It's Wednesday, Hood to Coast ended Saturday, that seems like plenty of time to wrap my head around our adventure and yet I'm still sitting here thinking no matter what I write, YOU won't get the full picture. Anyone that has ran Hood to Coast will tell you its the experience of a lifetime, they'll tell you nothing compares to it, and they'll tell you it's addicting and you'll want to go back for more. All of those statements are true. Beyond that, I've made friendships and connections to last a lifetime. I have memories that probably won't ever make it on the Internet, but instead I'll hug close and only share with those involved in this weekend.
Along with all of the AMAZING things about Hood to Coast, people also warn you its incredibly difficult, those people are probably right, but right now the MOST difficult part I'm facing, is doing this weekend justice.
If it weren't for the people at nuun then this weekend wouldn't have happened to me. I've stood behind their product since I first tried it, but after meeting the people behind nuun I can honestly say I stand behind the company as well. They are a group of fitness and adventure minded people who are so enthusiastic about the amazing-ness of their product that you can't help but catch their enthusiasm. To them, nuun isn't just a tablet you drop in your water, its indicative of a life style, one where you expect the most out of your body, and in return you only put the best back into it. You can find more information about nuun HERE.
Celebrity sighting and I’m a baby:
I flew out to Seattle from Austin super early on Thursday. Our flight had a layover in Phoenix, I'll admit right here that when I touched down in Phoenix I was ready to hop a plane back to Austin. I wasn't afraid of the run, or worried about meeting new people, but I was heartbroken over leaving Dash. Honestly, I cried from Austin to Phoenix. Yes, I'm a big baby.
While sitting in Phoenix, mind racing on whether or not I should just head home, I noticed a lady staring at me. My first thought was I had something on my face, or she could tell I was upset, I jokingly sent out a tweet about it. Someone responded to me "maybe she recognizes you from your blog" and it turns out that was right. She came over and said "excuse me, do you write a blog?" This was the second time I've been "recognized" while flying, and it was just as cool as the first. It put me in an amazing mood, and made me forget all about my homesickness. So thank you Kathy (if you're reading), for giving me that mental boost.
High on the feeling of being a celebrity (I kid), I got on that plane and headed to Seattle where the Nuun headquarters are located. Once in the airport I started meeting all the amazing bloggers and nuun staff and I knew I had made the right decision in going. We checked into our hotel and started on van decorations.
Some people strap blow up dolls to their grill, we thought Tonia from Racing with Babes looked better than any doll. We were "Nuun Platuun" so our theme was obviously camo/military. Along with camo on the windows we had each of our code names, and our team logo.
Great magnets from the people at BuildASign
We even had a human target on the side where we could make our "road kills" (people we pass on the run).
After we finished our vans, we headed to nuun headquarters where we chowed down on my two favorite things, pizza and beer. We introduced ourselves and got to hear about how everyone first found out about nuun, and we learned the term "nuunie" which is someone that loves nuun. I think I can comfortably say we are ALL nuunies.
With logistics and team meetings out of the way it was time to head back to the hotel to prepare for a 5:45am departure. Van 1 would leave early, and Van 2 would catch a couple extra hours of sleep. Since we wouldn't be together at the start, we snapped a quick pic in the hallway of some of us rocking our camo skirts from RunningSkirts.com. Thank you RunningSkirts for helping us pull together such a great look, we got compliments the entire weekend on our skirts, pretty sure we've converted some former skirt skeptics. :)
Lisa,TMB,Jess,Me, Kerrie
And then it was time to snuggle down in a bed next to Blonde Ponytail Jess and dream about the start line.