{Leg 24... Lost in Mist} 2011 Hood to Coast Relay – Nuun-style: The Miniseries, Part 5

Scattered bodies in the mist of Mist...

the Nuun zombie rising...

oh, wait... it's not a post-apocalyptic encampment...

it's a major van transition area in the Hood to Coast Relay!

We had survived the Midnight Madness of the Night Legs!

Although I had managed a 'successful' Honey Bucketing before my leg, 

and my crampy belly was somewhat soothed, all through my run I knew...

This was where I was ultimately headed... lol.

One of the advantages to be well-hydrated is I had to pee a lot ;-) 

thanks, Nuun!

There I go...

I have no idea where on Leg 24 this was taken... 

beginning... end... middle...

This was the hardest leg for me in many ways:

• First, it was morning. Fortunately, I had run a couple of mornings in the two weeks leading up to the relay. 
• Second, I had run just 9 hours previously. That's a lot of running in a short amount of time for me. 
• Third, there was not the adrenaline of starting out or of bringing it home... it was 'just' the middle and 'just' there... needing to be run with no obvious specialness. 
• Fourth, given the crummy signal reception for phones, I made some parallel or intersecting conclusion that my Garmin would be troubled so I left it in the van. I brought my watch so I wouldn't be totally clueless out there. I had a hard time settling on a pace... I think :P
• I had to wear the night vest and headlamp even though it was broad daylight... rules, you know. As I ran, I knew I was struggling because I found myself getting distracted by the fact that there were lots of vest-less rule-breakers out there. I fantasized about having a clipboard so I could report them. Pettiness was a sure sign that I was struggling :P
• Burger King passed me. That was slightly demoralizing.

The good points of this run were:

• it was cool enough to wear long pants.
• I remembered to bring my water.
• I passed more people than passed me :)
• someone informed me with 2 miles to go that the mileage was painted on the road. Nice to have a little frame of reference!

The route was beautiful. Farms. Sheep. Goats. Christmas trees, I think. Lots of green... which is a nice switch from the brown of late summer in California. And mist.

Entering the last mile, there were three guys and a woman in front of me. I tried to get them. Got the woman. Got one of the guys. The time/speed thing didn't work out for getting the other two... I entered the hand-off chute...

4.92 miles in 43:01... 8:39 pace. which is super fast for me.

I know I handed off to Major Miles... but again, I have no recollection of seeing her. I do remember taking the slappy strap off and straightening it out and looking... How did I get it to her? I think someone  pushed me at her or something. Anyway, she got it and away she went... on her LAST LEG!

I required a bit of a walk... 5 minutes or so... before I could stomach getting in the van. But we did need to get going because of the mounting traffic issues. We were in too much of a hurry for a Honey Bucketing even. When I climbed into the van, I not-quite-coherently handed my phone to someone...I think it was Capt. Phoenix (our awesome Nuun staff running goddess)...

"Take a picture of Mist for me. Take a picture of the place I ran to today. Please."

This is what she photographed :)

A bit later, the mist began to dissipate...

Such a beautiful place to conclude our second part.

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