Reach the Beach New Hampshire 2014 Recap- With Lots of Pictures!

207.20 miles later, team #islagiatt (it sounded like a good idea at the time) finished!  It took us a little over 28 hours,  we had average team pace of 8:15 minutes/mile,  we finished 22nd out of 102 teams (for Mixed Open) and 119th place out of 518 teams!

It was a blast, I can barely keep my eyes open today, and my legs are pretty sore, but I cannot wait for 2015!

Here's how the weekend went...

Friday Morning (7:30am)-  Our team met at the parking lot at the company that I work for in Portsmouth and we drove up in our rented vans to Cannon Mountain.  I was in Van 2 with: Kim,  Angela,  Sarah, Jared, Karen, and Kim's awesome husband Rick (who drove our van the ENTIRE way AND is a teamster, so if anyone knows how to drive a giant van, it's him.) I am so thankful that he drove and navigated our giant van!

10:00am-  Stopped at a gas station for a bathroom break...and an impromptu yoga session

10:30ish am- Arrived at Cannon Mountain, got registered, decorated our vans, shopped at the expo tent, and waited for our start of 11:45am

11:45am to 4:00pm-  Van #1, Runner #1 (Fred) starts, and Van 1 does their first six legs.  Our van went into North Conway for lunch at Horsefeathers, and afterwards, across the street for lattes.   The lattes were delicious, but ended up being a real-life example of #islagiatt.   Then, we went to Kim and Rick's ski condo to get changed and rest up for our first legs.  

4:something pm:  Mariette finishes for Van 1, and Angela (Runner #6 in our van), takes off!

Go Mariette!

6s omething pm:  I started my first leg (6.6 miles), it starts somewhere around North Conway, and ends in Tuftonburo...or something like that;  all I know is that there was an evil stretch of hills for what felt like 5 miles, but it was probably only a mile and a half.  I finished in an average of 8:38 pace, but still got passed by my friend Nick who I had to have had at least a mile head start!

10 something pm: We finish our first legs, and I inhale a bowl of pasta that's being given out at a local school.  Van #1 starts their set of second legs, and Van #2 attempts to get some sleep.  I did pretty well this year, 2 hours! Or maybe it was an hour...but, it was better than the 5-10 minutes  that I was able to get last year

3am:  Van #2 starts their second set of legs, it's dark, and very cold- mid 30s!  

4:50am:  I start my second leg- 8.8 miles from Gilmanton to a lumber yard;  I did this run last year as well, and even though it has some mega-sized hills, it's my favorite run.  Last year, I hadn't been running as much, and had to walk up a lot of the hills.  This year, I didn't have to walk at all! Yay!  I started out the first three miles at an 8:14 pace, but by mile 3-4, there were some really long, steep hills, so I was closer to almost a 10 minute mile pace.  Around mile 6-7,  the sun started to come up, and the scenery was beautiful.  I ran up one last hill at mile 7, and from the top, could see all around the Lakes Region.  It was so gorgeous, I wanted to take a ton of pictures, but I think my van mates would frown at that..so I just took a few.

Miles 6+, I was feeling really good, I had dropped down to 8:15-8:45 pace, and wasn't tired at all.  By Mile 8, I was having so much fun, and really didn't want to end my run.  I think I was delirious from lack of sleep.  

7:30am-8isham:  Van #2 finishes, and Van #1 does their final legs!  Van 2 goes to Kim and Rick's regular home to shower and change.  I seriously am requiring that Kim and Rick be on our team every year. 

  But first....let me take a "shelfie"
*Disclaimer, I did not, and will not take a shelfie but this one on another team's van, and it made me crack up because I have an 8th grade boy's sense of humor.*

11:30am:  Van #2 drives to Kingston High School to start our last legs before reaching the beach!

12something pm:  Angela starts her last leg!  

2something pm:  I start up last leg (downtown Exeter to Timberland in Stratham.)  My stomach was really hurting (see this weekend's food intake below), but I was excited to be done, and excited that it was a relatively flat 4.3 mile course.  I finished at an average of 7:59 min/mile pace.

4:25  We reach the beach!! It was a little hectic at the beach because there are literally hundreds of large, passenger vans, and thousands of people.  My parents came to pick me up, and take me to my car, I think they were both a little stressed out about navigating their way around.

The whole way to the beach, I kept talking about how excited I was to have a beer, but I was all talk.  I was so exhausted, and everything was so crowded,  that I ended up leaving about 20 minutes after our last runner "reached the beach."

8:30 pm- Fell asleep.

Today:  So tired, but already thinking of RTB 2015!

The things I ate:

Friday:  Everything bagel (with nothing on it) at my house
9:30am:  a granola bar, and pretzel sticks that Angela brought with her
12pm:  Lunch at Horsefeathers:  a salad with tuna on it, and a giant bowl of french fries (I finished the french fries, the tuna not so much.)
1pm: A "Sugar and Spice" latte...NEVER have a latte before you run. Just don't.
5pm:  A Cliff bar
7pm: A pumpkin spice bagel (yuck) with chocolate, salted hazelnut spread (I'm not sure what I was thinking with this combination.)
9pm: A giant bowl of spaghetti with a chocolate chip cookie and a brownie
4am: Another Cliff bar
6:30am: A sesame seed bagel with almond butter
7:30am: Another latte (I wasn't running until 2!)
8am: A veggie and cheese egg white sandwich
8-12pm:  A ton of pretzel sticks and edamame
1:00pm: Another Cliff bar
3pm: Another sesame seed bagel with hazelnut spread

Total Carbs: 105 million.