Hood to Coast

 

Hood to Coast is an epic relay race, starting at Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood and ending on the beach at Seaside, OR. This has always been an event on my bucket list, and this year, Shannon was the co-captain of a team. There are 12 members on the team, plus a driver or two. Each person runs 3 legs ranging from roughly 3 miles up to almost 8 miles.The legs are broken up by difficulty/mileage, so some runners run more miles, while others have hilly/tough runs. So with a team all set, we started training harder for what would be a fun, challenging, exhausting experience.
I had the 1st, 13th, and 25th legs of the race. The 1st leg is the infamous, Timberline run, with a drop in elevation from 6000 ft to 4000 ft. It's a little over 5 1/2 miles long, and straight down the hill. This was a great description of the first leg by another runner: "Your ideal candidate would have short legs with
high turnover (to better handle the downgrade), a ferocity bordering on psychotic, and a
really short memory. In other words, your ideal candidate is a Jack Russell Terrier". So yes, I was the Jack Russell Terrier for our team. I do have to say though, that after running the leg, it was quite enjoyable. The weather was gorgeous, the run wasn't as bad as I expected and in looking back, I probably could have run it a bit faster. My other legs weren't anything to right home about. My last leg was run at about 5 in the morning, so it was pitch black and I was dressed a little too warmly, but I didn't walk and ended up passing quite a few people (road kills)!
Our team did well, no top 10 finish or anything, but with some substitutions of runners before the race due to injuries, we beat our projected time by just over 2 hours. I think the toughest parts of the race are the fact that in the 24 hours your team is running, you don't really sleep, and if you do, it is very intermittent, the traffic at some of the runner exchanges can be horrendous and your body is tired of nothing but bananas and carbs, but it was a great experience and I would do it again (if only it were easier for teams to get it, its a lottery). Great job team Coastbusters! 



Our awesome Van art, courtesy of Mark. 

Happy 1st Anniversary

Our First Anniversary!

(Yes this post is almost 3 months late, but better late than never!). It’s hard to believe that a year has already gone by since our wedding day. Every time another month went by, we both were surprised with how quickly time flies. This year has been full of adventures, our honeymoon, moving in together, and starting our big remodel! Of course life doesn’t always go as you plan, I am still on the endless quest for a nursing job, our remodel has lasted longer than anticipated, but when life hands you lemons, you gotta make lemonade.

            To celebrate our 1 year, I started looking at all things paper to come up with a creative idea for Mark. I ultimately settled on hand calligraphy-ing our fancy Marriage certificate. It turned out great and I’m going to get a nice frame for it to display somewhere around the house. Mark surprised me with tickets to Broadway in Portland, which was totally unexpected and great. We did take out our wedding cake from the freezer to try some, and surprisingly, it wasn’t bad. We were also able to get a re-created cake from the bakery that was fresh and amazing. We also received a gift certificate to Skamania Lodge. It is a resort in the Gorge on the Washington side of the Columbia River. I thought it would be a great little getaway for our anniversary and worked out nicely as my cousin was getting married in the Gorge the following day. We started out the day with a hike in the Gorge, Angel’s rest. It is one of my favorite hikes, the views at the top are just breathtaking. After getting cleaned up we enjoyed a wonderful dinner overlooking the grounds and the Columbia followed by a walk around the grounds. The next day we drove into Hood River and went wine tasting before heading to the Bonneville Dam for a tour before the evening wedding. The weather was gorgeous, the day amazing and the company perfect.

            This year has brought us closer together and I can’t imagine not waking up to Mark every day. I know this year will bring more adventures and I can’t imagine any of them without my partner in crime! Here’s to another wonderful year! 

Angels Rest, Looking North

Mt. Hood Winery, Hood River