Reasons why I am NOT applying for Nuun’s Hood to Coast Team

2011 was a great year for me.  I accomplished many goals that I have had for years. I started my fitness business, I qualified for Boston and I ran the Hood to Coast Relay.  The Hood to Coast Relay was an incredible, memorable experience with some unbelievably awesome women. It not only introduced me to those fabulous people, but to a fantastic company.  I am honored to be a Nuun Ambassador and am loyal to this great product.

It was such an epic experience that it took six blog posts to say everything I wanted to say. I am sure there was more I could have said. It was one of those once-in-a lifetime experiences that will never be replicated.

So when Nuun announced that they were going to host teams again in 2012, I was beyond excited. We had been talking about running it again since we finished our last legs. I was eager to get my creative juices flowing and submit a kick ass application.  I was looking forward to joining my new friends again for a fun-filled weekend.

Here is a little taste of our weekend:

Nuun | Hood to Coast from eric becker on Vimeo.

Here it is, the day of the application deadline and I have nothing to submit. I thought long and hard over this decision and decided NOT to submit an application. I am sad, but at peace about it.  I know that when Nuun announces the 2012 teams, I will be sad again.

You must be asking why are you NOT re-applying for this incredible opportunity that is right up your running alley????


Here are the top reasons WHY I am not applying for Hood to Coast this year:

1) Fear of rejection—I am not too proud to admit that this year I am a little nervous about getting rejected.  Normally, I do fine with rejection.  Lately, however, I have been a bit more sensitive. I have a lot going on in my life and I find it harder to let things go. I feel like all my friends and running buddies have other friends and I am nobody’s first choice lately, so I am not up for not being Nuun’s first (or 36th) choice. Last year I had nothing to lose. If I didn’t make the team, I could look at all the fabulous bloggers and know why they chose those women over me.  This year, knowing that 2011 team members are not guaranteed a spot, I was a bit nervous. In fact, to make it fair to everyone, Nuun has told us that only a percentage of us would be chosen again. If I don’t make it this year, I know I will question myself even more. It will take me back to those feelings I had in middle school. I will wonder if I didn’t make the team because I was lacking in some way. Did I talk too much?  Did I not talk enough? Did they not like me? Is my blog not popular or witty enough? Am I not good enough? 

2) My social media presence has been appalling lately—Other than Facebook for personal updates etc., I have been pretty absent from the social media world. My blog hasn’t been updated in weeks. I can’t remember my last tweet. I hope my followers don’t unfollow me!  I have only glanced at Pinterest and, frankly, don’t get it. I know that Nuun wants a big social media push from their team. If they check my stats, they will be disappointed.

There are several reasons for my lack of internet activity. First, my computer died a few weeks ago. I went back and forth with the manufacturer (it is still under warranty) and they still have it! It is difficult to get anything done on my phone. I finally plugged in my old computer, but there was a reason I replaced it—it is painfully slow!

Second, between clients and working in my kids’ school, I have been very busy lately. I hate spending my free time at the computer (although that does seem to happen). I have always been pretty busy, but lately it has made me feel overwhelmed.

3) I'm running Southern California Ragnar in two weeks—As much as I would like to run several relays a year, it does put added pressure on my family. My husband has to take a day(s) off work and/or I have to find friends to pick up my kids from school etc. Mommy being gone gets complicated.  My husband is great with this and very supportive, but I don’t want to push my luck and do it too often. I am also planning on running St. George again, which is another Mommy day off. 

In addition, with Ragnar looming, it is difficult to think about another relay in a few short months.  I know I would love doing both and becoming a relay “expert” like fellow Hood to Coast alum, Lauren. I just don’t think this is the year.

4) I have recently taken on new responsibilities—Some of my online friends and I have started a new website, theRUNiverse.com. This is a group-edited blog featuring articles about our favorite sport, running.  The site is a mixture of original content and reposted articles.  I don’t want to let these people down and I try to meet my deadlines to help keep our content fresh.  Check out theRUNiverse.com as well as our Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest pages! [LOL…shameless plug]

5) We are relocating to Colorado in June or July—My husband’s job and the tough Southern California economy has us relocating to Fort Collins, Colorado. This last reason is probably the deciding factor in not applying. Details of our move are still up in the air. Our target move date is July 1, but we haven’t found a place yet. It will be a big transition for my children (and for me). School in Fort Collins starts in late August and I would have to miss a few of their first days of school. Switching schools is a big deal and I don’t know how much they will need Mommy in those first few days. Last year, I missed picking up my daughter for her first day of Kindergarten because I was at Hood to Coast, I am not sure I can do that this year. 

I don’t know what our routines will be. I don’t know how flexible my husband’s workload will be (although it is the same company, but his workload changes based on various circumstances). I don’t know if I will have any friends to help pick up the slack when I am gone. All these unknowns make it difficult to make plans to be gone for three or four days. 

I am both excited and scared about this move. I think this impending life change is one of the reasons I am feeling sensitive, overwhelmed and not very creative. I am sure as I get back into my blogging, I will write more about my feelings about this new chapter of our lives.

So there you have it.  While so many women are posting their Nuun Hood to Coast applications today, I am feeling a bit wistful. I just hope that my teammates and Nuun don’t take it as a reflection on them. I plan on starting my application for 2013 as soon as I get settled!  :-)

Good luck to my blogger friends who are applying.  To those of you I shared a van with, I hope you miss me—at least a little. I will be following you all eagerly and cheering you on. 

Happy Running

Hood to Coast Race Report Part 1—before the race

What a whirlwind week it was leading up to Hood to Coast. Thursday, before flying to Seattle to meet up with Nuun and my Nuun Platuun teammates, I had a little thing called first day of school. My youngest was starting kindergarten, a huge milestone.  Instead of arriving in Seattle early Thursday to hang out with the team and decorate the vans, I gave hugs and kisses and took pictures of two excited kiddos. As much as I am trying to enjoy my running opportunities while trying to build a business based on fitness, first and foremost I am a MOM. I am so glad I was able to do both.

After that, I headed to the airport to start my adventure. I was giddy with excitement. I went crazy with the camo theme and even had a camouflage carry-on bag. I was ready to go.
At the airport, I was in the security line with a soldier. I even snapped a picture with him. I told him all about the race and thanked him for his service.  Another passenger had run HTC a few years earlier and told me how much he enjoyed it.  My excitement was building.

I arrived in Seattle and got a cab and headed to the Nuun offices. When I arrived, I expected the party to be in full swing, but I was the first to get there.  Yeah!  I didn’t miss out on as much fun as I had thought!  The Nuun staffers were super welcoming and made me feel very comfortable.  So much so, that a couple of the bloggers thought I worked there when they first saw me.

When everyone walked in, it was surreal.  I have followed many of these awesome women’s blogs for a couple years.  To be honest, I felt a little bit star-struck. Many of these women had blogs with 10-20 times more followers than me, others were Boston alumni and accomplished ironwomen.  I was feeling a little self conscious.

But soon I was chatting away with everyone and felt more comfortable. We all went back to the hotel as Van 1 had an early departure and were meeting in the lobby at 5:45 a.m.  We snapped a couple of pictures with Nuun Platunners that we wouldn’t see until the next day. How cute are we in our camo skirts from Running Skirts.com?

Pictured here are me, TMB, Jess, Tricia and Kerrie

My hotel roommates were Kerrie and Emily.  Emily was still on East Coast time and hit the sack right away.  Kerrie and I tried, but ended up chatting for at least an hour—whispering in our bed.  It was great.  Honestly, I wish there had been a bit more of that kind of “girl talk” during the race, but believe it or not, it seemed like we were always focused on some task or another and didn’t do as much of that as I would have thought.  Once we stopped chatting, neither of us got much sleep.  5 a.m. came way too quickly, but the day had come and we were heading to Mt. Hood!!


On our way down to Oregon, we were interviewed for an article in a magazine!  Wow…we were famous!  We passed the phone around and answered the reporter’s questions.

You can read the article HERE.

As we headed east from I-205, I started getting really excited. I was in my old stomping grounds of East Portland/Troutdale! We drove mere miles from my childhood home and into Gresham where I spent a lot of time in my teenage years.

When we saw Mt. Hood getting closer, the excitement in the van was palpable.  We were SO close to the start.  We had all been looking forward to this for so long. The noise level started increasing in the van.  Except for Tricia…she was getting noticeably quiet. I wasn’t sure if it was her “game face” or if she was getting more and more nervous. I know now from her report on leg 1 that she was terrified. When we saw our first runner, a cheer went up.  That was going to be us soon.  Specifically…the first runner we saw was running Leg 6- my leg.  I was officially excited.

We all got our game faces on...


 And then we were there!! The teams, the vans…it was all real.

 We found the Nuun tent and donned our Nuun tattoos and spread the Nuun love!



A familiar face from the Hood to Coast movie stopped by and said, “Nuun Platuum??”  It was Bob from Dead Jocks in a Box*!  He reached out to a few of us via Facebook to find out our start time, as well as tweeted with Tricia.  He was super nice. We didn't see them again.  They were faster than us and finished first in their division!

Tricia was ready to go to lead off our van. This thing was really happening!!

She joined Alanna from the AfterNuun Delight team and headed toward the start line.




And then…they were off!!!!

Stay tuned for Part 2- the highs and lows of the first legs.

*It was the first time a “celebrity” had messaged me on Facebook.  I was pretty excited. Bob was one of my favorites in the movie because he looks a lot like my brother-in-law.    Like Dead Jocks on Facebook so they can get 100 likes!

10 things learned at Hood to Coast….

I will have a very long race report (most likely posted in three parts). But for everyone wondering how it went—it is difficult to describe such an incredible weekend (but, of course, I’ll do my best). I am so grateful to have been given this opportunity and honored to be included with some amazing women. As I am crafting my race report, I wanted to post some things I learned this weekend.

#10—Running 7 miles in 90 degree weather is not so much fun (but it was HOOD TO COAST and my dad saw me run it, so it was worth it in the end). 


#9—Running in the middle of the night is a great way to clear your head.


#8—Six women in a van for 36 hours don’t stink as much as you would think (even after running their brains out).


#7—One hour of sleep outside on a tarp can be better than four hours of sleep in a hotel and can even be “magical.”

#6—You can “race” three times in a 24 hour period, running pretty much as fast as you can, and live to tell about it.


#5—There are zombies in Mist, Oregon.


#4—In a race situation like this, you are always looking for something…clothing, cell phone service, keys, teammates… 

#3—These bloggers are as cool in real life as they seem online (some even moreso).


#2—Nuun is more than a fantastic product, it is a great company with some of the best employees around.


and the #1 thing learned this weekend—Hood to Coast is everything I thought it would be and would do it again in a heartbeat.  (*hint, hint )

I am tired and sore, but super happy.  I am now back to the real world.  Happy Running...

8 more days….

There are eight more days until my daughter starts kindergarten. She is so excited she can hardly stand it.  Big brother is happy to have his sister at school with him. That is a big milestone in our lives as I will have both my kids in school full time. Then the pressure starts to get this business really off the ground!

Oh yeah…something else is happening in 10 days.     I AM FLYING TO SEATTLE TO START MY HOOD TO COAST  ADVENTURE!!!

Here is a little more about the race (and my leg in particular), for those of you who aren’t familiar with HTC or long distance relays in general.

What is Hood to Coast? It is a 200-mile relay that is run by teams of 12. It starts at Mt. Hood, the tallest mountain in Oregon, to Seaside on the Pacific Ocean.

Known as "The Mother of All Relays", HTC is the largest relay in the world, hosting a capped team limit for the past 20 years, and has filled on "Opening Day" of registration for the past 13 years!HTC is also the longest running relay event in Oregon, and hosts the largest beach party on the west coast!

Here is the timeline for the weekend:

Thursday, August 25—After dropping my baby off at kindergarten, I head to the airport and fly to Seattle (Nuun headquarters) to meet the teams (Nuun Platuun and AfterNuun Delight). There will be van decorating, pizza eating and general revelry.

Friday, August 26—Four vans of excited and nervous women will take off first thing to drive down to Mt. Hood (just east of Portland).  Our vans will be festooned with quotes and decorations supporting our respective themes.  I am guessing that there might be some interesting looks along the freeway on the way to Portland and maybe a few honks.

The teams are all given start times ranging from early in the morning to early evening. to keep the course and exchange points free of too much congestion.

“The race start times begin at 3:30am Friday at the Timberline Day Lodge and continue in waves every 15 minutes throughout the day until 6:15pm. Each wave has 20-25 teams.”

Our start time is 12:30 p.m. I am excited that both teams are starting together!

I am in Van 1.  Starting us off is Major Miles.  She has the honor of running the leg with the steepest downhill grade.  It is notorious for being incredibly difficult. I wanted this leg at first, but then when I thought about my marathon five weeks later, I decided that a quad-busting, toenail destroying, knee-shredding 2000 foot drop over five miles would not be the smartest choice.  Yeah for Tricia taking one for our team!

*Leg 2 belongs to Captain Cupcake. Then Captain Phoenix, our team captain.  She is followed by Captain Obvious and Captain Underpants.  I am the final runner in van 1.

My first chance to run will happen around 4:25 p.m. **  Leg 6 is rated as “Hard” by the Hood to Coast folks.  It is my longest leg, 6.75 miles.

It is described as “challenging uphills and gradual downhills along Highway 26 on paved shoulder.”  Actually, running along highway 26 gives me more anxiety than any other part of the race. I grew up in this area and drove to Sandy and Mt. Hood often along Highway 26. It is not a lonely highway.  It is a major thoroughfare—the only road from Portland to the mountain and the small towns in between. I know that giant trucks will speed by, scaring the crap out of me and blowing all sorts of road dust my way.  On the bright side, it will bring back some great memories of driving up to the mountain to go skiing as a kid.  I will be running by several well-know local landmarks.   

                      

After my leg, our van is done for a while. I am hoping that we will stop somewhere for some real food.  The van will be fully stocked with all sorts of snacks, but at some point in a 24 hour period, hot food will be a welcome treat.

Our van will be back at it around 10 p.m.. Now we are on to some of the toughest legs for the mere fact that they are done in the middle of the night. I am thrilled, however, that our van’s dark legs are late night rather than early morning.  Our best chance to catch some z’s will be after these overnight legs.

My next leg will be leg 18, which is 5.23 miles long. It is described as “flat and gradual uphill terrain on hwy and paved back country roads.” It is also rated “hard.”  Hmmm…”back country roads” at 2 a.m.??  Yikes!  Maybe I should add my pepper spray to the list of things to pack.  I will be wearing a light on the front, a light on the back, as well as a reflective vest.  What will the coyotes be wearing??

Saturday, August 27-- Our van will be “off duty” again from around 3 a.m. (when I finish running) until about 7:45 a.m.   This might be our only chance for some shut-eye.

Our final legs get us closer to the beach. My last leg is my easiest leg (woo hoo!).  Leg 30 is rated “moderate” and is 5.35 miles long.  It is described as “gradual uphill and steep downhill on winding narrow back road with minimum shoulder.” This time, I am really looking forward to being on a country road. It will be around 11:40 a.m. so darkness won’t be a factor.  In fact, it should be a lovely time of day!

Then van 1 is DONE.  We get to head to Seaside to wait for our team!!  I am excited for that part of the day.  I have two friends from high school who are running HTC and they are both in van 1 for their teams. We are planning on toasting our success with a well-deserved beer.

The final runner for Nuun Platuun, Commando, should be approaching the beach around 5 p.m.  Tradition says that all twelve runners join her and cross the finish line together.  I am sure that will be quite a moment.  I can’t wait. Then HTC hosts a huge beach party with food and music….and probably more beer.

Sunday, August 27-- We will make our way back to Seattle in our vans.  Some of the team is staying over Sunday night.  I need to get home. I fly out of Seattle Sunday evening. I will have missed pickup for the first two days of school and I want to be there to start my kids' first full week of the school year.

This adventure will be documented by twenty fabulous bloggers who are very social media savvy.  We will all be tweeting and posting to facebook along the way. If you would like to follow along on our adventure, check out our Facebook Page as well as our Twitter accounts: @nuunplatuun and @afternuundelite.

Thanks for reading and supporting me on this adventure!  This is a pretty long preview of my race.  I can’t imagine how long the actual race report is going to be!  It will all start a week from tomorrow.   EXCITING!!

What part of a race like this would you look forward to the most?  What would you be dreading?


Happy Running…

*I am not going to go through each leg in detail in this post.  I might, at some point, describe each leg, but that would make this post very, very long.
**There is a spreadsheet that takes difficulty of legs and runner 10K times and predicts the length of each leg.  They have been perfecting it for years and apparently, it is pretty accurate.

Some Nuun news…

First, Captain Obvious (aka Kerrie) from Nuun Platuun came up with an awesome logo for our team.  I am getting SO excited!

Second, our team captain along with a member of After Nuun Delight (Jocelyn) are going to be in New York for the Today Show tomorrow morning.  They will be handing out Nuun bottles and single servings.  They are hoping to get on the show to promote our teams!  How cool is that?  Tune in to see if you see a glimpse of one of our logos.*

Third, another “Delighter”, Mel Tall Mom has put together an awesome post that includes the bios of all twenty-four members of the two Nuun Hood to Coast teams.  Check it out Here.

Last, but not least, Nuun Platuun member XLMIC is approaching 400 followers.  When she reaches 404, she will be giving away a copy of the Hood to Coast movie!  If you haven't seen it, you should.  It is an inspiring documentary about the race that I will be doing in twenty-three days.  Go on over and check out her blog!



Don’t forget the wonderfully awesome discount that Nuun is giving to team readers.  You can get 25% off Nuun by using code NUUNPLATUUN at checkout.  Try some of the new flavors!

Part 2 of my Q & A will be up later today or tomorrow.  

Happy Running…

*Did I mention how cool the After-Nuun Delight logo is?  Check it out!

Q & A-- part 1 (regarding Hood to Coast)

Thank you for your questions.  I have a lot to work with! Many of you were kind enough to ask multiple questions, so I will break it up into more than one post. If you want to join the party and ask a question, it is not too late to post here.

Since a lot of the questions were from my Hood to Coast teammates, I’ll start with the ones relating to Hood to Coast.

XLMIC asked, “What do you think will present the biggest challenge for YOU at HTC? For the group?”

I think the biggest challenge for me as well as the group is dealing with lack of sleep.  Several of us are mothers, so we are used to strange sleep patterns, but my kids started sleeping through the night a few years ago, so I am not as used to it as some people are. I will bring plenty of Zip Fizz to keep me caffeinated. I know it will be interesting, to say the least.

I also worry a bit about the food thing [see next question]. I can go longer without sleep than I can without food, but I have a feeling food will be easier to come by.


Margot wrote, “What are you going to eat at HTC?”
I’ll eat whatever is available.  I will be sure to bring a stash of Luna Bars.  I really can’t live without those.  Other than that, I am open.to whatever is available. I like snacking on things like nuts and chips.  I love cheese, but I’m not sure how much cheese I’ll want.



I wonder how my tummy will hold up.  Normally, I can eat just about anything, but not necessarily before running.  I do tend to get tummy issues while running.  I hope there are plenty of porta potties, because when I have to go, I have to GO.  And using the bushes is grounds for disqualification.  So I will pass on the veggies etc.

Tricia asked,“When you get tired do you get grumpy or silly?” (I know this question isn’t specifically related to HTC, but since Tricia is in my van, I am sure she wants to know what she is in store for).  I get a little of both.  I notice that my fuse gets a bit shorter when I am tired.  I am more likely to snap at my kids (no…I am not the mother of the year).  Sibling squabbles tend to set me off when I am tired, as well as the dumb driver who cuts me off in traffic. I have also been known to go into giggle fits when I am tired. I am actually looking forward to a giggle fit or two during the Hood to Coast weekend.
She also wanted to know, “How are you flying with a sleeping bag?”   She knows that this is a question I have been wondering since being notified of my spot on the team.  I still don’t know how I am going to fly with a sleeping bag.  Mine is pretty bulky and I didn’t want to bring a huge duffel bag or suitcase (our space on the van is limited).  Any suggestions on how to fly with a sleeping bag?  Do I check the sleeping bag as luggage and put my clothes in a carry-on?


I will continue with the questions soon.


Happy Running…