Friday morning at 6:30AM 12 hearty souls, including myself,
begin our 200-ish mile journey from Columbia to Charleston across the great
state of South Carolina. The event is
the Palmetto 200, and this marks my
first attempt at a running relay. Slightly
more challenging than the relay is figuring out when I’m going to pack for this
thing. After many, many years of
traveling for work, there’s little I dislike more than packing for a trip. At least I’m looking forward to this one.
It should be interesting, fun, and highly comical. I’ve got three legs of the run, 8-ish miles
around noon on Friday, 9.5-ish miles around midnight Friday, and another
3.5-ish miles Saturday morning before we wrap up sometime between noon and 3PM
in Charleston. I only know 1 of the
other 11 runners, so it’s a great chance to meet some new runners and make some
new friends. If they can handle the
smell of me after 36 hours of running and hanging out in vans together, then
they’re alright with me.
I’m taking tomorrow as a training rest day to get a little sleep in
the morning before this adventure, so this morning was my last run prior to the
relay. It wasn’t pretty. My legs just didn’t have any spring. I had “lifeless legs, black legs … like a
doll’s legs.” Hopefully there are a few
of you who get that reference. I’m
guessing I just need more sleep in general.
In other unrelated news, one of my all-time favorite ad campaigns
is/was the Nike campaign with the tagline “There Is No Finish Line”. I’d love to have one of the old Nike posters
with that slogan, but they’re apparently pretty prized possessions, and based
on some prior eBay snooping, pretty pricey.
I like that tagline so much I put it on my RoadID. Knowing this, a friend of mine sent me the
following a couple days ago. Good stuff:
Enjoy! You'll be so ready for a real bathroom with a shower and a real meal at the end of it! Pack in big ziploc bags to easily keep things together and have a place to store gross, sweaty stuff.
ReplyDeletePlanning to swing by Target tonight for the jumbo Ziploc bags. I think all my vanmates will thank me for it.
DeleteHave a great time! I think these relays sound like a lot of fun and I hope to be brave enough to take one on at some point.
ReplyDelete(BTW - Jaws, right?)
Jaws indeed. One of the best scenes from a great movie.
DeleteYeah, well, since you are ALL doing the same - I am sure the smell is the same. A very mutual activity in more ways than one. :)
ReplyDeleteBest of luck and have some fun!
ReplyDeleteHave a great time at your relay! I am rooting for you and the team!
ReplyDeleteI love the pic!
All the best for the relay. I'm sure it will be all fun. I love the "there is no finish line" slogan as well! I had a poster on my bedroom wall years and years ago. Now I would love to get one again. That pic is great! I'm posting it on my FB wall if you don't mind. Awesome!
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to hear all about the relay! I'll be doing my first on June 8: Madison to Chicago. I'd love to hear how you trained. Did you do some 2-a-days? Run in dark, etc?
ReplyDeleteRace report please! : )
ReplyDeleteI'm captain of a 200 team this year. Was/is there a list you packed by/from? Any advise?
ReplyDelete