16 April 2012

Relaying the Fun

This weekend marked another racing first for me--the marathon relay which I probably would never have done if it hadn't been for the Hogeye Relays being a state RRCA Grand Prix event.  There were no individual points awarded but it was a great opportunity to earn some team points (can't pass up the points!).  It turned out to be a lot of fun! Four of us piled into a car--3 of the relay team members and one half marathoner and we had lots of laughs on the way up to Fayetteville.  The amazing thing is that we only had to make two bathroom pitstops on the 3.5 hour trip. Before you question two being a small amount, please remember we're on the washboard that passes for I40, we're hydrating for a race, and hey, we ARE in fact women.  While I hate to give into gender stereotypes I do have to concur that women usually have to stop more often for the bathroom.


Carbo-loading!

No trip to Fayetteville is complete without a stop at the Hog Haus for one of their awesome beers that are brewed in house, yesterday I opted for the Woodstock Wheat since my favorite Java Porter wasn't available.  Their sweet potato fries are also not to be missed.  Yes, we might have had a few people staring at us because of our bursts of giggling *huge grin*.  There ended up being a bit of an issue with the room I'd booked since all of the double rooms were given out before we checked in, grrrrr.  We ended up with a handicapped suite that had one queen bed, a sleeper sofa, and an air mattress and who got what was determined by drawing out of a cap since we all were too polite to claim the bed. I got the sofa by the way (I just know everyone was dying to know that, lol).  


Ominous clouds building up

It's not an understatement to say that the weather for the Hogeye races is usually a challenge. This year was no exception but we had windy and storms looming rather than the usual windy and hot.  While I'm not fond of tornado watch conditions this was preferable to it being hot & sunny in my opinion.  What wasn't preferable was the 20-30mph winds, yuck.


Waiting at my relay exchange

I opted to take the final leg of the marathon relay since I wasn't coming off an injury or in the process of building back up my long run mileage and I was a bit nervous about how I'd do after waiting for 2.5 hours to run my portion.  The other girls kicked some major butt on the first 3 legs and I was hoping I would be able to do my part as well.  Yeah. About that hope, not so well.  I didn't realize that there was a fairly large tunnel on the final section and my claustrophobia kicked in big time just after entering it.  Panic attacks on a race where your adrenaline is already high is no bueno.  After that no matter how many walk breaks I took, I simply could not get my heart rate down to a manageable level and there were several moments when I was near tears because I couldn't get my act together enough to keep a decent running pace.  All I could do was keep moving forward in these short run/walk bursts, I'm so incredibly disappointed in myself for falling apart in this manner but a phobia is a phobia and nothing rational about it.  Deep breath.  But yes, I'm kind of still f*cking well peeved off about what happened.  


Loved his costume!

Again, deep breath. We did finish up in under 4 hours, our team was 11th overall for the female teams, and we were 4th place for the Grand Prix teams!  Most importantly, we had FUN and got our shiny medals!  I'm very proud of all my friends today, there were some great PRs (personal records) amongst the half and full marathon runners on what is a very challenging course.


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Bling!

Of course no race day is complete without a treat afterwards.  We ate our celebratory lunch at Common Grounds which is owned by the same people who own Hog Haus where I was able to get my falafel and coffee fix.  Seriously, these places shouldn't be missed if you're ever in the northwest part of Arkansas.


yummmmmm





2 comments:

june in florida said...

Arsaga's on Block is another great coffee house, if its still there.Haven't been in Fayetteville for about 10 yrs.

Unknown said...

June, I just googled Arsaga's. Yes it is still there, I'll add it to my places to try for the next trip up! Fayetteville is amazing.