On the Road Again

I'm back!

After about a month and a half of failing miserably, I am finally back on track to a healthy running lifestyle. I saw my PCP, a sports medicine orthopedics guy, and a physical therapist, and they all cleared me to run again...minus the half marathon. Since I'm just now getting back to running multiple miles at a time, I don't have enough time to increase my mileage enough before the race. I figure if I increase by 10% each week, over 5 1/2 weeks, I will reach about 9 or 10 miles at the race. Which is probably doable, except for the fact that last time I pushed myself hard in a race, well, we all know what happened. My doc suggested that I just skip the Helvetia half and concentrate on the Hood to Coast instead.

By the way...I GOT ON A HOOD TO COAST TEAM! I know exactly one (1) person on the team. The other 10 are complete strangers. But that's okay, I will get to know them well on the trip! They're a bunch of people out of Seattle, probably fabulous runners, much better than myself.

For those of you who don't know what the Hood to Coast is, here's a synopsis:
Teams of 12 runners gather at the base of Mt. Hood. One person from each team starts running, and about 5 miles later they will hand a baton to the second runner from each team...just like in a relay race. In fact, it IS a relay race. All the way to the Pacific ocean! Each team member will end up running 3 legs of the race, some during the day, some in the middle of the night. The whole race takes about 24-36 hours, covers about 150 miles, and ends on the beach at Seaside. There are thousands of people that do this every year, from all around the world!

Signing up for the H2C is exciting for me, especially because I won't be able to run the half in June. I'll have all summer to train and heal up, and I'll be able to be a part of something I've always wanted to do! I'm super excited for my new goal, and excited to get back to running without pain! Here we go again! WOOOOOOOOOOO!