Relay Details
Sarah's comment on my last post prompted me to be a little more specific about the upcoming relays and why I'm trying to get started on two-a-days.
Rainier to Ruston 50 mile Relay
This is a six person relay. I'll be running legs 5 and 11. Leg 5 is 4.8 miles and leg 11 is 4.3, giving me a total of 9.1 miles. Our average pace is 9:30, which gives us an estimated finish time of 7:55. Leg 5 will be on paved trail, leg 11 will start in a downtown area on sidewalks, then run me through an icky industrial area (where my van will drive a block ahead and wait, drive a block ahead and wait), then through another icky downtown area in Tacoma, then finally through regular downtown Tacoma in front of the Washington State History Museum and handing off at the Art Museum. Someone had to take the icky leg and this year it's mine!
Rainier to Pacific 153 mile Relay
This is an 11 person relay. Eric and I will both be in van one. I'll be running legs 4, 15 and 26 - the same legs I ran last year, so I know what to expect. Leg 4 is 3.44 miles, starting on the edge of Eatonville, swings through downtown (this is a very small town) and heads out into the county. Unfortunately, it includes a one mile uphill stretch. Last year I was running this leg between 3:00 and 4:00 in the afternoon - the heat of the day. My next leg is 3.71 miles, and starts outside another small town - about 1:00 am. I don't really remember a lot about the final leg - it seems like it was around 8:00 or 9:00 am, but I'm not really sure. It was along a beautiful, quiet stretch of highway and is 3.63 miles. Total mileage is 10.78. As the slowest runner on the team, I took the shortest legs. Our average pace is 9:10 and our projected finish is 23:22. I can't find last years results...Rob do you have them?
This is probably the point where I should mention that Rob saved my life last year (or at least tried to) during the Rainier to Pacific. He was running my night leg with me, along the highway, when a semi-truck came barreling along. Now, whenever a vehicle came along, I'd drop behind Rob and we'd go single file. We could see the headlights coming, so I dropped behind him. I was focused on following him in the dark and not paying too much attention to the road. Rob suddenly leaped over the guardrail and started yelling at me to get over there. I guess he forgot just how slow I react. The best I could do was press up against the rail as the semi rolled by - over the fogline and into the area we were running. I think that is the biggest I've ever seen Rob's eyes get! (We had reflective gear on and headlamps, but it was around one in the morning and I think the driver might have been a little sleepy).
Okay, so back to this year. Being a runner that seldom runs over an hour, I've got to do a little work to be able to pull off multiple runs in an eight hour and 24 hour period. Thus, the two-a-days. If I run Tuesday mornings, Tuesday nights and Wednesday mornings I get three runs in 24 hours. If I run twice on Thursdays (which I do anyway every week) and Sundays, I get two runs in less than eight hours. Eric always tells me "it's time on your feet" that has to be put in to be ready. So there you go, now you know what I'm up to.
One more thing. I ran 50 minutes this morning! I'm moving up!
10 comments:
Two-a-days sounds like a good idea. Maybe incorporate a few tuck jumps (guard rail height)! Good luck with the training.
I like Try's idea about some jumping drills. Maybe you can get a bucket and jump back and forth over it and side to side. You can also get some old tires and lay them out and practice running through them like football players do.
Now we're getting somewhere. I'll bring my whistle next week and we can work on some of these drills together.
two-a-days sound good - hope you can work into them well, keep taking care of yourself!
the relay's sound fun! I am sure the two a days will help. Mentally at the minimum.
I think two-a-day was the best thing happened to me in training. Fitness-wise and mentally.
Wow - those relay races sound like a lot of fun. Although running at 1 in the morning would definitely be a challenge for me!
If I can figure out how to put my daughter's voice on my blog I will.....thanks for your nice comments!
I forgot to add: I completely agree on the lap thing....I think non-runner do measure them and they simply round up or down...it is maddening!!!
Well, wouldyalookythat! I inspired a post. Very cool.
That explains a lot. Now I know why you hang out with Rob -- You're an animal, too! Lemme guess... You know Olga too, right? ;-)
Here's hoping Rob doesn't have to save your life again this year... but if it needs saving, let's hope he's there!
Rock on, sista!
That close call last year sounds really scary. I hope you won't have a repeat experience this time.
Ah, now the idea of two-a-days makes sense. I have to admit, although I've never tried them, I've had those days when my run is already over, and I'm still pumped full of energy like I could totally go for another. I just chalk that up to craziness. But maybe that's a good thing...
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