Seek the…whatnow?
The best experiences often begin in the form of a crazy idea and some good old peer pressure…
A former co-worker posted this on Facebook and I bemoaned the fact that joining his Seek The Peak relay team probably wasn’t in the cards for me, even though it looked cool. You know, as much as a relay from the ocean to the top of a mountain could be. Note: people also do this 16km course solo! But you can see the response. And all of a sudden I found myself with a race between my spring full and my summer trail race. Here’s what I thought of it immediately after:
Let me explain the race a little bit because, even though it was free for me to join the team, I need your help!
The year is the 10th anniversary of the Seek The Peak race. It is a 16km solo or team race that runs from Ambleside, West Vancouver, to the top of Grouse Mountain. It’s 4100ft of super fun elevation gain! I’d be far happier running down the route… However, that’s not an option so I chose the longest, but not steepest, leg. I’m still not entirely sure what to expect. It’s a little road, a little trail, and some pretty decent uphills. Not quite the Grouse Grind, aka the way to get to “The Peak”, but enough that I’ll probably curse this ridiculous idea half way through my 6km leg…
The most important detail about this race is that it’s a race with a cause. Seek The Peak raises funds for the BC Cancer Foundation, thereby assisting the BC Cancer Agency with their breast cancer research within the province. Since our entry is being covered by our employer (thanks!!) we decided that we should be a fundraising team. This is the first charity run I have ever done (our goal is exceedingly modest), and I’m an introvert, so I’m not particularly great at asking for help. But I will now.
To help support our team please follow this link (http://ow.ly/lwNJ7) – you can donate under my name or to the team as a whole.
#NUUNKOTB
It’s hard to believe that it has been almost 3 months since I found out that I wouldn’t be running HTC I would be running Ragnar Northwest Passage with Nuun!
The ball gets rolling on Thursday with Colin and Spud dropping me off at HQ in the afternoon. I don’t think I’ve mentioned it before, but Colin earns the title of world’s best husband as 19 July is our 9th wedding anniversary. I think I’m going to have to push really hard for an ultra team next year so we can have a 10th anniversary trip! #runnerds! Once I’m dropped off I’ll be meeting up with Holly (van 1), who is coming in from Oregon. I’m assuming we’ll toodle around town until it’s time to see the rest of the team for dinner and van decorating. I asked about decorating rules this time around and, unfortunately, this is a no-go:
Window art is highly encouraged, but there was a bit of an issue getting the rest of the van clean after Hood to Coast 2011 (so I heard – thankfully it wasn’t me that had to drive up to the rental place in it…).
Thursday night I’m hoteling it in Seattle with Holly, Jenny (van 2), and Becky (van 1). I’m pretty thankful that I’m not in van 1 this time around as they have to leave at 5:15! My Friday starts at 9am with a van ride up to Bellingham-ish.
According to the handy Ragnar pace calculator I should be running at the following times:
Leg 9 * 6.1mi/9.8km * Moderate: 4pm
Leg 21* 2.7mi/4.3km * Easy: 2:30am
Leg 33 * 6.8mi/10.9 * Hard: 12:15pm
Apparently I was blinded by my love of downhill. Forgot it was quite an uphill to earn it!
For running a total of 15.6mi/25.1km within 24 hours I’m surprisingly calm. Not sure if it’s because I’ve done a relay before; it’s NOT Hood to Coast, therefore less pressure; I feel like I know the people better this time around; or just because I get to hang out with the Nuun folks, but I’m so happy to be able to do it! I”m packing tonight so it won’t be a mad dash tomorrow and hopefully I won’t forget anything. Tomorrow’s Wordless Wednesday post apparently has its subject matter!
Pop back on Friday for ways to follow our team! Twitter will be the main source, but I’m sure Facebook and maybe blogs will be utilized as well. Just a head’s up that I won’t be tweeting much myself due to roaming charges (free WIFI is where it’s at!), but if you search for @lovemyrunners you can find out how I’m doing.
Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining
Missing out on running with Nuun here…
…means I get to run with Nuun here.
It’s hard to be {too} disappointed.
More to come.
“Feelings are much like waves, we can’t stop them from coming but we can choose which one to surf.” ~ Jonatan Mårtensson
(thanks Mel for posting this today)
Love My Runners 