HTC Game Plan
| August 22, 2012 | Posted by Emily under Uncategorized |
Good morning from 30,000 feet above an unknown region of America!
![20120822_125353[1]](http://www.sweatonceaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/20120822_1253531.jpg "20120822_125353[1]")
With a 6am flight and a packed day ahead, I knew my mileage opportunities would be limited for the day, so I set my alarm for the hour of super-duper-early:30 and was out the door for a quick 5 mile run before 4am.
![20120822_040200[1]](http://www.sweatonceaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/20120822_0402001.jpg "20120822_040200[1]")
I learned that at this ungodly hour of the day, my legs are able to start functioning before my eyes gain the ability to open.
Don’t worry mom, I played it safe and ran in well lit areas, carried my phone, and practiced my self defense moves before I hit the streets.
![20120822_042844[1]](http://www.sweatonceaday.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/20120822_0428441.jpg "20120822_042844[1]")
It was actually kind of fun to run at such an early hour, and my run was speedier than my normal easy morning miles since I was running with some kind of “if they can’t catch me, they can’t mug me” logic. Clearly, it worked beautifully.
Now, let’s chat some HTC relay.
Last year, when I headed out west to join fellow nuunies for 200 miles of running around Oregon, I was in a slightly different place in my athletic pursuits. I had just finished Ironman Lake Placid 4 weeks before the relay and proceeded to spend the entire month of August introducing my face to every carton of ice cream in the greater DC area. Meanwhile, running, biking, and swimming, played very minor roles during that period of my life, earning “Exercise #1” and “Brief exercise with bathing suit” in the rolling credits of August.
When I ran Hood to Coast, it reignited that spark that drives me to train my ass off and chase big fat scary goals.
I left the Pacific Northwest excited to start running fast and running often. But believe me, I was far from that place when we started our little 200 mile trek from the Hood to the Coast.
This year, I’m clearly in a very different place. Instead of being slightly concerned about my ability to complete three strenuous legs of relay running after a month of inactivity, I’m worried about not running enough to satisfy my 50 miler training goals. So, in a very uncharacteristic move, I have a little bit of a plan to rack up some miles over the next few days.
Starting with my 3:45 am jog around DC. I’ll chase these miles later today with whatever I can squeeze into the day’s itinerary.
Tomorrow: I’m driving down to Oregon for work. That’s right, the day before the relay, I’m trekking a butt ton of miles down I5 and then ALL THE WAY BACK before making the same drive the next day. It is going to be a super fun 48 hours of quality car/van time. Because of the crazy amount of road time I’m looking at tomorrow, I’ll be hitting the treadmill at 4am and pounding out 7-8ish miles for an easy day of running.
Friday: because my total mileage for HTC is only around 16 miles for two days, and that’s a pretty standard one day total for me, I need to get creative to get in some extra running. Luckily, as a member of van 2, we don’t depart from Seattle until 10am. My plan is to wake up and meet some of my non-HTC running Seattle favorites for 10-12 miles before hitting the road.
Then, it’s game time.
Runner #7. 3 legs. 16.21 total miles.
Instead of all out racing my legs at HTC, I’m planning to treat each one as an opportunity for quality speed/hill work.
And now I’m being told to power down my electronics, you can imagine that my social media addicted self never loves this time of the flight.
Next stop: Seattle!
Oh my word. How did you run so early in the morning??? I bet your mum freaked out when you told her…mine would!!! I love your determination and your focus!!! You’re going to have a fantastic time at HTC, can’t wait to read about it!!
I have also started getting up super early and running and finding that I kind of like it as well. With three boys and tons of activities on Sat, that is about the only way I can fit in my longer workouts and not upset the family! Plus I sleep better
I don’t quite know if I think your extremly crazy for waking up earlier to run before a 6am flight, or the most awesome person because you do excactly what I wish I could do. Eather way- have a lot of fun at HTC. (p.s.: can’t belive I have been following your blog for over a year now. Thanks for all the inspiration!)
Have an amazing time at HTC, I`m already excited to read the recap. And it`s impressive and inspiring that those 16 miles will be used as “training” miles :)
Also, hardcore for getting up super early.
Don’t get so set on running those miles that you are driving tired to and from “work.” Be safe in all ways! And have fun at HTC.
Wokie, now I don’t feel so weird getting up early and putting in at least 20-30min of run/swim time before my morning flights! Have a blast at HTC!
I don’t have any idea why I would be surprised that you woke at 3:30am to fit in a run. I should know that this makes perfect sense in your mind!
Does HTC prevent you from supporting your runners? I guess they probably do. Otherwise you could run a few legs with your teammates to get some more miles in.
Have the best time ever!
Have fun at HTC! I’ve done one relay before–the Seneca7 in Geneva, NY, which is close to your 50-miler around Canandaigua Lake–and for me, breaking up my three legs into three “smaller” races (3.2, 2.6, 4.8) worked well. I can’t imagine running more in addition to that mileage though, but you can definitely handle it!
Ok first off – I’m #7 as well! But I am treating my miles tomorrow as a race, not training, lol. You are one crazy bird! I don’t understand why you are coming here (to PDX) then back to Seattle and then back here to PDX? Can’t you just stay here and meet up with your team when they arrive? That is just crazy – and it’s not a fun drive either!
And Becky – I did an extra leg with a team member last year – H2C is extra great about runners doubling up in the nighttime hours for extra safety. That’s a great idea!
Good luck at HTC! Hope you succeed in getting all your miles in for training!
Your posts make me miss DC so much!