Relay, part two: Redemption

Continued... The heat slowed us all down, so we had a good, long wait at the next major transition. We had some dinner and visited Starbucks, then Eric, Steve and Margaret found a grassy spot to lay out their sleeping bags and try to catch some rest.
Five of the Van 2 runners.

Patch was the sixth Van 2 runner.

Rob, Sonya and I laid in the van with the doors open and had a good old-fashioned slumber party. We talked and we laughed so hard my tummy hurt. One of our discussions was about whether you could call it "hitting the wall" or "a bonk" when you've run less than 5K, or whether those were marathon terms. I was trying to find a little solace in the fact that I'd just had another taste of the full racing experience. I have to tell you that I thought Rob was going to bust a gut laughing when I said that I was a weenie-face for pulling out.Meeting up with Van 2.

We finally got the call that Van 2 was almost in, so we broke out the night gear and moved over to the exchange. It had cooled down wonderfully - but was still tank top weather. We were required to wear a reflective vest and carry a flashlight or wear a headlamp. In addition, we had some great glowsticks to carry. My leg started just after 2:00 am which was nice - by that time, the drunks and truck drivers seemed to be off the roads. Rob and Eric made me reset my walk timer to 5 minutes running, 1:30 walking. They wanted to be sure I was totally recovered and didn't have any heart issues. I had to promise I'd pull out if I felt anything. I'm happy to say that I felt strong and comfortable the entire way. Rob and I made a mid-run switch to run 5, walk 1, run 5, walk 30 seconds. It worked like a charm and we cruised in. Rob told me that it was Redemption, part 1 and that part 2 would be to maintain the same good pace in the morning. Our exchange was at a pitch black section of the highway. No street lights at all - the only light came from our headlamps. Rob kept going with Sonya while I piled into the van.

Summary leg 2: 3.71 miles, 41:57, average hr: 144, peak hr: 168 (that was on a little kick at the end). Much better, and better yet, not a single twinge or problem.

Sonya's leg ended at the high school where we got to shower and sleep a little. She and I slept in the van while the others went into the gym to sleep. I woke up about 6:00 am, and sat up to see an almost empty parking lot. I started worrying that we'd overslept, and sure enough a few minutes later the call came that the last Van 2 runner was on the road. We all piled in the van and took off. We made it with about 15 minutes to spare and started our legs off again.

My final leg was about 9:00 am. It was smooth sailing - mostly shaded, very comfortable. It was warm out, so we kept the 5/1 run/walk for this leg as well. We were surprised to come up on the exchange quickly, only to find out later it was in the wrong spot and made my leg about a half mile short. I was bummed! And poor Sonya, it lengthened her already long leg even more. Sonya's leg was in full sun - she started feeling the heat and decided to pull out where her leg should have ended and let Eric and Rob complete it. Summary leg 3: Should have been 3.63, was probably about 3.2. 34:00, average hr: 136, peak: 151. Redemption!
After that we were done. We had breakfast - kind of greasy, left me feeling a little sick, went to Rob's house, showered and headed to the finish to wait for our team. It was a great race and we were all satisfied.
After the finish, we went back to the house. Some of the team napped, while five of us went for a walk. We live on Puget Sound with rocky beaches so the sandy, wide open ocean beach of Ocean Shores is a treat. We peeled off our shoes and started walking. It was beautiful and sunny and fairly empty of people. We walked and talked and walked some more. Two and a half hours later, we made it back to the house. We picked up pizza, beer and wine for dinner, and finally headed for bed about 9:30. We'd been up since early Friday morning and had had two hours of sleep during the night, but we still were having too much fun to call it quits.Sunday morning, Rob and Eric headed out for a beach run about 6:00 am. Margaret, Steve and I went out about 7:30. We ran down the beach for an hour. It was foggy and the tide was way out. We could just see the water on our left, and couldn't see the dunes on the right. The sand was bare except for two sets of footprints - probably from Eric and Rob. After a while, a group of runners went by, then turned around and came back. I'm pretty sure they had run the relay too. We were running on my 9/1 run/walk cycle at a nice comfortable pace. My hr stayed low - an average of 136 with a high of 151 - back to normal. Our plan was to turn up to the road at the Best Western. Eric and Rob were waiting there with the van, and we went off to find our morning coffee. It was a great way to end a great weekend!