Hood to Coast is this Week-end!

The Hood to Coast Relay, also known as the mother of all relays, is this week-end. For team Texas Roadkill, this is where it all began, back in 1996...We were eating breakfast at Cafe Brazil, post-run: Trey, Jim, Doug, and I, as we listened to Trey's co-worker from Portland Oregon talk about her participation in this relay. She had us captivated...running with a team of twelve runners for approximately 24 hours as they traveled from Mt. Hood to Seaside Oregon. Each runner ran 3 different times throughout the event, roughly 8 hours apart. And this beach party at the finish, wow, I mean she had us right then and there. We said, "Let's go do this thing"! Jim signed us up (the team name came later), Doug rented the 2 vans, and I recruited the remaining team members. I pulled in people from all over Dallas. The team members knew a few fellow team-mates, but nobody knew everybody. Even I didn't know Tina, as she came in as a friend of Deanna's. I think this is what really made the first year so magical--getting to know people during an intense 24 hour ordeal! Not only that, but back then there wasn't the full blown 1000 teams like they have today. If my memory serves me correctly, they had only around 500 teams then. None of us had done a relay before, so we had no idea what to expect. When we came back to Dallas we talked about our adventures non-stop for weeks. It was such an incredible adventure!

Texas Roadkill returned to Hood to Coast every year for the next 4 years, along with several other Texas teams as Hood to Coast gained momentum, until other relays began forming across the country, mimicking Hood to Coast's format. Texas Roadkill traveled to races in New Hampshire, Napa Valley, Santa Cruz, Chicago, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Lake Tahoe, and Utah, returning two more times to Hood to Coast as well.

Over the seventeen years of team existence the team line up has continuously changed with only three of the original members remaining: Jim, Doug, and myself. Of us three only Doug has ran every single relay race since the very beginning! Go Daddy-o Doug!

I'd like to think Texas Roadkill will continue on, but for me, I think I am "getting too old for this stuff"...It literally ran its course, ha ha. Still, Hood to Coast memories will be with me forever, especially that first year when it all began.

In the photo standing from left to right: Kris Flabiano, Doug Dodge, David Lodeeson, Amy Keene, myself, Wayne Johnson, Nancy Scholberg, Gary Goodnight, and Tina Santizo.
Kneeling, left to right: Jim Proctor, Deanna Becker, and Trey Howse.

The Texas Flag shorts came along the 2nd year, but notice that Nancy actually had a pair on that first year--she was the trend setter!

Texas Roadkill 1996

"John's Half"

And now for a little White Rock history lesson....For those of you that run with us on our long runs and have heard us refer to our Lakewood split as "John's Half", here's why. In 1991 John Jenkins designed the route to add distance, scenery, and hills to the basic 9 mile loop, which quickly became his group's weekly training run. Bob Luchsinger of the group decided to use this course to put on a race to benefit the Plano Pacers. Their 1991 race had over 500 runners. It was never intended to be an annual event, but in 1992 a group of people threw it together last minute, minus sponsorship, T-shirts, course monitors, traffic control, trophies, etc. About 90 runners showed up and ran this race, including myself. When we crossed the line we were handed index cards to fill out, thus placing us in the race. I remember having a really fun time that day. We vowed to return every year to run the race unofficially, but never did. Instead, we continue to include the route in our training runs. The only modification to the original route is that we no longer run all the way to Northwest Hwy, instead, running the Mockingbird, and now dog park bridge portion instead. I came across the results of the 1992 race...some of you may recognize some people in this list. I circled Jan Richard's name right by mine. You may still see glimpses of Jan Richards at White Rock lake, even though she is now in her 80's!

Marathon #26: ING Hartford Marathon 2009

Finish line arch

Luckily I had previously posted a write up for this one, so here goes. The course has changed some since then, but for the better, and the reviews continue to be positive.

This is what I submitted to marathonguide.com after running the marathon in 2009:
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Overall, I would highly recommend this marathon.
From a logistical standpoint it's an easy destination city for a marathon—everything is centrally located and within walking distance from any downtown hotel. (Or use of the Star shuttle).
Runners received their packet material in a nice drawstring bag. We received a long sleeved cotton T shirt as well. There was plenty of Hartford marathon apparel and novelties available for purchase.
The race starts and finishes in Bushnell park, which is gorgeous.
The organization of the start could be improved. Starting the half and full together was a little crowded in the first few miles, but not too bad.
There are ample water stops on this course, as well as Hammer Gels being handed out. Hartford, A++ on the stops!
The last 10K has some hills! As you head back into town be prepared for the hills and the seemingly never-ending rounding of the park to the final turn through the arches. Even so, the last 10K has some scenic stretches along the river, and the finish under the arches is just incredible.
The finish line was pretty well organized, except for running out of beer early on. I'd like to suggest they put some aside for the marathoners ahead of time. The finish line water fountain is a neat idea...but...when I finish I prefer not to hover over a fountain. They handed out plastic bottles for you to fill. I'd like to suggest they fill the bottles beforehand and hand you those instead.
The finisher's medals are large and pretty. They had an awesome band at the finish line! Very nice day, thanks Hartford!

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And now, the not so objective version....

They ran out of beer, those b*stards!! ... hee hee...

We all met at the capitol building stairs: Zac, Bill, Kathy, Mike, Toby, and myself. Mike and Toby ran the half. It was in the low 60's at the start, very wet and steamy...we knew it wasn't going to be pretty, but here's the great part...we just ran along and enjoyed ourselves anyway. At least for the first half...Can you say denial? Seriously, it was just such a pretty run. At one point the winds were picking up, causing autumn leaves to swirl in the air. A lot of the houses already had Halloween decorations out. Lots of people were out in their lawns or along the streets to cheer us on. It was a very friendly atmosphere. As long as it remained cloudy we were ok...and that's when the sun came out...

The second half of the race became more about survival and less about enjoying the day, although, God help me, I did try. We all had split from each other at this point, but it was still comforting to know your friends were among you, roughly experiencing what you were. For me, I was sweating too much early on and was being miserly with my electrolyte pills. My right foot started cramping at mile 14. UH-OH. So I stopped at mile 16's water stop and took out all but one pill, and then guzzled down everything I could get my hands on for the remainder of the race. The cramps subsided, and the sun went back into the clouds, so my spirits lifted after that freak out period. Plus, I got to mile 20, which mentally, is a great place for me. (Physically, not so much). Why the 20 mile marker makes me want to jump and shout is beside me! Do I really think I COULD physically crawl on my hands and knees for 6 miles if I had to???

And this last 10K...ow ow OW. I went from my B plan to my C plan, and don't even want to think I thought about the D plan in a matter of minutes. Bill had come flying by me somewhere along here--that's how you rock it Bill! No way did I even think about trying to hitch onto that. I took my last freaking pill and soldiered on.  Suddenly, there was Toby, running along beside me with the video camera. I still have no idea what I said, and moments later, there he was again on a hill a second time. I almost missed him entirely. I was so confused, but the course must have circled back in order for him to do that. (DUH). I was still trying to break 4 hours, but I could tell I was coming up short, so I refocused on what was important. I thought about my friends and how crazy we all are and how much agony we share, and how funny it is that it comes down to this! We rounded that park for an eternity, and I swear barf came up in my throat, which has never happened to me before! It totally freaked me out! I would have been horrified...down boy! So I really backed it down as we FINALLY rounded the corner into the park and under the giant arches to the finish....4:03....I'll take it!

We all regrouped and got with Mike, who was on a mission to snag as many beer tickets as he could (we joked about plucking them from fallen runners in the medical tent)...but to our dismay they ran out of beer! So we hobbled back to their room for beers (and our group grew at this point. I'm still unsure who those people were)...I gave Mike my beer ticket, ha!

The next morning it was perfectly sunny and 40 degrees....It figures!!

Could be worse...could be projectile vomiting!

Check out the bling!

Bushnell Park

First time marathoners...what they don't tell you...

                                 
What's wrong with these pictures? If you've never ran a marathon before, it may not be obvious...after all, these pictures are posted on a race web-site to entice you into entering their marathon. Looks like a lot of fun, right? Everyone's smiling, holding hands, fist pumping the sky. Sign me up, you say. Lesson #1: This won't be you.  I get so mad when I see brochures like this, depicting the marathon as a carnival of sorts. If you are interested in running a marathon it pays to know what you are really in for. Sure, you may smile and possibly fist pump the sky, but you will also go through the entire rainbow of emotions along the way. If the idea of running a marathon still sounds appealing, read on.

Lesson #2: A marathon does not equal 2 half marathons. This is a hard one for non-marathoners to grasp. I have heard people say, "I've never ran a marathon, but I've ran a half, so I think I am ready to run a full".  Marathoners will tell you that the half way point in a marathon is 20 miles. If you can get your head around how hard those last 6 miles will be then you will be mentally prepared to face your first marathon.

Lesson #3: Research your first marathon choice. Ideally, it should be in your home town or close enough so you can sleep in your own bed and not have travel plans as part of the equation. You may not make it to the starting line the first time around. Training for your first marathon often gets derailed with unexpected injuries or loss of proper training for various reasons that you never expected. It makes things easier on you to run a local race. You may even be able to train on some of the race route. Please read reviews on your marathon choice before you sign up. You don't want to run a poorly organized marathon or one that is extremely difficult. The reviews on marathonguide.com are the most reliable.

Lesson #4: Have a general training plan, but be flexible. This is always hard, and especially so the first time around. I've read somewhere that we are all an experiment of one when it comes to training. Even the people I train with vary from me on total mileage and weekly runs. You will gain a lot of knowledge from running with groups and reading running forums on line. Attempting to use a training program verbatim will most likely not work for various reasons, so try to use it more as a guide as you learn what works for you.

Lesson #5: Train for mental toughness. You don't want to have to face adversity on race day, but it is best to be prepared, just in case. During your training runs work on overcoming challenges that have mentally defeated you. Sometimes it's a particular hill that you continually resign to walking, or maybe the weather is getting to you, whatever. Tell yourself that you are going to overcome it and push through. If you're having a bad run and negative thoughts are swirling about, breathe in through your nose and let a positive thought in. This may not work all the time, but little mental victories here and there will pay off later.

Lesson #6: If you didn't train properly don't toe the line. If you missed several long runs or got injured then do yourself a favor and save it for next year. Sure, you may make it to the finish line, but it will be so much more of a bad experience than it should be. Just have yourself a good cry over it, peel your 26.2 bumper sticker off your car and let it go. There's always another marathon.

Lesson #6: On race week-end, know what not to do. There is a long list on what to do and not do on race week-end, so it's hard to tell what's really important and what's not so important. It may be an individual thing, but I don't walk around much the day before the marathon. I learned this lesson during the Wat Disney World Marathon. Although going to one of the theme parks the day before was enjoyable, the next day my legs felt unusually tired, so for me, walking around a lot is detrimental. Everything else, not so much. I still have a glass of wine with dinner and am not afraid of eating something other than pasta for dinner the night before. You may have to learn what doesn't work for you by trial and error, I'm afraid. I see a lot of first time marathoners walking around the expos with big jugs of water. This could possibly be a detrimental thing, as too much water flushes out your electrolytes, so chill out on the water guzzling. (Although I have no personal story or proof that this is a bad thing). Bottom line: don't freak out over the long list and try to do what you normally did before your long runs.

Lesson #7: It's race day, calm the hell down. You did the homework. Trust in it. Be grateful that you made it to the starting line, as this is a huge accomplishment in and of itself! What lies before you is a journey of a lifetime! You've read up on all the things not to do during the race, so I don't have to tell you not to go out too fast, not to wear something new, blah blah blah. Even if you make a couple of rookie mistakes you will make it to the finish line. If you hit a rough patch or two just breathe in and say to yourself, "I am running a marathon!"

Lesson #8: Smile at the finish line. Making sure you look good when you cross the finish line may not be at the top of your list of priorities, but try to smile and make it look like the pictures above. No, you won't look like that, but you will feel like it on the inside, and that's all that matters.

Lesson #9: Celebrate your victory! Wear your medal as long as you want, even to bed, who cares? You earned it. You have bragging rights now, marathoner, even though you will soon learn to recognize the glassy-eyed stare of the non-interested even though you are only at mile 5 of your story. It's sad, but true. Only other marathoners really care to hear it all in its glory, and that's ok. Trust me, it's OK!!