A Hot Summer Relay

Pictures are compliments of Margaret. I did take the camera, and I believe I took one picture.

The morning started with Margaret picking me up and us meeting up with the rest of the group at the Y. The team consisted of Margaret, Melissa, Michelle S., Linda, Sonya and me. We should have called ourselves Four Gimps and a Couple of Runners - Melissa, Michelle and Sonya are all suffering from knee problems related to ITB issues. I've got my calf thing going on. Margaret and Linda are healthy - thank goodness!

We drove up to South Prairie where we had a quick stop at the fire station to get our packets and t-shirts. I ran into some kids from Riley's cross country team who were running the relay. After a little trash talk, we all climbed back in the cars to drive to the start. Saw the kids again there, where I threatened them with my running prowess, offered to take their picture and generally harassed them. Melissa and Michelle decorated the car, while the rest of us sat inside avoiding the biting bugs. We scrambled out to the start with the rest of the runners and we were off - Sonya had the first leg. Our team is well-known for drive-by cow-bell ringing and lots of hootin' and hollerin'. Today we added Melissa's ear-splitting whistle to the mix.

We were surprised to find some of the exchanges moved from the previous two years, but the course was marked better than in the past and none of us got lost. We did hold dead-last position for the entire race. The past two years we had plenty of teams around us, so I'm not sure what happened this year - we were alone most of the relay. Maybe something to do with four gimps?

It's unfortunate that I can't share a lot of what happened today with you - due to the first rule of relays: what happens in the van, stays in the van. I can tell you that I ran leg 6, in very hot weather, and managed it quite nicely. It was somewhere in the 80's today - I know it was exactly 80 on the waterfront at 7:00 tonight, and I'm guessing it was 85+ earlier and inland. Leg 6 was 2.76 miles and my average pace was an amazing 10:59. I wrapped my leg in an ace bandage (seems to work better than the brace), loaded up this scarf-thingie we bought from zombierunner with ice and ran. The scarf has a chamois sewn inside which stays wet and cool while running. I tried tying it to the straps of my tank top and having it hang down my back - which felt wonderful, but came undone. Then I tied it around my neck, but it was choking me. I finally swung it around front, where it bounced. So I tucked it in to my shirt - success! It stayed cold and kept me cool.

My second leg was the final leg. I had four miles to cover - from the Art Museum to the park. This time I tied my scarf over my head do-rag style. It felt really good. I started out a little slower - I'd been hobbling around since my last leg, icing periodically and hoping for the best. I don't know what worked, but there was some initial pain, then it started feeling pretty good. I got a long, long shady stretch, which was wonderful. As I came running into Old Town, I saw Barb running toward me. I thought maybe I was hallucinating, but it really was her. She'd been for a walk down the waterfront with a friend, and was sitting outside Starbucks waiting for me. She asked how I was doing and I said good, but I could use some water to pour over me. She ran up to her friend and grabbed her cup of ice - I have no idea what was in it originally. I scooped out handfuls and stuffed them down my bra and into my scarf. I left Barb at the corner - after waiting for a very long street light. I ran one block and got stuck again at a light. This one took at least three minutes. I finally got across and on to the sidewalk on Ruston. It was jammed with walkers, strollers, families, dogs, roller bladers, kids on bikes and kids in prom attire. I wove in and out, in and out. The ice in my bra was rattling around and driving me nuts, so I started pushing up from the bottom and forcing it out the top. I'm sure I was quite a sight, running along spurting ice from my shirt!

I could finally see the bell tower in the distance, then began to hear the cow-bells, the yelling and Melissa's whistle. As I crossed on to the grass, Eric ran up - he ran 12 Summits today (34 miles of trails in the mountains) and got to our finish about 20 minutes before me. He rang me in, and the entire team, plus Rick and Wendy were waiting at the bell tower. I ran through, rang the bell, and it was over. We were the last ones in: 9:30:09 for 50 miles - an average pace of 11:24. A little off of last year's 7:56. It was a lot warmer today, plus we had a lot more injuries going in. The important thing is this: we had a blast! Everyone ran well and seemed to feel okay. I laughed once as I looked around the car - I had ice on my leg, Melissa and Sonya both had ice on theirs. I'm sure Michelle would have, but she was running.

This relay last year was the start of my year-long toe problems. I lost my initial toe nail after this, and had bad blisters. Today I came out with one small blister on the tip of one toe. Not too bad! All in all, I'm pleased with my heat management and my blister management today.

This race is so much fun, I'm already looking forward to next year. But before that, we've got the big one coming up - the overnight Rainier to Pacific. I can't wait!

(PS. I'm sitting up waiting for the prom kids to get home, so I can chaperone at this end too. H's parents are out of town, so she's staying over tonight - no run for me in the morning, but in my typical slacker fashion, I will make it to coffee!)