You Can Never Go Home Again

I remember July 20th 1969.  I was at the Lake Placid Club in Lake Placid New York.  At the other end of the room was a small, by today's standards miniature, black and white TV. The picture was black and white not the color of the TV set.  I was 10. (yeah I am that old or you are that young).  On that evening we heard those famous words uttered and a little science fiction became a science fact.  On that night Neil Armstrong reached the goal he had dreamed of for most of his life.  What was not widely reported was soon after that event was Neil Armstrong's mindset later.  You reach your goal, landing on the moon and returning safety to the Earth.  What do you do for an encore?  How do you top that?    You cannot.  Earth was forever changed for Neil Armstrong.  You can never go home again.

We have hosted foreign exchange students for about 15 years.  They become part of our family for a school year.  I know this experience, for good or bad, will change them forever.  It will forever color their life.  I hope it will be a positive experience.  If nothing else it will expand their world.  I do not tell them the news that They can never go home again.  Their home will always be changed.  It will not be as it once was.  It can never be that again.

This past weekend I ran in the Hell's Canyon Relay Race .  If you want to know about relay races here is a funny video on it.  The team's name is Sparkle Motion.  Our mascot is a unicorn.  The team is mainly a female team, but for this race they gave me the honor of joining them.  They had also done the Ragnar Northwest Passage and Cascade Lakes Relay last year.  Usually, for a relay race you have 12 runners.  Due to some unfortunate circumstances we were down to 10 runners. (The people who dropped out did NOT want to drop out and we did not want them to.  We hope they can race with us in the future.)  

I was excited and anxious about the race.  I had only met some of the group once time,  they seemed like a very dynamic fun group of people.  The name of the race is Hell's Canyon Relay not A Walk in the Park Relay.  If you look at the course map You will see that over the 210 mile course we gain just over 11,100 feet and an elevation loss of about 12,200 feet.  You could say the race is downhill, Ha, Ha, Ha.  Normally, each runner would run about 6 miles per leg.  These races are not evenly split that way.  Logistically, each race must have a variety of lengths and usually there are at least some hills.  So some of the legs are harder than others.  This relay has a lot of hills.  Running up hill is hard work.  With our team short 2 runners people were going to have to run more.  

I ran 20 miles in 3 legs.   My first leg was midmorning.  The weather was sunny and not too hot.  There was a slight breeze.  I started up hill.  I have a tendency to start running too hard and then dramatically slowing down.  I used my pace watch and regulated my speed using my target heart rate.  I had a tendency to get it up to 95%+ of my projected max heart rate (162 plus BPM).  I aimed for  85% of max heart rate (144-152 BPM) .  This worked for me.  I kept up a good pace and warmed up during the 7 mile run.  I actually sped up towards the end of the run.  I did slow down to a brisk walk halfway through to drink water.  I cannot drink water while I am breathing heavily.  The air is very dry in Hell's Canyon and it was well worth slowing down to drink water.  I got passed by a woman in black and purple tights.  She paused and gave me a high five.  She slowly pulled away, but I was able to keep her in sight for the rest of the run.  She was a runner on the Kicking ASSphault team.  Our team ran with their team for the rest of the race.  Sometimes we were ahead, and sometimes they were.

My second leg was also a little over 7 miles.  It happened at about 3 AM (or similar time)  There wasn't any moonlight.  This area is wilderness.  In the middle of the night it is dark.  The temperature was about 38 degrees.  I wore gloves, a hat, a pull over with a hood.  I get very warm when I run and I could take off my gloves, hat and remove the hood on the pull over if I got too hot.  About half way through the run I was really getting hot.  I slowed down and took off the gloves, hat, and hood.  The fresh, cold clean air was  refreshing.  In the process I dropped my hat.  Since it was black and the road was black and it was pitch black outside I did not try to find the hat.  My van took the gloves and drove to the end of the leg to pick me up.  I felt good.  I was running a good pace.  This leg was mainly slightly down hill.  I knew that but I could not tell.  I could only see a few feet in front of me.  I had a head lamp and a small flashlight, but it was very dark. The road was uneven and had pot holes.  I ran in the middle of the road and moved to the side when cars came.  This was a small race and there were not many cars.  My second leg ended on an incline (HILL).  I am not that good at hills yet.  I kept at it and was able to hold off a runner from  passing me.  

My third leg was a little shorter.  It was small rolling hills.  About half of the run was through farm fields.  The road was loose gravel. You have to work harder on gravel because the ground is loose and you have to be careful to not twist an ankel.  It was hot and there was a slight breeze.  My last stretch was on a long straight country road that got steeper towards the exchange point.  I kept repeating "bananas" to myself.  

I have to give a big Kudos to our team captain.   She did a fantastic job getting everyone, making hotel reservations, vans, and much much more.  She was not just a logistical person.  She was very supportive to the team.  Our last runner had a long hard run to the finish line.  We were all cheering for her, each in their own way.  We know she had run hard and for a long time.  We all had been up for about 30 odd hours at this time.  Everyone was exhausted.  Our team captain got out of the van about 2 miles from the finish.  Waited for our last runner and ran with her to the end.  I know they both were wiped, but that is real leadership.  

We had other people on the team who had never run on a relay race.  Without a doubt they did fantastic.  Everyone really is competing at the level they set for themselves.  Your job as a team mate is to encourage them, to give them water, to cheer for them, to give them a hug, break bread, enjoy the moment.

Why do relay races?  Yes, it is a big challenge.  Running is a solitary sport.  The relay races combine team camaraderie and individual running.  The running is an individual challenge.  You get to encourage your team mates with their own challenges.  My team mates were very encouraging.  It really does help at the end of a 7 mile run to have them cheering you on.  

After we drove back to Portland and emptied the van of garbage and our stuff we gave each other a high five, and hugs.  We all got in our cars and drove home.  As silence descended on the neighborhood I was alone.  It was a melancholy moment.  You can never go home again...

I am in the team uniform.  Skirt, cape, and sparkle head band.  Yes, I ran all my legs with them.

Team picture at the end.