PEDIGO FAMILY UPDATES!: 8-22-13 HOOD TO COAST

I signed up to run the Hood to Coast relay with my friends. We trained all summer and were excited to run with a group of women! Alice had a dinner the night before so we could decorate our teams vehicles and discuss the race. I think we all had butterflies in our stomachs, but had done the best we could to prepare for the “mother of all relays” according to the website.

GO TEAM LUNACHICKS!!! #862

We were in Van #2, which started out in Boring, OR.

Kim, Karen, Connie, Sara, Ellen & Stephanie AND our wonderful driver, Andy!

Karen-leg 7, 6.32 miles-hard

Ellen-leg 8, 4.55 miles-easy

Sara-leg 9, 7.73 miles-hard

Kim-leg 10, 5.12 miles-moderate

Stephanie-leg 11, 4.84 miles-easy

Connie-leg 12, 3.07 miles-easy

I cannot write about HTC without including the outhouses…at first, we turned up our noses at the thought of using one…by the second day, we were grateful for clean outhouses! They were really good about keeping them clean!

After our first legs were all completed, Alice had arranged for us to go to an athletic club to shower-THAT was a real treat! What a great way to become rejuvenated!

Our second exchange was in St. Helens, OR in the middle of the night. We were tired…it was hard…I felt especially bad for Ellen & Karen because they had to run their legs on dusty gravel roads and there was so much dust, you couldn’t even see. They had to wear bandanas around their mouths so they didn’t breath in all that dust.

Karen-leg 19, 5.89 miles-very hard

Sara-leg 20, 5.75 miles-very hard

Ellen-leg 21, 5.00 miles-moderate

Connie-leg 22, 6.81 miles-hard

Stephanie-leg 23, 4.18 miles-easy

Kim-leg 24, 4.92 miles-easy

During the night, I think we were all scared to run in the dark. When I ran, I wore a hat with lights and also wore a headlamp and carried a flashlight in my hand. I had sent a text to my family and parents to say a prayer for me so I would be able to do it. I felt their prayers! At one particular point I thought about stopping. A man passed me and told me I was doing great. That gave me the boost I needed. Pretty soon, I was able to pass him and tell him he was doing great. I looked back and he was gone. I truly believe he was there helping me along my journey. That run was THE BEST run I had in the relay.

After our exchange, we drove to our next starting point and tried to get some sleep. The lines to the outhouses were SOOOO long. We all went in a meadow and jumped in our sleeping bags. I slept for about 45 minutes and felt ready to go. I decided to roll out my legs on my foam roller and was told by a volunteer that I couldn’t do that in the parking lot. He then proceeded to tell me that his back was killing him, picked up my roller and walked over to the meadow and rolled out his sore back. I was flabbergasted! I didn’t understand why I couldn’t use MY foam roller, but he was able to! Oh well…we got Karen ready and were headed off to run our last legs…

3rd exchange-Astoria, OR

Karen-leg 31, 4.00 miles-moderate

Sara-leg 32, 4.09 miles-moderate