My three legs (Art)

It's 6 am here and I've been awake since about 4:30. Although I went to bed just after 9 pm, you'd think I would have done a little better than that! But, it's not surprising that I'm wired I suppose.

This was definitely the best of the 3 relays I've done. We had none of the weather challenges that plagued us at shore-to-shore (heat, thunderstorms), and the course was much tougher (hills) and more interesting. Plus an event that's
8x larger is just way more exciting.

I'm very sore from all the hills, and so are all the other guys. We just don't have anything comparable to train on. My first leg was my fastest, and not just because I was rested. The roads were graded and smooth, even though we were in the mountains (without the clouds we would have seen Mt. Washington - 6000 ft.) I had only one long uphill. My first leg was long at 14.5 km, so I was on the road for just over an hour. But I had a tailwind the whole way, so finished feeling very strong.

My second leg, just after midnight, was another story. I was tight and sore by then, and immediately developed an aching left knee whenever I had to climb a hill - and the 12+ km leg featured half a dozen or so, including two that had my heart rate way up. Strangely, my knee felt fine on the descents and the flats. I can't complain, because others had much hillier legs than I.

Nightime running is mentally tougher, because you inevitably feel alone and lost, no matter how frequently your van buddies stop to encourage you. My second leg took about 58 minutes, and it felt interminable. But again, I got off lucky. Three or four of our guys had to run 2 of their 3 legs in the dark, including my buddy Sandy, who's sleeping soundly beside me here. No one complained about the straws they'd drawn.

My third leg, run at just after 9, should have been a picnic at 7 km. But the accumulation of soreness, sleep deprivation and irregular eating makes the body very unwilling by the second day of the race. Luckily, the weather was spectacular: brilliant blue sky, cool air, warm sun, and a light breeze that hit me from all directions. On their final legs, most guys were "roadkilling" other runners in droves, as we caught up to the heart of the field (as a high seed, we'd started late in the day, so began the race nearly at the end of the field). My last leg wasn't like that. I had only a few runners with me, and we were equally matched. I caught and was passed one younger guy a half dozen times during my short leg; he was better on the climbs, but I could re-take the lead on the descents and flats. Before I expected it, I was finished, after just over 30 minutes of running.

I got back in the van and found an unexpected treat in the bottom of our communal cooler - a hard-boiled egg courtesy of Christoph's forward thinking wife. After a steady diet of energy bars and trail mix, it was bliss.

Before long, I was back on the road supporting my van 1 buddies as they struggled through their last legs. Christoph was celebrating his 50th birthday, so at the end of his leg, I organized a throng of about 100 strangers to sing Happy Birthday to him as he approached the transition area.

Soon enough we were finished, and could kick back our heels at a coffee shop, then the finish line, as the van two guys finished things up for the team.