coughed on my hand then took my contacts out and thus made my eye ooze. It's pretty, real pretty. So long story short I've been recuperating with apple cider, soup, cough drops, tea with whiskey and a lot of sleep. My sexy sick voice is slowly disappearing and my energy is coming back.
And of course, I want to do it all over again - except for REAL this time! The relay experience was amazing. If I hadn't been sick it would have been 'fun' too. I've quickly formed friendships with 11 strangers and would run another relay with them in a heart beat.
Lastly, a HUGE 'Thank You' to NUUN for putting us in two vans and letting us complete this journey together. They supported us door to door. There are simply no words to express my gratitude.
Lastly, a HUGE 'Thank You' to NUUN for putting us in two vans and letting us complete this journey together. They supported us door to door. There are simply no words to express my gratitude.
