I warned you Boston!

So those of you that taken the time to read my last couple of posts know more than you wanted to about my issues with my hamstrings.  You took the time to follow along with my fight back in order to make it to the starting line of Boston 2017 and, hopefully, to cross that famous finish line for my 5th time in 5 tries.

After struggling about whether to spend the additional money to make the trek back to Boston, I last left off deciding that I was going to go for it.  The plan was to run a slower pace than normal and nurse my legs to the finish.  I knew it was going to be one of the hardest marathons I have run in the 35 or so that I have entered just given the mental and physical strain related to my hammies and the severe lack of training that I had been able to do over the last 10 months.  But my mind had been made up, I was going to do it.  Whether my body would allow it is another question.

Old North Church

Before I get to the race itself, I need to ramble a little on Boston itself.  My family and I love Boston and going there to visit and see the sites.  My kids are the whole reason I signed up this year as they wanted to go back again.  I did too!  This was our first trip back since 2013 and the bombings.  Boston, once again, you did not disappoint.  We had another great visit.  This year we got to celebrate Easter at a service at the Old North Church!  Are you kidding me!!!  How awesome to sit in the same church where so much history has occurred and get to celebrate our risen Lord!  Lauren and Michele joined us, along with Lauren's cousin, and we had a really nice time.

Stayed at The Bostonian again

Of course, we spent the couple days leading up to Marathon Monday walking the city, but I didn't mind.  I was taking everything in as if it was my first time there.  Note: Of course we had to hit Mike's Pastries and Regina's pizza whenever we could.  And we put a hurting on a coffee shop in the North End called The Thinking Cup.  If you get a chance, go there!

Saturday, we hit the Expo and then I caught the end of the Team Nuun tag up.  I wish I could have made it earlier to the Nuun event, but the lines at the expo were ridiculous this year.  One great thing was that when we first got in line, Shalane Flanagan was standing right there!!  I was waiting to get a pic with her, next to another guy, when that other guy turned to me and said "Hi."  My response: "Hey, Ryan!"  Guys, I was standing right beside Ryan Hall!  He talked with me a little and I was able to get my pic with Ryan and Shalane!  How cool!

Ryan!

Shalane!

Our pic

While we were there, we had to hit the finish line for some photo ops also.  My kids and I reproduced our pic from previous Bostons.  It has become something we just have to do!  I love my family, did I ever tell you that?


Here is a little tidbit before I get to marathon day.  On Saturday morning, I went out for a little shakeout run.  I always run from the hotel, through the Commons and down to the finish line, and this year was no different.  I ran a couple blocks past the finish line and then turned around to go back.  I did not expect what happened next.  When I turned around to head back I saw the finish line structure and *everything* about 2013 came flooding back.  Tears instantly came to my eyes.  I probably looked like an idiot out there tearing up and it wasn't even the finish of the marathon yet.  While I think about 2013 quite often, I never expected it to hit me like a sledgehammer like it did.  To make matters worse, they were holding a service at the site of the first bomb and the Boston PD started playing bagpipes.  Jeez!!!  My insides were jelly.  I knew then that this was going to be hard, but that I needed to do everything I could to get to that finish line on Monday. That's right when I saw Kevin Rutherford, the Nuun CEO.  I went over and talked with him a little before heading back to the hotel and that calmed me back down a bit.

My boys, Daniel and Tim

Fast forward to Monday.  It was here.  I was so nervous.  I met up with Daniel and Tim and we headed to the holding area in Hopkinton.  It was hot! Well, relatively speaking it was.  In the 70's for the morning and going to be that temp and sunny the whole race.  I was glad that I wasn't planning on actually trying to race hard this year as those temps would have put a dent in those plans.   In my state of mind, I just wanted to get going on the road back to Boston.

Here's the neat thing about pre-race.  After waiting several hours, it was time to make the walk to the starting corrals.  When I got there, about 20 minutes before my start time, I looked over at the Korean Church that houses the elite athletes prior to their start.  Stretched across the front steps of the church, they had a banner telling the runners good luck.  On that banner, they had placed Isaiah 40:31, my favorite verse, and part of the verse was written out, including "...will run and not grow weary."  When I saw that, it was as if God immediately took away all of my stress, all of my worries, all of my negative thoughts, and replaced it all with calming peace.  I am sure that banner was not there for just me, but at that moment, it was.  It might as well have said "Don't worry, Jim.  I am here."

Bang! We were off.  I started off a little faster than I wanted due to the downhill first couple of miles, but I knew that would be okay.  I can't say that I felt good though.  Essentially, my quads were not feeling well from the first step.  So tired feeling.  At Mile 4, my legs were already feeling like they start feeling at about mile 21 in a normal marathon when I have had good training coming in.  This was not going to be easy....

One of the things I wanted to do this Boston was try to take everything in as much as I could.  I had even taken my phone so I could try to get some pictures as I ran so I could share them with my family and friends.  I have talked about the course so much, I wanted to share some of it.  Let me say one thing here:  taking pictures and videos while running a marathon is way harder than I was thinking.  I didn't get as many pictures as I wanted to due to this, so sorry to those wanting more.  About half way through, I decided that every once in a while, I was going to stop and ask a spectator to take my picture so that I could get the other runners or other sites behind me while I spread my arms as if to take it all in.  I wish I would have thought of this earlier as I would have done this at the start.  I wish I had a picture of that banner at the church in Hopkinton!!

So, back to the race.  I was at about mile 9 and my current thought was, "How am I going to make it 17 more miles...."  At that point, I tried to replace those thoughts with two things: 1) I knew Nuun had a tent somewhere between miles 17 and 18 and I just had to make it to them, and 2) My family was waiting for me at the turn onto Boylston and I could not let them down.

On I trudged....

The miles started to go by quicker even though my pace was slowing some.  I did realize that the little breaks I took fumbling with my phone to get some pics or videos gave me enough of a break from concentrating on the run to realize I could make it the next couple of miles, and that cycle continued...

Mile 17 approached and I started looking for that Nuun tent.  I made a pit stop at a medical tent to get some moleskin for a toe that was starting to bother me and then continued on, sweeping the sides of the course for that tent.  I passed where I thought it would be and started to worry that somehow I had missed it.  I will say one thing - if I had indeed missed it, I think I would have dropped out of the race sometime soon after that.  Honestly.

About that time, I saw a blue tent to the left of the course and I saw the Nuun "N".  Relief immediately swept over me.  I stopped, trying to smile, but likely not being too successful at it.  I asked them to refill my bottle I had been carrying with more Nuun Performance, which they did so without question.  For those that don't know, Performance is their new product for endurance events and it saved my butt this race with the temps.  I was worried about my legs and my hammies, but not once was I worried about my hydration or fuel since I carried Performance the whole way along with my Gu.  To all of you at the Nuun tent:  THANK YOU!!!  You literally saved my day at that point in time.  Jason, one of the Nuun folks there, was a smiling face of peace when I needed it most.  I spoke with him a little while I waited for my bottle of performance goodness and it was just what I needed to talk me off the ledge.  Once I had my bottle, it was back to the miles.

For the last 9 miles, it was periods of taking water cups and dumping them on my head, stopping every so often for a pic, and thinking about nothing more than getting to see my family.  I just had to get there, not only for myself, but for them.

Seeing the Citgo sign in the distance, which marks around the 1 mile to go mark, was one of the greatest sites I had seen while running Boston besides seeing the finish line itself.   At that point, I was certain I was going to cross the finish line; it might be by walking, but I was going to make it, and I was ecstatic.

After some more trudging, there it was.  The right onto Hereford, the slight uphill to my family, then the left onto Boylston and the run down to the greatest finish line I have had the pleasure of crossing.

I found my family and ran over to give them my bottle before I went down the finish stretch.  My daughter later made the comment that this was the only time I have come by them at Boston with a smile.  She was right; I had a big, goofy grin because my last 5 months of pain, stress, worrying were gone and I was finishing my 5th Boston!!!

I had done it.  It had not been easy before or during the race, but I had done it.  While my slowest marathon at 3:26:38, it was the most rewarding finish of them all.  This race had taken more out of me mentally and physically than any in the past.












What have I learned from this:

• Patience is indeed a virtue.  It took patience for me to decide to run.  It took patience to get to the starting line.  And it took patience to get to that finish
• Take it in.  I enjoyed taking pictures along the way and talking to some of the spectators.  I wasn't worried about the 5-6 minutes of time I probably lost in doing this.
• You can do more than you think.  When it comes down to it, your body is amazing.  It will do what is needed when you ask it to.  Don't doubt it.

Thanks to everyone for putting up with my complaining along the way.  Thanks for being a sounding board.  Thanks for being that support.  Maybe you got something out of my journey that will help you in some struggle or unexpected life situation that you are facing or will face in the future.

It was personal, and I warned you Boston, that I was coming!  You threw your best at me, and I was able to take it.  You have once again taught me that, even at age 49, I am stronger than I think.

It's Still Personal (Yeah, Boston, I'm Coming For You)

  Those of you that read my last post know the warfare that I announced against my hammies.  Wanted to follow up to let all know how the battle is going and also just to voice my attack again in case my hamstrings missed it the first time.  Yeah, hammies, it's still personal.

  I continue to employ all of my tactics that I talked about last time, easy training, yoga, stretching, strengthening, Trigger Point therapy, visits with Dr. Houssain, playing with my dogs; you know everything I can think of.  It all continues to progress nicely.  I still have minor pain and some achiness now and then, but for the most part, my training continues.  More on that later....

  One thing I mentioned last time is how the last 9 months fighting my legs has introduced me to something that I have been wanting to try for a long time - yoga.  Yoga continues to bring me more joy than it probably should!  I am to the point that even if my legs are not hurting but I am feeling a little tired or a little anxious or a little stressed, I do a quick 10-15 minute sequence.  It amazes me how refreshed it makes me feel after a short 10 minutes on the mat.  It is becoming ingrained in my life.   I truly regret not finding the time for yoga earlier in my life.

  One new development has been that our Y has recently started BOGA classes - you know, essentially yoga on a floating board (think SUP).  My wife and a good friend of ours wanted to try it so we signed up for a 4 week class.  I could not make the first Friday's session due to my soccer announcing obligations, but did make it the past two weeks.  Oh my!  So hard, but so fun!  I now know that I have many more muscles than I thought because I had muscles making themselves known that I had never felt before.  Amazingly, the first week I went, I didn't fall off once - well, until at the end when we were practicing tree pose.  Yeah, I can barely do that on solid ground, let alone on a floating paddle board.  My tree pose practice consisted of trying to lift the one leg, followed by awkward moments of trying to catch my balance without falling off, then followed by my splashing into the pool.  I definitely see BOGA evenings with my wife more often.  The last class of the series is tonight and I am not going to be able to go, again, due to soccer announcing, and I am going to truly miss it.  If you have not tried a BOGA session yet, find one close to you and go.  You won't regret it.

 Now back to my training that I promised.  As you might recall, my 5th Boston has been on my radar, but my hamstrings just weren't cooperating.  Up until last weekend, I was pretty sure that it was not in the cards to go.  I was really bummed and I felt like I was letting down my family as they have been looking forward to going back to Boston for a while now.  It was really them that talked me into going again this year.  I was also bummed because I was not going to get to meet up with some of my Nuun HQ friends at Boston.  Oh, and yes, I was bummed about not getting to run Boston again.

  I kept putting off the final decision for as long as I could.  I had told my family that we likely would not be going.  I ran a local 10 miler a couple weeks ago just to see what it would do.  My plan was to run it "gently" and then try to add in 5 immediately afterwards to get 15 and see how my hamstrings felt.  During the race, which truly was a training run with a bunch of other friends for me, I had to really watch my pace and back off when my hamstrings would start to bring up that they were there.  I got the 15 in but it gave me no real confidence that I would be able to make 26 miles without a complete meltdown.  I pushed the decision off another week (agonizing the whole time) with my plan being to run an 18 miler the next weekend.  That next weekend came quickly and I set out on my long run.  I felt great until about mile 8.  From then until mile 14, it was a game of running until my hamstring started barking and then backing down for a while until it stopped.  Each time it barked, it barked a little louder and slightly longer.  Truly on the verge of tears during one of the worst episodes, when I had convinced myself that I needed to take a right turn off the greenway and head for home, I internally cursed at my hamstrings.  Yes, being honest here about being close to crying and about the cursing.  It is humbling when one realizes how much being able to freely run without injury means to one's self.  As I came up on the sidewalk where the turn for home would occur, and where my trip to Boston would officially cease to be, I had a weird sensation in my leg.  Weird in that the soreness and achiness immediately disappeared.  I can't explain the feeling exactly.  I do know that it was different.  So, instead of taking the turn, I convinced myself to keep going to see what might happen.  From that point, which was around mile 14, until I finished my run, I had zero soreness.  I ended up not only making the 18 miles, but I felt so good and so free that I tacked on 2 more miles to get me to 20, with the last 4 miles around 7:00 pace!  This long run, especially the last 6 miles, will stick in my mind for a long time.  By the end, I was again on the verge of tears (for anyone that saw me, it was the wind making my eyes water, I promise ;-), but this time from pure joy.

  Now, I didn't immediately make a Boston decision after this long run because I wanted to see how my hamstring responded over the next couple of days.  I would be lying if I said it has been fine and dandy since.  It has not.  It is more achy than it had been.  I have backed down on mileage, not that it has been real great for the last 9 months, and have been taking extra care with my legs.  However, based on my hamstrings' response, my confidence in going to Boston has gone from about 2% chance up to 98% chance at this point!  At this point, as long as a complete seizure doesn't occur in my hamstring, I think I can make it 26.2 miles and get to once again enjoy the pleasure of seeing the Boston finish line for a fifth time.  I have some options if I need to drop out, but I am sure hoping I do not have to use them.  We are going to Boston!!!  It will likely be my slowest marathon to date, if I am able to finish, but I really don't care.  I just want to toe that starting line and see the finish line pass beneath my feet.  If I can do that, I will be ecstatic.  That will be my victory at this point.  And, yes, there will be tears, just telling you now.

  How are your own personal struggles going?  Sticking with your warfare?  Having to adjust your tactics any?  Finding things you didn't know you would love so much?  Trying new things?

  Keep it up, no matter what your struggles are.  Don't let your struggles define you or stop you from fighting.  Toe that starting line with the plan being to cross that finish line.

New Nuun Formula Side-by-Side Taste Comparison with Old Formula

So, when Nuun came out with their new Nuun formula, I was really interested in how the various flavors would taste in the new formula and whether they were able to replicate or better the good tastes of Nuun that I had grown used to.

Instead of just buying a new formula flavor over the course of a year or so, I decided to place an order and buy every flavor of the new formula that was offered.  My stockpile at home already included some of all of the old flavors.  I would then perform a side-by-side taste test of old vs. new formula flavors and publish my results when I completed all 9 flavors.  During my side-by-side tests, I would post results on Twitter (@JPC_Marathoner) but I wanted to gather all of my thoughts and results in one place and so this is that place.  The below are the results for each side-by-side as well as an overall assessment of the new Nuun formula tablets.  For the most part, the below is a stream of consciousness on my thoughts.

I hope you find the info useful and I encourage you to perform your own taste tests and let me know what your taste buds think.  Give some flavors a new try.  Expand you flavor stockpiles and spread the #NuunLove.

Overall New Formula Nuun Notes (non-flavor notes)

• New tablets are bigger, thicker and seem to be slightly wider.
• New tablets are much more “powdery”.  Be careful when fishing out a new Nuun tablet when wearing dark slacks :-/  You will need to brush them off and make sure fingers are cleansed :-)
• Given the slightly bigger size and maybe due to them being more powdery, they seem to come out of the tube harder.  I have to work hard sometimes, to get a tablet out of the tube, especially when I get down to the last 3 or so in the tube.  It is as if the tube doesn’t want to relinquish the wonderfulness that it is holding
• New tablets are less dense (which may go with the powdery part), thus, they don’t sink fast and get stuck easier if you have tossed them in water with ice in it.
• Did I mention them being more powdery?  Have breathed in my share of Nuun powder when opening tubes.
• The new formula Nuuns seem to take a little longer to dissolve completely than the old.  Not a significant amount of time difference to worry about it though.

Strawberry Lemonade

• Like old better.
• Old was one of my favs (top 3 with Watermelon and Tri Berry)
• New is 7/10 (which is still okay) but not as flavorful to me as old.  Seems “weaker” in taste which is not my experience with the other new Active Nuun flavors side-by-sides
• There is a slight aftertaste associated with the new Strawberry Lemonade formula.  Sometimes it borders on more than slight.
• Not going to lie here.  I am disappointed that one of my top flavors, to me, is not as tasty.  I will still drink it but likely not as often as I used to.

Tri Berry

• As I said above, Tri Berry is one of my top 3 in the old formula.  Before doing the side-by-side, I was worried this would go the way of Strawberry Lemonade.  
• I like new formula flavor better!  Tri Berry has been one of my tops so excited that I like it better.
• Flavor seems stronger to me.  No aftertaste.

Watermelon

• This was my favorite flavor in the old formula, so I was hoping that the new formula taste was at least as good as the old.
• I definitely like the new formula flavor better.  Taste is stronger and tastes more like watermelon than old.  Glad that I like it better since it is my fav.

Lemon-Lime

• Never a big fan of this flavor, so I am interested to see if the new formula changes this in any way.
• New formula wins again.  New flavor is more lemony
• After trying new again, it is lemony but sometimes I get more limey too! Great! 2 flavors in 1.
• Still won’t be one of my top flavors

Tropical

• I became a fan of Tropical late in the life of “old” flavor Nuun.  Wonder how it will be with new formula
• New flavor wins! - surprise, right? - Seeing a trend here (except for Strawberry Lemonade)
• Like some other flavors, I got a stronger taste with the new formula.  While drinking, I get a melon taste.  Aftertaste moved to a pineapple taste.  Cool.

Orange

• Occasionally get Orange, but not often.  Interested to see if it rises on my fav’o’meter
• Had to take two taste tests to decide and describe why. Winner is: New!
• New flavor (stronger) tastes more like Orange, not like OJ or an orange drink, but more like eating an actual orange.
• Starts out tasting like a cutie (clementine); ends with a hint of mandarin.

Citrus

• Rarely bought citrus in old flavor.  Will see with new formula.
• Winner is *tie*.  I truly cannot decide.  New formula flavor is slightly stronger tasting and what it tastes the most like to me is a tangerine, which is good, but I would rather have Orange, I think.

Fruit Punch

• I have never been a fan of Fruit Punch anything. Ever since a kid, I have not liked Fruit Punch Kool-Aid.  Was not a Nuun fan of this flavor either.  Will new formula change this?
• Winner here is *new* formula Nuun flavor, surprise, surprise, surprise.  However, I will caveat that even though I like the new formula taste better, Fruit Punch is not rising into my top 5 flavors.  I will buy some of it in the future just because I like to change up flavors now and then.

Grape

• “Old” grape was in my top 6 probably.  I didn’t buy a whole bunch, but I usually bought some with every order.  Will I like the new formula better given that the past taste tests are mainly stronger tasting and I think I would like that in grape.
• Yes!  The new formula seems to have a stronger grape taste to me and that is what I was hoping for.  Mark grape down as a winner between the old and new formula flavors.

Concluding Notes

• Very surprising to me (and others that were following my tweets) how the new formula flavors dominated.  After the first flavor test, Strawberry Lemonade, where I liked the old formula taste better (old was a “10” to me and now is a “7”, but still…), I expected more wins by the old flavors.
• I may have had a bias coming into the taste test against new formula flavors because I got to sample some “in the works” flavors a couple years ago when running the Hood to Coast with Nuun HQ employees.  They had a couple bags of tablets that they were working on flavors, I assume for the new formula at the time.  Some of the tablets I randomly picked were, well, how can I put this nicely, not very good!  They were still in the works remind you, so some things were still being ironed out, but this left me with a bad taste in my mouth for some of the flavors and how I thought the new formula would taste.  But never fear, the Nuun HQ geniuses nailed it.  When the new formula goes 7-1-1 in head to head taste tests with the old Nuun tablets, I am impressed… and happy given I drink a whole bunch of Nuun!

"Hood to Coast with Nuun" -or- "Long Read - #soary" or "Do HTCers Dream Of Any Kind Of Sheep"

There are few happenings in my life that deeply impact me. You know, the events that cause sadness and depression, in a good way, when they are over because you miss being there and miss the people you were with.  Prior to this past weekend, the one adventure that has impacted me like this has been volunteering as “Uncle Jim” at the Royal Family KIDS Camp that my church holds each year.  The bonding with the other camp volunteers and the foster children campers never fails to leave me either in tears or close to it at the end of the week when I go back to my normal life.  I can now add another adventure to that list.

I was one of the lucky Nuun Ambassadors that was selected by the folks at Nuun Hydration to participate on one of two 12 person teams in the Hood To Coast relay, a relay that starts up on Mt. Hood and finishes 199 miles later on the beach in Seaside, OR.  The five short days I spent with my, now, friends at Nuun, both employees and fellow ambassadors, has left deep imprints in my psyche.

Everyone...

I have known I was going to HTC since early this year which kicked in my introverted nerves and they only grew stronger as the date to fly to Seattle drew close.  What was I doing flying solo to Seattle to meet 19 other Nuunbassadors and the Nuun HQ staff?  I consistently avoid meeting new people.  I am an observer first and foremost and typically do not choose to engage with people until I get to know them better.  There are few people other than family that I am comfortable enough with to let my true self come out.  It did help that I had the chance to connect via social media with the people I would be meeting and hanging with prior to heading to HTC though.

I flew out early so I would have a chance to take in some sites in Seattle, but mainly because the Sounders were playing on Wed night and I couldn’t pass up the chance to go to their game.  From the moment I arrived in Seattle, the Nuun staff went above and beyond taking care of me, which was absolutely wonderful. Yes, I attended the Sounders game, which was *awesome*!!  In addition, Nuun set us up on a tour of the new Brooks HQ.  Very nice place.  

The night before we were to leave for the trip to Oregon, Nuun hosted us at their place for a dinner get-together where we were able to meet some of the Nuun employees that we hadn’t met prior to then.  It gave us a chance to get to personally know each other.  At the end of the meal, it was time for each team to decorate their vans giving us a chance to start bonding as a team and giving me a chance to start gathering information, aka observations, on the 6 people that I would be sharing the next ~40 hours with in a van roaming around the Oregon countryside: Kevin being Canadian, Kim being the brownie pusher, uh, I mean specialist, Joe being the graphic designer, and on and on.  This decorating also gave my nerves the chance to escalate when thinking about being “stuck” in this van, which, mind you, included the Chief Electrolyte Officer (CEO) of Nuun, the aforementioned Canadian.  Have I mentioned yet that I am somewhat introverted?  I was worried about how I was going to interact and engage with them because I didn’t want to come across as stand-offish.

Sophia and the Van

The next morning came quickly and I was in the last of the 4 vans to leave Seattle with my half of Team Nuun Energy Lemon Lime.  As soon as we were on the road, my van started the process of getting to know each other better.  Stories from overcoming breathing issues while swimming to military service and recovering bodies of friends killed in service, excitement of an engagement and impending marriage, cool crafted chairs, multiple sets of twins for children, medical research jobs, Sanskrit yoga names, and French minors started us off as a van full of social media acquaintances on our way to becoming true friends.  In addition, it was a chance for me, a relay newbie, to gather some information from my teammates about their past relays and what drove them during the relays, like “roadkill”.  This really helped to settle my nerves and I was looking forward to when it was our chance to run our first legs.

Then traffic happened…

Congestion?? Really? We hadn't noticed (Photo Cred: @trails4life)

I should pause here to state that my van hit traffic pretty much as soon as we hit the southern part of Seattle and we really didn’t get out of traffic until we parked at the condo in Seaside.  And, no, I am not exaggerating.  The traffic getting from Seattle to the first major van exchange was enough to give us all mild stress and had us all calculating our expected arrival time and comparing it with the updates on the arrival time of our team’s Van #1.  These van exchanges, by the way, continued to be stress inducing events for the most part.  No one wants to let down the other half of their team!  Luckily, I wasn’t having to worry the actual driving or navigation for our van.  Our self-proclaimed “token Canadian” had the dubious honor of sitting behind the wheel for the vast majority of HTC, and, for that, I am eternally grateful.

See, I told you... (Photo Cred: @Clean_Lantern)

Once we arrived and delivered Lauren, our van’s first runner, to the exchange zone, the relay became a blur of activity in getting to the next exchange, getting the next runner in place, using the port-a-potties, aka “honey buckets”, whenever and wherever, eating snacks, drinking Nuun, sharing Nuun love with other teams, more conversations, cheering for runners, and “vandalizing” other team’s vans with “I ‘heart’ Nuun”.

I enjoyed this frenzy of watching our runner take off, hurrying back to the van to get to the next exchange before the runner did (did I mention the traffic?), and walking the next runner up to the exchange when traffic was backed up.  The best part was when the van caught up to our runner and we could holler, honk the horn, and provide encouragement to them.  From the first runner in our van to the last, I was becoming so proud of how my teammates were running their legs, in awe of how strong they were on the very hilly or hot legs, and celebrating with them when they finished their runs.

Mixed in that first set of legs was my first run – the 10^th leg for my team and 4^th for my van.  I had come into HTC still recovering from a calf injury that had me out for several months and almost sidetracked my whole trip.  My calf and how it felt was always in the back of my mind and now it was time to put it to the test.  I have to say that the stories of racking up the roadkill being addictive could not have been more accurate.  Given this, I ran this leg faster than I should have.  It was also my turn to get the boost when I heard Kevin beeping on the horn, and then heard the yelling from the van knowing there were 6 people in there pushing me on.  Arriving at the end of my first leg and seeing my team cheering for me as I handed off to Kim was great too.  I am not one that easily accepts praise and I tend to downplay any accomplishments, part of the introvert in me.  It does impact me for the better, though, just know that.

Then it was off on the “exchange frenzy” again.  The next major van exchange arrived and we handed off to our other van in Portland.  It was great getting to see the other members of our team and talk to them about how they were doing.  As I stepped out of the van at the exchange though, my calf was pretty tight and sore from my first leg followed by sitting in the van.  As we left this exchange and made the drive through the evening to the next major van exchange where we would attempt to get some sleep (unsuccessfully for me), I began having anxiety about my aching calf and whether I would be able to run and finish my second leg.  I don’t know if the rest of the van noticed how quiet I had become, afraid to even mention that it had started to hurt after my first leg and had become worse each time I stepped out of the van.  I quietly massaged it with our massage stick, donned compression socks, and rubbed Biofreeze on it, trying to keep it loosened up.  After we rested for 3 or so hours, we were awakened from our sleep/dozing by a “They will be here in 5 minutes!” alarm.  Poor Lauren had to be ready and to the exchange area in no time flat.  I tried to make it there in time after putting my stuff up but was disappointed that Lisa had come in and Lauren had flew out right before I made it to the exchange area.  I vowed to never miss another exchange if at all possible.

Over the next 3 legs, I had enormous pride for Lauren, Sophia, and Joe and how they ran their 2nd legs over long hills and dusty roads in the middle of the night.  Everyone in my van had become my team and no one was going to mess with my team!  I loved that Kevin was dying to run with one of us during our legs.  I knew he wanted to do more than drive the van, which he was doing so well, making the whole relay stress free for those running.  My exchange was upon us and my nerves rose again.  As I stood in line at the port-a-potty for the umpteenth time, I heard someone calling my name.  In my sleep deprived state, in the middle of the night, in the middle of Oregon, I was quite confused as to who in the world would know me around there.  Turns out it was Megan, our fearless Ambassador “leader” from Nuun and from our other team, Team Wild Berry.  It was actually quite stress relieving seeing her at the exchange.

My life at the exchanges

I started my 2nd run slower to check out my calf.  I had some soreness, but as I ran, it never got worse.  The first mile and a half was uphill and by that point, roadkill obsession took over. Some of the things I remember from this leg: thanking God over and over again for my calf not getting worse and for a beautiful night run, the click of stones caught in the tires of vans, using my headlamp as an arrow targeting the next roadkill’s back, encouraging those I passed and those passing me (fist bumped the 3 guys that passed me) as we were all in this together no matter the pace we were going, running past the long line of vans at the end of my leg, and joy at not letting down my teammates by having to stop and walk.

After I finished, it was time for me to watch Kim and Hyla run their 2nd legs.  At this point, I wanted to walk with the next runner to the exchange area and wanted to meet the runner coming in and take them back to the van.  I just wanted to be there for them whether it was to talk to them or just to be there in silent support.  I didn’t want to miss any of it.

We headed to our last major van exchange by following our own route to get there since the traffic was horrible at this point.  This took us through Astoria which you might know from Goonies, or Kindergarten Cop as Hyla informed us and… there were sea lions. Cool! The rest of the trip was filled with peanut butter filled pretzels and animal crackers washed down with Nuun.  

By now, we had moved from van friends to van family.  We headed into our last legs knowing the end was quickly approaching.  My third leg was in the heat of the day as was most of ours (lucky Hyla).  This last leg was the shortest of my three but seemed to be the hardest given the heat and the hills, but mainly due to my quads being sore from the first two legs.  As we made our way into Seaside to get to the beach, Hyla was finishing.  We missed her finish, but, to me, the finish of the relay was anticlimactic compared to what we had experienced over the last two days.  The best parts were left out on the course.

After a long, hot shower, I sat at the after-relay party and thought about what made the last two days so special. What surprised me, being an introvert, was that in our van we never played any music to fill voids in conversation (unless you count the occasional crooning of a patriotic US song by our Canadian driver), because we never had a void to fill.

How we party... Yoga! (Photo Cred: Carrie Swidecki)

And then it was over…

Thank you Lauren, Sophia, Joe, Kim, Hyla, and Kevin for a truly awesome ride in Lemon Lime Van 2.

Team Lemon Lime Van #2

And thank you Nuun.  I have so much gratitude for Megan and the rest of Nuun for what they did for us and how they took care of us the whole time we were with them.  Our great time was due to them.  I have so much respect for Nuun as a company and for every one of the employees we met.

In the days since I have arrived back home, I have seen responses and reactions from the other Nuunbassadors that are similar to those I have seen after Royal Family KIDS Camp.  Some began talking about it right away while others processed their thoughts for a while before reminiscing. This experience touched us and reminded us that the world is indeed a small place where 26+ people who don’t really know each other can come together and forge a bond over the course of several days, creating friendships that span the country.  To my Nuun Ambassador and employee friends from this 47 yr old introvert, thank you from the bottom of my heart for your conversation, your humor, your listening, your acceptance, your praise, your just being there, and your true kindness.  To me, we won HTC by miles.

My posse...