Day 1-3: Hood to Coast

I arrived in Portland, Oregon last Thursday a little before noon and waited at the airport for a few of my other Hood to Coast teammates. After we picked up our SUVs for the race, we headed to Voodoo Doughnuts near downtown Portland for some pre-race fuel. Voodoo Doughnuts was on the Travel Channel's Man vs. Food a couple years ago and is pretty well-known so it should come to no surprise that we stood in line for over an hour.

Outside Voodoo Doughnuts

Display case in the bakery
The Tex-Ass doughnut & Bacon Maple Bar

Enough sugar to get us through our 197 mile race the next day

I got the Old Dirty Bastard--glazed doughnut with chocolate icing, Oreo pieces, and peanut butter

After our stop at Voodoo Doughnuts, we headed out to Seaside, Oregon on the coast where we were staying the night on Thursday night as well as Saturday night when we finished the race.

The view of the finish line of Hood to Coast from our condo

We waited for the rest of our teammates to arrive and then headed out to a local grocery store to pick up ingredients for a pasta dinner that night as well as breakfast burritos for the next morning. After an evening of carb loading and getting to know each other (most of us only knew a couple people on the team), we headed to bed because we had an early wake up call on Friday morning.

We had to leave around 7:00 AM on Friday morning, which meant getting up around 5:30 AM. I was still not on West Coast time yet so I was pretty tired when I woke up. We quickly ate breakfast and packed up the 2 SUVs (12 people on a team, 6 in each SUV) so we could drive 2 hours back to Portland and on to Mt. Hood. We stopped at a grocery store about 30 miles from Mt. Hood to stock up on some food and drinks for the race as well to decorate our SUVs. The parking lot of the grocery store was actually the first exchange between van 1 and van 2 of the relay and since some teams had an earlier start time than us, by the time we got there, the race had already started and some teams were already handing off to their second van.

Sign at the grocery store

Another team's van decorated

Honeybucket Harriers Van 1 decorated....we even included rolls of toilet paper on the back because like it says, $#!t happens and well, we are named after the porta potties along the course
Van 2 decorated & ready to roll

As we drove the 30 miles to the start of the race, I was getting really excited and anxious to get started. We were able to see the earlier runners heading down from the start and I couldn't wait to begin running.

Starting line at Mt. Hood

197 miles to go

The Honeybucket Harriers

The ladies on the team

Top of Mt. Hood in the background Honeybucket Harriers at the start
At 12:45 PM, our leg #1 runner started us off with about 20 other teams

Another van decorated at one of the first exchanges, it was an all woman team so they had lingerie hanging all over the van

Everyone waiting for their runner to come in Helen doing us proud with toilet paper tucked into her shoes
Ben passing off the "baton" (it was more or less a slap bracelet, remember those?) to Helen for leg #5
It was crazy to think we had just run from Mt. Hood in the background.....and yes, we were literally running along the shoulder of the highway as cars & semis flew by Jay finishing up leg #6, passing the bracelet to Geri, and letting van #1 take a rest for about 5 hours as van #2 took over

Since I was in van 1, we had 6 people in our SUV and we ran the first 6 legs of the race. Our #6 runner would pass off the bracelet to our #7 runner who was the first runner of van 2. While the other van was running their 6 legs, we were able to drive ahead to the next van exchange, usually about 30 miles away, eat, and rest until it was our turn again. Since we started the race, we ran from about 12:45 PM to 5:30 PM, again from 10:00 PM to 3:00 AM, and one more time from 7:30 AM to 11:30 AM. Anyone that ran from 6:00 PM to 7:00 AM had to run with a reflective vest, headlamp, and 2 flashing lights (one on the front and one on the back). I ended up running my 3 legs at 2:15 PM, 11:45 PM, and 8:30 AM. After we exchanged from van 1 to van 2 at 3:00 AM, we headed down the road to a local high school that was hosting a pancake breakfast for the runners. It was definitely weird to be sitting in the lobby of a high school at 3:00 AM eating breakfast (although I didn't actually eat because my stomach was bothering me). We finally got some sleep from 4:00-6:00 AM before starting our last leg.

One of the exchange zones in the morning had coffee and breakfast for runners (notice the porta potties on the left, those are the Honeybuckets)

After we finished our last leg around 11:30 AM, we drove back to Seaside for the finish. Since we still had to wait for van 2 to finish, we were able to go to the condo, shower up, and actually eat some real food. Our last runner had a timing chip on her shoe so once she crossed the official finish line, they corraled the rest of our team up so we could cross the finish line together.

After party on the beach

More of the after party
Finish Line
Honeybucket Harriers proudly wearing our team shirts after crossing the finish

My bib, medal, and water bottle

We officially finished the race in 27:07 (yes, 27 hours!) and finished 272 out of about 1000 teams. The rest of the night was spent eating pizza, drinking, and hanging out on the beach at the after party. Despite the fact that I only knew 1 person on the team going into the race, I had a blast and would do it again in a heartbeat. It was an incredible experience and one of those things that you can't really explain to someone unless they've done it themselves.

Since this was just a brief overview of the race, I'm going to do an official race report in the next few days with my actual legs of the race and more details about the course so stay tuned.

Weekly Recap: August 23-29

I started off the week with an awesome track workout & I actually ran faster for all my splits than I thought I could. I ran easy on Tuesday in preparation for Hood to Coast at the end of the week. I averaged 7:50 pace for my 17 mi during HTC and was very happy with how I did considering it was all hills, I never ran on flat ground. I'll have an official Hood to Coast Race Report later in the week along with a recap. Despite only getting 2 hours of sleep in the 27 hours it took our team to run 197 miles, I would do it again in a heart beat.

Monday: 6 mi; track workout (1 mi warm up, 6 x 800 w/ easy 400 jog, 0.5 mi cooldown; ran 800s b/w 3:21-3:29)

Tuesday: 4 mi (8:15 pace); lifted total body & core

Wednesday: 1 hr TRX suspension circuit at PAI Yoga & Fitness

Thursday: REST (travel day to Portland)

Friday: Hood to Coast: 3.93 mi, easy, downhill @ 2:30 PM in 27:30 (7:04 pace)

Saturday: Hood to Coast: 7.25 mi, hard, rolling hills @ midnight in 57:53 (7:59 pace)
Hood to Coast: 5.97 mi, medium, rolling hills @ 8:30 AM in 48:08 (8:04 pace)

Sunday: REST (legs dead from HTC)


TOTAL: 27 mi

TRX Suspension Training

I had heard about a new fitness place in Columbus from a good friend about a month ago called PAI Yoga & Fitness. She loves the yoga classes there so I looked at their website and found that they not only teach several yoga classes each day but also spinning and TRX suspension training. I've been wanting to learn more about the TRX suspension trainer because they have one at the gym I typically go to but didn't really know what exercises to do with it. I thought about going to a few classes at PAI Yoga & Fitness but I didn't really want to pay $10 per class. Imagine my luck when last week I got my daily email from Living Social (similar to Groupon where you're emailed a daily deal, typically for a local spa, gym, or restaurant, with a significant discount). The deal was too good to pass up....for only $25, you got a 20 class pass, which is a savings of 89%! I figured I could try to TRX suspension training as well as finally try a yoga class.

So what is TRX suspension training? According to the official website, it started in the Navy Seals is a revolutionary method of leveraged body weight exercise. You can safely perform hundreds of exercises that build power, strength, flexibility, balance, mobility, and prevent injuries, all at the intensity you choose.

Some examples of exercises using the TRX

I took my first class on Wednesday morning and let me tell you, it was challenging! I struggled with a few of the exercises that involved balancing on one foot but it was an awesome workout. It was an hour long class & we hit every muscle group, starting with lower body, moving onto upper body, and finishing with core. I'm definitely going to continue to go because it was something different my body isn't used to and I was already starting to get sore by later that evening. I loved it and can't wait to go again!

Fitness Test

One perk of being an Exercise Physiologist and working at the facility that I do, is that I'm able to do a VO2 max test and fitness assessment whenever I want for free. These tests would normally cost $335! My coworkers and I all decided we were going to put ourselves through a complete fitness test, similar to what the firefighters we test everyday have to do.

Last Friday, I did the complete fitness test, which included:

• VO2 max (Bruce protocol on treadmill)
• Flexibility (sit & reach box)
• Grip strength (hand dynamometer)
• Push ups (to fatigue)
• Sit ups (2 min test)
• Chest press (estimated 1 rep max)
• Leg press (estimated 1 rep max)
• Plank pose (to fatigue)

First up was the VO2 max test on the treadmill. This test is the best indicator of cardiovascular fitness & endurance. It's the maximum capacity of an individual's body to transport and use oxygen so the higher the number the better. During a VO2 max test at my work, you are hooked up with electrodes to have your heart monitored on an EKG as well as hooked up with a mask to measure breath by breath inspiration and exhalation. You can talk and breathe normally through the mask.

One of our fitness testing rooms at work

There are different protocols that can be used for a VO2 max test or stress test but the most widely used is the Bruce protocol. The Bruce protocol on the treadmill starts out very easy and gets very difficult, very quickly. It's 3 minute stages and every 3 minutes you get an increase in both the speed & grade. It doesn't sound too bad until you realize that you start at a 10% grade and it goes up 2% every 3 minutes so it's the incline that kills you on the test. I lasted 12:42, which is the 5th stage of the test (speed of 5.0 mph @ 18% grade) and had a max heart rate of 180. I did, however, reach a VO2 max on 65.0 ml/kg/min! To put this into perspective, a female between the age of 20-29 is considered to have an excellent VO2 and be in the 90th percentile with a VO2 of 49.0. Other notable numbers: Steve Prefontaine had a VO2 of 84.4, Lance Armstrong has a VO2 of 84.0, and Joan Benoit has a VO2 of 78.6.

My score sheet with EKG

My final stats for the tests:

• VO2: 65.0 ml/kg/min
• Flexibility: 23 inches (15 inches is touching your toes)
• Grip strength: 32.5
• Push ups: 33
• Sit ups: 80
• Chest press: 101 lbs (estimated 1 rep max)
• Leg press: 286 lbs (estimated 1 rep max)
• Plank: 2:00 min

I was in the 90th percentile for females aged 20-29 for all fitness tests except chest press which I was only in the 80th percentile. I was most excited to get my VO2 above 60 and that I did 33 push ups! I'm also proud to say that I did better on my VO2 than all the firefighters I train at the local fire deparment.

Track Workout

I finally went to a local high school track yesterday morning to get in some speedwork. I had gone here several times last summer but at the time I had a running buddy, Emily, so it was easier to force myself to go when she was also going to be there. Recently, I'd been doing a lot of speedwork on the treadmill just so I could control the speed but I knew it was in my best interest to actually do it outside. I do my tempo runs outside and sometimes faster mile repeats also.

I had 800 meter repeats (half miles) on my "schedule," and I say that loosely because I tend to make up my running schedule on a week-by-week basis depending on how I'm feeling and also by looking at some other running programs. I do have a race in mind this fall but I'd like to keep it quiet for a little bit longer....you know, in case I get injured or something. I did a very easy mile warm up (9:14 pace) and immediately went into 6 x 800 with an easy 400 jog in between followed by a half mile cooldown for a total of 6 mi. My goal was to keep all 6 repeats under 3:30.

800 #1: 3:21 (uh oh, I think I might have gone out too fast)
800 #2: 3:23 (not bad, only a couple seconds slower)
800 #3: 3:26 (progressively getting slower, I hope I can hold on)
800 #4: 3:27 (I still have 2 more!?)
800 #5: 3:29 (ok, I really need to pick it up & bust it out on this last one)
800 #6: 3:26 (thank god I'm done!)

It was amazing because I went through the first 400 on all my repeats in 1:39-1:41 so I seemed to slow down on the second lap. Overall, I was very pleased with my workout and if it's true what they say about Yasso 800s, maybe a 3:30 marathon is in my future.

Weekly Recap: August 16-22

I ran 17 mi on Saturday, which was my longest run since April. Although my legs felt tired from my VO2max test the day before and there was a slight uphill on the way out, I felt pretty good throughout most of the run. Later this week, I'll be running 17 mi again, but this time it'll be during Hood to Coast and my 17 mi will spread out over 3 legs of 4 mi, 7 mi, and 6 mi during about a 30 hour period.

Monday: 6 mi (7:55 pace w/ 2 mi @ 7:36)
4 mi w/ Tracy @ Olentangy bike path (walked/jogged; 12:30 pace)

Tuesday: 30 min elliptical; lifted total body

Wednesday: taught 45 min spinning

Thursday: 5 mi (8:15 pace); lifted upper body
taught 50 min spinning

Friday: REST
*did fitness testing @ work (VO2max, sit & reach, push ups, sit ups, etc.); more details to come!

Saturday: 17 mi on Greenway Trail in Leetonia, OH (8:33 average pace; ran 9 mi by myself in 8:12 pace & 8 mi w/ Todd in 8:58 pace)

Sunday: taught 20 min core & taught 50 min spinning

TOTAL: 30 mi

Saturday at the River

After work on Friday, Todd & I again hit the road for an overnight trip. This week we were headed up to visit Todd's family in Leetonia, Ohio and spend yesterday at the river. We didn't leave until around 6:30 PM on Friday so after a quick stop for dinner, we were ready for the almost 3 hour drive. A little over halfway, we stopped at the Dariette for some ice cream. My peanut butter cup arctic swirl, similar to a blizzard, hit the spot.

Quick Stop at the Dariette

We arrived in Leetonia a little after 9:00 PM and stopped by Todd's cousin's house where they were having a joint birthday party/college going away party for his cousins. We were both pretty tired and only stayed for less than an hour. I had an early wake-up call as I was planning on running 17 mi in the morning with Todd joining me for the last 8 mi.

Our run yesterday went smoothly and luckily we beat the heat for the most part, especially since most of the time we were in the shade. I headed out on a local bike trail that's 10 mi long. I ran down 4.5 mi and then came back to the start where Todd met me and we did another 4 down and 4 back. I averaged 8:12 pace for my first 9 mi and then Todd & I did 8 mi in 8:58 pace. My average pace for 17 mi was 8:33. I'm very proud of Todd because this is the longest he's ever run! A month ago he was struggling to run 4 and 5 mi and now he can easily do 8 mi.

In the early afternoon, Todd & I headed to East Liverpool, Ohio with his mom, dad, sister, brother-in-law, and nephew to spend the day at the river. East Liverpool is right on the border of Ohio and West Virginia and his family has a spot on an island on the Ohio River where they built a one-room cabin with a loft. Todd spent a lot of time here during the summer when he was younger and he loves to come back.

We parked our cars at the wharf and took their boat to the island

The view of the island just past the bridge....to the left of the island is Ohio and to the right is West Virginia

Todd's family's boat

The dock where we hung out most of the day

Steps leading up from the dock to their cabin, picnic table, grill, etc.

The cabin

Todd & I out on the boat....this is my 3rd time here & I think it's rained every time

Todd's nephew tubing

Todd water-skiing

Despite the off and on rain, the weather was still warm & humid and I had a great time hanging out with Todd's family. I'm hoping next time we go up, I'll either attempt to tube or water ski....although water-skiing makes me nervous because I tend to get injured very easily.

On the way home, we made a pit stop at Giant Eagle to get a drink and use the restroom. I had tried Nutella for the first time at Todd's parent's house yesterday morning and loved it so I couldn't resist not buying any at Giant Eagle as we walked right past it. I think it could've been a bad thing that I tried it because now I will always want to have some on hand because it was so good.

My purchase on the way home

Summer Nights on the Patio

The other night, Todd & I went to dinner at Whole Foods for their Hot Summer Nights on the Patio. They offer $5 burgers, $1 beers, $2 sangria and other drinks and food on their patio from 5-8 PM several nights during the week. It seemed like something different for us to do and it also seemed inexpensive too, which never hurts. We didn't really have any expectations and weren't even sure how crowded it would be. We got there around 7:30 PM though and things seemed to be winding down so we pretty much had the whole patio to ourselves. The food & drinks were unbelievable (especially for the price & portion size) and I would definitely go back again.

We started with Whole Foods' homemade chips, guacamole & salsa (unlimited refills for $2), grilled corn ($1), beer ($1), delicious sangria ($2), and a pop ($1)

My main meal was a grilled cheese sandwich with basil pesto & sun-dried tomato spread ($4)
Todd got the fish tacos ($6)

We only ended up spending $13 for all this food and I even had leftovers for lunch the next day. The guy working must've been in a good mood because he gave us all of our drinks for free. I hope to make it back another time this summer while the weather is still nice.

Quick Trip to Cleveland

A few months ago, one of my good friends, Emily, invited Todd & I up to Cleveland to visit her and her boyfriend, Mark, and go to the John Mayer concert. By the time we actually got around to buying the concert tickets, the cheaper tickets were sold out and we didn't really want to spend any more money so we nixed the concert and planned to head up to Cleveland anyways for a quick overnight visit.

Todd & I left after work last Friday and arrived in Cleveland around 7:00 PM. Mark was just flying back from being out of town so Emily, Todd, and I went to dinner at R.J. Boland's in downtown Cleveland and planned on meeting Mark back at his condo afterwards. The food at R.J. Boland's was nothing to write home about and the restaurant itself was pretty dead but luckily I was with great company. After dinner, we headed back to Lakewood and closer to where Mark & Emily live for a quick drink at Brothers Lounge before hanging out with Mark. On our way to the bar, Emily & I passed a building with a psychic who does palm readings & tarot card readings. Neither one of us had ever been to one and we figured for $10, why not get our palms read. I went first and found it to be a bunch of baloney (surprising, I know) but Emily's palm reading was actually a little bit more accurate so she thought it was legit.

Em & I after having our palms read

After the psychic experience, we met Todd at Brothers Lounge where he had been patiently waiting for us to come back. We were gone for over a half hour and he was actually a little nervous something had happened to us. Don't worry, nothing happened to us, except that I gave some woman $10 to tell me Thursday, November 18 is a big day and that I'm going to live a long life. A couple drinks later, we went back to Emily & Mark's building to hang out with Mark before calling it a night.

Todd & I at Brothers Lounge

We got up early on Saturday & the four of us went to Rocky River Metro Park for an easy 6 mile run. After, we cleaned up and went to brunch at Johnny Mango's where I had some delicious whole wheat chocolate chip waffles. Very rarely do a pass up the chance for chocolate chip waffles or pancakes and these definitely hit the spot. Since it was already into the early afternoon, we went to Great Lakes Brewing Company for some beers.

Great Lakes Brewing Co in Cleveland

They had 9 beers on tap with the Oktoberfest being their current seasonal beer

They sell Great Lakes at grocery stores in Columbus so I've tried a few of them but not all of them so we all decided to get 2 sample flights of their beer. It turns out their samples were pretty big, 5 oz. each, so we had a total of 90 oz. of beer to drink between the 4 of us. This ended up being about 2 beers per person but this was just suppose to be a little taster to help us decide what we really wanted to order. I had to cut myself off after this though.

Todd & I with some of our beers lined up (the 2 small beers is their Black Out Stout which is 9% alcohol)

Emily must have been really thirsty!

After Great Lakes, we went across the street to the West Side Market. When we came to visit Emily & Mark in January, they took us here for the first time and it was amazing all the different vendors....fresh meat, cheese, fruits, veggies, baked goods.....you name it, they had it. I fell in love with the Pierogi Palace and had been dying to come back here to pick up some more. Todd & I got a dozen eggplant parmesan pierogies and half a dozen of the meatball pierogies. These pierogies are huge too so I can eat 3 and be full. Hopefully these will last until the next time we make it up here.

I was in heaven deciding between what flavor pierogies to get

Since the West Side Market was right by the Bier Markt, we decided we had to stop in for a few more drinks. Most of the 80+ beers served here are Belgian or Belgian-style beers.

Bier Markt

We, again, decided to get a flight of beers

Emily & I

Our last stop during our quick trip to Cleveland was to Little Italy for the Feast of the Assumption, a celebration for the Assumption, a Catholic holy day celebrated on August 15. There were booths set up with tons of good homemade Italian food. Todd & I had a hard deciding what to get because there were too many choices.

Walking into Little Italy

The Catholic Church in Little Italy with signs for the Feast

Todd got a supreme stroboli and I got cavatelli pasta with meatballs

We made it inside a restaurant just a second before it started to torrential downpour

Our wonderful hosts in Cleveland, Emily & Mark

We tried some tiramisu gelato & a cannoli on our way out after it stopped pouring down rain. Our fun-filled, jam packed, but short trip to Cleveland came to an end after the Feast and Todd & I headed back to Columbus around 7:00 PM. We're hoping to hang out with Emily & Mark again in the next couple months, but hopefully next time in Florida!