Team Off Balance made it to the beach!
Hello everyone! I survived my first relay race, but barely. It was the most epic adventure I’ve ever been on and I loved it!
Each leg of the race was very different so I’m going to post each one individually. (I posted about my first leg in my previous post, but it was from the van and I want to remember all of it here.)
After we left the start van 2 relaxed and waited for our turn.
We piled into our decorated van and just laid low for a while. 
Then, we headed to the first transition early to cheer on the other runners and wait for our first runner to go.
New Balance even had someone drive the van for us. Monica turned out to be our driver/coach/life saver. Seriously. She completely made the weekend for us. She took care of all the worry and directed us to the where, when, why, how of everything. She was the 7th member of our team and AMAZING.
We started our first leg at 4pm. Tina went first and I was after her. After she was off and running we met her half way for water and support and then headed to my hand off area.
My first leg was 7.58 miles. It had a lot of downhill, but one super huge hill that killed my quads. I flew down the first hill and did 7:09 my first mile of my first leg!
Yeah, that’s not smart. I had 21 miles to go for the weekend and that’s faster than I’ve run in my life.
(source: Ashley)
7.58 miles average pace – 8:05
Monica advised me I came in 5 minutes faster than we had calculated. Which would have been awesome if I didn’t have another 15 miles to run. But, I figured I’d just try to stay on pace for my next leg and go with it.
Hand off to Theordora!
(source: Tina)
I passed one girl going up the big hill (she stopped to walk), but I didn’t pass anyone else the entire race. I’m not competitive with this stuff at all, but it does bum me out that I really ran as fast as I could and didn’t pass anyone. Then, other girls in the van would finish their race and say, “I got 3 road kills!”.
I was only passed by males and they were super fast so I don’t feel bad about it. But, at the time I thought I was doing something wrong to not pass anyone.
I was still pumped after, but knew I needed to refuel because the journey was only 1/3 over. I had an apple right after, but wanted something with the good carbs to protein ratio. (Where’s Chocolate milk when you need it?!)
After my leg we headed to the next transition area and I got nekkid in the back of a van. Luckily, it was our van and I was solo.
I brought baby wipes for a quick wipe down, but I’m pretty sure I still smelled like a sweaty pair of boxer shorts some guy forgot about in his trunk in August. 
A lot of the transition areas had bake sales or other food for purchase.
Well, this ended up being the perfect post run stop for me because they had Chobani! The protein / carb combo I was needing! Don’t mind the sexy stretching in the background. The weekend got a lot more inappropriate from here, but those stories stay in the van.
The energy stays so high when it’s your van’s turn. There is always someone who just came back from their turn and is PUMPED UP!
Monica made us a spreadsheet of expected start and finish time which helped keep us feeling organized and not frazzled. 
We stopped 1/3 of the way into each runner’s leg to make sure they were okay, give them water and cheer them on. We would also ask if they wanted us another mile or two up or if we could wait at the next transition. This really helped everyone!
Anne getting ready for her first leg. That’s our drive/coach/lifesaver Monica with her.
Elizabeth bringing it in!
Our last runner was Ashley from Healthy Happier Bear. She had the most gorgeous run!
We were done around 8pm and after our last runner we went to eat dinner. We ended up at a random Italian restaurant that I would not recommend. The food was not good and I’m pretty sure that was the culprit for our stomach problems the next day.
I was craving a big turkey sandwich, but they didn’t have anything like that. I settled on tuna and stole a few bites of Ashley’s pasta.
There were a lot of problems with our order and Theodora was told to push off the meatballs on her pasta if she ordered it without. But we were so tired we just ate it.
After dinner we headed to get some sleep, which wasn’t comfortable or easy. The transition parking lot was loud and we didn’t bring sleeping bags so we squished in the car. I basically tossed and turned for 2 hours and then it was time for Tina to get ready for leg #2. 
Sneak preview: I completely fall apart in leg 2. Stay tuned.
I meant such, not suck.
This was suck a well told story!!!! I just signed up for RTB 2013. Are you girls doing it again?
Plenty of fun! And I would love to have that pit stop with the yogurt and bakes on one of my runs! Hey, a gal can dream, right?
Awesome pace!!! I am so excited to read your recount of the weekend!!!!! Can’t wait to read more!
Look at you go, speedy!! Can’t wait to hear more!
Side note: I don’t know why, but I hate when relay runners count/brag about their “kills”… maybe it’s because I’m always a kill and never a killer when I’m running my relay legs. 🙂
Me too, I’m not a fan of bragging about that. We don’t do it in normal races, why relays?
PS- Wish you were there.
Team Vansome had fun running along side you guys for a lot of the race. We are the ridiculously loud obnoxious team decked out in purple. I’m an avid reader of yours and Tina’s so it was fun seeing you guys in real life but I was still too shy to come say hi. Either way, I know our runner 12 appreciated Ash a lot during the first legs, and all of us were envious of your hook up with NB. Sounds like you had as much fun as we did 🙂
Hi Crissy! I wish we could have met 🙂 I loved your team’s skirts – super cute! We got totally hit the lottery with the NB hookup, I was just glad to be in on it since I was the only west coaster.
Have a good one.
Wow what an accomplishment! Congrats on your 7:09 mile!
Awesome job, speedy!
Hey Monica, been following your blog for a while! Love that you’re a such a foodie–please check out my mostly-food-related blog when you have time as well! Thanks!
Sounds like a lot of fun running with like-minded people! Congrats on your first leg!
Congrats on your speedy mile! 🙂
You are seriously amazing. I miss you already!!
Awesome time on your run! I want to run a relay now!
7:09 for one mile? That’s crazy fast! Okay, I’m saying that because I get bored while running (probably more accurate to call it jog/walking) so I’m at more of a 10-12 minute mile.
Wait, a restaurant that actually told someone who ordered spaghetti without meatballs to just push them off to the side? I mean, my parents did that sort of thing when I was a kid, but this is a RESTAURANT!
Congrats on the finish. It sounds like you enjoyed yourself even with the few bad times. I’m looking forward to your next recap.
Someday I’ll see the number 8:05 on my Garmin for a reason other than the time. Until then, you’re my West Coast Rockstar who really did keep the team ahead of pace! Great job and go make Ben buy you fro yo and a massage!
Wow. A 7:09 mile. That is amazing and ridiculous all at once.
Really proud of your 8:05 pace. Some day I hope to be that fast:)
Way to go!
What a fun relay race. Especially with this rowdy group of girls. Bet there are some crazy stories to tell. LOL. Looking forward to your next recap. Great job on flying thru the first part.
Oh my goodness! It sounds like so much fun! You guys look awesome in your matching jackets!