Hood to Coast Relay: Leg 19 "Night Warriors"

Picking up where we left off at leg 12/13, Van 2 headed to the next major van exchange to get a couple hours of sleep before our next legs were scheduled to start at ~0300 hours.

I was hoping my legs would recover from the "gentle, rolling hills"...gentle my ass (or hamstrings).  Those rolling hills were a bitch.  I decided to sleep in my Recovery Socks because I needed all the circulation help I could get, AND the temperatures were dropping at 1130 hours so the added warmth was a benefit.

Kim, Harmony and I slept outside on a tarp (highly recommend using a tarp to keep your sleeping bag dry) while Tonia, XLMIC, and Susan slept in the van.

 

Here is XLMIC's backseat bed:

Rock star driver Coach Casey (CFO of nuun) set the alarm for me in anticipation of leg 19.  He was AMAZING this trip and that doesn't even do him justice.  Nonstop smile, radiating positive energy and encouragement, a calming force in Van 2. 

Coach Casey & I before leg 31

 

He could've been quite nervous entering a confined environment of 6 separate menstrual cycles for the next 30 hours! Casey and I also connected because his daughter plays softball and his son baseball.  Ballers know what's up.

I put in my earplugs because the van exchange is a high traffic area with lots noise.  I think I got 1.5-2 hours of real sleep which is more than our Van 1 teammates got. 

At 0230 hours, I blinked at a talking head lamp that was in fact Coach Casey.  He said Lisa was on her way to the 18/19 exchange.  Time.to.hustle. 

XLMIC actually blogged about the start of my leg in real time HERE.  I woke my sleeping van-mates searching for items.  I quickly pulled on another Moving Comfort Juno sports bra, my Tommie Copper compression shirt, a reflective vest with blinking LED's front/back, kept my Recovery Socks on (didn't have time to change) and secured XLMIC's camouflaged headlamp.

No fuel. A quick sip of water.  Not ideal prep before my most challenging leg.

Coach snapped this pic post-race--wasn't going to make any of my teammates snap a pic at 0300!

I was barely awake, so you can imagine the state of my legs.  Leg 19 is 5.9 miles and rated VERY HARD. "Long leg over challenging up and down hills on paved back country roads." 

It didn't disappoint. I wanted so badly to savor my night run....

But, alas. I was sucking major wind.  Mile 0-1 is a steep uphill, then you can catch your breath and Miles 1.5 - 2.6 you're climbing again.  My AWESOME teammates cheered me on as I struggled to gain momentum up hill #2.  I think I looked pretty bad here.

One of the Road Kilts runners (yep, they run in kilts) said "hi" as he passed me (Dangit!  I was Road Kill).  We met them earlier, and I was the lucky victim target of a tattoo:

He was very thorough....hmmm.

I know my leg wasn't the toughest by any means, so I'm not complaining (okay, I am).  I simply did not attack the hills like I know I could.  Mile 4.0 - 5.9 is uphill too.  Who the hell gave me this leg?!  Oh, right.  I selected it.  I over-shot my running ability.

Although my night run wasn't the spiritual, yogic experience I wanted, I got through it and saw the faint light of the next exchange leg 19/20. Let's go!!

The volunteers called out our team number 981 to alert the next runner, (Kim) I was approaching.

I didn't see Kim, so I thought maybe the exchange was up the next hill and kept running (what a dirty trick to play H2C race director).  I was so confused.  It was 0350 hours so critical thinking was NOT happening.  Coach Casey yelled, "Jess! Come back!  Kim is in the Honey Bucket!"

You bet I stopped in my tracks, turned around and happily handed off the relay bracelet when she made her appearance. Done. Pace: 8:55/mile. 

Kim's leg 20 was 5.75 miles (Very Hard) terrain on a gravel road that look horribly difficult. Brutal, in fact. Runners were inhaling dust kicked up by vans and visibility was limited.  She ran SO STRONG.

Susan ran leg 21 which was 5.0 miles of (Moderate) terrain.  Susan's nutrition plan was dominated by chocolate.  I think we runners need to consider that as she was by far our speediest runner in Van 2.

Harmony took over at leg 22, 6.81 miles of (Hard) terrain.  This was her favorite run and she did outstanding.  No bears chased her either.

Tonia ran leg 23, 4.18 miles (Easy) and had the chance to watch the sun rise.  She also saw the sun set--so I think T got some stellar legs!

XLMIC ran leg 24, 4.92 miles (Easy) and we met her at the 24/25 exchange in Mist, OR where our lovely teammates in Van 1 could take over. XLMIC went ALL OUT on EVERY leg!

We were in hurry-up mode to get to the next major exchange for our LAST LEGS.  Already?!!!  We are 2/3 done?  I don't want this to end. We almost missed Tricia running her final leg number 25 as she blended into her surroundings...

We had limited to no cell phone service so our Tweeting and Facebook updates came to a screeching halt.  Boo.

Onto the final Van exchange legs 30/31...