Is There Life After Hood to Coast?

• Years of fantasizing about a race.
• About a month before it happened I was asked to join a team.
• My life was 100% Hood to Coast!! Training, packing, daydreaming, packing, watching the movie, packing, studying my course maps, packing, making rice krispy bars for the vans, and some more packing.
• Then I was loading the car and heading north to Tillamook to meet the new team!!
• At 3am we were officially on our way to Mount Hood to begin the race, and way too soon after it was all done.
• I was showering in a hotel in Lincoln City - twice - and eating everything I could get my hands on.

A few days later I woke up at home completely confused. Where was I? Where was the team? Oh no, do I need to get my bib on? Am I up next? What exchange are we at? I sat there looking around for way too long before I realized it was all over and my life is now back to normal.

Or is it??

Maybe it is, if we are going back to my normal of heading out for training runs and doing fun races with my friends! My little girl is so into running right now, which really helps. She knows I'm getting ready to run when she sees me go downstairs to grab my tech clothes and put on my Garmin. She will even bring me my shoes once I'm ready - and she never complains when she gets to come along in her stroller. I have quite the cheerleader! And this is good ... because the race calendar is filling up!

Next weekend is the Prefontaine Memorial race in Coos Bay, and any long-term reader of this blog should know I never miss this one... and even did it while sporting a baby bump - which I nearly bumped right into Frank Shorter (Pre's friend)!

A few days ago a member of Lady Storm Squad brought up the idea of running the Holiday Half Marathon in Portland this December. Did I even take a moment to ponder it? Basically no. So that is now on the calendar.... and photos show that tends to be a cold, rainy one. I run great in those conditions, and there are cookies on the course, so this WILL be fun!! Thanks, Dustin, for getting the ball rolling on this. I'm glad to have half marathon #32 on the calendar!

From there the calendar is temporarily empty. Only temporary because the registration dates for more relays haven't opened up yet!

I have chosen to take on the task of being a team Captain for next year's Ragnar Northwest Passage! This year's race left me unsatisfied. I have a score to settle with that course. 2019 will be my 3rd year in a row at this relay, and I will show up ready to kick some hilly, Pacific Northwest ass!! AND better yet, if all goes as planned and we can avoid injuries or life events from deterring anybody, we have an awesome team all lined up!

You'll definitely see faces you recognize from this blog... not only the other half of Tew Legit in van 1 (i.e. my husband), but two other Tew members keeping it fun in van two. Do we like the number 2? Perhaps. How about adding in my bridesmaid that totally made my day by whipping money out of her bra during her dance down the aisle in Las Vegas??!! She and I can tackle an expo like nobody else, so if there is anything free to snag for our van at Ragnar you can guarantee we will get it! And speaking of Ragnar - you'll hopefully be seeing Tabitha's face again this time. We met in the back of  a Ragnar van last year and are itching to do it again together! Remember Lady Storm Squad? Ha, as if I'd let you forget .... well.... each van is going to get a dose of Hood to Coast celebrity status thrown in for good measure! Plus we have some new faces yet to be seen on the blog that I am sure will add plenty of speed and flavor to our team!

I've been a Captain now for, oh, a few minutes, and it is already fun, exciting and challenging! But it will all come together by next July and you'll be seeing way too much about it!

AND *knock on wood* I am happy to say Lady Storm Squad will be back!! We WILL be running Hood to Coast next year (and 2020 if we can pull it off!) ... but we will need YOUR help to do it! That will come in its own post later, but I can say I am so excited about what it going on with that. Excited, scared, nervous, and determined! All the emotions and me stepping way out of my comfort zone in an effort for some incredible fun while helping out people that really need it!

So expect much more running on this blog... and when a toddler allows I will resume some of my fun posts about those crazy days living in Walt Disney World!