NUUNKOTB Tour Recap

I had the privilege, honor and amazing opportunity to run Ragnar Northwest Passage with NUUN and 9 other bloggers! I headed up to Seattle Thursday afternoon, where I was picked up from the Airport in the NUUN-mobile {how great it that!?} Alanna, who is from Canada, also came down Thursday afternoon so we headed to the hotel, met up with Lauren and walked around Seattle before heading back to the NUUN HQ!

Once we had grabbed a Starbucks {which we hit up several more times in the following 30 hours} and walked through Pike's Market we headed back to the NUUN HQ for dinner and van decorating.  It was so great to officially {IRL} meet everyone; ffriendships were instantly created and the fun times began.  After NUUN hydrated and carbed us up, we headed out to decorate the vans...luckily we had some creative people, and the rest of us hung out laughing, taking pictures, and making sure the artists had the markers they needed!

 

Van 1 got up bright & early on Friday and started the journey to Blaine around 5:15am {first stop: Starbucks}.  As we got closer to Blaine, the clouds started getting darker and darker, and then came the rain! One thing I DO NOT LIKE is running in the rain, but how can you have a bad attitude when you are rocking " HIP HOP" pants, I mean really!? {even when you do get passed by a hot dog...can we say embarrassing!?}

Van 1 leap frogged, cheered, supported, tatted & spread the NUUN love, hydrated, passed around the NUUN medal and counted roadkills {people you pass} during legs 1-6, and was excited to hand off to Van 2

The first major exchange was in Bellingham, which is where 2 of our vanmates live, including Meghan, who finished her leg and went and curled up in the back of the van, feeling even worse at this point.  We insisted she go home, rest, & shower, while we went and grabbed some lunch. She was even kind enough to throw my wet {and at this point stinky} shoes and towel in the dryer.   We went and grabbed Pho {which just might be my new favorite race meal & reminded me of my trip to Vietnam} and headed back to pick up Meghan so we could make our way to Burlington for our second legs

I was expected to kick off our second set of legs just before 9pm, which meant nighttime running, and I was just a little excited about it! There is something about running in a vest {with music blaring}, headlamp and glow sticks that made me want to dance!

disclaimer: I only had to run the last mile or so of my run in the DARK, otherwise I might of had a different attitude about it.  OK, I probably would've been a lil scared!

I led us out on our second legs, and saw a girl up in the distance that I was determined to catch.  I kept gaining on her, and finally reached her, and kept looking to see if my van was coming to witness the roadkill {I felt like they always saw me being "killed}, but they didn't come and I continued on.  Only for them to catch me and see me get killed by a {different} girl running up a hill...oh well!

It was during Corinne's run that we encountered the 4 legged gorilla man {some idiot who was jumping out of his driveway and chasing runners on all 4...it was weird}, but we had her back and Katherine got out to tell him what was up {did I mention she has her black belt!?} Everyone made it through their night runs and were grateful to have running buddies {Mason even jumped in to run with Meghan}, but Becky's injury was really bothering her. A simple, "how was your run?" from a random girl {OK, a friend of Lauren's, but Becky didn't know her} resulted in her having a total meltdown and saying she wasn't going to be able to run her last leg.  And no, the girl responding with "oh, I'm sure you're just tired, you'll feel better after some sleep" didn't help! I told Becky not to worry at all, I would run her last leg {I was so impressed that she rocked her first 2 as well as she did! ROCKSTAR} I don't recall exactly when it happened, but at some point Becky went to get out of the van, nearly fell to the ground due to having marathon legs {which she was proud to achieve by only running 10 miles}, and started wandering around like a drunk puppet {she was walking funny due to the pain in her shins and foot}, and from then on #drunkpuppet was the source of our entertainment {luckily Becky has a great sense of humor and would laugh every time I or anyone else tried to mimic her, which was quite frequently!}.  In all seriousness, Becky was a total trooper, running her first two legs, and then cheering and supporting us through our last legs! I am so glad she joined us for the journey...it wouldn't of been the same without her!

After about 3 hours of sleep in the van {a few people went into the school to sleep in the gymnasium} we were woken up by a nice "Rise and Shine B*@$%s" from a van near us, and ready to start our third, and final legs {but not without a trip to Starbucks first...PRIORITIES}.  My first run was a quick 3 miles, and then I had about 1.5 hours until I ran Becky's 4.5 miles...which was supposed to be EASY, but  it sure didn't feel easy!

And before we knew it, we were done, and celebrated with BACON and BEER!

THANK YOU truly isn't enough for the opportunity, memories, new friendships and phenomenal support that NUUN provided us with! Not only do I love their product, I love their people too!

Van 1: Hangin Tough

Ok...so last weekend was the EPIC tour of NUUN Kids on The Block through Ragnar Northwest Passage! Before I go into a recap of the 200 miles, I want to reintroduce you to me van mates {now friends!!!}|, because the post I wrote earlier really doesn't do them just justice!  

First off, we had our fearless leader{arg!} and driver: Mason, Chief  Hydration Officer at NUUN! Mason was great at making sure we had opportunities to cheer on our teammates during their runs and got us to all of our exchanges in time {there were only a couple close calls}. He even joined one of our runners for a night run! And perhaps most importantly, he made sure we were caffeinated by getting us to a Starbucks at all of the major exchanges {priorites}

Chief Navigator 

I was runner #1, and handed off to Lauren {you will see some serious hand-off photos in posts to come!} Lauren is seriously so fun, and sweet; I felt like I had known her forever! She is extremely social, and knew half of the people on the route, and was a RagnarNWP expert, which came in handy a couple of times! 

Checkin em off!

Corinne {friend of Meghan} was a total lifesaver, and stepped in about 2 weeks before the race, because one of our runners was injured! She is not a blogger or on twitter {until she ran her first leg and we took matters into our own hands ;) } so she really didn't know any of us at all; but you would never of known it! She fit right in {I don't think we overwhelmed her too much} and took on one of the tougher legs, 8 miles, pretty much all uphill, with no van support! Corinne dominated the hills and rocked her night run, ending it with a loud "we've got the right stuff, baby!"  During her night run, we saved her from the 4 legged gorilla man...we had her back! 

So happy to be done! 

Katherine, Mason's wife, flew home for 3-days from her vacation in Michigan to run with us and totally ROCKED it! She recently took up running {she is an avid tennis player}, and seriously dominated the roads from Blaine to Whidbey Island with lots and lots of roadkill! She was also our co-pilot, and made sure we got where we always got where we needed to be! She {almost} used her black belt skills to protect Corinne from gorilla man...that't what teammates do! 

Becky, aka, #thriftydrunkpuppet and NUUN tattoo artist {I was demoted from the job}, was seriously HI-LAR-IOUS!!  Up until Thursday before the race, we weren't sure if she would be joining us as a runner or just a cheerleader, but she ended up doing both! Becky was the one always losing stuff in the van {packing and unpacking her stuff several times}, a goodeater {always clearing her plate}, the one who taught us what a bronie is, and earned the title of drunk puppet {she tells the story best here...you have to read it!!!}. I later changed her name to thrifty drunk puppet {she is always looking for a good deal and doesn't like to spend money}when following the race she borrowed a friends boot for her foot and bought crutches {that are too big} from the Goodwill! I think she is diagnosing her injury with these! Becky was SO excited to be running, after not running for 2 months, and always had a huge smile on her face!!

Check out the NUUN medal!

Becky Drew a picture of herself!

Meghan earned the Hangin Tough award...two days before the relay she tweeted that she wasn't feeling well, and started chugging NUUN All Day! Unfortunately, the sore throat didn't get better, only worse! But she rallied through, and spent a lot of time sleeping/resting in the back between her legs! She was able to go home, shower, and take a nap at the first major exchange, which made a big difference. Despite being sick {she could only communicate by whispering, and found out after that she had bronchitis} she got out and cheered for every runner, and made it through her 3 legs, while being concerned about getting us sick and waking us up with her coughs {how nice is that!? we were just as concerned for her}

Shhhhh....don't tell the Ragnar officials this, but we had two extra van mates that weren't registered to run! They snuck into several pictures along the way, so be looking for them in upcoming posts! 

Meet Ragnar and Drunk Puppt {"DP"}


{SEVERAL} MORE POSTS TO COME! 

Marathon #2: Rock N Roll Seattle

I can't believe it's been over a week since I ran my second marathon; it's past due that I get a recap up! So, without further adieu, here is the Seattle Rock N Roll marathon, from the view of a 2nd time marathoner , who runs slow & steady, but has a great time while doing it and is ready for #3!

I am not going to focus too much on it, but because it was part of our adventure, I would like to share that getting to Seattle was nothing short of a nightmare! After getting only 3 hours of sleep the night before, and getting to the airport at 5am, we waited for 8 hours {yes, we could've drove there faster} for a flight to Seattle {our plane was having mechanical issues, and they ended up bringing in another plane}.  At 1:00pm I got the last seat on a flight up, leaving my parents and 2 other friends who were also running the marathon, in the airport, waiting for a plane to come in! I'll be honest, I got a little emotional and was afraid they wouldn't make it {which wouldn't be unheard of for the Medford airport}, which was NOT how this weekend was supposed to go down! We all finally got there {exhausted, starving}, cancelled our dinner reservations {due to traffic it was nearly impossible to get there} and joined the rest of our group for dinner at The Cheesecake Factory...and all was well again! 

Here we are, at about 5:40am, heading to the race and our photographer has already started snapping shots, and we haven't even left the hotel!

The group {ALL soon to be marathoners} before heading to the monorail! 

Group Cheer!

"FINISH!!!!!"

It was SO wonderful to finally meet two more of my Ragnar NUUNKOTB teammates Stacie and Dawn

I missed the blogger meet-up at the expo, but made it for the picture on Saturday before the race! Afterwards I was embarassed because I was standing by people I tweet with all the time, and never even introduced myself! I'm blaming it on the marathon nerves! 

NUUNKOTB!!!

My dad & I, pre-race

NUUN Team Fun...Ok, we we are always "team fun" when we hang out, and Parker had heard me talking about the NUUN team, so he came up with the brilliant idea of NUUN Team Fun! 

JFDI....Just Focus and Do It! Our friendship started almost 3 years ago, when we all met at Rapport Leadership International, which we had all been sent to by our employers! {Lindsey and I work together, and Heidi & Heather are sisters from  Missouri}

Our amazing cheering squad! 

And we're off!!!

Entertaining themselves while we ran! 

And he did it!!!! 

Happy to be finished! {sorry its blurry}

The rain hit just as we were finished, which is why there are no pictures of the rest of us crossing the finish line! But yes, I still cried, even though there was no one to cheer for me! {I am such an emotionally runner, ha}

It's a tradition...Chipotle for post-race fuel! 

BLING!!!

I loved {almost} everything about this race...the organization, weather, route, etc.  I ran the entire race solo, with no music {until mile 18}, which was actually pretty nice! I got into a zone and went! I absolutely LOVED the marathon portion around the lake...SO BEAUTIFUL! I started off feeling really strong...saw my dad around mile 8, and then Heather, Heidi, Lindsey and Phil as I was running up the ramp to the bridge around mile 15 {and again after the turn after mile 17}, which was nice and gave me a little pick me up! My main complaint about the race was the out and back on I-90 {I think thats what hwy it was}...for me it was extremely tough mentally, in addition to losing GPS signal in the tunnels {and my phone saying mile 50, mile 51...I got so frustrated I just turned it off} the grade was horrible and annoying to run on, and I just wanted to make it to mile 20, and get off the darn bridge! Once I made it through the tunnel at mile 20, I felt much better and got a lil burst of energy {its all relative, I WAS at mile 20! ha}, and loved running back towards the Seattle Center. Unfortunately, around mile 23 it started to rain...it was cold, windy and raining sideways! I just wanted to be DONE!!! I ended up with a 25 minute PR and a desire to do another! 

I am always impressed by Rock N Roll events, and am looking forward to running the half in San Antonio! In terms of my next marathon, if I can find someone local to train with me {which I am working on} I will be doing CIM in December!