Humidity, Hills, and Hood to Coast

I'm in an alliterative mood as my blog post title suggests!  Yesterday was an unplanned rest day for me; I didn't run at lunch because it was quite hot and I wanted to somewhat enjoy a run, so I decided to postpone my run until after work.  I remembered I needed to go to the grocery store after work, but I still had intentions of going for a quick run after I got home, ate, and put the boys to bed.  Alas, once all was said and done, I decided that a rest day sounded like a better idea.  Plus, I wanted to watch Hood to Coast which was sent to me by my Napa Ragnar teammate, Melissa.

Over the past two weeks, our Napa Ragnar team has bonded via Facebook and as we all introduced ourselves, we found out that several of our teammates have done overnight relays previously and they were sharing their experiences with us.  It is great having their insight and knowledge, as we were able to allay some of our fears (i.e. night running!) and get excited about the adventure that awaits us this September.  Melissa mentioned to the group that she's run Hood to Coast before and she offered to share her copy of the Hood to Coast movie with anyone who wanted to watch it.  A few days after I gave her my address, I received the sweetest owl card (I love owls!) along with the movie.

Melissa's card (addressed to #Laura) and the DVD

I sat down to watch Hood to Coast last night and it was amazing!  It follows four teams as they take on the Hood to Coast race; each with their own unique story.  It's a great insight into the race in particular, but also into overnight relay races in general.  Watching the movie really got me excited for Napa and helped alleviate my concerns about running at night.  It also has me considering adding Hood to Coast to my race bucket list.  That can be my Oregon race in my quest to run a race in all 50 states!

I'm so glad Melissa shared the movie with me and I'm sharing the love, too.  I will be mailing it out tomorrow to another Napa teammate, Lisa, so that she can enjoy it, as well.  

I went for a run this evening and it was hilly and humid!  We had some thunderstorms roll through the area this afternoon, which unfortunately didn't cool off our temperatures too much and instead made everything a sticky, humid mess.  I waited to run until a bit later in the evening, which I'm sure helped a bit, but it was still in the mid-80's (although it felt closer to 90) with 66% humidity.

Scenes from tonight's run; I love the scenery on this trail.  

I decided to run my hilly trail at JB, but in the opposite direction of my typical route.  This meant that I hit a fairly long hill near the beginning of my run, as opposed to running down it nearing the end.  It was a pretty beastly hill; it's rather gradual and not too steep, but it just seems to go on forever.  Just when you think you are done, it keeps going uphill.  It wasn't fun, but I kept going and finished it.  Then I rewarded myself with a quick break at the top before I continued my way around the loop.  I did 3 sweaty, humid, hilly miles today, but it felt good.

A lovely view

Much as I huff and puff up the hills, I'm glad I finally sucked it up and starting incorporating them into my runs.  I feel like it is making me stronger every day and preparing me well for Napa and any other race I do in the future.  Bring on the hills, I say!

"You said 'I won't make it' a million times.  You made it every time."