June 17 & 18th, me and 11 other women participated in a 178 mile EPIC relay race. {Epic is the company that put it on.} Holy smokes! This relay was awesome, tiring, hard, gruesome, amazing, fun, hilarious, and just downright satisfying! All 12 of us had 3 different legs to run that varied in length and difficulty. My overall runs were the 3rd hardest of the group. My first leg was 6.37 miles {difficulty: hard} my second leg was 7.18 miles {difficulty: very hard} and my third run was 4.3 miles {difficulty: moderate}. I think I averaged an 8:50 minute mile which I was very pleased with considering I was averaging a 9:30-10 minute mile normally. The quicker pace also explains why I was SO DARN SORE for days afterwards. Our team finished in 28:31:22. We weren't going for time, we were just doing it to have fun, so I guess the time doesn't really matter. Overall our team pace was 9:37 minute mile.
Carb loading the night before!
A lot of people kept asking me "how was the race?" and I would respond "it was great....except for all that running!" And I totally stick by that statement! I should have trained a whole lot more! After my second run {which was straight up hill for 7 miles in the heat...awful!} I was so done with running and did not want to finish my last leg. Next year, I will know what to do and what to expect: hills, hills and more hills.
Me half way through my first leg. It was around 11 am. There was a pretty good incline a good portion of the last half. Once I finished, I guzzled some gatorade and we went to Safeway to pick up some groceries for the rest of the trip.
Me during my 2nd leg between 5 and 6 pm. It was still scorching hot. Here, Maria is spraying me with water. If I look like I was going to pass out, it certainly felt like it. This was probably after 4 miles. Then at mile 5 1/2, I had caught up to a lady who started a few minutes before me. Our van had pulled up ahead and parked on the side of the road to give me water because I was dying. So as I was running up to get my water from Maria, the lady in front of me that I had caught up to takes it from her, literally leaving me high and dry! I was so mad! I was swearing in my head at this point. So, I kept running but I started to panic a little which made me hyperventilate. I eventually stopped and had to bend over to try and catch my breath. Once I got that water though, my breathing regulated and I was able to continue running. Luckily, Amanda {our pacer} came out and was able to run with me the last 1 1/2 miles. I don't know that I would have been able to keep going if she wasn't there! Forreals. The sign that said "1 mile to go!" was at the bottom of a huge hill! I started swearing out loud because I was so tired and hot and sore but kept running. I was so glad to finish but was seriously dreading my 3rd leg.
Machel, airing out her delicates!
We have no pictures of my 3rd leg because it was at 4 am. Well, let me back up. Once I finished my 2nd leg, there were 3 more runners to go before our van was 'off duty'. So our van eventually finished at around 10 pm. After that, we drove to a high school where all the other teams were camping out. Luckily it wasn't raining and we were able to get out our sleeping bags and get a few hours in before we had to be up and running again. Except, I had so much adrenaline in my body and all the other teams were so loud that I got maybe 45 minutes of sleep. Then, before we knew it, we were up at 2 am and in the van driving to our next exchange. I was so tired! Oh and the weather turned on us so instead of hot and sunny, it was cold and rainy.
So, our van was on duty at 2:30 or so and my run ended up starting around 4:15 am. I got to see the sun rise which was pretty cool and this was my shortest run {which seemed like my longest}, so I was happy to just get it over with. I was freezing at first but boiling by the end. Once I was done, it was a huge sense of relief!
By the time our van was off duty again, we were on the hunt for a place to give us inexpensive showers and a restaurant. Along the race route, we found a tennis club that generously gave us free showers! We just had to rent our towels for $0.60! What a bargain! Then once we were all showered, we found an applebees and pigged out. After that, we just waited at the finish for our girls to come in for the finish!
It was quite the experience and I would do it again in a heartbeat!
