Slightly Nervous, Still Puking

ITS OFFICIAL!!!  As of July 19th, I purchased my flights from IAD (Dulles, Virginia) to PDX (Portland, Oregon) for the 31st Annual Hood To Coast Relay, and paid my $110 towards the cost of the team van and hotel room...yep, I'm officially starting to schvitz!!  Not only is this the longest relay in the world (200 miles to be exact), but also something completely foreign to me.  I'm an athlete with fast twitch muscles who literally vomits every single time I run outside (yes, it's weird and probably TMI, but it's part of who I am as a runner and therefore, important to note in this blog).  Plus, if I can't laugh about it, well, then it would just be downright depressing.


What I experience is a "puke and rally" type of response, except without the enjoyment of drinking beforehand.  Ever since two a day preseason practices for high school Field Hockey, long-distance jaunts or timed runs (damn that timed mile), have resulted in a brief stop, turn, and up-chuck, regardless of any contents in my stomach.  I realize that this reaction has most likely become an unfortunate habit which I have come to expect each time I don my workout gear and lace up my Asics.  Maybe I have an aversion to running which is manifested by a physical response?  My body's way of telling me it prefers zumba or yoga to the oxygen-depleting action of carrying my ass uphill.  Whatever the culprit, I have yet to find a cure. 


So, we have established that I am going to be competing in the world's longest relay, on the west coast, amidst 13,000 other runners and starting at an altitude of 6,000+.  Not to mention, I'll be running farther and faster than ever before in order to help keep the team per mile average under a 9:45 pace.  Despite these odds and the obvious excuses I could make (I puke every time I run, I only have a month to train, I have poor running form and therefore bad feet and knees, etc), I choose to suck it up and go for it!  What do I have to lose? Other than my breakfast, lunch and dinner, of course ;p)

*In the case of sheer curiosity, and in my opinion, WAY too much time on your hands, feel free to peruse the race website ... http://www.hoodtocoast.com/