The final speech in the first Toastmasters manual is to "inspire your audience". For this purpose, the speech should be organized in a fashion to connect with the audience - identifying a need or desire, explain how that need can be addressed - how or why the status quo can or should be changed, and lastly inspiring them by addressing how change can be brought about and how it will be beneficial.
Having just experienced Hood to Coast when I realized I had this coming up within a few days, I decided it would be fun to treat it as giving a pep talk to a HTC team just before the event. Somewhat like my previous speech, this topic came fairly naturally and easy to think of what to say; though I kept my prepared notes by my side, I didn't hold them but merely had to glance over occasionally. My evaluator thought I could have used more movement in a larger sense (eg., miming running across the front of the room), but I did use more hand gestures, I think I slowed down my pace a great deal, and added good pauses, especially to allow for laughing at jokes.
All in all, I was impressed with myself, and my club stated they could see a great improvement over the course of my year in Toastmasters and working through this manual.
Speech title: The Mother of All Relays
Are you ready for the best 33 hours of your life?
I know you’ve heard stories - you’ve been told that it’s fun, but with some of the, what might be “horror” stories, is it really just “fun” - in the sense of hitting yourself because it feels so good when you stop - or truly fun? You might have concerns, now that the race is almost upon us, wondering what you’ve really gotten yourself into.
Fortunately, it’s much too late for you to back out now. :)
Let’s talk about what you should expect, so you can enjoy it. As you know, there’ll be six of us in each of the two vans, and we’ll basically be living out of those vans for the next couple days. Yep, the six of you in each van will be driving together, hanging out, for about 33 hours straight, hope you like each other! I’d make sure you have some music downloaded on a phone to listen to - you won’t always have cell service or even radio - to help alleviate, but by the end of the race you’ll either hate each other, or be best of friends and laughing at inside jokes like “it’s standard military protocol!”
We’ll be packing most of the food we’ll need, for meals and to sustain our running! We should have a chance to head to a restaurant while we’re coming back through Portland, but after that, no guarantees. Remember we’ll be in the middle of nowhere, basically, after coming from Mt. Hood through Portland, we’ll continue on rural roads, to head to Seaside. Not even a McDonalds to grab a quick bite, though some schools along the way sell burritos and pancakes as a fundraiser. Hopefully there’ll be time to buy something between handoffs! But bananas, peanut butter sandwiches, and chips, washed down by gatorade will be enough to sustain you if not.
In the meantime you’ll also be dealing with traffic.
The team starts are fairly spread out, but as we approach the finish, they get more condensed, so you’ll be following other vans, single file, to the next exchange - the good news is it’s hard to get lost! - And have to try to find parking spots in exchanges that become fuller and fuller. If things work well, no one will have to hop out of the van and run a mile to meet our incoming runner at the exchange - but it might happen once or twice.
Of course, we’re doing this because we’re running! We’ll each have 3 legs to run, 3 ½ to 7 miles long. Everyone’s first leg will be morning or afternoon on Saturday. Van 1 will lead us into the evening with their seconds legs, with van 2 doing theirs basically middle of the night. Then van 1’s home stretch will be in the wee hours of the morning, and van 2 leads us to the beach by Saturday afternoon! During your night leg, there or may not be: sheet lightening, gravel roads with 700 feet of elevation climbing, and mountain lion roars that may or not be locals playing a prank on the runners.
Now, I mentioned running in the middle of the night - so when will you be sleeping? For about two hours. In between the second and third sets of legs, each van should have time to head to the next major exchange where they’ll eventually meet up with the other van, and get some shut eye, for a couple hours, maybe even three hours if you’re lucky and there’s not too much traffic. Van 1 gets to use the “tent city” at exchange 24, and van 2, I’m afraid your option at exchange 30 is just a designated field on which you can lay out tarps and sleeping bags. There’s also, of course, always the option of sleeping in the van - because you know, you haven’t spent enough time in it yet - which is certainly the best if say, like 2015, we have off and on torrential rain and wind gusts up to 60 mph, then staying in the van to try to sleep is probably the best option.
I can see you’re all totally pumped to do this race now!
I won’t deny that you’ll be uncomfortable, tired, and perhaps a bit delirious. You’ll run hard for an hour - and then immediately fold into a van seat to drive to the next exchange. But driving on making progress to the destination, finishing the race, with your teammates. After a 10 hour break, you’ll run on tired legs… and after another 10 hours, get next to no sleep, and then run yet again, on even more tired legs! But you’ll come in from each leg, cheered on by your teammates, supported and handed a water bottle, appreciated for your contribution to the common goal. And there is something truly exhilarating about running on a quiet country road, in the dark, at 2 am. It’s an experience I can’t quite describe, but it’s definitely worth experiencing.
Hood to Coast is an Oregon tradition for 34 years, facilitating fundraising for good causes, and showing off our beautiful scenery.You not only get to ask of yourself something that challenging, but you get to be a part of something bigger than yourself. You’re working with 11 of your friends or coworkers to reach a goal that would be overwhelming and impossible to each of your individually. And you’re out on the road, in the middle of nowhere, with 1,050 other teams, 2,100 other vans, 12,600 other runners, working towards achieving the same thing.
Let’s all get ready for the mother of all relays, and run our best!
Showing posts with label Hood to Coast. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hood to Coast. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Saturday, September 5, 2015
Hood to Coast 2015: The Experience
(See separate post about 2015 running here, and 2014 experience post here.)
We had some relatively slow projected times (other than one quasi-ringer - an intern for the firm this summer who can bust out 6-something minute miles like it's nothing - we're all just pretty average hobby joggers), so we ended up with the earliest start time possible - 5 am. Luckily for me, only van 1 has to be at Mt. Hood for the start. The rest of us got a more leisurely morning. Mine included some themed pancakes made by Abe. :) Van 2 met at the office about 8, decorated the van and packed up, and were on our way to our first major exchange at Sandy High school by 8:30. Less than an hour drive, we were there plenty early for the projected exchange time around 11:00 am. However - it's extremely easy for van 1 to be fast on their first set of legs - the first few legs are pretty much straight downhill, down the side of Mt. Hood. Indeed, they came in over half an hour ahead of schedule.
My employer was lucky enough to get a lottery spot in Hood to Coast two years in a row, so I got to do it again this year!
We had some relatively slow projected times (other than one quasi-ringer - an intern for the firm this summer who can bust out 6-something minute miles like it's nothing - we're all just pretty average hobby joggers), so we ended up with the earliest start time possible - 5 am. Luckily for me, only van 1 has to be at Mt. Hood for the start. The rest of us got a more leisurely morning. Mine included some themed pancakes made by Abe. :) Van 2 met at the office about 8, decorated the van and packed up, and were on our way to our first major exchange at Sandy High school by 8:30. Less than an hour drive, we were there plenty early for the projected exchange time around 11:00 am. However - it's extremely easy for van 1 to be fast on their first set of legs - the first few legs are pretty much straight downhill, down the side of Mt. Hood. Indeed, they came in over half an hour ahead of schedule.
Fortunately, after hanging out, we headed to the actual exchange chute with plenty of spare time, and our runner 7 headed off! These legs head back towards Portland, including some legs on the Springwater Trail, including my leg 10.
Leg 12 brought us to the waterfront in downtown Portland. Van 1 was already there - we'd been texting with them to let them know our expected arrival around 3:30 (we made up a little time too, and were now over an hour ahead of schedule). We also had walkie talkies to find each other - this was the only major exchange at which we successfully attempted using them for communication. other times, the other van was out of range, and they frequently went off with other people trying to use the same channels. (I don't think the race officially recommends walkie talkies - but especially in the second half, there are spots without any cell service, so that's the only real option for communicating.)
Van 1 took over for their second legs, and we had a break for dinner. Being in downtown we had plenty of options, so we headed to ¿Porque no? for tacos. I had a seasonal special veggies taco (which was good, but far too spicy for me), along with a side of beans and rice, plus we all tried an aqua fresca - I think the one I had was strawberry mint, and it was delicious. We then headed to one of our team member's houses in SE Portland to hangout for a while. This meant a chance to take quick showers and change not in a porta potty or van, which was awesome!
Leg 12 brought us to the waterfront in downtown Portland. Van 1 was already there - we'd been texting with them to let them know our expected arrival around 3:30 (we made up a little time too, and were now over an hour ahead of schedule). We also had walkie talkies to find each other - this was the only major exchange at which we successfully attempted using them for communication. other times, the other van was out of range, and they frequently went off with other people trying to use the same channels. (I don't think the race officially recommends walkie talkies - but especially in the second half, there are spots without any cell service, so that's the only real option for communicating.)
Van 1 took over for their second legs, and we had a break for dinner. Being in downtown we had plenty of options, so we headed to ¿Porque no? for tacos. I had a seasonal special veggies taco (which was good, but far too spicy for me), along with a side of beans and rice, plus we all tried an aqua fresca - I think the one I had was strawberry mint, and it was delicious. We then headed to one of our team member's houses in SE Portland to hangout for a while. This meant a chance to take quick showers and change not in a porta potty or van, which was awesome!
Monday, August 31, 2015
Hood to Coast 2015: Running Legs 10, 22, 34
Hood to Coast is a relay of 12 runners, 2 vans, and 198 miles, from Mt. Hood to the Oregon coast. I had the opportunity to run with a team sponsored by my work this year and last year. This year I was in van 2 again, but this time runner 10.
(See last year's HTC running recap when I was runner 8 here. Separate post to come about the experience/non-running aspects.)
My goal going in was to run all the legs at around a high 11:00s pace - i.e., basically treat it all as parts of my tempo run for the week. I thought I was probably capable of doing it all a smidge faster, but (1) I wanted to have something left by the third leg (I didn't so much last year), and (2) I thought it'd be good to take advantage of a race setting to work on maintaining my marathon goal pace. That goal pace should be fairly easy over shorter distances, but it wasn't all easy terrain, so it'd be a good challenge to keep it going over all of that - same pace would be very different effort in the different legs and on tired legs!
Leg 10
Expected time of day: 2:00 pm
Expected temperature: 74°, 30% chance of rain - "a few showers"
Expected pace: 11:55
Expected elevation:
Actual time of day: 12:50 pm
Actual temperature: 79°, slightly overcast, no rain
Actual pace: 11:40
Actual elevation:
Mile splits: 11:45, 11:54, 11:49, 11:50, 11:39, 10:31
Passing: Passed by 25, passed 1
This leg was fully on the Springwater trail. It was flat-ish - you can see both the official and my garmin elevation charts show just a slight constant downhill. It honestly felt like an ever so slight uphill throughout while I was running it, but I think it just felt harder due to being a bit warmer than anticipated and quite muggy (I almost wanted it to start raining, just to cut through the mugginess). I was also going a tad faster than my goal pace - I wanted to hold back to conserve energy for the rest of the race, but it wasn't too hard to go under 12:00.
I forgot to check before if music was allowed (it was - nowhere on the course are headphones allowed, but you can use your phone or speakers to play on most, but not all legs), so I definitely was getting bored. I kept my mind occupied by counting my reverse "kills" (kills = people you pass; I mostly got passed).
(See last year's HTC running recap when I was runner 8 here. Separate post to come about the experience/non-running aspects.)
My goal going in was to run all the legs at around a high 11:00s pace - i.e., basically treat it all as parts of my tempo run for the week. I thought I was probably capable of doing it all a smidge faster, but (1) I wanted to have something left by the third leg (I didn't so much last year), and (2) I thought it'd be good to take advantage of a race setting to work on maintaining my marathon goal pace. That goal pace should be fairly easy over shorter distances, but it wasn't all easy terrain, so it'd be a good challenge to keep it going over all of that - same pace would be very different effort in the different legs and on tired legs!
Leg 10
Expected time of day: 2:00 pm
Expected temperature: 74°, 30% chance of rain - "a few showers"
Expected pace: 11:55
Expected elevation:
Actual time of day: 12:50 pm
Actual temperature: 79°, slightly overcast, no rain
Actual pace: 11:40
Actual elevation:
Mile splits: 11:45, 11:54, 11:49, 11:50, 11:39, 10:31
Passing: Passed by 25, passed 1
This leg was fully on the Springwater trail. It was flat-ish - you can see both the official and my garmin elevation charts show just a slight constant downhill. It honestly felt like an ever so slight uphill throughout while I was running it, but I think it just felt harder due to being a bit warmer than anticipated and quite muggy (I almost wanted it to start raining, just to cut through the mugginess). I was also going a tad faster than my goal pace - I wanted to hold back to conserve energy for the rest of the race, but it wasn't too hard to go under 12:00.
I forgot to check before if music was allowed (it was - nowhere on the course are headphones allowed, but you can use your phone or speakers to play on most, but not all legs), so I definitely was getting bored. I kept my mind occupied by counting my reverse "kills" (kills = people you pass; I mostly got passed).
Sunday, August 30, 2015
Hansons Marathon Method Week 13 & Triathlon Training Week 6
Workouts:
Tuesday: Easy run 3.05 miles (13:17 pace) + swim 1,100 yards + bike trainer 6.75 miles (13.4 mph, 70 rpm)
Friday - Saturday: Hood to Coast!
Friday 12:50 pm - Leg 10: 5.52 miles (11:40 pace)
Saturday 12:25 am - Leg 22: 6.95 miles (11:57 pace)
Saturday 1:03 pm - Leg 34: 3.48 miles (11:14 pace)
Sunday: Long run 12.0 miles (13:05 miles)
Total swimming: 1,100 yards
Total biking: 6.75 miles
Total running: 30.95 miles
Obviously didn't do everything I should have as far as triathlon training (my goal has been a minimum of 2 swims and 2 bikes rides (at least one outside) each week), but Hood to Coast took precedence! I did intend to do one more easy run earlier in the week, but oh well.
I think this was an odd amount of quasi-taper - I'm not sure my legs actually felt that well rested going into the weekend! But I did manage to maintain my goals for the race (sub-12:00 for all legs, basically treating it as my speedwork and tempo runs for the week), and on top of that did over 27 miles in 3 days! My legs felt done by the end of my long run on Sunday (I had 16 scheduled, and decided to play it by ear in cutting it short), but held up well enough and I guess this was perfect practice for running on tired legs per the Hansons Method.
Tuesday: Easy run 3.05 miles (13:17 pace) + swim 1,100 yards + bike trainer 6.75 miles (13.4 mph, 70 rpm)
Friday - Saturday: Hood to Coast!
Friday 12:50 pm - Leg 10: 5.52 miles (11:40 pace)
Saturday 12:25 am - Leg 22: 6.95 miles (11:57 pace)
Saturday 1:03 pm - Leg 34: 3.48 miles (11:14 pace)
Sunday: Long run 12.0 miles (13:05 miles)
Total swimming: 1,100 yards
Total biking: 6.75 miles
Total running: 30.95 miles
Obviously didn't do everything I should have as far as triathlon training (my goal has been a minimum of 2 swims and 2 bikes rides (at least one outside) each week), but Hood to Coast took precedence! I did intend to do one more easy run earlier in the week, but oh well.
I think this was an odd amount of quasi-taper - I'm not sure my legs actually felt that well rested going into the weekend! But I did manage to maintain my goals for the race (sub-12:00 for all legs, basically treating it as my speedwork and tempo runs for the week), and on top of that did over 27 miles in 3 days! My legs felt done by the end of my long run on Sunday (I had 16 scheduled, and decided to play it by ear in cutting it short), but held up well enough and I guess this was perfect practice for running on tired legs per the Hansons Method.
Thursday, August 27, 2015
Hood to Coast 2015 Prep
It's almost race time! For the second year in a row, I'm doing the Hood to Coast relay with a team of coworkers. I'm in van 2 as last year, but this time runner 10 (of 12). This leg is actually rated slightly easier, and is slightly shorter, than runner 8 which I did last year. Leg 10, 5.5 miles, is very flat and even slightly downhill, on the Springwater Trail. Leg 22 starts with almost 2 miles uphill (and I think on gravel - this is the end of the section in which leg 8 is entirely on a curvy, hilly, gravel country road), but then continues downhill for the remaining 4.5. Leg 34 is some rolling hills but super short at only 3.5 miles.
The weather will be a little iffier this year than last. Last year got warm-ish, though not super hot (I only have temps up to the mid-70s recorded on my legs). This year is only up to the low 70s, and lots of potential - in fact, almost certainty, I'd say - of rain. I know the area certainly needs the rain! Though for the sake of the race I'd hope perhaps it can stay more intermittent and not too heavy.
Running wise, I haven't done anything too specific to prepare. After all, I'm doing plenty of runs that are as long as my longest leg (speedwork and tempo runs are in that neighborhood, or longer!), and lots of running on back to back days. I feel pretty confident that my marathon training will carry me just fine for HTC. In fact, I'm basically going to use it as part of marathon training. To taper, I've skipped my speedwork and tempo runs this week, and am going to try to run all of my legs at either the "strength" speedwork pace (11:50) or tempo (12:00) paces that I would have been running for those.
We had a team dinner last night, and hashed out many of the details for what to bring and what time we'll be doing what. I got designated as a co-captain, to lead van 2, as our team captain is in van 1 (and she and I are among only a handful of HTC veterans on the team this year). Here's what what I was busy packing after the meeting:
Team race gear
3 van race signs (bibs)
Nighttime safety gear - 2 blinky vests, 2 headlamps
Race handbook
Team van gear
Masking tape (to tape signs to van)
Tarp (for sleeping in field after it rains)
Paper towels
Food - I'm adding cookies and string cheese, other snacks being bought for team
Shotbloks
Garbage bags - for keeping the van tidy, and also in case of rain (use as ponchos)
Kleenex
Flashlights - van will have 4 total - at night, incoming and outgoing runner will have headlamps, rest of van can have a flashlight
Car phone charger, plus extra USB cord
Audio cable to connect phones to stereo (some areas of race don't have good radio coverage - or good phone signal, so I have music downloaded to my phone)
Extra batteries/charger for headlamps, blinky vests, and flashlights
Toiletries - wipes, hand sanitizer, body glide, vaseline
Sunscreen
Sunscreen
Also being brought by teammates:
Cooler & ice
Water, gatorade, and snacks bought for team
First aid kit
Foam roller and stick roller
Personal running gear
Garmin
RoadID
SPI belt
Race bib & safety pins
Running shoes
Individual nut butter packets (a fuel option I'm experimenting with)
Hat (if it's raining)
Leg 1 running outfit
Ziploc 1 - leg 2 (night) running outfit
Ziploc 2 - leg 3 (midday) running outfit
Personal gear
Blanket
Towel (to protect seat from sweat, and using as pillow, and in case I shower)
Energy drink for before each leg
Toiletries - lotion, toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, chap stick (might add soap so have shower option?)
Ziploc 3 - misc clothes (race shirt for crossing finish line, long-sleeve shirt if it's cold)
Sweatshirt
Flip flops
I'm debating packing a second pair of running shoes - the only reason I think it's worth taking up the extra space is because of the rain - if they get soaked on an earlier leg it'll suck to have to use them later on. (But I am bringing running socks, which I virtually never use, so as to minimize problems from wet shoes if that is the case.)
I've actually got it all condensed to this! The larger back bag can go in the back of the van (tarp and blanket - will only need when stopped). The left bag is van/team shared stuff, so that will probably wander around the van. The right bag is my personal stuff to stay by my seat.
I'm debating packing a second pair of running shoes - the only reason I think it's worth taking up the extra space is because of the rain - if they get soaked on an earlier leg it'll suck to have to use them later on. (But I am bringing running socks, which I virtually never use, so as to minimize problems from wet shoes if that is the case.)
I've actually got it all condensed to this! The larger back bag can go in the back of the van (tarp and blanket - will only need when stopped). The left bag is van/team shared stuff, so that will probably wander around the van. The right bag is my personal stuff to stay by my seat.
Saturday, September 6, 2014
Hood to Coast 2014: Packing Lessons Learned
(See separate posts about the running and non-running aspects of the experience.)
It takes a lot of stuff to do Hood to Coast!
I tried to read lots of blog posts and advice about it beforehand, but I think I still ended up overpacking, and definitely didn't pack efficiently. I'm still a newbie, having only done Hood to Coast once, but here are the things I'll keep in mind for next time.
Running gear:
The common advice to pack each outfit in a gallon-size ziploc bag was sound. But - keep in mind you wear your first running outfit to start in, so the third one will actually contain clean clothes (comfy, but maybe still running apparel) to wear while walking across the finish line, hanging out on the beach, and driving back home. We all wore the HTC shirts for the finish line; if you have a customized team shirt you'll probably want to wear that.
Food & drinks:
Coordinate with your vanmates as much as possible. We did this for drinks (which the firm paid for) (water and gatorade - kept a cooler full in the middle of the van with extras in the back), but didn't for food, and I think it would have been handy. We ended up sharing food anyway, but also had some unnecessary duplications (like string cheese and snack mix), and it would have been easier to have one food bag to pass around.
Don't forgot to bring some extra bags for trash and recycling in the van! You'll also want some cash, as many schools and such set up fundraisers at exchange sites selling coffee, pancakes, or burritos.
Sleep stuff:
You'll at least want a blanket or sleeping bag for napping in a field or tent, and maybe a pillow (though I go along fine with a sweatshirt or towel balled up just fine). We brought a tarp (one for the van), intending to spread it out on ground in case it was wet, but didn't need it in the early evening when we were hanging out in a field, and in the early morning when we slept we just stayed in the van. So I'm not sure it was truly necessary, but I wouldn't rule out bringing it again just in case.
Fun stuff:
I brought a pack of glow stick bracelets that I'd originally puchased for a NYE's midnight race, and those were fun on the night legs! Beyond the required reflective and lighted gear for running in the dark, any kind of blinky necklace, lightsabers, or glow sticks would add some more awesomeness.
Bring a phone or music player - some of the route is in the middle of nowhere without great radio signal (and also no cell coverage, so device-based, not internet-based, music). Don't forgot chargers for your phones, and any other devices.
Organization/bags:
Although I separated stuff in smaller bags within my duffle bag, I thought it'd be super important to make everything fit in one bag to keep by me in the van. False. It's pretty tight in a mini van with six adults, and you're stopping every hour anyway, so it's easy to grab something out of the back when you need it.
I would pack completely separate bags for
It takes a lot of stuff to do Hood to Coast!
 |
| The duffle bag is unzipped not to show what's inside, but because it was too full to be able to zip. |
I tried to read lots of blog posts and advice about it beforehand, but I think I still ended up overpacking, and definitely didn't pack efficiently. I'm still a newbie, having only done Hood to Coast once, but here are the things I'll keep in mind for next time.
Running gear:
The common advice to pack each outfit in a gallon-size ziploc bag was sound. But - keep in mind you wear your first running outfit to start in, so the third one will actually contain clean clothes (comfy, but maybe still running apparel) to wear while walking across the finish line, hanging out on the beach, and driving back home. We all wore the HTC shirts for the finish line; if you have a customized team shirt you'll probably want to wear that.
Food & drinks:
Coordinate with your vanmates as much as possible. We did this for drinks (which the firm paid for) (water and gatorade - kept a cooler full in the middle of the van with extras in the back), but didn't for food, and I think it would have been handy. We ended up sharing food anyway, but also had some unnecessary duplications (like string cheese and snack mix), and it would have been easier to have one food bag to pass around.
Don't forgot to bring some extra bags for trash and recycling in the van! You'll also want some cash, as many schools and such set up fundraisers at exchange sites selling coffee, pancakes, or burritos.
Sleep stuff:
You'll at least want a blanket or sleeping bag for napping in a field or tent, and maybe a pillow (though I go along fine with a sweatshirt or towel balled up just fine). We brought a tarp (one for the van), intending to spread it out on ground in case it was wet, but didn't need it in the early evening when we were hanging out in a field, and in the early morning when we slept we just stayed in the van. So I'm not sure it was truly necessary, but I wouldn't rule out bringing it again just in case.
Fun stuff:
I brought a pack of glow stick bracelets that I'd originally puchased for a NYE's midnight race, and those were fun on the night legs! Beyond the required reflective and lighted gear for running in the dark, any kind of blinky necklace, lightsabers, or glow sticks would add some more awesomeness.
Bring a phone or music player - some of the route is in the middle of nowhere without great radio signal (and also no cell coverage, so device-based, not internet-based, music). Don't forgot chargers for your phones, and any other devices.
Organization/bags:
Although I separated stuff in smaller bags within my duffle bag, I thought it'd be super important to make everything fit in one bag to keep by me in the van. False. It's pretty tight in a mini van with six adults, and you're stopping every hour anyway, so it's easy to grab something out of the back when you need it.
I would pack completely separate bags for
- running clothes (in the back, you'll only need when stopped),
- food and drinks (hopefully shared with van - see above),
- running gear (i.e., lights, Garmin, shoes) (in the van, since you'll be taking them on and off throughout the day, and may need to get ready quickly and hop out to run without a chance to rummage around in the van.
- sleeping stuff (in the back, you'll only need when stopped).
Monday, September 1, 2014
Hood to Coast 2014: The Experience
(See separate post about the running aspects of Hood to Coast.)
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| Team photo! (one guy had to head home immediately after his third leg to meet other commitments, we did have 12 runners during the race) |
I was able to participate in Hood to Coast this year on a team sponsored (and applied for) by my employer, so all of the team members were coworkers. Not everyone who applies gets a team - almost three thousand teams apply, but only 1,050 are allowed (one year they tried increasing the limit, and had ridiculous traffic jams - even with the current limits, there are some spots of severe congestion on the course). I'm sure there are some sponsors who are guaranteed team spots, and there is a special lottery for teams who have been declined for one or two of the past years. My understanding is that all other teams are picked by random drawing.
Although our team had a very early start time (Friday 7:00 am - it turns out we didn't all input truly up to date race times, and our estimated finish time was 36 hours - spoiler: we didn't take that long), the benefit to being in van 2 is that you don't have to start until after six runners have already gone. :)
Instead of being at the race before 7:00, I was able to wake up around then, and met up with my van 2 teammates at the office at 9. We did some quick van decorating, then headed to exchange 6 in Sandy, OR.
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| #accountantjokes |
We expected runner 6 to come in about 11:40 am, but made sure to arrive with plenty of time to spare. We were able to hang out for a while, browse the Hood to Coast branded apparel for sale by Portland Running Company (I, and many of my vanmates, bought leg-specific tech tees - runner 8 says "run dirty" in reference to the gravelly/dusty leg 20), and snack a bit.
Monday, August 25, 2014
Hood to Coast 2014: Running Legs 8, 20, & 32
(See separate post about the non-running aspects of the experience.)
If you're not familiar with Hood to Coast or similar relay races, here's how it works: Each team consists of 12 people; 6 people each in 2 vans. Van 1 starts the race, running legs 1 - 6. You drop off runner 1, then drive to exchange 1 to meet them. Runner 1 comes in, hands off a bracelet to runner 2, who heads off on the next leg. You drive to exchange 2 to meet them, etc. Every six legs, the vans exchange; runner 6 hands off to runner 7 from van 2. Now van 2 drives to meets them at the next exchange, while van 1 heads directly to exchange 12 and has a little time to rest. And so on for the rest of the 36 legs, until each runner has run 3 legs. You all meet up at the end and the whole team runs the last 50 feet or so to cross the finish line together.
I was in van 2, runner 8. Even though we drew randomly to assign legs, this was fortunately one of the shortest and relatively easy set of legs, with all three under 6 miles each.
Skip to: Leg 8 Leg 20 Leg 32
Skip to: Leg 8 Leg 20 Leg 32
Expected time of day: 12:37 pm
Expected temperature: 72
Expected pace: 11:30
Expected elevation:
Actual time of day: 12:12 pm
Actual temperature: 72
Actual pace: 12:01
Actual elevation:
Mile splits:
1 - 11:18
2 - 12:02
3 - 11:51
4 - 12:54
4.55 - 12:00
Ok, I guess the overall decline per the elevation chart is there, but it really didn't feel like it! There were also a lot more rolling hills than I expected - the race chart smoothed over some of those smaller ups and downs. Until I imported the Garmin data, I truly though the race elevation chart was a lie - it did not feel like an overall downhill at all!
Despite being fresh, at the beginning of the race, this leg felt pretty hard! I guess I had high expectations - oh, it's the first leg, it's mostly downhill - so any challenge felt unexpected and thus even harder. There were more little hills, and there wasn't much shade - it felt closer to 80 than 70 in the sun.
I wasn't sure how many people would be around, as the teams start and finish at different times. There's about a 12 hour window of start times, and 8 hour window for finish times, so I knew teams would start converging as we got farther along, but wasn't sure how lonely the first legs would be.
It turns out there are plenty of people around the whole way! Not crowded the way a normal race is, of course, it is possible to go a few minutes without seeing anyone. But you're passing and being passed by (or in my case, just being passed by), at least a dozen runners during any given leg. Most of the time, the vans are also following the same route to get to the next exchange, so you'll see your van a mile or two in, and other vans that would stop and help you if you really needed assistance. In the few cases where vans couldn't drive along the course (for example, some were along the Springwater Trail instead roads), there were volunteers on bikes patrolling.
Expected time of day: 11:14 pm
Expected temperature: 62
Expected pace: 13:30
Expected elevation:
Actual time of day: 10:39 pm
Actual temperature: 66
Actual pace: 13:10
Actual elevation:
Mile splits:
1 - 12:54
2 - 13:31
3 - 11:57 (the little downhill)
4 - 14:55 (back uphill, on gravel)
5 - 13:56
5.75 - 11:10 (downhill, wee!)
This one was - quite unexpectedly - my favorite leg. It was fully dark by the time I started, but nice that it was a smidge earlier than estimated. Also, I don't know if it was the adrenaline (and caffeine) or what, but it felt so much easier than I anticipated! The first 2+ miles were definitely a steady uphill, but truly not super steep. Then you get a little break, followed by more uphill, this time as the road change to gravel. That aspect was not fun; super dusty, especially as vans and faster runners passed by. Then the last downhill segment was longer than I thought, and it was just great!
As far as safety while running at night: From well before dusk to way past dawn (I believe it was from 6 pm to 7 am), you're required to wear a reflective vest, blinky lights on front and back, and a headlamp or carry a flashlight. From 7 am to 9 am, you have to continue wearing a reflective vest. As mentioned above, you were rarely alone for more than a few minutes without another runner or van passing by. They also, for these night legs on country roads without cell reception, had volunteers on motorcycles (and presumably with radios) patrolling back and forth.
There was one point along this leg where I heard rustling in the woods alongside the road, followed by what sounded like a large cat of some sort snarling. That helped me pick up my speed for a while! Talking with other runners at later exchanges, I heard multiple stories. Some said there were some people trying to prank the runners by wearing gorilla suits and prowling along the course. Other people said someone actually saw a bobcat; other people said they saw a bear. Guess I'll never know what was actually there, but I really felt pretty safe for most of the time!
Expected time of day: 9:15 am
Expected temperature: 70
Expected pace: 12:30
Expected elevation:
Actual time of day: 8:25 am
Actual temperature: 59
Actual pace: 12:37
Actual elevation:
Mile splits:
1 - 11:41
2 - 12:26
3 - 13:28
4 - 13:05
4.1 - 11:27
Right before I started, I thought I'd actually go faster, maybe in the 11s. It was still pretty cool from overnight, and I knew this leg would be flat-ish, some rolling hills but nothing too steep. My legs still didn't feel overly fatigued, definitely felt like I'd saved up energy for the end!
Once I got going though, I knew it wasn't going to happen. Though my muscles weren't tired, my whole body was. After waking up from a brief nap and sending off the runner before me, I didn't think I had quite enough to eat and drink some caffeine, and let it properly digest to avoid problems once I started running, so I just wasn't fueled up enough. It also started warming up as we went, and there wasn't much shade.
In the last 100 feet or so, a runner passed me, tapped me on the shoulder and said "tag!". I really tried to keep up with him, and did for a minute or so, before giving up. This was indicative of the support other runners gave each other, though. Even though virtually everyone passed me, there was almost always a "good job", or "keep it up" as they moved along.
After each leg, one of the coworkers in my van asked us if we'd do Hood to Coast again. After my first leg, it was "yes...". After my second leg, it was a "hell yes!". After this third leg, it was back to a slightly hesitant "yes...". But really, I definitely do want to. This highlighted some weaknesses in my running skills that I already knew I had, and want to work on. But it really is a fun and supportive race atmosphere, and totally worth the sleep deprivation!
Sunday, August 24, 2014
HTC Training Week 6 & Triathlon Training Week 10
Workouts:
Hood to Coast
Tuesday: Run 2.5 miles (12:08 pace)
Hood to Coast
Friday AM: 4.55 miles (12:01 pace)
Friday PM: 5.75 miles (13:10 pace)
Friday PM: 5.75 miles (13:10 pace)
Saturday AM: 4.1 miles (12:37 pace)
Total running: 16.9 miles
Oops. I don't think I quite realized until finalizing this post that I really did completely skip out on any tri training, no swimming or biking happened. The biking was more due to a busy week, especially during the early evening hours when I'm most inclined to do it (I'd also like to buy some cheap long sleeve shirts to bike in, to minimize any future wounds from probable future falls, and haven't gotten around to doing that yet). Swimming was avoided while my scrapes from last weekend's fall healed; my arm in particular had a very deep scrap that is only just now starting to heal over, so I didn't think chlorine would feel too great.
As mentioned in last week's workout post, though, I was leaning against doing an Olympic distance tri this year, and I've pretty much completed decided that now. There's a running race the week in between the sprint one I'm doing and the Olympic one I was going to do that I really want to do, and have decided that's a higher priority right now. This also means that I'm pretty much overtrained for just doing a sprint (especially as far as bike distance - I've gotten to 25 miles and race distance is only 15.5). I do need to get back to some swimming and biking this week, and I'll be sure to fit in another open water swim (probably just the Thursday before the race, so I'll already have the race-weekend-wetsuit-rental available for it). But overall I feel prepared enough for it.
Hood to Coast was very fun! I definitely want to do it again at some point. I'm less sore than I thought I'd be, so I probably could have pushed a bit harder. The first two legs I was trying to conserve energy, but by the last leg I was too tired to put much more into it.
Oops. I don't think I quite realized until finalizing this post that I really did completely skip out on any tri training, no swimming or biking happened. The biking was more due to a busy week, especially during the early evening hours when I'm most inclined to do it (I'd also like to buy some cheap long sleeve shirts to bike in, to minimize any future wounds from probable future falls, and haven't gotten around to doing that yet). Swimming was avoided while my scrapes from last weekend's fall healed; my arm in particular had a very deep scrap that is only just now starting to heal over, so I didn't think chlorine would feel too great.
As mentioned in last week's workout post, though, I was leaning against doing an Olympic distance tri this year, and I've pretty much completed decided that now. There's a running race the week in between the sprint one I'm doing and the Olympic one I was going to do that I really want to do, and have decided that's a higher priority right now. This also means that I'm pretty much overtrained for just doing a sprint (especially as far as bike distance - I've gotten to 25 miles and race distance is only 15.5). I do need to get back to some swimming and biking this week, and I'll be sure to fit in another open water swim (probably just the Thursday before the race, so I'll already have the race-weekend-wetsuit-rental available for it). But overall I feel prepared enough for it.
Hood to Coast was very fun! I definitely want to do it again at some point. I'm less sore than I thought I'd be, so I probably could have pushed a bit harder. The first two legs I was trying to conserve energy, but by the last leg I was too tired to put much more into it.
Sunday, August 10, 2014
HTC Training Week 3 & Triathlon Training Week 7 & Honeymoon Week 1
Why, hello, there! We just got back on Friday from our honeymoon. I didn't have reliable access to internet (for the first few days we were in a part of our motel that was far enough away from the main section so the wifi signal was really weak, and then on the cruise we were in and out of international waters so my phone went into roaming and the onboard wifi was super expensive), but spending time reading or writing blog posts certainly wouldn't have been high on my priorities anyway. :)
As Abe and I are both training for races, we tried to fit in workouts as much as we could, without sacrificing enjoyment of our trip and the beautiful sights and fun activities. We tended to be pretty active outside of workouts, too, with disc golf and walking while sightseeing and such.
Here are the workouts for the week ended August 3rd.
Workouts:
Monday: Swim 1,200 meters
Active non-workouts: Played half a round of disc golf and walked the second half.
After packing and running some errands, we drove up to the west side of the Puget Sound for the first leg of our trip. We got in fairly late, but on the way I did some research and found a local community pool that had an evening lap swim! It was on long course (50 meters, instead of 25 yards/meters), so that was a new experience. Amazing how just the mental aspect of going so far without a wall - even if you know you can go that distance - makes it seem so much harder!
Tuesday: Run 2.0 miles (13:11 pace) - a sightseeing run around Port Orchard, with lots of stops for photos.
Active non-workouts: Played 2/3s a round of disc golf and walked the last six holes + walked a second round of disc golf.
Wednesday: Biked 27.25 miles (10.3 mph)
Active non-workouts: Walked/hiked a very hilly disc golf course.
After flying from Seattle to Anchorage late Tuesday night, we spend Wednesday on rented bikes, exploring the Coastal Trail and other parts of town. The total bike mileage was broken up by meals and a round of disc golf, but had some very challenging hills and totally counted for my long bike for the week!
Thursday: No official workouts; mostly riding the bus and walking around town.
Active non-workouts: At least three miles walking.
Friday: Stationary bike 7.5 miles (14.9 mph) in the gym on the cruise ship
Active non-workouts: Played a 9-hole disc golf course + at least three miles walking to/from the course and around town. Around 15 flights of stairs - see Saturday explanation.
We took a train from Anchorage to Seward, to get on the cruise ship for the remaining days of the trip. We had the afternoon free before having to get on, though, so we took the free city shuttle towards the 9-hole disc golf course near one end of town, and then walked to the port to embark.
Saturday am: Run 3.0 miles (10:55 pace!) on the ship track - HTC practice run 1 of 2. This took 19 laps - we were told 1 mile = 6.3 laps. Pretty amazed by my pace, but it was definitely the flattest surface I've ever run on; even tracks on land I feel like tilt slightly from one end to the the other, but not on a boat deck!
Saturday pm: Treadmill run 1.5 miles (12:28 pace) - HTC practice run 2 of 2. Should have run farther, but just couldn't get into it. We'll call this a cutback week? Plus, you know, honeymoon.
Active non-workouts: Rock climbing! My first time ever doing this - scary the first time, but then started getting fun. Also, lots of stair climbing. Our state room was on deck 3, most of the bars and other entertainment were on deck 6, the dining room we went to the most was on deck 11, the gym was on deck 12, and the rock wall on deck 13. We decided to make a game of sorts trying to limit our elevator rides to one per day. I'd guesstimate we went up and down at around 50 flights of stairs in total each cruising day; maybe 40 flights on port days when we weren't going to and from as many activities on the ship during the day.
This was a cruising day, no port visit, so I tried to fit in a bit more formal exercise.
Sunday: No official workouts. The ship docked in Juneau, so lots of sightseeing.
Active non-workouts: At least 5 miles walking/hiking. Lots of stair climbing.
Total swimming: 1,200 yards
Total biking: 34.75 miles
Total running: 6.5 miles
Total stairs: 105 flights
As Abe and I are both training for races, we tried to fit in workouts as much as we could, without sacrificing enjoyment of our trip and the beautiful sights and fun activities. We tended to be pretty active outside of workouts, too, with disc golf and walking while sightseeing and such.
Here are the workouts for the week ended August 3rd.
Workouts:
Monday: Swim 1,200 meters
Active non-workouts: Played half a round of disc golf and walked the second half.
After packing and running some errands, we drove up to the west side of the Puget Sound for the first leg of our trip. We got in fairly late, but on the way I did some research and found a local community pool that had an evening lap swim! It was on long course (50 meters, instead of 25 yards/meters), so that was a new experience. Amazing how just the mental aspect of going so far without a wall - even if you know you can go that distance - makes it seem so much harder!
Tuesday: Run 2.0 miles (13:11 pace) - a sightseeing run around Port Orchard, with lots of stops for photos.
Active non-workouts: Played 2/3s a round of disc golf and walked the last six holes + walked a second round of disc golf.
 |
| Unfortunately we had to run up a hill to get this view. |
Wednesday: Biked 27.25 miles (10.3 mph)
Active non-workouts: Walked/hiked a very hilly disc golf course.
After flying from Seattle to Anchorage late Tuesday night, we spend Wednesday on rented bikes, exploring the Coastal Trail and other parts of town. The total bike mileage was broken up by meals and a round of disc golf, but had some very challenging hills and totally counted for my long bike for the week!
 |
| Thank you random stranger for taking our picture! Getting a selfie with the sign, ourselves, and our bikes proved challenging. |
Thursday: No official workouts; mostly riding the bus and walking around town.
Active non-workouts: At least three miles walking.
Friday: Stationary bike 7.5 miles (14.9 mph) in the gym on the cruise ship
Active non-workouts: Played a 9-hole disc golf course + at least three miles walking to/from the course and around town. Around 15 flights of stairs - see Saturday explanation.
We took a train from Anchorage to Seward, to get on the cruise ship for the remaining days of the trip. We had the afternoon free before having to get on, though, so we took the free city shuttle towards the 9-hole disc golf course near one end of town, and then walked to the port to embark.
Saturday am: Run 3.0 miles (10:55 pace!) on the ship track - HTC practice run 1 of 2. This took 19 laps - we were told 1 mile = 6.3 laps. Pretty amazed by my pace, but it was definitely the flattest surface I've ever run on; even tracks on land I feel like tilt slightly from one end to the the other, but not on a boat deck!
Saturday pm: Treadmill run 1.5 miles (12:28 pace) - HTC practice run 2 of 2. Should have run farther, but just couldn't get into it. We'll call this a cutback week? Plus, you know, honeymoon.
Active non-workouts: Rock climbing! My first time ever doing this - scary the first time, but then started getting fun. Also, lots of stair climbing. Our state room was on deck 3, most of the bars and other entertainment were on deck 6, the dining room we went to the most was on deck 11, the gym was on deck 12, and the rock wall on deck 13. We decided to make a game of sorts trying to limit our elevator rides to one per day. I'd guesstimate we went up and down at around 50 flights of stairs in total each cruising day; maybe 40 flights on port days when we weren't going to and from as many activities on the ship during the day.
This was a cruising day, no port visit, so I tried to fit in a bit more formal exercise.
 |
| Not the worst view for running in place! |
Sunday: No official workouts. The ship docked in Juneau, so lots of sightseeing.
Active non-workouts: At least 5 miles walking/hiking. Lots of stair climbing.
Total swimming: 1,200 yards
Total biking: 34.75 miles
Total running: 6.5 miles
Total stairs: 105 flights
Monday, July 7, 2014
Hood to Coast Training Plan
I'm still doing lots of triathlon training for my September races, but the next focused training and scheduled race is for Hood to Coast, in late August. This is an awesome relay race, 195 miles from Mt. Hood to the Oregon coast, run by teams of 12 people in 2 vans. I've wanted to do HTC since three years ago when my employer had a team and I was just starting to get into running. But there's a limit on the number of teams, so not everyone can sign up, and we haven't gotten a slot since then - until this year!
Each runner has 3 legs, each between 4 to 8 miles long, and of varying complexity as far as terrain and elevation changes. I'm runner 8, so my middle leg is a relatively tough climb, but not super long. In total I'll run 14.4 miles; these legs are the second to shortest mileage total, and ranked third to easiest in overall difficulty (which accounts for both distance and terrain).
Realistically, training to run 14+ miles over 2 days in a race requires more than 6 weeks, but I wanted to focus on last weekend's half marathon first, knowing that the weekly volume (which I got close to) and speedwork (which I didn't quite meet) planned for the half would be similar to what I'd want to do for designated HTC training. Only real difference would be single long runs versus double or triple runs in 24 to 36 hour blocks, but the total "long" mileage over a weekend would be fairly similar.
Here's my lovely color-coded (Swim, Bike, Run, Other, Race, Life) 6-week plan:
(Yep, doing a race the morning of the wedding! The race is at 8:30 and the wedding isn't until 2:00. We can't even get into the venue until 1:00 and my make-up/hair prep isn't too complex, so I think there's plenty of time in between and Abe and I running together - hopefully him pacing me to a PR - will make for a great start to a great day.)
Had to work the training plan around some important non-training events - namely my wedding and honeymoon! Fortunately half of the honeymoon is going to be on a cruise ship, which appears to have a track, pool (no idea of the pool length, though), and a fitness center which hopefully has a stationary bike and treadmill. Two of the cruise days are at-sea/not docking anywhere, so I loaded up those days with more exercise, and then also some lesser training on days where there's an earlier scheduled departure from the day's docking location (and thus presumably more free time just hanging around the ship those evenings), and left some longer docking days free for sight-seeing off ship.
On non-cruise days, we'll spending a good chunk of time at disc golf courses. I try to play with Abe on some courses, but I'm really not any good at the sport, and many of the courses are in nice parks, so I can do some running while he's playing disc golf. We also have plans to bike around Anchorage one of the pre-cruise days. Fortunately, Abe's training for a fall triathlon now, too, so balancing the vacation and training are important to us both; it's not like I'll be heavily distracting from his enjoyment of the trip by trying to fit in workouts for myself.
Besides some triple runs mimicking my three legs over 30 hours or so (including the same relative distances, and doing hills on the middle leg), anyone with HTC or other relay experience have suggestions for the best way to train?
Each runner has 3 legs, each between 4 to 8 miles long, and of varying complexity as far as terrain and elevation changes. I'm runner 8, so my middle leg is a relatively tough climb, but not super long. In total I'll run 14.4 miles; these legs are the second to shortest mileage total, and ranked third to easiest in overall difficulty (which accounts for both distance and terrain).
 |
| Leg 8 |
 |
| Leg 20 |
 |
| Leg 32 |
Realistically, training to run 14+ miles over 2 days in a race requires more than 6 weeks, but I wanted to focus on last weekend's half marathon first, knowing that the weekly volume (which I got close to) and speedwork (which I didn't quite meet) planned for the half would be similar to what I'd want to do for designated HTC training. Only real difference would be single long runs versus double or triple runs in 24 to 36 hour blocks, but the total "long" mileage over a weekend would be fairly similar.
Here's my lovely color-coded (Swim, Bike, Run, Other, Race, Life) 6-week plan:
(Yep, doing a race the morning of the wedding! The race is at 8:30 and the wedding isn't until 2:00. We can't even get into the venue until 1:00 and my make-up/hair prep isn't too complex, so I think there's plenty of time in between and Abe and I running together - hopefully him pacing me to a PR - will make for a great start to a great day.)
Had to work the training plan around some important non-training events - namely my wedding and honeymoon! Fortunately half of the honeymoon is going to be on a cruise ship, which appears to have a track, pool (no idea of the pool length, though), and a fitness center which hopefully has a stationary bike and treadmill. Two of the cruise days are at-sea/not docking anywhere, so I loaded up those days with more exercise, and then also some lesser training on days where there's an earlier scheduled departure from the day's docking location (and thus presumably more free time just hanging around the ship those evenings), and left some longer docking days free for sight-seeing off ship.
On non-cruise days, we'll spending a good chunk of time at disc golf courses. I try to play with Abe on some courses, but I'm really not any good at the sport, and many of the courses are in nice parks, so I can do some running while he's playing disc golf. We also have plans to bike around Anchorage one of the pre-cruise days. Fortunately, Abe's training for a fall triathlon now, too, so balancing the vacation and training are important to us both; it's not like I'll be heavily distracting from his enjoyment of the trip by trying to fit in workouts for myself.
Besides some triple runs mimicking my three legs over 30 hours or so (including the same relative distances, and doing hills on the middle leg), anyone with HTC or other relay experience have suggestions for the best way to train?
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